[Teleportation commencing...]
With Endspace’s prompt, Luke felt himself enter that hazy tunnel of white light once more. Everything was blurred, save for Endspace’s clear voice at his ears.
[Locating world...]
[Location confirmed. Target Derivative World: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.]
[Number of Explorers deployed in this world: 36.]
[It has been detected that the Pioneer has already mastered this world’s common language. Further instruction will be omitted.]
[This world is a faction-based confrontation world. Pioneer, please choose your initial faction identity.]
A menu appeared before Luke. At the top were two major factions: the Demon Slayer Corps faction and Muzan Kibutsuji’s faction.
Beneath them was a list of selectable identities.
[Notice: The available identities have been calculated by Endspace to suit the Pioneer. Each Explorer’s available identities differ according to their individual circumstances.]
Luke understood that part. In simple terms, Endspace would judge each person based on factors such as their strength and personality. It would not assign an Explorer an identity that would make them act wildly out of character.
"A faction choice, huh..."
Luke pondered it. If you asked an ordinary person with normal values which faction they preferred in this manga, the answer was obvious. Hardly anyone would like Muzan Kibutsuji. Everyone would side with the Demon Slayer Corps.
Unfortunately, there were no ordinary people in a place like Endspace, and an Explorer’s values did not determine their choices. The first rule of surviving in Endspace was survival itself. They would choose whichever faction made it easier to stay alive.
So which faction was easier to survive in? The answer was self-evident: Muzan Kibutsuji’s faction.
Muzan Kibutsuji might be a shitty boss, but Explorers were formidable to begin with. With their knowledge of the plot, they could thrive in the mission world.
Furthermore, joining Muzan’s faction guaranteed that one would acquire the Demon bloodline. This bloodline had the weakness of being vulnerable to sunlight, but the boost it gave to one’s attributes and its hyper-regeneration ability were immensely powerful. Among low-rank Explorers in Endspace, it was considered an outstanding and highly sought-after bloodline.
Besides, Demons did not necessarily have to fear the sun. In the original story, both the protagonist Tanjiro Kamado and his sister Nezuko Kamado overcame that weakness after becoming Demons. Tanjiro had even nearly turned into a JoJo-style Ultimate Life Form. Once they returned to Endspace, fixing the flaws of that bloodline would be easy enough.
At that point, the Demon bloodline would become a premium bloodline with high attribute bonuses and hyper-regeneration. Naturally, it was a low-rank Explorer’s dream.
While taking a walk before, Luke had overheard several Explorers talking about the Demon Slayer world. They desperately wanted to enter it and considered it a "bonus" world.
All they had to do was kneel before Muzan, and they could obtain a premium bloodline. Where else could they find a deal that good?
As for danger? What danger? The Demon Slayer Corps?
Explorers already had relatively high attributes to begin with. After becoming Demons, they would become even more overpowered. As long as they played it safe with their knowledge of the plot, surviving in this world would not be difficult.
So long as they were not erased for failing the mission, even taking a minor penalty for an incomplete objective would be worth it if they could return successfully with the Demon bloodline essentially acquired for free.
Even the less shameless Explorers—if the stronger ones had to choose—would most likely pick Muzan’s faction. Not only because the Demon bloodline was excellent, but because Muzan’s faction held a huge advantage in the first place.
Yes, Muzan had ultimately been beheaded in the original story, but the Demon Slayer Corps had only won a pyrrhic victory. Muzan’s faction lost mainly because their boss was incompetent and cowardly, and because they suffered badly from an information disadvantage that weakened them considerably.
But if Explorers intervened, Muzan would not fall into traps or be poisoned. Even the Upper Rank Demons who had been picked off one by one after being focused down by the Demon Slayer Corps might start fighting as a group.
In terms of direct combat power alone, the Demon Slayer Corps was definitely no match for Muzan’s faction.
And when it came to growth potential, there was even less to discuss. That famous manga saying was not wrong: Demons could achieve higher stats. Their innate upper limit was naturally higher than that of humans in the Demon Slayer world.
