Chapter 2: Rain or Thunder

Spring came. The first ray of sunshine pierced through the cold winter's air and illuminate the wooden house I'm in. My eyes fluttered open from the bright light. With a yawn, I groggily sat up from the tattered straw mat and rubbed my eyes

It's already morning, huh?

Looking around, I can't see Sakonji anywhere. The man is probably on one of his not-so-secret demon slaying business again. That or he's just out in the forest chopping wood for the fireplace

The first thing I do is to brush my teeth. Next, do some light exercises to keep me up for the day. Then, I picked up my tool, an old axe that had cut its fair share of wood in its lifetime, and got out of the house for yet another day of labor

Because labor...

...labor is good

The warm air and the smell of grass greeted me as I opened the door. In contrast with the winter sky when I first arrived here, the ground was now back to the brown color of dirt, still slightly moist from the melting snow from last season

It's been two months since I've came to this world. In that time, I have been testing on whether I retain the skills developed in my game or not

And the answer is...yes

Some of them, despite not being able to obtain until mid-game, were already there and maxed out in my skill windows. Some basic skills were locked away. And some require me to progress myself to learn. But all of them were there, no exception

I put the wood Sakonji brought back the day before in the middle of the yard and pulled out his axe. Periodically, I chopped away at it, perfectly splitting the thick block in two

Right now I'm trying to help Sakonji with his woodsman business. At least that's a voluntary way of paying him for letting me stay here for the time. The old man wouldn't let me touch the axe at first but soon relented when I insist

For a six year old, you are incredibly efficient at cutting wood. That's what he said

He was wrong

I just happen to be a lot stronger from the less than average child. Meaning I still am average

Because in case you fid not notice, I'm not doing this just to help him. I've also been training myself these past few months to get used to this new body as fast as possible. Being immortal is fine and all, but I'd prefer if I don't have to die in the first place

Like, if you know you're good at sucking eggs and people tell you about it. That's cool and all, but doesn't mean I would not suck the eggs off every chicken I came across

Especially one of the skills I had helped me with this

[Mental Fortitude] (EX)

- Passive: You remain calm in the face of death and terror. For your mind had been honed so that it is colder than steel itself

Grants immunity toward negative mental status effects

Immunity toward status effects. That includes pain, boredom, hypnosis, exhaustion, lack of focus and unnecessary emotions that may hinder my combat capability. I guess that's why I can take on an entire pack of wolves ever since I came here without screaming my throat out in pain

Throwing the wood to the side, I reached out my hand and placed another block of wood to the table. The axe plunged deep into it, easily split open with a following twist of my wrist. Absentmindedly noting that I'll need to sharpen the tool soon, I repeated the action again

When will the old man come home, I wonder

It's not like I had anything against him. In fact, Sakonji is a nice man whose only bad habit is occasionally coming home covered in demon blood and an empty stomach, which is why I'd taken in completing most of the house chores when he wasn't home in order to repay him in the first place

The only problem is that he's a Canon character. Me interacting with him is already a risk in itself since that means the end result will likely differ from the original.

Every action I took, unaware or not, can results in either Muzan winning this war or somebody dying because of my choice

There's nothing to worry about, right? After all, I am immortal. Their battle does not concern me as much as it should have been, because I cannot die. Eventually, I would outlive all of them

But that is the problem

I may be overthinking about it now, but what if I continue talking with him for the next 5 years? 10 years? 15 years? Even a butterfly's wing can create a storm on the other side of the world with enough time and effort

I sighed, only to tilt my head as my ears picked up the sound of footstep on the dirt outside. A visitor, perhaps?

"Who's there?"

Throwing the axe down, I came to answer the door. I peeked around the window, only to be greeted by the sight of a man clad in your average demon slaying garb, donned underneath the Haori of an old golden color

Though his appearance is younger compared to Canon, I could still recognize that man for who he is

Zenitsu's master

The thunder Hashira

Jigoro Kujowara

Again, another character I really don't want to meet

"Hello. Is my friend Sakonji here?"

