Chapter Text
“Buy The Demon Slayer Game for 700 yen! The first 100 people to buy will get a free VIP pass!”
Giyuu’s laptop boomed, the sudden ad flashing across his screen. He groaned internally—it had to be the millionth time he’d heard that damn commercial. He already decided he was going to buy the game; after all, it was causing such an uproar online.
“...releasing on July 18, 5:00 p.m. JST! Get The Demon Slayer Game! Happy slaying!”
Today was Thursday, July 17—one day before launch. Like every other gamer out there, Giyuu would be racing to grab that free VIP pass.
In most games, a VIP pass cost anywhere from ten to twenty-five dollars a month. Sure, Giyuu could afford that, but he’d rather spend his money on more sensible things. Like saving up for college or helping his sister with rent.
The thought of gaming suddenly pulled him back to reality, sparking an urge to play something. He exited out of YouTube—what he’d been watching before the ad rudely interrupted—and switched over to a new Google tab.
This wasn’t one of those urges that called for a first-person gunfight, a PvP showdown, or even a heavy RPG. No, this craving was for something much simpler. Like, suuuper simple.
Does it even count as a game?
Well, whatever it was, Giyuu had the sudden need to play a Google Doodle.
To be exact: Champion Island Games.
The amount of times he’d speedrun that thing was borderline embarrassing. And frankly, quite impressive. But in his defense—it was just that addicting.
He was about to grab his third scroll from the climbing wall when a sudden ding! cut through his concentration. The sound startled him just enough that a snowball came flying out of nowhere and smacked Lucky—his little cat character—straight off the wall and back to the respawn point.
Giyuu froze, scowling at the screen. “Seriously?” he muttered, pausing the game and grabbing his phone from beside the keyboard.
The screen lit up with a notification, reflecting soft blue light across his face. It was Sabito, his best friend since kindergarten—and the only person who could get away with interrupting him mid-game.
Sabi: did u hear abt the new game?
Yuu: the demon slayer one? yup
Sabi: ye r u getting it?
Yuu: ofc. i’ve basically played every game out there. what abt u?
Sabi: hell yeah. ive got the website ready in front if me to order. get on my lvl
Yuu: bruh u only beat me in mario kart once
Sabi: once was enough
Yuu: whatever. we’re def teaming up tho
Sabi: duh. we’ll wipe the servers clean of demons >:)
Yuu: just don’t rage quit halfway again
Sabi: that was ONE TIME
Yuu: …sure it was
Sabi: stfu
Sabi: well ive gtg. dinner
Yuu: k, see you tmrw. now eat u big back
Sabi: sybau
Giyuu couldn’t help but smile, locking his phone before setting it down again. Typical Sabito—cocky but funny.
Giyuu checked the time on his laptop.
7:58 p.m.
Around three in the morning for her, he thought.
His sister, Tsutako, was on a business trip in the U.S., apparently finalizing some big deal with a tech company. By now, she was probably asleep in a sleek Silicon Valley hotel—Silicon Valley, technological innovation and a major economic hub located in California.
She’d left Monday morning and wouldn’t be back until Sunday night.
Giyuu leaned back in his chair with a quiet sigh. Another it had been another long week at school, and one more day remained.
He toyed with the idea of skipping tomorrow—just one day—so he could stay home and catch the game’s launch the second it dropped. But the thought faded almost as quickly as it came. Friday was the last day before summer break.
If he could just make it through class, then rush home, he’d make it in time for the release anyway.
7:59 p.m.
Giyuu opened a tab and typed in the familiar URL.
Not just any website—the website. The one every gamer would be flooding tomorrow at exactly 5:00 p.m. for the official launch of The Demon Slayer Game.
Right now, the page was simple. Nothing fancy, just a massive countdown taking up the center of the screen.
21:00:27
Twenty-one hours, zero minutes, and twenty-seven seconds left.
He leaned forward, chin resting on his hand as he watched the seconds tick down.
3…
2…
1…
8:00 p.m.
Exactly twenty-one hours left.
Then the timer glitched. The smooth rhythm of the countdown froze mid-frame before the entire thing flickered like static. Giyuu frowned, sitting up straighter.
And then the display changed.
Where the timer used to be, there was now a single line: 0/100. Beneath it, a bright red button had appeared, glowing softly.
BUY.