An anomaly as monstrously powerful as Yoriichi Tsugikuni was an exception. In truth, even after becoming a Demon, one could continue honing their combat arts and could even use Breathing Styles.
From every perspective, joining Muzan’s faction was the more rational decision.
But Luke was not a particularly rational person. He did things only so that he could live without regrets. What mattered most was following his heart.
More importantly, he felt that the Demon bloodline would make him ugly, so he chose the Demon Slayer Corps faction.
Of course, Muzan’s faction was not advantageous in every era. During the Sengoku period, Muzan had been hunted so relentlessly by the Demon Slayer Corps led by Yoriichi Tsugikuni that he had not dared show his face. If they were being sent to that period, joining Muzan’s faction would not have been a good thing.
But Luke could tell that the time they were about to enter was during the main story, solely because he had seen the selectable identities within the Demon Slayer Corps faction.
Selectable Identity 1: Water Inheritance
Identity Details: You are a disciple of Sakonji Urokodaki, the former Water Hashira and current trainer. This identity allows you to learn Water Breathing.
Identity Difficulty: A+
Minimum Overall Evaluation Required: S-
Luke checked the notes concerning difficulty and overall evaluation. Difficulty represented the dangers he might encounter after choosing that identity, while the minimum overall evaluation was the target he needed to achieve by the end of this world. He had to exceed that rating, or he would face a penalty.
Just from the first identity, Luke could already determine the rough timeline. The identities that followed allowed him to narrow it down further.
Selectable Identity 2: Flower Inheritance
Identity Details: You are a disciple of Shinobu Kocho, the current Insect Hashira. This identity allows you to learn Insect Breathing or Flower Breathing.
Identity Difficulty: B
Minimum Overall Evaluation Required: A-
Luke immediately skipped this option. He did not think Flower Breathing suited him, and its difficulty rating suggested that this identity might leave him stuck at the Butterfly Mansion doing logistical work all the time.
What puzzled Luke most, though, was that he remembered the Butterfly Mansion being full of girls. What did Endspace mean by this? Why the hell could he choose that identity?
He skipped it and continued browsing the other identities. He soon discovered that there were even more Breathing Styles in this world than he had imagined. The original story had left out many obscure styles, all of which had evolved from the original Breathing Style.
The Breathing Styles cultivated by Demon Slayer Corps members came in all kinds of strange varieties. Not everyone was lucky enough to have a former Hashira as their trainer.
The saying that great teachers produce great students existed for a reason. Individual talent and effort were important, but a good teacher could let someone grow twice as fast with half the effort.
After looking over every identity, Luke made his choice.
Selectable Identity 7: Thunder Inheritance
Identity Details: You are a disciple of Jigoro Kuwajima, the former Thunder Hashira and current trainer. This identity allows you to learn Thunder Breathing.
Identity Difficulty: A+
Minimum Overall Evaluation Required: S-
Its difficulty was roughly comparable to Water Inheritance. Luke guessed that both inheritances would result in frequent contact with the protagonist’s group, which also meant he would be more likely to encounter powerful Demons.
Luke was somewhat interested in this world’s Breathing Styles. Training in one could improve his physical abilities, while also unlocking powerful Breathing Style combat techniques. It should further diversify his skill arsenal.
If possible, he would have preferred to learn Sun Breathing. Unfortunately, there apparently was no orthodox inheritance of Sun Breathing in the current Demon Slayer world, nor was there a trainer for it. Endspace could hardly make him one of Tanjiro’s relatives.
Besides, even Tanjiro himself had only a hazy understanding of Sun Breathing before the finale. Asking him to teach someone would be difficult.
After considering everything, Luke felt that Thunder Breathing—with its extreme speed and more violent-looking style—suited his tastes better. He selected that initial identity.
Once he confirmed it, Endspace’s prompt sounded.
[Deployment commencing...]
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