Chapter 430: Joining the Group
Tanjirō's voice came out hoarse and worn, and Ryū could hear every layer of what was packed into it: bitterness, helplessness, despair, grief, powerlessness.
He half wondered whether he could have made a decent psychologist, reading that much out of a single sentence. The thought was gone as fast as it came.
He understood why Tanjirō had dropped into a dogeza, and why the boy was this desperate. He understood why Tanjirō was begging a stranger he'd known for barely an hour to teach him revenge, too.
The power Ryū had shown tonight had given a boy sinking into despair one last thing to grab onto.
The family's deaths had clearly hit him hard. Not many people could bring themselves to abandon their dignity like that.
Before Ryū could answer, though, Tanjirō's expression suddenly froze, some flicker of disturbance passing through him.
Ryū had been watching the boy's inner state through Observation Haki the whole time, and he caught the disturbance and read the thought behind it.
He paused for two seconds. "Are a few lines of text showing up in your head? If you truly want revenge, and you want your family back, then accept."
"To accept, all you have to do is silently say 'accept' in your mind. You'll join the Dimensional Chat Group and become one of its members, and with that, you'll have the power to take your revenge."
"And if you'd rather not, then forget I said anything. Just silently say 'decline.' The choice is yours."
Tanjirō's heart lurched. He looked up at his benefactor, unable to work out how the man could see what was happening inside his own head.
Wait. Hadn't the man mentioned the "Dimensional Chat Group" several times already? And the text in Tanjirō's head named it too!
Could his benefactor belong to some organization called the "Dimensional Chat Group"?
Honestly, tempting as the offer was, and much as he wanted revenge and wanted his family back, Tanjirō was worried. What if it was an evil organization?
If he joined, wouldn't he become part of something evil?
No, that couldn't be right. If it were evil, why would his benefactor have saved him?
Hah. Overthinking it. If he thought too long, his family might never come back, and whoever killed them might never face any punishment at all.
After ten-some seconds of agonizing, Tanjirō seemed to settle on something. He clenched his teeth and silently said accept.
The lines of text in his head changed at once, replaced by a new one.
[Please set a chat handle. Handles may be changed once a month for free, with an extra change available to VIP members! If you don't know what a chat handle is, click [link] for an illustrated tutorial.]
A chat handle? What did that mean? Tanjirō was thoroughly lost.
He tentatively clicked the [link] in his head anyway, not knowing what it was.
An illustrated tutorial on setting a handle popped up right in his mind.
The whole thing struck him as strange, and a little startling. Then he followed the instructions and set his handle to "Kamado Tanjirō."
Like several other members, he skipped anything fancy and used his own name outright.
The group had no shortage of members like that: Edward Newgate, Maidang, Ying Zheng, the Ancient One. Some used their names straight, and others tacked a nickname on before or after.
Once Tanjirō set his handle, a soft ding sounded in Ryū's head.
His consciousness slipped into the chat, and sure enough, there was Tanjirō's join notice. The handle was easy to spot at a glance.
[Ding! "Kamado Tanjirō" has joined the Dimensional Chat Group!]
Eternally Seventeen: Oh? Admin-sama already brought the newcomer in? I saw that invitation quest and was thinking of going myself, and Admin-sama beat me to it! Damn!
Eternally Seventeen: That's 100 Points, you know! Not a huge amount, but enough for five Arena revivals!
Eternally Seventeen: Venting over. Welcome, newcomer, throws confetti! Welcome!
My True Form Is Cola: Welcome, newcomer! Newcomer, post a photo, post your voice, post your measurements. Cat ears and a dress would be nice too!
Edward Newgate: Gurararara, another newcomer already?
Edward Newgate: We seem to be getting a lot of them lately!
Secretary Chika: Oh? I'm finally not the newest newcomer! It wasn't easy... sob
Terrible Tornado: Didn't Ōtsutsuki Kaguya join a few minutes after Chika did? So that should really be Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's line.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya: ...I feel like someone is talking about me.
Kaguya-sama: Welcome, newcomer! Why aren't you saying anything, though?
Kamado Tanjirō: Um... excuse me, is my benefactor a member of this organization too?
Kaguya-sama: Huh? Benefactor? Oh, you mean Admin-sama, right?
Kaguya-sama: Admin-sama is the Admin of the Dimensional Chat Group, so of course he's in it!
RawrSoFierce: @Kamado Tanjirō, I'm here.
RawrSoFierce: Newcomer, go read the pinned announcement. Once you have, you'll see the Dimensional Chat Group isn't an evil organization.
"..."