Novel: Demon Slayer: Guardian of the Forest

Author: Mu Zi

(A kind reminder from Mu Zi: The protagonist has traveled to this world, but does not know the plot of Demon Slayer. The protagonist's timeline of arrival is about ten years before the main storyline begins.)

....

"Shinichi! Shinichi! You little brat! What are you daydreaming about? Where's the money for today?" A sudden, rough yell snapped the thin and pale boy back to reality. His tattered, ill-fitting clothes were thrown on haphazardly, and his black hair had an unhealthy yellowish tint.

Walking numbly to the low table, he pulled out two coins from his dirty pocket and dropped them into a pottery jar on the table. "Only twenty coins? You're useless!" The harsh voice rang out again, but the boy named Shinichi showed no reaction. After dropping the coins, he silently walked to the corner of the dilapidated temple and squatted down.

Then, more than ten children, all dressed similarly to Shinichi, lined up one by one and placed the money they had begged for throughout the day into the pottery jar. Watching the coins pile up in the jar, the bald man sitting behind the low table showed a satisfied expression.

The bald man, named Taiping Saburo, was a burly figure wearing simple hunting clothes, which, though not luxurious, were much better than the tattered clothes worn by the children.

It was clear that Taiping Saburo controlled a group of beggar orphans, using them to beg for money every day. Such people were not uncommon in Matsudaira Country.

Taiping Saburo had twelve children under his control, the oldest being fifteen and the youngest only six. But no matter their age, in Taiping Saburo's eyes, they were merely tools for making money.

While Taiping Saburo was counting his coins, Shinichi, along with the other children, received their dinner — a small bowl of stale rice topped with two wilted, blackened vegetables. After eating this meager meal every day, it was no wonder the children looked so frail. But each child ate hurriedly, for if they didn't, they might starve to death.

As Shinichi swallowed his rice, his black eyes, which seemed devoid of any emotion, secretly glanced in a certain direction.

After dinner, Taiping Saburo, pockets bulging with coins, swaggered out. As for Shinichi and the others, a group of orphans who had barely eaten enough, they had no interest in playing around. They simply found a place in the dilapidated temple to lie down and sleep.

As night fell and the pale moonlight bathed the area, a small figure quietly slipped out of the temple. Shinichi, after confirming that no one was around, called out softly, "Enji, Enji..."

Rustle! From the nearby bushes, a small shadow suddenly emerged, and in the next moment, a little furball rolled into Shinichi's arms. It was a black and white Shiba Inu, with a bright red tongue and sparkling eyes, wagging its tail and affectionately barking at Shinichi, "Woof! Woof!"

As he petted the little dog, Yuan'er, a rare softness appeared in Shinichi's otherwise emotionless eyes. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a rice ball that he had saved and fed it to Yuan'er. Looking up at the moon, Shinichi softly murmured, "It's been three years."

Three years ago, Shinichi was not Shinichi. He wasn't even in this country called Japan. Back then, he was just an ordinary student who never imagined that one day he would find himself caught in a strange story that only happens in novels or anime — he had traveled to another world.

When Shinichi opened his eyes and saw his small, frail body and the unfamiliar language around him, he realized he had crossed over. Unlike the protagonists in novels and anime, Shinichi didn't have any kind of "golden finger" (a special power or ability). He was just an ordinary university student in a foreign land where he couldn't understand the language and couldn't make any waves.

As an orphan, Shinichi didn't even have a surname. He had no choice but to join the group of other orphans under the control of Taiping Saburo, who turned them into tools for making money. And so, he had lived in a haze for the past three years.

As Shinichi played with Yuan'er, a figure quietly approached behind him.

Suddenly, with a swish, Shinichi sprang up, spinning around and knocking the figure behind him to the ground. A surprised voice shouted, "Wow! Big Brother Shinichi! It's me!"

Five minutes later, a little boy, nose running and grinning with a missing front tooth, was chasing Yuan'er in playful joy.

Shinichi silently watched the peaceful scene before him. After some time, the tired boy, still holding Yuan'er, came over to Shinichi, sniffing his nose and saying, "Big Brother Shinichi, you're always like this, with such a stiff face. Look, Yuan'er won't even play with you because you look so serious. Can you smile more?"

Maybe moved by the boy's carefree smile, Shinichi rarely nodded. The boy happily pulled out half a dorayaki from his pocket and stuffed it into Shinichi's hand. "This is the half that kind grandma gave me this morning. I saved it for you, Big Brother Shinichi. Please be happy!"

Looking at the half dorayaki in his hand, Shinichi felt a strange emotion surge within him. Over the past three years as an orphan in this world, he had seen far too much darkness and evil. In these three years, the land behind the dilapidated temple had already buried the bodies of four children — all attempts to escape this place.

Taiping Saburo cruelly controlled these poor children. To prevent his money-making tools from running away, he used all sorts of methods, both coercive and tempting. Among these children, he even had informants keeping watch on the others. If anyone tried to run, Taiping Saburo would make them experience what it meant to wish they were dead.

In such an environment, these children lived their days in darkness and fear, losing the innocence and joy they should have had at their age. In their place was numbness. But the one exception was the boy in front of Shinichi — Junbo.

Though only five years old, Junbo's cheerful personality had not been tainted by his surroundings. His smile was always bright, and his vibrant green eyes were full of energy. It was hard to imagine that such a lively and adorable child was an orphan beggar. In fact, Junbo was more popular with the locals than Shinichi and the others. Every day, Junbo was the one who collected the most money. Taiping Saburo treated him with great favor, seeing him as a golden goose.

Junbo often told Shinichi to smile more. "Smile, Big Brother Shinichi, please smile more! You look so serious." Among these orphans, Junbo's favorite person was actually Shinichi. Although he was outgoing, children have a sharp intuition. He could subconsciously tell who was truly kind to him.

In contrast to the envious peers and Taiping Saburo, whose smile hid greed, Shinichi's cold, serious face, with its subtle care and concern, was what Junbo liked the most.

"Big Brother Shinichi, today I heard Grandpa Tanaka, the fish vendor, tell a story. Grandpa Tanaka said we shouldn't go out alone at night, or we might encounter the terrifying man-eating demons! Demons are afraid of the sunlight, so they only come out at night! They have long, sharp claws, and they scream more terrifyingly than beasts!" Junbo opened his little hands, pretending to scare Shinichi.

"Demons? In this dilapidated temple, it's probably scarier to encounter something else than demons." Shinichi muttered, gazing at the broken temple behind him. In his mind, this dilapidated temple was much more frightening than any man-eating demon. But he had been planning for two years, and soon... very soon, he would escape this hell!

"But Grandpa Tanaka also said, besides the man-eating demons, there are also demon hunters who protect people and fight demons to maintain peace!" Junbo waved his little arms.

Ruffling Junbo's hair, Shinichi gently said, "Junbo, Big Brother Shinichi will take you to Kyoto someday. There are so many delicious foods and fun things there, and on the streets, there are food stalls selling candied fruit."

Junbo's eyes lit up. "Okay! Let's go to Kyoto! Big Brother Shinichi, you can't go back on your word!"

Shinichi didn't take the story of the man-eating demons seriously. Who would believe such stories made up to scare children? However, the story did sound vaguely familiar. In his previous life, he had heard a similar story in some anime recommendation. What was it called again? Demon hunters? But it didn't matter...