Itsuki slowly woke up in a dark corner of the street.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for activating the 'Grow Stronger by Eating' System. Would you like to view the Newbie Guide?"
The second he opened his eyes, a cold, robotic voice popped into his head, and a glowing message box appeared right in front of him.
"I... I got a cheat ability?"
Still groggy, he rubbed his eyes and muttered to himself.
"'Grow Stronger by Eating'? What kinda dumbass name is that? This dream sucks. I'm changing it."
He rolled over and shut his eyes again, hoping he'd wake up with a cooler ability next time.
But a chill ran down the back of his neck.
"Wait... wasn't I in my bed? What is this place?"
Itsuki sat up fast, finally awake for real. But before he could finish his thought, a flood of memories slammed into his head all at once. Holding his forehead, he sat there for a while trying to make sense of it all.
And then it hit him.
He really had transmigrated into another world. Now, he was in the body of a twelve-year-old kid from the Taisho era.
The memories weren't his—they belonged to the boy who had this body before him.
That kid came from a rich family in Japan. He was smart, decent-looking, and had everything going for him... until last year.
His dad suddenly got hooked on gambling and burned through all their money, then ditched them completely when he couldn't even pay his debts.
His mom got sick and died from the stress just a week ago.
Left with nothing, the kid ended up homeless. All the relatives turned their backs on him, and everything he had was taken. So, from a spoiled rich boy, he became a starving orphan.
He had no home, no money, and no one to help him. He ended up begging in the Yoshiwara Pleasure District.
That's where Itsuki was now.
And this morning—the last memory before the switch—the kid saw some ruffians beating up a dirty little kid. Even though he could barely stand from hunger, he stepped in to help.
And, well, it didn't really end well.
He took a hit to the head and dropped. That's when Itsuki's soul took over.
So yeah, that's how he got here.
After sitting for a bit, he let out a long breath. It sucked, but he had no choice but to accept it. At least he had experience from the 21st century, and a system that might help him survive.
Suddenly, the system didn't seem so lame anymore.
Taking another deep breath, Itsuki told the system to open the Newbie Guide. If he was gonna live, it all started here.
A panel popped up.
Host: Itsuki
Current World: Demon Slayer
Age: 12
Skill Point Progress: 0%
Abilities: None
Newbie Guide:The system lets you gain energy by eating. When you reach 100%, you earn a Skill Point. You can use these points to level up skills.
Going from level 0 to 1 costs one point. Level 1 to 2 costs two points, and so on. Regular people can only go up to level 3. Talented folks can go to 5–7.
You can check how much energy food gives you in the "Diet Guide."
Itsuki opened the guide. It was a long list, but the pattern was easy to see.
Meat and fish gave more energy than veggies. Medicinal food gave more than normal meat. And the older the ingredients, the better.
It was simple and honestly kind of awesome never seen something like this.
Still, something else hit him hard.
He wasn't just in the past. He was in this world—the world of Demon Slayer.
A place crawling with man-eating demons. Even the weakest ones were tough as nails. They could heal fast, didn't die from normal wounds, and the strong ones had insane powers called Blood Demon Arts.
The only real weakness they had was sunlight and Nichirin blades.
And as someone who'd read the manga, he really didn't want to be in the Yoshiwara Pleasure District. Because he knew Upper Moon Six was lurking here.
Itsuki's gut dropped.
Even with the system, there was no way he could fight a demon like that. Not now.
He needed to get out of here.
But where would he even go?
Wandering around as a weak beggar in a demon-infested country didn't sound any safer.
So maybe running wasn't the answer either. But staying here felt like suicide too.
Before he could come up with a plan, hunger slammed into him like a brick wall. His head spun, and his body collapsed back onto the ground.
He realized something in that moment:
"I don't even have the strength to worry about demons right now."
A weak, bitter smile crept across his face before he passed out again.
Itsuki didn't know how long he was out before someone shook him awake.
"What... where am I again?"
Still dizzy, he sat up and blinked. That's when he smelled it—food.
A black and yellow rice ball was shoved in front of his mouth.
Wait, this thing's safe to eat, right? hopefully.
His brain was suspicious, but his mouth didn't care. He bit into it like he was possessed.
It was so damn good.
He didn't even stop to think. Bite after bite, he scarfed it down like he hadn't eaten in days—which was pretty accurate.
"Ding! Host consumed one low-quality rice ball. Skill Point energy progress +0.001%"
Wait, what?
Oh right—the system!
Now that his stomach wasn't yelling at him, he finally felt like himself again. He turned to thank whoever gave him the food—
And froze.
Standing there was a skinny, ragged-looking kid who couldn't have been older than eight or nine. Covered in dirt, short, and with a face you couldn't even pin a gender to.
But those pale purple eyes...
He recognized them right away.
The original owner of this body got beat up because he tried to save this kid.
Itsuki must've sounded a bit too excited, because the kid flinched.
"You're still standing, huh? Guess that beating didn't mess you up too bad after all."
The kid gave a small, confused nod, like they didn't really get what he was saying but appreciated it anyway.
"I still owe you one. You gave me food and water. Looks like we're even now. I saved you, you saved me. How about we stick together for a bit? My name's Itsuki. What's yours?"
He figured having someone around would help. Plus, this kid probably knew more about surviving in this world than he did.
"I... I don't have a name."
That threw him off.
"Ah, well…"
And just like that, his train of thought got completely derailed.