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"That's the last of them"

Carnage

When hearing of the word "demons", carnage is the common word associated with it. They wreak bloodshed and havoc on their wake without care, and usually when they arrive it would have been too late

This time it's no different

Bloodstain on every corner of the street. On the house. On the ground. On the roof. Dead bodies kept inside bags that lined up the forest edge, stretching for almost the entire area

Within the village now there is only him and members of the Corp cleaning up the bodies. He'd arrived fast enough to take care of a large part of them, but several of the demons still managed to flee under the cover of night

Sakonji sighed and brandished his sword. It was an old blade, but unlike him, its edge stay sharp. A blade that has remained unbroken throughout his years as a demon slayer, killing copious amount of them in the process

It is a shame that not one of his recent students had the potential to inherit his legacy, making his dream of that day seem farther than ever. A day where he would get to pass down his title as the Water Pillar and rest his weary old bones in peace

Well, there is one but...he's too young at the current to wield a sword

"Sakonji, over here! There's two survivors!"

He and one other hurried to where a member was crouching beside two shivering children wrapped inside a bloodied blanket. Their hollowed eyes stared at him as he approached, which made his heart wrenched in pain imagining just how much terror they must have experienced in one night

One is a boy. The other's a girl. Judging from their different hair color they're not of the same blood

"What's your name?"

"Sabito" The old man noticed how the boy protectively hid the girl from him "This here is Makomo. Who are you people?"

This is going to take some times to explain

"We are people of the Demon Slaying Corp. People who fights against the creatures you saw last night" He carefully worded the sentence "The things we call demons, they are monsters who lavish in killing off human and eating them. Our job is to take care of them before they can cause any harm. Only this time we were too late"

"Our family...so it was that thing that killed them" The girl let out a sniffle as she hugged the boy. In return he only stares at Sakonji in silence "Why must it be them?"

"Not many know of us since we operate in secret. As such we are understaffed and can't be everywhere at once. Incidents like this had happened before

"You mean there's still a lot of those things out there" Sabito clenched his fist, eyes burning in fury "I must stop them. But I'm only a kid"

"You can become a demon slayer" He offered "If you want, I can train you in the way of our sword. When you grow up you'll be able to become a part of the work force and prevent tragedies like this from further happening"

"Please...accept me into this corp"

"Me too" Makomo raised her hand "We don't have anywhere else to go..."

The Water Pillar only nodded in response, his Tengu mask hide away any emotions on his face, so it was impossible to tell what he is thinking as of this moment. Their worries soon proved to be unfounded as he offered them a hand and walked them toward one of the nearby member

"Sakonji-san?"

"I need you to give these kids proper clothe. I'll wait here until they're ready to come home with me"

"Wait, you're taking them home. Are you intending to train them?!"

"Perhaps" was his only answer as he made his way past the shocked man and proceed to go down the road. It can't be helped. Sakonji was nearing retirement, so it would makes sense he takes in several students to succeed him. If they can't become a Pillar, they could still stay behind to cultivate his Water Breathing style after he died

With the two kids now unofficially adopted by him. Sakonji mused. That means (Y/n) finally have someone to interact with. He'll definitely be happy about it

Definitely

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"Would you like some tea?"

"Oh, what a fine young lad you are. Yes, please"

The whistling sound of the kettle being boiled is the only thing heard across the room. I have simply taken a seat next to the old man and took the chance to observe him

"Are you one of the people from the Corp?"

I started with a basic question. It serves three purposes. Showing him that I in fact possess knowledge about demon to ease him, to remain oblivious to privy information I possess, and to determine his motive for coming here

"Yeah, I'm your Grandpa's coworker. Call me Jigoro. Though the region we were dispatched to were different, we sometime cooperate to take down hordes of demon that may overwhelm large settlements with their numbers"

"That sounds like hard work"

"They are, which is why the corp's always so understaffed at all times. Had we had more members..."

