4: Demon Slayer

Jonghyuk felt as if he had been torn apart and then reconstructed again. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in another world.

The first thing that caught his eye was a 3-meter-tall Buddha statue. It seemed to be the main hall of a Buddhist temple. The building was made of wood, and the decorations were somewhat old-fashioned.

Jonghyuk silently sighed, realizing that this style was probably not from the "One Piece world" he had hoped for.

He walked around the Buddha hall but found nothing of note. Not only did he not discover anything that could identify the world he was in, but there were also no monks in sight.

Jonghyuk opened the latched door of the hall and found that it was already night outside. The moon was large, and the visibility was decent.

"Hmm?" As he took a few steps, a strong, pungent smell hit his nose.

The smell of blood!

Jonghyuk immediately became alert. The scent of blood was coming from the side hall. He cautiously approached and reached out his finger to poke a hole in the paper window to observe the situation.

Unexpectedly, the window suddenly shattered with a bang, and a black object struck Jonghyuk, causing him to stagger.

When Jonghyuk instinctively looked down, he saw that it was a monk's corpse—or rather, half of one. The body had been torn apart at the waist, with its intestines spilling out all over the ground. Some sort of organ was now stuck to Jonghyuk's body after being hit.

"Ug—"

The urge to vomit surged within him, and Jonghyuk realized which world he was in.

[When happiness is destroyed, the scent of blood always lingers. Even if my body perishes, I will surely slay the demons! The Sword Adventure begins!]

[The trial has begun. Current world: Demon Slayer ACT1, Code A3504.]

[Trial Mission 1: Survive for 3 months.]

[Trial Mission 2: Kill at least 1 demon.]

[The trial has begun! Good luck.]

The text on Jonghyuk's retinas quickly faded away, but the pungent smell of blood made the nausea in his chest linger, preventing him from fully focusing.

A dark figure slowly emerged from the side hall, with pieces of flesh and internal organs still hanging from its body.

Its green hair was disheveled, and its eyes were narrow and bloodshot.

Coupled with the signature fangs and claws of a man-eating demon, this was the first demon that Tanjiro had encountered besides Nezuko in Jonghyuk's memories.

"The scent of a human... so there's still a survivor?" the temple demon said mockingly.

He thoroughly enjoyed the look of despair on a human's face right before death. Seeing the discomfort on the face of the tall human before him made his appetite grow even stronger.

The temple demon walked leisurely towards the hunched Jonghyuk, tossing a piece of flesh stuck from his own body onto Jonghyuk, amused by how his face turned even paler. This only made the demon more pleased.

"Scared? Feeling sick?" The demon slowly raised his right hand.

"That's why humans are such fragile creatures…" The temple demon suddenly swung his claw, intending not to kill Jonghyuk outright but to toy with him.

Although Jonghyuk still felt nauseous, he had mentally prepared himself for situations like this and was not about to just sit there and die from disgust. Kneeling on one knee, Jonghyuk was about the same height as the temple demon.

Swoosh!

Thud!

As the demon's claw came towards him, Jonghyuk simply reached out with his left hand and easily caught the demon's forearm.

"H-How!? Can can a trash human—!"

The temple demon hadn't expected this human to fight back. Angered, he tried to yank his arm free, but found that the strength he had used to crush monks was now like throwing a stone into the sea—completely ineffective.

Jonghyuk slowly stood up, lifting the demon by the arm with just one hand. His nearly 1.9-meter tall, muscular frame made the roughly 1.6-meter temple demon look like a child being bullied by an adult.

"So, what was that about humans being fragile?"

Jonghyuk had always been cautious about sparring with his classmates, fearing he might accidentally hurt them. But now, as he lifted this demon with ease, he gained a more direct understanding of the power his body had acquired over years of genetic enhancements and extraordinary martial arts training. Even though he knew this temple demon was among the weakest in the Demon Slayer world...

'I'm also monstrously strong!'

"Are you really human? What are you?!" The temple demon, held aloft by Jonghyuk with one hand, felt a twinge of fear at the overwhelming strength before him. He roared in anger, swinging his left hand at Jonghyuk's face, determined to tear him apart.

