Tokisaki Kurumi: "Since you won't give it to me, forget it. But Souta, you'd better think carefully—I don't go easy when I retaliate."
Souta: "Kurumi, what I'm doing is proving I like everything about you. Talking about revenge? That just hurts the relationship."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "No excuses! My clones have been feeling quite restless lately. If you don't delete that data yourself… you'd better watch your back."
After that message, Kurumi went quiet.
She had probably sensed Souta's intent to tease her and decided to back off for now.
Souta also put away his phone, looking totally unbothered.
After all, absorbing reiryoku from ley lines in the past would take a while. Unlike the original "Spirit formula," the version Souta modified was much gentler and gradual—no violent surges.
So by the time he returned from the Demon Slayer world, Kurumi might still be in the early stages of her process.
As for her threats? No need to stress.
Teasing Kurumi once in a while… was actually kind of fun.
Souta chuckled softly.
Then he focused and told the system:
"System, travel to the Demon Slayer world—specifically, next to Kamado Tanjiro."
A flash of white light enveloped him, and his figure vanished from the rental room.
When Souta's feet touched solid ground again, even before opening his eyes, he smelled the rotting leaves and the earthy tang of soil.
He instantly judged: he was in a forest.
His sharp senses picked up faint traces of killing intent, resentment, and despair floating around him.
Emotions that birthed faith—very familiar to him.
"This is…" Souta opened his eyes and looked around.
Tall trees blocked most of the view. Their thick canopies blotted out sunlight, casting a gloomy, overcast glow everywhere.
Fog drifted in the distance, reducing visibility even more.
An unmanaged forest—eerily quiet, close to unsettling.
Then came the unmistakable scent of blood.
Before he could even follow the scent, a loud shout echoed through the forest.
Something was clashing up ahead. Though faint, Souta felt the slight ripple in the air.
"Sounds like a fight?" he muttered, then followed the noise.
No sign of Tanjiro yet—not surprising.
Back when he used a travel card to go to Baccano!, he'd aimed for a ship… and the system dumped him and Kurumi straight into the freezing sea.
He was used to the system being off the mark.
He moved quickly through the forest and soon arrived at the source of the commotion.
In a clearing with sparse trees, a red-haired boy was locked in combat with a grotesque mass of flesh—a monster.
The boy's eyes were red, a scar marked his forehead, and he wore distinctive hanafuda earrings.
His uniform made it obvious: Kamado Tanjiro.
Tanjiro was focused to the extreme, using a precise breathing technique as he leapt into the air and slashed his katana at the top of the monster.
Souta felt the air tremble—like water waves crashing.
A ripping sound rang out.
A grotesque head flew from the blob of flesh and landed on the ground.
The monstrous body slowly turned to ashes, as if consumed by fire, disappearing from the world.
"First Form: Water Surface Slash?" Souta whispered.
That iconic moment told him exactly where he was in the timeline—Tanjiro's Final Selection on Mount Fujikasane.
In this world, demons exist. They prey on humans.
The Demon Slayer Corps fights these monsters.
Final Selection required candidates to survive for seven days on Mount Fujikasane, which was filled with imprisoned demons.
During this trial, Tanjiro encountered the Hand Demon—a creature defeated by his master Urokodaki decades ago and then sealed in the mountain.
The Hand Demon hated Urokodaki and sought out his fox-masked students during every trial, killing them.
He met Tanjiro—and lost.
Souta glanced at the dissolving corpse.
That was definitely the Hand Demon.
Now, Tanjiro had sheathed his sword and approached the disintegrating body.
He gently held the demon's hand.
"Such a sorrowful scent… What kind of life did you live?"
There was no joy on Tanjiro's face after slaying a demon—only compassion.
He had resonated with the demon's sadness.
"Dear god… please, when he reincarnates, don't let him become a demon again."
Tanjiro whispered a prayer.
"Don't make things hard for God," Souta's voice rang out beside him. "Even gods have limits."
Startled, Tanjiro jumped back and drew his sword.
"Who's there?!"
His senses hadn't picked up the man's presence at all.
But he sniffed the air and relaxed slightly.
"You're not a demon… you're human?"
"Yup, 100% human."
Souta turned toward him with a friendly smile.
"Hey, do you have one of these?"
He pulled out his system phone and waved it.
Tanjiro looked at it, puzzled.
"What is that? Some kind of ornament? Looks fancy."
"This is a system phone." Souta offered, "Try checking your pocket or robe. See if you have one too."
Tanjiro shook his head.
"Sorry, I've never seen anything like that before."
"I see…"
Souta sighed softly.
So it really wasn't Tanjiro who got the invite.
It had to be his sister.
Does the system even plan to invite any male members to the group?