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Chapter 120: A Feast? You Look Like the Feast
"It's the Transparent World, isn't it?"
Faced with Saeko's provocation, Suyan ended the match with a single sentence.
Saeko froze.
Recovering a moment later, she lightly punched his chest, shooting him a resentful glare. "You sneaky brat! You already knew the answer, and you deliberately played along just to bait me, didn't you?"
She sighed. "But yes, the 'Transparent World.' That name describes it perfectly. I assume you mastered it ages ago?"
"Do you concede, Saeko?" Suyan asked with a grin.
What he didn't tell her was that if she hadn't actively brought it up, he would have completely forgotten that the Transparent World and the Demon Slayer Marks even existed.
Breathing Styles were incredibly weak in the grand scheme of things. Even Muzan, the pinnacle of that world, could barely measure up to real threats. It was a fun parlor trick in the Demon Slayer universe, but heavily restricted anywhere else. Because of this, Suyan had only ever used his full Breathing Style mastery once—during his spar with Shinobu—and briefly deployed a few forms against Sabito.
As for actually unlocking the Transparent World?
Strictly speaking, Suyan's raw talent for swordsmanship was inferior to Saeko's. The only reason he had been able to defeat a lifelong kendo prodigy like her after a mere year of training was purely because of his overwhelmingly superior physical stats and reaction speed as a Nen user. It had been a dimensional mismatch.
Once Saeko awakened her own Nen, Suyan shifted his focus toward helping the other girls develop their abilities, largely neglecting his own sword training. Meanwhile, Saeko had been relentlessly refining her blade against hordes of zombies every single day. The gap in their pure swordsmanship had widened significantly.
Forget mastering the Transparent World—Suyan hadn't even glimpsed the threshold for it yet.
"I concede, I concede. You are my darling Suyan, after all. Even if you cheat, I'll accept my defeat gracefully," Saeko surrendered, raising her hands.
"Saeko..." Suyan looked deeply at her lovingly affectionate expression. And then...
He ruthlessly shut her down. "Even if you play the sweet card, I'm not letting you off the hook."
Saeko clicked her tongue. "You're so cruel."
Suyan kept his face completely deadpan. "It's so rare for me to actually win a bet against you. You think I'd let an opportunity like this slip away?"
This was a long-standing inside joke and flirting dynamic between them.
After the zombie apocalypse erupted in the Highschool of the Dead world, their entertainment options had plummeted. While they had secured generators and didn't lack electricity to power TVs, computers, or phones, maintaining a cellular signal or internet connection wasn't something Nen could magically fix.
Without the internet, their only ways to pass the time were training, hunting monsters... and extracurricular activities in the bedroom.
Eventually, Suyan and the girls developed a system: issuing challenges to determine whether special "Defeat CGs" would be unlocked that night.
This challenge system had massively boosted Saeko's motivation, directly contributing to her staggering kill count of over a million zombies within a single year. It also provided positive feedback loops for the other Contracted girls, helping them rapidly develop their Nen abilities under Suyan's guidance.
Suyan, naturally, was extremely pleased with this arrangement. Not only had their combat strength skyrocketed over the past year, but he had also successfully unlocked almost every single Defeat CG the girls had to offer.
Win-win.
"Fine, fine. I'll admit total defeat this time. Let's go," Saeko said gracefully.
This was far from her first loss, and she was more than used to it. She just liked making him work for it. Turning around, she began walking toward their main residence within Greed Island.
"Let's go, little Makomo~"
Suyan turned around to retrieve Makomo. However, while he had been bantering with Saeko, Makomo had struck up a "conversation" with the two YukimiBotamons a few feet away.
YukimiBotamon 1: "Mi! Mi!"
YukimiBotamon 2: "Mi? Mi!!"
Crouching on the ground, Makomo looked intently at the two fluffy creatures and chirped back with perfect seriousness, "Mi!"
Suyan watched the human and the two furballs interact, completely dumbfounded.
Good lord, they're actually having a conversation? You can't even understand their meows!
Makomo was listening to the YukimiBotamons with an incredibly solemn expression, nodding occasionally as if she profoundly agreed with whatever they were saying. In fact, she was so engrossed that she hadn't even heard Suyan call her name.
A ridiculous image popped into Suyan's head:
The two YukimiBotamons standing at a podium, delivering a co-authored thesis in "Meow-language" titled My Master, Suyan. And in the front row of the audience sat Makomo, listening with rapt attention, occasionally nodding and emitting a respectful "Mi!" in agreement.
Honestly, the mental image is too perfect.
Suyan walked over and lightly poked Makomo's forehead with his index finger.
When she finally pulled her attention away from the furballs and looked up, Suyan asked curiously, "Little Makomo, can you actually understand what they're saying?"
"Not a single word," Makomo answered with absolute sincerity.
Suyan sweatdropped. "Then why were you listening so seriously?"
"Big Brother Suyan said they were my seniors," Makomo replied, pressing a finger to her chin in thought. "Even if I can't understand them, I feel like they're trying to tell me something incredibly important."
"Mi! Mi!" It was hard to fathom how two literal white puffballs could convey a look that clearly meant, "This child is highly teachable," but somehow, they nailed it.
"I give up." Suyan rubbed his temples, a defeated smile on his face. He patted Makomo's head. "Come on, let's go. Since I made you miss the big feast Mr. Urokodaki cooked for Tanjiro and the others tonight, I'll make it up to you."
"Consider it a welcome dinner. I'll treat you to a massive feast."
"A feast!?" Makomo's eyes sparkled. She licked her lips eagerly. "Is it going to be even tastier than this candy?"
"Of course. Candy is nothing compared to this," Suyan said, grabbing her hand to lead her after Saeko.
"Mi! Mi! MI!"
The two YukimiBotamons instantly panicked, letting out a flurry of frantic, chaotic chirps.
Suyan, failing to understand their frantic warnings, assumed they were just hungry. He quickly conjured two dollops of Nen and fed it to them.
The YukimiBotamons accepted the food hesitantly, their eyes locked onto Makomo in despair.
If Makomo could understand them, she would know exactly what they were screaming about. They were desperately trying to warn this naive, innocent junior.
A feast!? Did you forget everything we literally just told you!?If you follow him, YOU are going to be the feast!Unless you want to become a YukimiBotamon too, run!
Having spent two years with Suyan, the YukimiBotamons knew his exact behavioral patterns inside and out.
"Huh? Do you want me to eat that too?" Makomo asked blankly, completely misreading the situation. She opened her mouth and leaned toward Suyan's fingers.
"Stop being silly, Makomo. Let's go," Suyan said, flicking her forehead lightly.
"Oh. Okay."
Makomo nodded obediently. Under the tragic, pitying gazes of the two YukimiBotamons, she allowed Suyan to lead her away.
It was a foregone conclusion. Within an hour, they would undoubtedly hear the agonizing, pitiful cries of their new junior echoing through the house.
YukimiBotamons: It's not that your seniors didn't want to save you. It's just that Master's bribes were simply too good.
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