Seven days passed in the blink of an eye. In the end, only eight people—including Okane Kichiro—walked out of Mount Fujikasane alive. Compared to the original timeline, three additional examinees had survived. More than twenty candidates had entered the mountain, yet not even half had made it out. The survival rate alone was enough to show how dangerous it was to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Still, those who chose this path were almost always people with deep, personal grudges against demons. Whether it was dangerous or not… hardly mattered at all.
"Congratulations to all of you. To see you return safely is the greatest blessing…"
The familiar twin attendants stood at the front, speaking in alternating lines like always.
While they recited the opening remarks, Okane Kichiro opened his personal status panel, checking the results of his week-long "harvest."
[Player Status Panel]
Name: Okane Kichiro (Player No. 7274)
Level: Lv.3
HP: 100%
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Endurance: 6
Intelligence: 6
Charm: 6
Luck: 5
[Free Attribute Points: 4]
Innate Talent: Transparent World (Gold)
Skill: Water Breathing Lv.6 (Purple)
Quality: Medium
Effect 1: Potential Unleashed — Temporarily increases Strength, Agility, and Endurance by 1 point each.
Effect 2: Exclusive Sword Forms — Grants usage of sword techniques compatible with the Breathing Style.
Effect 3: Total Concentration — Doubles the duration of Breathing Techniques and temporarily increases Intelligence by 2 points.
[Paradise Coins: 3200]
Over the past few days, Okane Kichiro had almost completely cleared Mount Fujikasane of demons. By roughly counting, he had slain at least a hundred of them. The effort pushed him to Level 3 and even increased his Endurance by one point.
However, the experience gained from lower-rank demons had sharply diminished. If he wanted to continue leveling by killing them, he would need to hunt well over a thousand. At this point, he had no choice but to abandon Fujikasane—this beginner dungeon had reached its limit.
Besides, if he kept wiping out all the demons on the mountain… more than one Hashira would definitely come knocking.
After all, every demon here had been painstakingly captured alive by the Hashira themselves.
Although his stat sheet did not reflect it directly, Okane Kichiro could clearly feel his body had improved—his strength and agility had noticeably increased. This only made him more determined to save his free attribute points.
As long as he could still grow through training, there was no need to waste precious points now. Later stages would surely require far more to increase a single stat, and leveling up was currently the only reliable way to earn free attributes. He had to maximize their value.
Lost in thought, he was suddenly pulled back by a sharp caw. A crow landed cautiously on his shoulder.
"From this moment on, the Kasugai Crows will accompany you…"
"Kasugai Crow? Isn't it just a crow?" Okane Kichiro muttered under his breath.
The crow blinked its beady eyes at him, then calmly began preening its feathers.
"Stop messing around!"
A hot-headed boy nearby angrily swatted the crow off his arm, storming toward the twins while shouting.
"I don't care if it's a crow or whatever! Just hurry up and give me my Nichirin Blade!"
He reached out and grabbed the white-haired twin girl rather roughly, demanding his sword.
Tanjiro naturally couldn't stand for that kind of behavior. He rushed forward to stop him, and the two looked ready to start a fight.
"Big bro! Big bro! What do we do? Should we go help?"
"Help whom?"
"Obviously the one in blue! That scary guy—he's bullying the little girl!" Zenitsu whispered, lowering his voice in fear of being heard.
"No need. He can handle it."
Okane Kichiro stroked his Kasugai Crow. That hot-headed boy was annoying, yes—but pitiful too. Better to let Tanjiro deal with him himself.
"…Speaking of which, why is your Kasugai Crow a sparrow?"
"I'd like to know that too!!"
Zenitsu looked crushed. Was it because he had been so terrified earlier that he accidentally scared away his crow? Even so, did they have to downgrade him to a sparrow!?
Kanao quietly stared at her own crow, completely detached from the chaos. The other survivors also looked uninterested in getting involved.
Ultimately, Tanjiro didn't fight the boy—he simply pushed him back. The hot-headed youth held his arm in pain, face full of unwillingness, but his frail body couldn't use Breathing Techniques at all. If they really fought, he stood no chance.
Just then, the black-haired twin announced that those who passed the Final Selection could now step forward to choose their sword-forging steel—Tamagané. Since it concerned their future Nichirin Blades, everyone immediately rushed ahead.
[New Story Material Found — Tamagané]
[Spend 300 Paradise Coins to appraise?]
(No need!)
Okane Kichiro rejected the prompt instantly. It seemed the Paradise system couldn't help determine the steel's quality. There were over thirty pieces of Tamagané on the table—he couldn't appraise them all.
If only Transparent World worked like x-ray vision; perhaps then he could identify the best piece.
"Well… with 5 points in Luck, I probably won't pick a terrible one."
Since he couldn't tell the difference, he didn't bother overthinking it. He simply grabbed the one that felt right and handed it to the twins. A designated swordsmith would forge it for him in the coming days.
"Big bro, big bro! How about we travel together?"
"Sorry—we're going separate ways. Maybe next time."
Pushing aside Zenitsu's crestfallen expression, Okane Kichiro led Kanao away from Mount Fujikasane. The remaining survivors also parted in different directions.