Giyuu’s stomach dropped. What the hell?
He blinked, refreshing the page, but nothing changed. The timer didn’t come back.
Was this a glitch? Some weird early-access bug? Was he on the wrong site?
…Was he being hacked?
His cursor hovered over the screen. His heart started racing.
He should probably take a screenshot—or message Sabito—or literally do anything else. But before he could think twice, his hand moved on its own. His fingers trembled slightly as he guided the mouse toward the button.
Click!
A window popped up, blocking the screen with a form.
Credit card info, name, address, expiration date. All that yada yada.
Giyuu stared at it for a moment before sighing softly and reaching for his wallet. The familiar numbers stared back at him as he typed them in, each key clack echoing in the quiet room. He filled in the rest of the boxes—expiration date, security code, zip—almost mechanically.
Part of him, the logical side, screamed that this was sketchy. What if it was a scam? What if he’d just downloaded a virus? But the other part was curious.
He didn’t even realize his hand was shaking until he hit “Confirm.”
The screen flickered green. A white checkmark appeared in the center, followed by new text.
Payment Processed. Booting System…
He just stared at the words, heartbeat pounding, waiting for something to happen.
Then, another window appeared.
Welcome! Thank you for buying The Demon Slayer Game! We appreciate your support. To create an account, click here!
That snapped him out of his fog. Wait—this was real?
He quickly switched back to the original tab—the one that had the countdown. The Buy button was still there, but now, the number above it had changed.
1/100.
Giyuu leaned closer, eyes widening. Then, before he could even blink, the number shifted.
2/100.
3/100.
4/100.
It kept climbing, faster and faster—until it stopped.
100/100.
The screen blinked once. The red button disappeared, replaced by the familiar countdown again. Except this time, the numbers were different.
20:50:45.
Can someone please tell Giyuu what the hell is happening?
After a lot of thinking, Giyuu was certain about a few things.
-
Only a hundred people managed to buy the game.
-
The rest would have to wait until the official release.
-
Giyuu had somehow snagged VIP access. (Yippee.)
He couldn’t tell if he should feel proud or mildly terrified.
It was weird, though—releasing the game at such an odd time: 8:00 p.m. But after a moment, he realized it wasn’t about the time of day. It was about the countdown. Twenty-one hours.
Koyoharu Gotouge, the game’s creator, had mentioned in interviews that their favorite number was twenty-one—something about how their favorite character’s age just happened to match.
At least, that’s what the internet claimed.
And speaking of the internet… it was losing its mind.
Forums, servers, group chats—every corner of the web was buzzing. Some people swore that they managed to buy an account. Others claimed they saw the “buy” button for a split second before it vanished. A few were already calling it a scam.
Giyuu just sat back, staring at the screen with a faint, unreadable expression.
He lightly slapped himself on his cheeks, sitting up with determination. With slightly trembling hands, he pressed the Create an Account! button.
The first thing it asked for was a username. Giyuu grinned and typed in Mizuyuu.
Mizuyuu was Giyuu’s go to name, always. Mizu is water, and Yuu is Giyuu’s nickname. It’s quite a strange username compared to others that are like ShadowVoid or GlacierKing. Though, Giyuu was still quite proud for coming up with it.
It asked for his password, which he typed in, and clicked done.
The screen loaded, and he saw two options; Slayer or Demon.
Giyuu got nervous and chose Slayer a little too fast.
Oops, he thought dryly, realizing he hadn’t even stopped to read the details.
Another prompt followed:
Which Breathing Style would you like?
That one was easy. Water Breathing.
Then came the avatar customization screen. Giyuu honestly wasn’t expecting much, but the options blew him away—body types, hairstyles, eye shapes, even the color palettes that shimmered faintly.
He scrolled through quietly, choosing pieces that felt familiar: long black hair that brushed past his shoulders, deep ocean-blue eyes and porcelain skin.
The final button appeared at the bottom of the screen:
Confirm?
“Yes,” Giyuu murmured to no one in particular, clicking it.
The display went dark for half a second, then a faint ripple of color ran across it like water disturbed by a stone.
Giyuu wondered for a split second how this game would be like. Though something in his blood told him it was going to be in hell of a ride. What ever was thrown at Giyuu, he could handle it. He was ready to play.
The laptop screen suddenly bloomed with color.
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