I can understand that sentiment. The organization prefers quality over quantity. Not out of selfish concerns for their funds as Kagaya is already a millionaire by this time's standard, but due to demon slaying being an utterly painful job to take on

"Are you going to join?"

"Not...really. I don't know" I admitted while turning my head away. On one hand it would be nice, on the other it would put me on danger against the demon whose leader is seeking the same thing I have

Should I use this undying nature of mine to aid against them?

The kettle's whistle drowned out our conversation. I sighed and got up to take out the fire. Pouring the tea in the two wooden cups, I calmly sat down and continued our conversation

"That old coot hadn't trained you, had he?"

"I merely live with Sakonji-san. We met when I was trying to find somewhere to stay in winter" I inclined my head "At the current, I'm not sure if I want to train yet. The fact that I find out about the demon is unintentional on his part"

"Such a shame. Then...one more question..." He leaned forward with a smile "Which do you like more, the rain or the thunder?"

State your preference

[The rain]

[The thunder]

And there we have it. The first unique dialogue option

A feature in the game. Dialogue options are preset choices that the player choose upon triggering certain events that can alter the plot. Picking one will have their own consequences as well as their own reward upon progressing later in the game

This means this is an important decision. Depending on my answer, something vital may change in unpredictable ways down the line

But who said I have to follow the game? A virtual space is limited by the coding of its developer, but since this is reality...

"I like both of them equally" I shook my head "The rain is gentle and soothing. But the roaring thunder is mighty and fast. It really is a hard choice as to which I think is better

By stating both their strong points and regard both of them, I refused to play by the game's rule. Naturally, as I have not specifically chosen either of them, the plot cannot be altered. If the plot cannot be altered, things stay the same

Yes, I'm being a bitch and choosing the safe option right now. Shut up

"Interesting child. Though I'll have you know thunder is obviously cooler than rain-" said the thunder Hashira "-I'll have to admit that your answer is intriguing in itself"

What part about my answer is intriguing? The only thing I did was refusing to answer using the system's choice

"Do you have any business here, Jigoro-san?"

"Just hand your old man this piece of paper when he's back. It's some demon-related stuff" A thin folded sheet was put on the table in front of me "Tell him that I awaits our next spar"

And with that the Pillar was gone, leaving me alone in the house suddenly confused

He moved fast. The man had already blitzed out of the house the moment I picked it up, moving at speed that crossed the kitchen to the living room in the fraction of a second my eyes were occupied with glancing at it

And he was walking

Is this what the power level of an experienced Pillar is like?

Fascinating...

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Night came. I retreated into the wooden house after having completed the outside chores for today. The fact that I'm living in a forest filled with demons means lights out after dark

After locking the door and keeping a candle as my only source of light, I opened my skill window to see if I learned something new today

[Resurrection] (EX)

[Mental Fortitude] (EX)

[Spirit Sight] (A)

[Killing Intent] (E)

Yep. Still no other skill acquired

There are a variety of abilities one can learn inside the game, divided into five ranks that shows one's proficiency in them. E for beginner. D for experienced. C for expert. B for master. A for grandmaster, and EX for absolute. These includes passive and active skills, from which the higher their rank is the more benefits and upgrades they will have

To learn, as well as to advance your techniques require you to progress in the game and "level up" via collecting souls. Without killing anyone, I cannot learn a new skill no matter how much I train myself everyday

That's the problem. In a way, my body is benefitting from the game system via immortality and souls. But the system itself is also restraining my potential to learn by myself

Oh well, at least I have three of these skills at high level

The lamp soon went off and I made for bed, only to pause midway

In the darkness, only one thought crossed my mind

"Oh, I forgot to take care of the wisterias"

My eyes drifted outside, toward the absolute darkness that is the forest at night.

As if responding to my gaze the wind began to pick up, leaving trees swaying gently from side to side

Even though it's already spring, the air had just gotten a bit chilly just now