"Mr. Ghost?"
Su Jin paused, his eyes narrowing as he processed the words. It made sense. To a normal person, a digital forum manifesting out of thin air would look less like a "system" and more like a haunting.
However, looking at the tone of the messages, the person on the other side didn't seem like a suave, deep-scheming transmigrator. He couldn't entirely rule out the possibility of a clever act, but the odds were low. The raw concern for the adopted daughter in the previous question was something a typical "reincarnator" would find difficult to fake.
In his experience, when a typical transmigrator adopted a girl, there was rarely a difference between raising a child and grooming a future lover.
After mentally mocking his peers with a bitter cocktail of envy and cynicism, Su Jin typed his reply: "Didn't you read what I wrote before?"
***
**World of Demon Slayer: The Butterfly Mansion.**
Under Kanae Kocho's tense, unwavering gaze, the diary's pages began to move. *Fwip—fwip—fwip!* They turned on their own, though not a single gust of wind stirred the air of the room.
Then, on a fresh, stark-white page, lines of ink-black text began to manifest as if written by an invisible hand.
[Didn't you read what I wrote before?]
Kanae's breath hitched. Silence stretched for several agonizing seconds. She tightened her grip on Kanao with one hand while her other hand instinctively moved to the hilt of her Nichirin Sword. She stepped closer, her heart hammering against her ribs.
As the words came into focus, she felt a wave of dazed confusion.
Beside her, Kanao Tsuyuri stared at the book with hollow, vacant eyes. Her voice was a flat, emotionless drone. "A blank diary…?"
"Blank? Kanao, can't you see the words?"
Kanae froze. The realization hit her like a physical blow. The problem wasn't with the child; it was with her.
Kanao wasn't a child who lied. In her current state, she was incapable of even conceiving a lie.
A pang of sadness pierced Kanae's heart, but she forced it down, sharpening her focus on the diary.
'I can see it, but Kanao cannot. Can a demon's Blood Demon Art really be this precise? This… targeted?'
Confused as to why the "demon" hadn't attacked yet, Kanae drew her katana just an inch. Using the very tip of the blade, she delicately flipped the page. Her movements were agonizingly cautious, like a girl trying to operate a crane machine to snag a fragile doll.
The page turned. She saw Su Jin's latest reply.
As she read, a metaphorical question mark seemed to hover over her head.
"Do demons even know how to raise children? And what do 'Thanks for the invite' and 'Anonymous' mean? Isn't the name 'Su Jin' written in Hanzi at the very top? It looks like a name from the Celestial Empire across the sea..."
She frowned. She had never heard of a demon originating from the Celestial Empire. After a moment of hesitation, she picked up a brush, turned to a new page, and wrote:
"May I ask who you are? What is your purpose in seeking me out?"
"Also, if I may ask… is writing in this diary your Blood Demon Art?"
***
"What the hell?" Su Jin muttered, baffled.
What was with this "Mr. Ghost" and "Blood Demon Art" talk?
Wait. A diary? Does this forum interface look different depending on the world?
Su Jin's mind, now supercharged by his Divinity, began to spin with mechanical efficiency. In an instant, the keywords clicked into place: *Demon. Blood Demon Art. Kanao.*
Memories of an anime from his previous life—*Demon Slayer*—surfaced with vivid clarity. It was a world defined by the Taisho era, where a secret corps hunted man-eating monsters in the dark.
Kanao was a major character. And the woman who adopted her…
Su Jin hesitated, his fingers hovering over the interface. He typed a single name to test his theory: "Shinobu Kocho?"
***
Kanae Kocho stiffened, her eyes widening in shock.
"How does a demon know my younger sister's name?"
A cold shiver ran down her spine. Had Shinobu been targeted? Her sister was a Demon Slayer, currently out on a mission. It was entirely possible she had crossed paths with something powerful.
But why the questioning tone? Was the demon still searching for her? Was it testing the waters to see if it had the right house?
Kanae's jaw set. She decided to play a dangerous game. She picked up the pen and wrote back, adopting a sharp, aggressive tone:
"It's me. Do you want to die, demon?"
She knew her sister's personality. Shinobu had zero patience for demons. She was a creature of cold efficiency—strike once, inject the poison, and move on. If Shinobu were facing a "Diary Demon" she couldn't find, she would provoke it. She would force it to show its face so she could kill it.
***
On the other side, Su Jin's lip curled in annoyance.
Shinobu Kocho's personality seemed far more abrasive than he remembered. This "toxic trash talk" was grating.
He frowned, his eyes flashing with a hint of competitive fire. If she wanted to play rough, he'd play rough. He typed back:
"Is your sister Kanae Kocho dead yet?"
He remembered the lore. Before Kanae died, Shinobu wasn't the "gentle but smiling" girl from the main series. She was impulsive, angry, and driven by a singular, burning rage.
***
"This person… how can he be so cruel!"
Kanae Kocho felt a surge of genuine fury.
*Is your sister dead yet?*
She *was* the sister! Who starts a conversation by cursing someone's family like that? Where were his manners?
But as the initial sting faded, Kanae forced herself to calm down. She had insulted him first while pretending to be Shinobu. It was only natural for a "demon" to snap back with something equally vile.
Still, the doubt lingered. If this "Diary Demon" knew both her and Shinobu, what was his endgame? Was he just… peeking?
Her face flushed. If he was peeking, did he see the private entries?
She frantically grabbed her pen and began crossing out pages. She blacked out every entry involving private matters—records of Shinobu's growth, notes on her changing figure, and personal sisterly observations. Those were sacred. They could *never* be seen by a stranger, let alone a demon.
***
"No reaction?" Su Jin wondered, staring at the silent screen. "Is she throwing a tantrum because I was rude?"
He imagined Shinobu Kocho frantically stabbing a diary with her sword in a fit of pique. The mental image was actually quite funny.
But he quickly regained his focus. If Shinobu was worried about Kanao's education, then Kanae Kocho was likely still alive. That placed the timeline roughly two years before the main story began.
Tanjiro Kamado was probably still a young boy selling charcoal on a snowy mountain. Shinobu was likely in the middle of her most brutal training, fueled by the grief of her parents' deaths.
In her eyes, he wasn't a "God" or a "Transmigrator." He was just a piece of demon trash using supernatural powers to peep at a girl's diary. And he had just cursed her sister.
'Communication is going to be a nightmare,' Su Jin thought, sighing. 'The first impression is a total train wreck.'
On the other side, a new message appeared:
"Mr. Ghost, do you want to be poisoned to death by me?"
Kanae Kocho, having successfully blacked out half the diary, was now rubbing her hands together, trying to bait more information out of the "powerful demon."
She waited. One minute. Five minutes. Ten.
Finally, after half an hour, a single sentence appeared:
"No. Talk later."
Kanae let out a soft "ah" and slumped slightly, a bitter smile crossing her face. "I messed it up. I didn't even get any real information. How clumsy of me..."
She regretted her aggression, though she didn't regret the censorship.
***
Su Jin closed the chat window, feeling the mental fatigue of the exchange. It was an unpleasant first meeting, but his gaze didn't leave the forum.
At the very top of the interface, the golden light of the Little Garden's Central Hub began to swirl. Characters were etching themselves into reality, glowing with a divine radiance.
[Gift: Dimensional Forum]