Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

"But... even though the little guy is only this strong, he's actually very strong. He was able to kick my head off."

It was Sora who spoke. He picked up Rinko. The boy was light, very light, lighter than he was. Even he could easily pick him up and play with him.

Lin Guang, who was picked up, was like a cat grabbed by the scruff of the neck, lying quietly and motionless. It was unknown whether he had always been like this, or whether he was pretending to be so obedient because he was afraid of his revenge after kicking his head just now.

"Little Bean wasn't this powerful before...Rinkou, you have to thank Ji Nu very much."

The pair of gray-blue eyes turned around and looked at the anger in the distance, then looked down at his own legs.

Linguang thought about the cat-and-mouse games he'd played with Ji Nu and Ke La since he met them... Hmm. How come Ji Nu wasn't helping him...?

But to be honest, the reason why Lin Guang was so skilled was because the last person who was interested in him enough to want to take a bite was Coke.

"But if I have to thank someone, I have to thank Coke first."

The hand behind his back lifted him up, and Rinko's body shook. In the next second, Kongxi's face with a wanton smile occupied Rinko's entire vision.

"Hey, what little secret are you talking about? Tell me too."

The boy ignored his approach, and their eyes met. The boy tilted his head and thought for a while, then gave him a harmless smile.

"OK--"

----

----

Kongxi was an idiot, and Kele was half an idiot. It was no surprise that two guys who couldn't even hold a brain together were fooled around by a kid.

As long as the target they are targeting is not me, I can still bear the accumulated anger.

As long as the target is not himself.

The discussion was not even deliberately suppressed, which was clearly a provocation. The lowest level of means had the best effect, and the accumulated anger was successfully stepped on the mineline.

"You guys, stop it!"

He clenched his fist, and the bones holding the staff made a creaking sound. The staff hit the floor, and the electric current spread instantly. Even if it could not cause any damage, it was enough to give people a sense of oppression.

But it doesn't matter if he can't cause any harm. All he needs is that momentary shock. Kongxi is hard to hit in the sky, but isn't it hard to catch Kele since he's on the ground?

Ai Jue looked at Coke who was knocked away by the tin staff, and seemed unable to do anything except shaking his head and sighing. He had no interest in fighting with these people, nor in shooting down the birds flying in the sky. As for the boy, he was a little interested, but the boy was so energetic that he probably would not be willing to sit down and stay still.

"Don't be so angry, Ji Nu, don't you feel happy? Little Bean obviously likes playing with you so much--"

"I have no interest in playing with him! And I don't think you two idiots should be happy being led around by a little brat!"

He raised his sight, and this time his target was Kong Xi.

The main culprit is Rinkou, but he won't win if he plays cat and mouse with a brat who doesn't have a half-day dog with him until dawn.

And if the two accomplices were beaten into submission, at least there would be peace tonight.

----

"Will Ai Jue not play with me?"

It is no exaggeration to say that he is elusive. Ai Jue has never let down his guard against his surroundings, but until the voice appeared, he did not realize that the boy was coming behind him.

"There's nothing fun about this. This futile struggle only makes me sad."

Although he was somewhat shocked in his heart, there was no emotion on his face, and he still looked compassionate and selfless.

“It’s obviously the same, yet completely different.”

Lin Guang rested his head on Ai Jue's shoulders. He tilted his head and stared into those blue eyes for a while before shifting his gaze to the spear.

"I've never seen a weapon like this before. What is this?"

"It's a spear."

The spear is different from the others, and Cola's palm-leaf fan attacks indiscriminately, so the angry boy with the tin staff definitely can't get it. As for Kongxi, the boy has never been interested in his claws, but seems to be more interested in his wings.

"Do you want to try it..."

Ai Jue asked softly.

----

The so-called "one thing conquers another" is just like this. The flying creature in the sky and the running creature on the ground were pierced through by a tin staff as a lesson, while the culprit had already slipped away to have fun.

It was obvious that he refused to sit down quietly no matter how he was beaten, and he didn't say a word to Ai Jue. But now he lay on Ai Jue's back and acted like a good boy who was more obedient than anyone else.

"Really..."

The sound of iron rings colliding echoed behind him. He didn't need to look to know that the two guys had recovered and pulled out the tin staff. Ji Nu didn't look specifically, just glanced at them out of the corner of his eye. Kele and Kong Xi immediately bypassed him, gathered around Ai Jue, and went to look for Lin Guang again.

It’s definitely impossible to defeat them in one go, but at least tonight, they won’t come to bother me again.

"Although your legs have a little strength, they are still too weak. Rinko, your body is still too fragile. It's really sad..."

Ai Jue had seen a few ghosts, but more often than not, he had seen ghost hunters. But no matter which side he chose as an example, the boy was always the weaker one. Weak, extremely weak, visibly weak. His thin and short body made it difficult for him to even lift his spear with the strength of his body alone.

