*tap tap splash
*pitter-patter
Heavy rain poured in the middle of the night.
A man walked along the empty street with an umbrella, an exhausted look on his face.
'Uff... finally, it's over.'
'Now I can relax for the whole week.'
He kept walking as the rain grew more aggressive.
After some time, he decided to take shelter and moved toward a shade near a park.
After squeezing some water from his clothes, he looked up at the sky, which was covered with thick clouds.
'Hmm... what's that?'
He spotted something glowing in the clouds.
'It looks like a shooting star... but isn't its size increasing?'
Panic set in as the object seemed to be heading straight toward him. He quickly realized he couldn't escape—he had no more than two or three seconds before it struck.
A strange smile appeared on his face at the absurdity of the situation.
As he calmed down, he focused on the object and noticed that it looked like an orb emitting a blinding white light.
"How beau—"
Before he could finish, everything—him, the park, the surroundings—was reduced to dust.
All that remained was a five-meter-deep crater.
-
In a faraway place, a ball of light floated in nothingness. In front of it, a being in golden robes sat on a chair made of clouds.
[So this poor soul was struck by my sneeze.]
The entity, whose face was not visible, seemed to be deep in thought, resting his face in his hands.
[Since he was killed indirectly by me, his soul has been sent into my domain.]
[Now the question is—what should I do with you? Hmm... let's see.]
The entity raised his hand, and thousands of scenes began flashing before him. He randomly pointed at one, and it stopped, transforming into a portal.
[This world seems fine... though a little dangerous for him to survive.]
He waved his hand. The soul drifted toward him, began to glow, and then shot into the portal, disappearing along with it.
[Yawn. Now then... time for a short nap.]
[One thousand years should suffice.]
The throne transformed into a luxurious bed, and the entity immediately fell asleep.
-
In a deep forest, the body of a boy—around twelve or thirteen years old—lay in a pool of blood.
A massive hole gaped where his chest should have been.
After some time, the body jerked.
The wound began to close.
Moments later, the boy's eyelashes twitched.
*cough
*coughcough
*blegh...
*cough
He breathed heavily.
'Where am I...?'
'Who am I...?'
'My head... is spinning...'
After half an hour, his mind began to stabilize.
'I remember getting hit by that meteor...'
'I shouldn't have survived that... right?'
As his thoughts settled, he looked around and found himself covered in blood and mud.
'This much blood...'
'And this... this isn't my body.'
'Now everything makes sense... I didn't survive. After dying, I transmigrated into this body.'
'To think something like this—straight out of fantasy novels—is happening to me...'
'And for some reason, I don't remember my identity or my family, but I still have the general knowledge of my previous world.'
'Well... I've already died there. There's no point worrying about it now. I should focus on my current situation.'
After reaching this conclusion, he stood up and began walking in a random direction.
'First, I need to get out of this forest.'
'This path... it feels somewhat familiar.'
'Like I've been here before...'
After walking for some distance, he saw an open field ahead. In the middle stood a small hut, with cattle grazing nearby.
He unconsciously started walking toward it.
But as he got closer, a terrible sense of dread washed over him when he noticed bloodstains at the entrance.
He peeked inside.
What he saw was something he would remember for the rest of his life.
Inside the hut lay three mutilated corpses—a middle-aged man, a woman, and a small girl.
Their bodies were torn apart, with gnaw marks as if some beast had feasted on them.
It was the first time he had seen such a gruesome sight.
His hand instinctively rose to cover his mouth, but suddenly, his vision blurred.
'Huh...?'
'What's happening...?'
'My eyes...'
He touched his face and realized tears were streaming down continuously.
'Why... am I crying...?'
Confusion filled him as a deep wave of sadness engulfed his heart.
Then—
A flood of memories surged into his mind.
He clutched his head and screamed, collapsing onto the doorstep.
"Aaaahhhh...!"
The pain intensified as memories poured in.
After some time, it slowly subsided.
His face was pale, and his body trembled slightly.
'Just as I thought... this world is not normal.'
'A demon killed this boy while he was collecting firewood... and his family was killed afterward.'
'Since I have no name... I'll accept this boy's identity.'
'From now on... I am Jin Kawahire.'
Jin buried his family in the backyard of the hut.
Afterward, he began walking toward the nearest city, which—according to the memories—was about 10 to 12 kilometers away.
After half an hour, he noticed bloodstains along the path.
Following them, he found two corpses.
As he examined them, his eyes widened.
They wore a familiar uniform—a deep brown haori—and carried Nichirin swords.
'I... am in the Demon Slayer world.'