Bloodfang silently watched the boy in the woods.
Young. Alone. Full of rich, vigorous blood.
A delicious loaf of bread.
Excited, it struggled to suppress its hunger and considered how best to prepare him.
Should it break all four limbs and swallow him alive while he was still fresh?
Or should it let his fear ferment, then savor him slowly with the rich aroma of despair?
Fresh meat, or meat with flavor.
What a blissful choice...
Truly a difficult decision.
A murky madness writhed in Bloodfang's eyes, making it lick its sharp fangs.
As for the katana at the boy's side?
It did not care in the slightest.
Aside from sunlight and truly powerful Demon Slayers, the resistance of ordinary humans was not worth fearing.
If anything, those futile acts of defiance only made for a more delicious meal.
Just look at the boy's shabby clothes. At a glance, he was obviously not a member of the Demon Slayer Corps.
And night had only just fallen.
Middle of nowhere.
Even if he screamed for help, no one would answer.
Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since Bloodfang last got to feast properly. It wondered how many humans it would need to devour before it could once more catch that Lady's attention and behold her glory again.
Before Bloodfang could decide, it noticed that the boy in the distance had suddenly lifted his head and started looking around.
In the end, his gaze fixed straight in its direction.
Sharp senses, huh? That just makes me look forward to this even more~
So Bloodfang stopped hiding.
It straightened up and sauntered toward the boy with a frivolous air, finally stepping into the range of the firelight.
The firelight spilled across its face. Bloodfang split its mouth wide, displaying the grotesque grin that stretched to its ears, along with its pointed teeth.
It was always more fun to play with food before eating it.
Just as expected—after seeing its inhumanly powerful body, the first thing the boy did was place a hand on his sword hilt.
Next came one of the usual reactions.
Either he would turn and run.
Or he would scream in terror to muster courage, then slash wildly in Bloodfang's direction.
Based on past experience, it had already imagined both outcomes for him.
And yet the boy's actions were different from anyone Bloodfang had met before.
He merely patted the dust off himself, stood up with his sword in hand, and began walking toward it at a measured pace.
There was no fear in his eyes. No panic.
Instead, he looked at Bloodfang with a gaze that made it uncomfortable.
It was a gaze of appraisal. Of curiosity.
Its muscles gradually tensed, and the killing intent and stench of blood it had been restraining started to seep out from its body.
Oh?
Not running away, but actually approaching me?
How brave.
You're making me want to stuff that sexy, delicious body of yours into my stomach right now!
"Young man, aren't you afraid?"
For once, Bloodfang actually asked its prey a question.
Surely, deep down, you are afraid, aren't you?
But the boy responded with a question of his own.
"So you're a demon?"
Xiaxi drew his sword.
The emerald-green blade gleamed coldly in the firelight.
He studied the roughly two-meter-tall humanoid creature before him.
Its blue-gray face was hard as iron, fangs jutting outward, the muscles across its body coiled like old tree roots, and its crimson eyes burned fiercely in the dark.
"If you've got a name, I guess that makes you an elite mob?"
Before the other side could answer, the sharp Nichirin Blade was already slashing for its neck.
Just as expected, the moment he attacked, the demon called Bloodfang immediately switched into aggro state.
It moved second, but struck first.
Its right claw lashed out like a steel whip, knocking the Nichirin Blade aside by force.
Strong. Naturally, since its numbers were higher than his.
No idea if there was some hidden racial stat bonus mixed in there too.
Xiaxi did not panic in the slightest.
Instead, amid a burst of sparks, he twisted with the force of the deflection.
The blade traced a chilling horizontal line, just barely skimming across the demon's throat.
That should have hit.
And yet the demon, relying on its absurd physical ability, forced itself half a step backward with an utterly unnatural burst of power.
Xiaxi licked his lips, excited.
As expected of 28 points in physique—ten whole points above him.
Even though he had used finesse to offset the clash, the earlier hit had still numbed the web between his thumb and forefinger, and the Nichirin Blade had nearly flown from his grip.
What was even more interesting was this:
the AI could instantly respond to his mid-attack adjustment with a special evasive maneuver.
This combat system...
