Swish!
The wooden sword cut through the air.
Perrin pulled it back.
Swish!
Again.
Swish!
Again.
His fingers screamed at him to stop.
The skin across his palms had already split, and sweat ran down his arms until it dripped from his elbows. His breathing had become rough minutes ago, but his hands tightened around the wooden sword anyway.
Swish!
His arms finally failed.
The sword slipped from his fingers and struck the dirt.
Perrin stared at it.
"Damnit."
Five years.
Five whole years.
He slowly bent down and picked the sword back up.
"I've been training for five years, and I've barely made any progress."
His arms shook as he raised it again.
Five years since he had died from a heart attack.
Five years since he had opened his eyes in a world he recognized far too quickly.
Demon Slayer.
A world filled with monsters that could tear ordinary humans apart without trying.
And apparently, he had been reincarnated into it without anything useful.
No Breathing Style.
No Nichirin Blade.
No teacher.
No absurd bloodline.
And most importantly—
"Where is my system?"
Silence.
Perrin stared ahead.
"Seriously?"
Nothing.
"Cheat ability?"
The trees moved gently in the wind.
"Hidden talent?"
Nothing.
"Old man secretly waiting to train me?"
Still nothing.
Perrin sighed.
"Who am I kidding? Complaining isn't going to make one appear. I've waited five years already."
He lowered the sword.
"Rest first. Train again afterward."
Perrin turned—
His body suddenly moved.
He threw himself sideways.
CRACK!
Something tore through the tree where his head had been less than a second earlier.
Perrin hit the ground and rolled.
"What the hell?!"
He grabbed his wooden sword and looked up.
Two red eyes stared back at him from between the trees.
A creature stepped into view.
Long claws.
Sharp teeth.
Saliva running from its mouth.
Perrin froze.
"...A demon."
The demon sniffed the air.
"Food..."
Its mouth stretched into a grin.
"Finally! Those damn Demon Slayers kept chasing me, but I escaped!"
Perrin tightened his grip.
The demon crouched.
"And now I'm starving!"
It launched itself forward.
"COME HERE, HUMAN!"
Perrin barely ducked.
Claws passed over his head.
He stumbled backward.
The demon attacked again.
Perrin twisted aside.
Another attack.
Another desperate dodge.
How am I even avoiding these?!
There wasn't time to think.
The demon's claws came again.
Perrin moved—
Too slow.
SLASH!
"AGH!"
Blood sprayed across the dirt.
The attack ripped through his skin and tore deep enough that his body stopped listening to him.
The impact sent him flying.
BANG!
His back smashed against a tree.
Something cracked.
Then something else.
Perrin dropped to the ground.
His wooden sword landed several feet away.
"...Move."
His fingers twitched.
Nothing more.
"Come on..."
Blood spread beneath him.
His vision started blurring.
"MOVE!"
The demon walked toward him.
Slowly.
Almost casually.
"There we go."
Perrin tried reaching toward his sword.
His arm refused.
"All that running for nothing."
The demon stopped directly in front of him.
One claw rose toward Perrin's throat.
"Any last words?"
Perrin could barely hear it anymore.
So this is it?
I survived here for five years...
Just to die again?
The claw started moving.
Then—
DANG!
Perrin's eyes widened.
A voice appeared directly inside his mind.
[Multiverse Travel System unlocked!]
"...What?"
[Opening Random Character Template...]
Perrin stared blankly.
"No way."
DANG!
[Character Template acquired: PEZO.]
[Race: Human.]
[Skill acquired: Weak Adapt Body LV. 1.]
[Progress: 0/100.]
Perrin's blurred vision focused on the translucent screen appearing before him.
Name: Perrin
Template Character: Pezo — Human
Template Progress: 1%
Skill: Weak Adapt Body LV. 1 — 0/100
Weak Adapt Body: Allows the user to slowly adapt to anything containing a form of energy, including beings, weapons, abilities, and special traits.
