I'll Definitely Support Official Releases in My Next Life

(Leave your brains here.)

(The early part will be a bit of a slow burn. I'll try to flesh out some of the details the original glossed over, and the pace will gradually pick up later. An extra point to emphasize: there are a few personal additions to the setting and minor timeline adjustments.)

(P.S. My original plan was to make my third book an original story, but I switched to this Demon Slayer fanfic at the last minute. The reason was that, a few days ago, one of the essay questions on the politics section of my postgraduate entrance exam mentioned "acting bravely for a just cause," and all I could think of was "spot Giyu and surround him." I couldn't hold back my laughter, and even the invigilator was dumbfounded. After the exam, I decided to write a Demon Slayer fanfic.)

(I've finished two books so far, totaling over a million Chinese characters. Neither performed particularly well, especially the second, which flopped from start to finish, but I did tell their main stories in full. So the same goes for this book. Your old author guarantees that, no matter how it performs, I'll write the story through from beginning to end.)

(Of course, if you keep up with new chapters, request updates, leave comments, and send a few free "Powered by Love" gifts, I'll have more motivation to write. The tentative plan is four to five thousand characters a day until the hundred-thousand-character mark. After that, I'll increase the output depending on how the book performs, with a minimum of six thousand a day and a goal of ten thousand.)

(Finally, although I've written over a million characters of fiction, your old author's skills really aren't all that great. So whether it's praise or criticism, I hope you dear readers will offer plenty of suggestions. Paragraph comments and book reviews are both welcome. I'll read every one.)

(Friendly reminder: all content in this story is fictional and does not concern any real people, countries, or the like.)

(The story begins below.)

Inside a cramped dwelling of less than twenty square meters, a lone energy-saving bulb and a phone screen were the room's only two sources of light.

"Sigh..."

A sigh laden with mixed emotions sounded as the phone screen went dark.

Just moments earlier, Bai Yun had finished watching a camrip of the Demon Slayer movie on his phone.

He had no choice. The price of a movie ticket was enough for him to scrape by for several days. His current finances didn't allow him to spend such a "fortune" on a little entertainment and relaxation.

That sigh held both sorrow for the tragic ends of the story's vivid characters and helplessness at reality.

Shaking his head slightly and composing himself, Bai Yun opened the door, switched off the room's remaining light, and headed toward the street beneath a sky about to go completely dark.

He had a night shift to get to. That movie had used up almost all of what little downtime he had each day.

Bai Yun's parents had died in an accident when he was very young, and he had grown up in the home of a fairly kindhearted relative.

But that relative's family wasn't well-off either, and they had two children of their own. Taking Bai Yun in had made their lives even tighter.

So, after completing his compulsory education, Bai Yun had voluntarily left school to make a living.

He had been struggling to get by in society since his teens. Though he hadn't made much of himself, at least he could support himself, had a place to shelter in a big city that barely qualified as a "home," and could even bring small gifts to the relatives who had taken him in on holidays.

While waiting at a red light, Bai Yun drifted into thought, mentally tallying his savings and considering his plans for the future. The last rays of sunset mingled with the streetlights on his face.

His features were delicate without lacking masculinity. Even though his living conditions had left him somewhat thin and small, he could still be called rather handsome overall.

With such a good-looking base to work with, he could have taken a job that relied on his looks, and the income would certainly have been better than what he earned now. Unfortunately, Bai Yun simply couldn't accept that. Perhaps his thinking was too conservative, or perhaps he hadn't been hungry enough back then?

Time always seemed to pass especially quickly when people were distracted. The long red light Bai Yun had complained about more than once had quietly turned green while his mind wandered.

Putting aside his thoughts about the future, Bai Yun set off alone through the night toward the other side of the road. His mind returned to the movie he had just watched, the related anime, and even the original manga he occasionally came across online.

He thought back over those characters, one after another, whose fates were so hard to accept.

Those thoughts only flashed through his mind before Bai Yun pushed them aside as the curb on the opposite side came into view.

Then Bai Yun heard something beside him. Before he could turn to look, the seams between the pavement tiles in his field of vision swept sideways.

Just before Bai Yun stepped onto the sidewalk, an out-of-control car struck a curb nearby. The entire vehicle flew into the air, cleared the cars waiting at the red light ahead, and came straight for Bai Yun as he was about to step onto the sidewalk.