This was Jonghyuk's first life-or-death battle, and his focus was razor-sharp. He immediately shook his left hand forcefully—crack!—the bones in the demon's right arm shattered, and his body was flung off balance as if it were a blanket being shaken out. Jonghyuk stepped forward with his right foot, using the momentum to slam the demon into the ground.

Boom! Urgh!

The impact sounded like a massive hammer striking the earth, and blood spurted from the demon's mouth and nose.

Jonghyuk looked down at the demon, now lying on the ground like a pile of broken flesh.

Knowing the story, he wasn't about to let his guard down and risk a surprise attack after the demon recovered. Instead, he was contemplating how to kill the demon without a Nichirin sword. Should he beat the demon to a pulp and wait until sunrise, like Gyomei Himejima?

The temple demon's windpipe and throat were crushed, leaving him unable to speak. He could only glare hatefully at the towering figure above him. He would gather his strength, regenerate, and then rip out the human's insides, making this damned creature die slowly in agony and terror!

Jonghyuk had a powerful weapon stored in his universal capsule backpack, something he had acquired through special means. But using it to kill such a weak demon felt like a waste.

As he pondered, Jonghyuk kicked the demon in the chest, sending him flying just as he began to regenerate. Then, he calmly walked down the steps of the temple. Below was a flat area, surrounded by dense forest.

Jonghyuk found the temple demon under a tree, its belly ruptured from the powerful kick. The demon's muscles were writhing as they tried to heal.

As Jonghyuk approached, the demon's eyes showed clear fear. He knew that a demon's immortality had its limits. For a newly-born demon like him, after healing a certain amount of damage, those limits would be reached (as seen in the anime, where the temple demon didn't recover after falling off a cliff and coughing up blood).

Jonghyuk grabbed the demon by its dark green hair and lifted it against the tree trunk. His right hand clenched into a fist, drawing back like a bowstring pulled taut.

Ancient Technique: Floodgate Burst!

Boom!

Like the unstoppable force of a river breaking through a dam, Jonghyuk's punch was incredibly powerful. Even before it landed, the fierce wind from the punch made it hard for the demon to breathe. Under this pressure, the demon felt the recently consumed human inside him digest faster, giving him a sudden surge of strength and desperation. He jerked his head violently, tearing away his dark green hair and scalp in the process.

Thud!

Jonghyuk's right fist plunged deep into the tree, creating a hole through the trunk, which was about 40 to 50 centimeters thick, without causing any explosion.

The temple demon, barely escaping death, couldn't hide his agony. His face twisted in pain as he clawed at Jonghyuk's chest.

Crack!

The demon used all his strength, but it felt as though his right hand had struck an iron hammer. "Ack! HOWWWWW!" The unbearable pain made him scream in torment.

Jonghyuk had no sympathy for these creatures that fed on humans. Even if the demon had once been an ordinary person who suffered, it was now nothing more than a repulsive, man-eating monster. Jonghyuk bent down, grabbed another handful of the demon's hair, and lifted it up again. He clenched his right fist, pulling it back like a drawn bow.

"Stop!" A voice called out as something whizzed through the air.

Jonghyuk was startled and released the demon, crossing his arms, which were protected by alloy bracers, in front of his face to shield himself.

Thunk!

A wood-handled axe, meant for chopping firewood, embedded itself in the tree trunk behind Jonghyuk.

A few minutes earlier, Tanjiro was trekking through the forest, searching for Mount Sagiri with the bamboo basket carrying Nezuko strapped to his back. He was looking for a place to rest when he suddenly caught a strange scent.

With his experience from the tragedy at his home and Nezuko's transformation, he recognized it as the scent of a demon. Without thinking about the danger to himself, Tanjiro hurried towards the source of the scent, fearing that someone else might be suffering the same fate his family did. His path led him to a Buddhist temple.

Panting, Tanjiro burst out of the forest path and saw a towering figure in a cloak, punching a tree trunk. The shadowed figure was accompanied by the scream of someone hidden behind him.