Cost: Adaptation consumes physical strength.
Perrin stared.
The demon's claw continued toward him.
"The system..."
Energy suddenly exploded through his body.
Perrin gasped.
Broken bones shifted back into place.
His wounds closed.
The bleeding stopped.
Strength flooded through muscles that had been useless only seconds earlier.
The demon jumped backward.
"What?!"
Perrin's fingers moved.
He grabbed the wooden sword.
"You were half-dead!"
Perrin slowly stood.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
He looked at the System window one more time.
"Pezo..."
He had no idea who that was.
No idea how strong the template could become.
No idea what the hell Multiverse Travel System even meant.
But right now?
He didn't care.
Perrin raised the wooden sword.
"I don't know what this Pezo template is..."
The demon snarled.
"...but I'll take whatever help I can get."
"YOU THINK THAT WILL SAVE YOU?!"
The demon charged.
Perrin's grip tightened.
Weak Adapt Body activated.
The demon swung.
Perrin moved.
The claws missed.
The demon's eyes widened.
Perrin stepped forward.
He swung.
SWISH!
The wooden sword passed straight through the demon's body.
Silence.
Its upper half slid away from its lower half.
Both pieces hit the ground.
Perrin stared.
"...What?"
He looked down at the wooden sword.
"I just..."
The demon's hand moved.
"You..."
Perrin immediately jumped away.
The two halves began pulling themselves together.
Muscle twisted.
Bones reconnected.
Flesh regenerated.
Perrin's expression fell.
"...Right."
The demon stood again.
Its face twisted with rage.
"YOU THINK A WOODEN SWORD CAN KILL ME?!"
"No."
That answer stopped it for half a second.
Perrin stepped backward.
The demon snarled.
"Then you're a fool!"
It charged again.
Perrin dodged.
Another slash came.
He moved again.
Another.
Again.
His breathing grew heavier.
Weak Adapt Body continued working.
Each movement became slightly easier to follow.
The demon's shoulders.
Its legs.
The shift in weight before every attack.
His body wasn't simply moving anymore.
It was learning.
It's working.
Perrin ducked under another strike.
Slowly.
He stepped around the demon.
But it's definitely working.
His muscles burned.
And it's draining the hell out of me.
The demon screamed and attacked again.
"You can't run forever!"
Perrin glanced past it.
Something had changed.
The darkness between the trees wasn't as deep anymore.
The horizon was beginning to brighten.
Perrin smiled.
"You're right."
The demon stopped.
"What?"
Perrin raised his wooden sword.
"I can't kill you with this."
The demon grinned.
"Then DIE!"
"But I don't need to."
"...What?"
Perrin looked behind it.
The first sunlight broke between the trees.
The demon turned.
Its expression collapsed.
"No."
Smoke rose from its shoulder.
"No!"
The demon jumped toward the shadows.
Perrin stepped into its path.
"Move!"
"No."
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
The demon attacked.
Perrin blocked.
The impact drove him backward, but he stayed between the demon and the darkness.
More sunlight spread across its body.
Its skin began burning.
"NO! MOVE!"
Perrin pushed forward.
The demon screamed.
Its fingers blackened.
Its arm crumbled.
"NOT LIKE THIS!"
Perrin tightened his grip.
"Should've picked somebody else for breakfast."
The demon's body burst into ash.
Silence returned to the forest.
Perrin stood there.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Then his legs gave out.
He collapsed onto his back.
"...I hate this world."
DANG!
[Demon eliminated.]
[Pezo Template Progress increased by 1%.]
Perrin lifted one hand weakly and opened his Status.
Name: Perrin
Template Character: Pezo — Human
Template Progress: 2%
Weak Adapt Body LV. 1: 4/100
Perrin stared at the number.
"Two percent..."
He laughed weakly.
"I almost died for one percent."
His head dropped back against the grass.
"This is going to take forever."