Only after Bai Yun slammed heavily onto the asphalt and slid some distance did his brain register the pain throughout his body.

His vision blurred with dark red patches as blood congested his eyes. Blood poured from his mouth and nose, and his breathing came with a bubbling sound.

His broken ribs had punctured his lungs, making every breath agonizing enough to knock someone unconscious under normal circumstances. Yet, with death approaching, the massive surge of adrenaline in Bai Yun's body kept him faintly conscious.

His limbs had lost all sensation except pain. Through the ringing in his ears, he seemed to hear the startled cries of passersby.

As he lay dying, his brief life of less than twenty years flashed before his eyes. He realized that the worst thing he had ever done, from childhood until now, was read pirated novels and watch pirated anime.

Before his consciousness sank completely into darkness, the last thought to surface in his increasingly uncontrollable mind was-I'll definitely support official releases in my next life.

"Be a good boy. It's your fourth birthday today. How about Daddy plays hide-and-seek with you? Hide well, and Daddy will come find you..."

"Do we really have to... He's still so little..."

"You poor child..."

"This old man has no descendants anyway. You can stay with me from now on."

"From today on, my name is Kanzaki Kumo."

"Child, you... Sigh..."

"Hiss..." Breaking free of those fragments of the past, Kanzaki Kumo slowly rose, clutching his head.

Beneath his hand, he felt something warm, wet, and somewhat sticky, reminding him of what had happened not long before.

Kanzaki Kumo, the reincarnated Bai Yun, had been born into a poor family. When he was four, his family had abandoned him under the pressure of making ends meet.

He still remembered the forced smile on that man's face, and the tearful, sallow face of a woman peeking out from behind a mound of earth nearby.

Fortunately, just as Kanzaki Kumo was about to faint from hunger, an old man named Kanzaki Keizan had taken him home and cared for him like his own grandson.

The old man lived in town and had once been prosperous. But later, his son had gotten into trouble, losing his life and most of the family's property in the process. Ever since then, the old man had been alone.

Kanzaki Kumo had lived with the old man for two or three years. During that time, he had learned to read and had taken the initiative to change his surname to "Kanzaki" and his given name to "Kumo."

The old man had been both gratified and somewhat helpless about this, but given Kanzaki Kumo's insistence, he hadn't said anything more.

However, the elderly man hadn't survived a particularly bitter winter.

In an era when ordinary people struggled to survive while the so-called upper classes did as they pleased, Kanzaki Kumo, not yet eight, naturally had no way to hold on to the house. After burying the old man, he could only take a little money that was easy to hide and begin wandering once more.

Later, the head priest of a small temple had taken him in.

The temple had also taken in more than ten orphans around his age. These children, who had lost their homes so young, got along fairly happily with others like themselves.

Except for a certain fellow named Kaigaku.

Yes, Kaigaku. And in the temple where Kanzaki Kumo lived, there was a tall, powerfully built monk who had been blind from birth, named Gyomei Himejima.

Just yesterday, Kaigaku had been caught stealing from the temple for who knew how many times and had been thrown out by the others.

But he had sneaked back late at night. Just as he was furtively trying to do something to the incense burner in the room, Kanzaki Kumo happened to wake up and catch him in the act.

In the argument and fight that followed, Kaigaku had struck him in the head with the incense burner, knocking the memories of his previous life right out.

Of course, after those memories flashed through his mind, Kanzaki Kumo knew that none of what had come before was the main issue.

Because what came next was the truly life-threatening part.

Before his consciousness had fully cleared, with the memories of both lives combined, he had thought he had merely been reincarnated in early-twentieth-century Japan. But these familiar people and events, one after another, told him that this wasn't the world of his previous life at all. It was the world of an anime.

And in this world, there were demons that ate people.

Just now, Kaigaku had broken the incense burner containing demon-repelling incense. The culprit had already slipped away in the confusion. Some of the children in the room were cursing Kaigaku, while others were concerned about Bai Yun's condition.

But the last wisps of smoke in the room were about to dissipate.

If his memory served, a demon was already outside the temple, drooling as it watched the dozen or so "little snacks" inside.

The temple's head priest had taken two other monks out to perform a ritual for someone, leaving only Gyomei Himejima behind to look after the children.

In the few seconds it took him to rise with a hand pressed to his head, Kanzaki Kumo had already sorted out the situation. He immediately let out the loudest cry of his life: "Mr. Gyomei! Help!!!"