Oni can grow stronger by eating humans; the more they eat, the stronger they become. Weak oni will constantly devour humans to satisfy their appetites and grow stronger. Yet, despite living for so long, Rinkou hasn't made any progress, instead spiraling downwards into weakness... Cola and Soraki don't even consider him a potential competitor. Is this how Rinkou, as a weakling, survives?

It really made him sad.

"After all, I'm not good at fighting..."

Lin Guang was not surprised by Ai Jue's evaluation. He knew his own body best. He was still terribly weak. It was just that in the long game of chase and escape, he learned how to burst out the strongest power he could in the shortest time, thereby causing him to disappear from his original position in an instant and to kick Kong Xi's head off.

He was able to do the latter not because of how much his strength had increased, but more because Kong Xi was completely defenseless against him. He looked very weak, so it was difficult for Kong Xi to be on guard against him. Even if he was lucky enough to hurt Kong Xi once, it would be difficult for him to imagine that he would take a risky move and launch a counterattack against him when he had the upper hand.

But it's true that his bones are stronger than before. Does this mean he's finally getting a little stronger...

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Tips: It's time for some additional explanations. These are just a few reminders for myself.

Rinko's personality had not changed much before, but now it has suddenly changed a lot because of the setting of Demon Slayer.

"After becoming a ghost, the memories of the human period will gradually become blurred and forgotten. The only thing that will be remembered is the obsession."

So, logically speaking, Rinko's personality and behavior would gradually improve after becoming a demon. In fact, Muzan did try to cultivate his own personality, and it worked quite well. He had already shown signs of this when he was with Akaza, becoming much more lively. However, when he later followed Douma, Douma aroused Rinko's instinctive fear of adults, so the growth process was suppressed and not clearly expressed.

Why is it suddenly so obvious now? Because of a combination of time, place and people. I mentioned it briefly but I felt that my writing was not very clear. To put it bluntly, my writing can't keep up with my thinking.

Rinkou is essentially a child. He was a child when he became a demon, and he will retain the essence of a child in the future. After he is no longer the sickly body of his human period and the constraints of a bad family, he should have regained the liveliness that a child should have. But when Tamayo taught him, she taught him how to be obedient. Kokushibo and Muzan also always emphasized "obedience" and "following the rules." So Rinkou became a good child, obeyed, read, wrote, and looked at the stars, using all external means to make himself a well-behaved child.

Later, Muzan wanted him to be more "lively" and "independent", but habits are already habits, so when he follows Akaza and Douma, his obedience and mischief are about 73% and 82%.

But when they got to Bantiangou, there were no books to read and no time to look at the stars. Plus, without anyone to control them, their memories faded even further, so the child became more lively. Then, the teacher appeared.

Coke. A man who only fears chaos in the world. A child at the age when he needs to learn how to survive from those around him, if he follows such a person, he will only become more and more chaotic. This is what Ji Nuo calls "learning useless things from Coke."

The current ratio of being obedient and naughty can be said to be 4:6 or even 3:7 occasionally.

Although the Dog Pirates are not good people in the eyes of others, in Rinko's eyes, they are his favorite group except for Muzan who has the biggest filter and Akaza who has a good relationship with him. He even likes Ji Nu.

(Again, all of this is from Rinkou's perspective. He's a demon, and eating humans is a reality he has to live in, just like humans need to eat meat. Therefore, he rationalizes many things that are unreasonable for humans. So I hope you can watch it with an open mind.)

Because of this change, Rinkou developed his own obsessions and goals: to become a little more powerful, a little more useful, so that Muzan would be satisfied with his performance. This change made him much stronger. [This means that he is more resilient and has faster reactions, but it is still unrealistic to expect a child to go to the battlefield. Moreover, Rinkou's characteristics do not allow him to develop in the direction of resistance and fighting. He will only continue to fight as hard as he can to survive.]

On a separate note, while I've mentioned this before, I'll reiterate that the Gouzi family clearly doesn't treat Rinko as a "ghost," but rather as a pet. This is also due to Rinko's unique characteristics. A major reason he can stay with the Upper Moons is that his demonic characteristics aren't overt enough. I'm emphasizing possessiveness and a desire to fight. Furthermore, Rinko doesn't compete with other demons for food; there's no fundamental conflict. Furthermore, Rinko knows full well that demons can't kill them, so he's not afraid of death and won't resist. It's unlikely that ordinary demons would have the desire to kill him.

Lin Guang was mostly aware that others treated him as a pet, but he didn't think it was a big deal. After all, he was still alive whether he was treated as a pet or not. Apart from his head being easily messed up, there was no other problem.

Think of these first. 】

(Next time I'll try to make it clear in the main text and avoid adding supplementary explanations like this... I feel like writing like this can be awkward. Apologies.)