'That's right, the scent is coming from over there. That person… is a demon!'

Tanjiro quickly assessed the situation. Seeing that the tall figure was about to strike again, Tanjiro spun and threw his axe at him, shouting, "STOP!" 

In the end, Tanjiro didn't throw the axe directly at Jonghyuk, but the temple demon, whom Jonghyuk had released, finally regained his freedom. With his body partially healed, the demon immediately ducked and slipped past Jonghyuk, sprinting at full speed towards Tanjiro.

Seeing Tanjiro caused Jonghyuk to momentarily lose focus.

The difference between seeing a living, three-dimensional person and a 2D animated character was striking, but the red hair and the distinctive mark on his forehead were unmistakable. In that brief moment of distraction, the temple demon escaped Jonghyuk's grasp.

Jonghyuk stomped his right foot hard and lunged forward to give chase. Despite wearing protective gear that weighed nearly a hundred pounds, his speed was still impressive.

The temple demon was terrified of Jonghyuk, but the malicious nature of a demon filled him with a desire for destruction and slaughter. He wasn't running in Tanjiro's direction because it was a convenient escape route; he intended to kill the foolish human who had just saved him.

Tanjiro, bewildered by the sudden turn of events, took two steps back. The demon was already upon him, swiping a clawed hand at him!

'So fast!'

Tanjiro was shocked, realizing that he had thrown his axe and was now defenseless. Jonghyuk was still three steps away, and it seemed Tanjiro was about to meet his end. But at that moment, the lid of the bamboo basket on Tanjiro's back was pushed open, and Nezuko, dressed in a pink kimono and dark coat, leaped out.

She kicked the demon in the chest, intercepting him before Jonghyuk could reach them.

With both strength and speed ranking at A, Nezuko's powerful kick sent the demon flying straight towards the charging Jonghyuk.

Adjusting his balance while running, Jonghyuk stomped his left foot heavily and used the momentum to deliver a devastating punch with his right hand.

Thud!

The demon's head burst like a watermelon hit by a rock, and Jonghyuk's fist, along with the demon's body, slammed into the ground with tremendous force.

"You… you…" Tanjiro, having realized that the green-haired creature was the real demon when it attacked, now wondered who this imposing man standing before him could be.

"Haah.. My name is Jonghyuk, and as you can see, I'm a human!" Jonghyuk's fist, covered in blood and an unknown whitish substance, exuded a tremendous sense of intimidation.

Instinctively, Tanjiro bowed and introduced himself.

"I'm Kamado Tanjiro, and this is my sister, Kamado Nezuko. We are also… human!" Tanjiro said, though with a hint of uncertainty. He was worried that this fierce-looking man might harm his sister.

Nezuko glanced at Jonghyuk, then turned her head toward the temple. From that direction came a scent she craved, causing her to unconsciously start salivating.

"Excuse me, are you really human… I mean, are you an ordinary person? No, that's not right… What I'm trying to ask is, how did you become so strong?" Tanjiro, nervous and fumbling, finally managed to express himself clearly.

He was in awe of the strength Jonghyuk displayed. As the swordsman named Giyu had told him, praying in the face of demons was useless. Only by becoming strong enough could he protect his family!

'If only I could…'

"I guess it's just natural," Jonghyuk replied casually, unable to explain about his genetic enhancements and the pharmaceutical company he was involved with. Then, without missing a beat, he stomped down on the demon's body, which had started twitching as it tried to regenerate.

Splat!

Tanjiro hesitated, feeling conflicted, and finally spoke up.

"Um… Mr. Jonghyuk, is there any way to kill a demon quickly? This… feels too cruel…" Tanjiro asked, shivering slightly as Jonghyuk turned to look at him.

"Hmm?"

Jonghyuk couldn't fully empathize with Tanjiro's kindness, though he respected the red-haired boy's compassion. However, Jonghyuk valued his own life above all else, and he wasn't willing to risk it for the sake of emotions he considered irrelevant.

"There might be such a method, but right now, for me… Sending him off in this temple…"

"…is the greatest act of mercy for everyone in this monastery!"

______

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