"You're kind of interesting," Xiaxi could not help saying.
Bloodfang frowned.
"You're with the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"Not yet," Xiaxi replied.
"Oh?" The murky fluid in Bloodfang's eyes churned violently. "Then you're a samurai? Perfect. It's been many years since I last tasted a samurai's flesh."
Oh, there was a trash-talk phase too.
Xiaxi took up a sword stance and drew in a deep breath.
Scorching air spilled from between his teeth.
His sturdy chest beat like a war drum.
Come on, then.
Let me see what this game's combat system focuses on. Footsies and spacing? Or resource management with a stamina bar?
Wind Breathing
Here it came.
The power surging through every limb and organ through his breathing style was twisted into a single force by the boy.
Power burst from the soles of his feet into the earth, kicking up a ring of dust—
Boom!
He became a blur.
Dragging a savage storm behind it, the Nichirin Blade drove straight toward the demon.
First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter
The demon showed no fear.
Grinning viciously, it thrust both claws forward like twin spears into the center of the storm.
The campfire was snuffed out at once.
But the darkness brought Bloodfang no advantage in night combat—
because what was extinguished along with the fire...
was Bloodfang itself.
Man-eating demon, Bloodfang.
The smile froze on its blue-gray face.
The brutality in its pupils was replaced in an instant by confusion.
Its head slipped from its neck...
and dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
I... got decapitated?
How is this brat so strong?!
Its body still flailed wildly like a headless cockroach, limbs thrashing in a final cry from its dying nerves.
But in truth, it was already beyond saving.
After the brief flash of rage and shock, however, a strange sensation rose rapidly in its mind—a sense of fog lifting.
It was as though a haze that had clouded Bloodfang's mind for years was finally beginning to disperse.
No wonder.
That was why the boy's gaze at the start had made it feel uncomfortable.
Because from the very beginning, the way he looked at it was no different from a child seeing a piglet for the first time—pure curiosity.
A piglet?
Something like that happened before... right, it was my little brother...
The head lying on the ground gradually began to crack apart.
Like paper offerings burned during a grave-sweeping festival,
it slowly started to drift away into the air.
And Bloodfang finally remembered its real name, along with the memories it had forgotten.
Turned into a monster by another monster, and then sinking into those acts of devouring humans.
But now,
he did not rush to speak with the dead waiting in the depths of his memories.
Instead, he looked toward the boy before him.
The one who had granted him release.
"Kid... what's your name?"
"Xiaxi. Jiuche Xiaxi."
"What an incredible brat I've met..."
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Bloodfang felt as though the boy seemed a little distracted.
Of course Xiaxi was distracted.
At that moment, he himself was feeling a little lost.
No, seriously, man.
Didn't we just trade a few normal attacks to test each other out before starting to throw out skills?
I even used Breathing techniques and a sword form.
So why were you still only using basic attacks?!
And what the hell, did you not even try to dodge? Your reach can't possibly be longer than my arm holding a sword over a meter long, can it?
And then you just got one-shot?
The biggest lesson Xiaxi took from this battle was that fighting monsters in the dark without proper lighting really did make visibility annoying.
Anything else?
Nope.
Honestly, it was less satisfying than using a wooden sword in the training yard to test out skill combos on wooden posts.
That was it?
Where were the balance designers?
You call this how you tune an encounter?
As he watched the demon's panel gradually change from the red [Bloodfang ???] to the green [Bloodfang (Inoue Shin)], it looked like the other side still had something left it wanted to say.
Faint, fragmented images also began to appear in his vision.
So not only had this unsatisfying first battle ended already, now he also had to sit through a cutscene?
After casually giving his name, Xiaxi immediately selected [Skip Story].
By the time the accelerated, almost absurdly jerky world settled back into normal speed, all that remained before him was a small, unremarkable pile of ash.
What was he about to say again?
Xiaxi scratched his head and looked at the system panel.
"Yeah, I knew it."
"Killing monsters really does give experience."
[Wind Breathing Lv.2]
[Moderately Proficient]
[Progress: 221/1000 (+48)]
Honestly, bro, you weren't completely useless after all.
I got your final parting gift loud and clear.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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