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[Crossover] Ch 3: Gift: Dimensional Forum
🕑 Added 2025-05-06 22:47:40 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
"Mr. Ghost?"
Ryo paused, blinking in surprise. Then he thought about it—if a forum randomly appeared out of nowhere, it was fair for someone to think it was the work of a ghost.
Still, judging by the tone, this person seemed… oddly naive.
Most forum users had that smug, know-it-all vibe.
Then again, Ryo's years of devouring web novels hadn't gone to waste—maybe this was some overpowered transmigrator testing the waters.
But honestly? Ryo didn't think that was very likely. The way the person expressed concern for their adopted sister didn't fit the usual behavior of your typical transmigrator.
Let's face it—most transmigrators adopting a sister? That's just a glorified way of getting a live-in girlfriend.
Throwing shade at most of his peers, Ryo replied to the question with a mix of jealousy and admiration:
〚"Did you even read what I wrote before?"〛
——
Demon Slayer World – Butterfly Mansion
Inside the quiet Butterfly Mansion, Kanao was curled up in Kanae's arms while she watched the diary in front of them. The pages flipped on their own as if stirred by an invisible breeze.
New text began to form in neat black letters: "Did you even read what I wrote before?"
Kanae's breath caught.
She held Kanao tighter with one arm and kept the other on her sword hilt as she cautiously approached the diary. When the message came into view, she blinked, confused.
That's when the girl in her arms, Kanao, stared blankly at the notebook and said in a flat, emotionless voice: "Blank diary...?"
"Blank? There are clearly words on it, Kanao," Kanae said, then froze.
Wait a minute.
Maybe the problem wasn't with Kanao.
It was her.
Kanao wasn't the type of child to lie—frankly, she wasn't even capable of lying right now.
A strange sadness crept into Kanae's chest, but she pushed it down quickly and focused on the diary again.
"So I can see it, but Kanao can't. Is this some kind of demon Blood Art?"
Confused by the demon's lack of attack and suspicious of this bizarre diary, Kanae carefully flipped the page with her sword.
She moved like a little girl trying to win a plushie from a claw machine—cautious, focused.
She reached the new message Ryo had just written.
Reading it over with growing suspicion, a puzzled look appeared on her face.
"Demons know how to raise kids now?"
"And what does 'Gonna answer anonymously' even mean? Isn't that his name at the top, 'Ryo Yagami'?"
Still unsure, she picked up a pen and flipped to a blank page, then wrote:
"Who are you? Why are you contacting me?"
"And sorry if this is rude, but—is this diary your Blood Demon Art?"
— — —
"What the hell?"
Ryo was baffled by the response.
What was all this talk about demons and Blood Arts? And didn't that user just call him Mr. Ghost earlier?
Hold up—diary?
Could the forum look different to other people?
His brain, enhanced by divine awareness, kicked into high gear. The words "demon," "Blood Demon Art," "Kanao" all started clicking together.
Then a memory surfaced—Demon Slayer.
The anime he had watched in his previous life.
That was the one with demon hunters in Taisho-era Japan. Kanao… wasn't she one of the side heroines?
And wasn't she adopted by... Kocho something... ah—Shinobu! A key character in the show.
With that, Ryo typed back a reply:
〚"Kocho Shinobu?"〛
— — —
Kanae blinked.
"How does a demon know my sister's name?"
Her eyes narrowed. Was Shinobu being targeted?
It would make sense—her sister was a Demon Slayer too. She was out right now on a mission.
But this... this felt more like a probing question. A test?
So the demon hadn't found Shinobu yet?
Kanae hesitated, then wrote coldly: "Yes. Do you want to die, demon?"
If her sister Shinobu were in this situation, this is exactly how she'd respond. That girl had no patience for demons. She'd just slash them, inject poison, and move on.
This one, hiding behind a diary, was no different.
Best strategy? Piss it off, make it show itself—then kill it.
— — —
Ryo frowned at the reply.
This... didn't sound like the Kocho Shinobu he remembered at all.
Why's she acting like some edgy anime villain spouting one-liners?
Feeling irritated, he fired back:
〚"Is your sister Kanae dead yet?"〛
Yeah, that was probably a bit much.
But it jogged his memory—back when Kanae was still alive, Shinobu was nothing like the cold, dark-humored character from later in the series. She was high-spirited. Impulsive, even.
— — —
"Wha—what kind of person says that!?"
Kanae was livid.
Is your sister dead yet?
She was this sister!
Who greets someone like that? Ever heard of basic manners!?
After a long moment, she managed to calm herself down.
To be fair... she had been the one to go on the offensive first. Maybe the demon was just retaliating.
She sighed, still annoyed but now more curious than angry.
If this diary demon knew about her... and knew about Shinobu...
What the hell was it trying to do?
It couldn't just be here to read her diary, right?
But then again, if it was peeping, it would've known she was the writer.
Just in case, she started flipping through the pages and furiously blacking out anything remotely personal—especially the bits about Shinobu's, ahem, development.
That stuff was not for demonic eyes.
— — —
"Still no response?"
Ryo rubbed his chin. "Did I piss her off?"
He imagined Shinobu furiously stabbing the diary like a lunatic. Honestly... kind of funny.
But he quickly brushed the thought aside.
"Let's see..."
"Based on the question earlier, Shinobu had just adopted Kanao and was unsure how to raise her. That meant Kanae was probably still alive."
"So this must be about two years before the main plot of Demon Slayer."
"Tanjiro is still just a kid, and his dad might still be alive."
"Shinobu, meanwhile, will be in the middle of her training arc—parents killed, obsessed with revenge."
"Adopting Kanao might've softened her a little, but not by much."
"And now, in Shinobu's eyes, I probably look like some creepy demon spying on her sister's private diary."
"Oh, and I just told her sister to drop dead."
Yeah... not great for first impressions.
Just then, another reply popped up:
〚"Mr. Demon, would you like to be poisoned?"〛
---
On the other side, Kanae had already censored most of the diary and was eagerly waiting for more intel on this bizarre demon.
Ryo, meanwhile, stared at the screen in silence.
Half an hour passed.
Finally, he replied: 〚"Nope. Bye."〛
Kanae read the message and let out a long sigh.
"Ugh... totally messed that up. And I still don't even know what it is."
If she could do it over again, she'd definitely be more careful.
Well... except for blacking out the diary. She'd absolutely still do that.
— — —
"Yeah, not the most pleasant first encounter," Ryo thought.
His eyes drifted away from the latest question and back to the top of the forum.
There, shaped by the power of Little Garden, new words were starting to appear: [Gift: Dimensional Forum]
.
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