Chapter 2: Pre-Match Overwork
Kucha Natsumi
Titles: Scepter · Chariot · Star
Energy Level: 29
Attributes:
Body: 12
Technique: 7
Mind: 10
Combat Skill — Wind Breathing Technique
Wind Breathing Technique
Level: 1 (Beginner)
Progress: 271 / 500
Sword Mastery (9/9):
First Form: Dust Whirlwind Slash
Second Form: Claw of the Wind
Third Form: …
---
Abandoning the complicated and flashy interfaces common in most games, the system panel presented before Kucha Natsumi was exceptionally simple and clear.
Kucha Natsumi was the in-game name automatically generated by the system during character creation. This mechanism existed to prevent immersion-breaking names.
After all, when NPCs were emotionally shouting names during life-and-death scenes, hearing things like "Sir Wolf-Fang Potato" or "Little Brother Spinning Armstrong Cannon" would completely shatter the atmosphere.
The titles following his name were random background traits generated at the start.
---
Reverse Scepter
You have become a torch of hatred.
Your parents were murdered by villains, and your only remaining family—your sister—was devoured by demons.
Effect:
Slightly increases willpower in battle; slightly increases sympathy from others.
---
Righteous Chariot
Your scars are your medals.
To you, fighting and killing are as natural as eating and drinking.
Effect:
Slightly increases damage dealt; slightly improves training efficiency.
---
Reverse Star
With your spine as a blade, you defy a mediocre world.
Your unyielding will ensures you never bow your head.
Effect:
Reduces physical debuffs; slightly boosts attributes when facing stronger enemies.
---
"…Huh."
Kucha Natsumi stared at the entries, lost in thought.
He was just playing a game.
In other titles, it was always about serving empires, exterminating aliens, or conquering galaxies.
This time, he had simply chosen the human race and rolled random background traits without paying them much attention.
Looking at them now, nearly all of them were combat-oriented.
An orphan start…
No wonder his master always looked at him with that mix of pity and understanding.
As for attributes, the system was straightforward—three categories:
Body, Technique, and Mind.
A total of 29 points, not even one-fifth of Kazami Kyouki's stats.
If he remembered correctly, this character had initially started with barely ten points.
It was only through a full year of training and breathing practice that he had slowly raised them.
Breathing techniques—
These were the core combat system of the game.
Through breathing, the body was strengthened, limits were broken, and sword techniques surpassed human norms.
To fight demons.
To overcome the strong with the weak.
To pierce flesh with every strike.
To counter every movement.
Kucha Natsumi was extremely familiar with traditional action games.
After more than half a year of physical conditioning, he had mastered the fundamentals of Wind Breathing and sword techniques in just three or four months.
Even considering Kazami's guidance, that speed was already exceptional.
"But being thrown straight into a high-mortality selection right after the tutorial…"
Did the Demon Slayer Corps really have so many recruits that they could afford to waste lives like this?
This was the ancient Far East—humans fighting monsters.
Would the story follow that old cliché?
If you don't have the resolve to die, you deserve to die?
Despite his thoughts, his hands never stopped moving.
Taking a standard stance, Kucha Natsumi began swinging his wooden sword again and again.
Two hours of vibration conditioning.
Two hours of breathing practice.
Two hours of sword training.
Between each set, he added half an hour of meditation—or climbed into the hills to sense the flow of the wind.
This was the training plan Kazami had designed for him.
In the early stages, there had been more basic conditioning and wooden-sword drills. But once his strength exceeded ten and he mastered breathing, those basics gradually became less important.
Three days remained.
Kucha Natsumi decided to push himself—to see if he could raise his breathing technique even a little more.
Soon, his consciousness began to drift.
He had entered System Assist Mode.
To avoid tedious repetition, modern games accelerated repetitive actions automatically.
For him, it meant the system temporarily took over his movements, rapidly advancing time.
Experience +1
Experience +1
…
He stared intently at the attribute panel, silently harvesting the results of his effort.
---
While Kucha Natsumi trained relentlessly, sweat soaking his clothes, Kazami Kyouki watched silently from a distant room.
In his eyes, Kucha had always been quiet and frighteningly self-disciplined.
Unlike other children, he never played around or complained.
He never protested the harsh training.
He would push himself until exhaustion—never allowing himself rest.
Kazami knew why.
His sister's death.
Her screams, her cries, as she was slowly devoured by a Lower Moon demon amid raging flames.
Even for an adult, the memory would be unbearable.
For a teenager, it carved a scar that never faded.
Kazami wondered whether this burning hatred would one day consume the boy—
Or become the strength that carried him forward.
The old man unconsciously tightened his grip on the window frame.
The wood creaked softly.
"I hope your effort… and your anger… will help you survive the Final Selection."
---
Day and night alternated.
Two days passed quietly, soaked in sweat.
Wind Breathing Technique
Level: 1 (Beginner)
Progress: 316 / 500 (+45)
Martial arts were never something achieved overnight.
Two days of relentless grinding earned Kucha Natsumi nothing more than a Fatigue status.
It still wasn't enough to break into Level 2.
Even so, this progress was already considered exceptional.
"I can't push it any further…"
"Hm?"
"A new feature unlocked?"
As time ran short, he ended his training.
Wiping away sweat, he noticed a new notification.
In the Life Skills panel, two icons had lit up.
Sword Tempering LV.1 (17 / 500) (NEW)
Physical Training LV.1 (89 / 500) (NEW)
He opened the details.
---
Sword Tempering LV.1
The foundation of swordsmanship lies in tempering mind, breath, and body.
Effect:
Slightly increases sword training speed.
---
Physical Training LV.1
Builds a strong body and lays a solid foundation.
Effect:
Slightly increases the growth rate of Strength and Agility.
---
At the same time, another notification appeared:
Achievement Points gained ×2
Achievement Points can be used to upgrade combat skills
"…What?"
Kucha Natsumi froze.
Was this the real core gameplay?
Grinding life skills to strengthen breathing techniques?
So in theory—
As long as he farmed life skills endlessly, he could keep feeding points into Wind Breathing?
"…Am I supposed to brute-force everything?"
He quickly opened the breathing technique panel.
Sure enough, a "+" symbol had appeared next to Wind Breathing.
With a thought, a preview bar surfaced.
Experience +325
Breathing Compatibility: 65%
Conversion Loss: 35%
"…There's loss?"
Kucha frowned.
He remembered Kazami once mentioning that many breathing styles existed in the world.
None were universally superior.
Physique, temperament, and spiritual resonance determined compatibility.
Higher compatibility meant smoother cultivation and stronger techniques.
Lower compatibility meant twice the effort for half the result.
So Wind Breathing… wasn't perfectly suited to him?
Could he switch to another style?
Would his cheap master accuse him of betraying the school?
Damn it—this planner deserves punishment.
Cursing inwardly, Kucha still chose to allocate the points.
After all, Wind Breathing was the only style he knew.
Ding.
---
Wind Breathing LV.1 → LV.2
Beginner → Basic Understanding
Progress: 141 / 1000 (+325)
Energy Level: 29 → 35
Body: 12 → 16
Technique: 7 → 8
Mind: 10 → 11
Sword Mastery improved!
"This ranking system…" Kucha muttered.
"It really feels like those old martial-arts games."
A warm, spring-like current surged through his body.
Kucha Natsumi stiffened—then his eyes lit up.
His cheeks flushed slightly with excitement.
Oh.
This feeling—
The long-awaited breakthrough.
He could feel it clearly.
Power.
Surging power.