Demon Slayers: Swordsman
Chapter 1 — Awakening (rewritten)
The first thing Ren felt was the cold grass beneath his back and the distant rustle of leaves. A gentle wind moved through the trees, carrying the scent of damp soil and the wild forest.
His eyes slowly opened to a sky filtered through tall branches, sunlight breaking in thin golden streaks.
Ren frowned and pushed himself up, brushing dirt from his clothes. His head felt slightly dizzy, like he had just woken up from a long dream.
"Where am I?" he muttered, looking around the unfamiliar forest.
The trees were dense and towering, nothing like any park or road he remembered. There were no buildings, no sounds of civilization—only the endless quiet of the wilderness.
Before he could process it further, a sharp mechanical sound echoed in his mind.
{Ding! System Binding Complete}
Ren froze.
He blinked twice and looked around as if someone had spoken near him.
"A System? Why do I have it?" he said slowly, confusion filling his voice.
"Where am I?"
The mechanical voice returned instantly.
{Ding! You are in the "Demon Slayer" world.}
{DING! You have a Starter Pack available.}
{Would you like to open it?}
Ren's eyes widened slightly.
"Demon Slayer?" he repeated under his breath.
He rubbed his chin while thinking, memories rushing through his mind.
"You mean 'Demon Slayer?'... The world filled with demons and Breathing Styles using swordsmen."
For a moment, he simply stared ahead, letting the information sink in.
The system replied calmly.
{Yes.}
A slow grin appeared on Ren's face.
"Awesome."
He stood up fully now, stretching his arms above his head while letting out a relieved breath.
"Honestly... real demons are scary," he admitted, scratching the back of his head. "But if I have a system now, being scared would just be embarrassing."
He looked toward the sky through the trees, excitement replacing his confusion. After all, this was the world of an anime he liked.
"Heheh, and this is Japan—the dream place of every otaku."
His eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Though Muzan is strong, he's not invincible. As long as he doesn't get his hands on Nezuko, sooner or later he won't be much of a threat. With human technology, he can be easily dealt with."
"And now I'm here with a system. So, poor guy should just commit seppuku," Ren laughed, imagining Muzan committing seppuku.
{Ding! Starter Pack available.}
{Would you like to open it?}
{Yes/No}
"System, open the Starter Pack." Ren said, his excitement bubbling up in his chest. He crossed his fingers.
A soft glow flashed before his eyes as a blue screen appeared in front of him. On it were two images. One was of a man with long, messy crimson hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a crimson kimono, with a katana resting on his waist.
The other image was of an obsidian-black sword with red and gold markings, along with a scabbard entirely black with red clouds and a red-and-gold flame pattern.
{Ding! You have opened Starter Pack—}
{1. Yoriichi Tsugikuni's Character Card.}
{2. The Blade of Dawn: Akatsuki.}
Ren's expression instantly froze. His mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to say. He stared at the screen.
He blinked once, twice. Then he rubbed his eyes. Then he looked at the screen again.
Then he burst out saying,
"Yoriichi Tsugikuni???? The nightmare of the Demon King? The same man who one-shot Kokushibo at the age of 70?"
He pointed at himself in disbelief. His shoulders trembled with excitement.
"Won't I be invincible? Can that guy even survive the trauma of meeting another Yoriichi???"
For a few seconds, he stood there silently, trying to process the absurd luck he had just received.
Then suddenly—
"BHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Ren threw his head back and burst into loud, mad laughter.
"Seriously? The strongest Demon Slayer in history?" he said while wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "Man... this world is about to have a bad day."
{Initiating Character Card fusion.}
A glowing gold card formed in front of him as it started cracking and disintegrating into golden dust. The dust began entering Ren's body.
A strange feeling spread through Ren's body. A golden cocoon enveloped him. After a few minutes, the cocoon cracked and disappeared.
Ren stood in a crimson-red kimono with the Blade of Dawn: Akatsuki at his waist. His once-black, messy hair was now long and crimson, with strands of black mixed in.
The now-long hair was tied in a messy ponytail like Yoriichi Tsugikuni's. A red, flame-like mark was on his forehead. He looked like Yoriichi Tsugikuni, with some resemblance to his former look.
Ren's hand reached for Akatsuki as he opened his eyes. The world around him felt different.
"So this is Akatsuki... the Blade of Dawn."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He bent his legs, crouching.
As he opened his eyes, everything in his view looked slow.
In the next moment, he dashed forward. He jumped as he grabbed a branch of a tree, glided ahead, and then jumped over a small bush.
Then, he grabbed a tree branch, did some gymnastics, and stood on the thick branch of the tree.
"Phewww," he exhaled his breath. "Damn, my agility and reaction speed are far better than before."
He grinned as he clenched and unclenched his fist.
"Hey, System, what's my fusion rate?" Ren asked, his eyes sparkling. The auxiliary boost was already crazy good.
{DING! The fusion rate of the Character Card: Yoriichi Tsugikuni, is 20%.}
{Host has inherited all of the character's innate abilities. Some are dormant, such as the Slayer Mark.}
Ren nodded as the System continued.
{As the fusion rate increases, the host will unlock those abilities or can awaken them on their own.}
"Not bad," he muttered with satisfaction.
The forest around him remained quiet, but now the silence felt like the calm before an adventure.
Ren placed both hands behind his head and started walking casually through the woods.
Sword on his waist.
Smile on his face.
"Well, let's see what this world has to offer," Ren said, laughing.
Without any particular direction, he simply walked forward.
After all—
His new life had just begun, and he had no damn clue where the fuck in Japan he was.
After walking for a while, he scratched his head.
"Umm... so where am I supposed to go? And where the hell am I?"
{The host is currently in Japan. The specific location can't be detected because of the lack of energy.}
"Well, you already gave me Yoriichi's Character Card, so recover your energy," Ren said.
{The host can also kill demons and accelerate the energy recovery of the system.}
Ren nodded.
"Sure. If I encounter any demons on the way, I will surely kill them."
After that, he wandered through the forest, searching for a road or some water sources.