Chapter Thirty-Six: Why Me?
『 RYON 』
Enjoy~~~
---
In the world of Demon Slayer… or rather, in the past—
the distant past.
Another year passed for Ron within this "simulation," which had become reality—a reality where he was truly happy, where everything went exactly as he wished.
He succeeded in improving his family relationships and became extremely close to both of his brothers, Yoriichi and Michikatsu. At the same time, the era of demon slayers began with far greater force, thanks to his relentless training.
At present—
The sound of the waterfall was deafening, the roar of icy water crashing down from a great height and shattering against the rocks below. At the heart of this violent torrent, Ron sat in a lotus position atop a smooth rock barely wide enough for his feet.
The water slammed against his shoulders with enough force to dislocate an ordinary man's joints, but Ron was not ordinary. A transparent, barely visible aura wrapped around his body like a thin shield. He was not relying on "Breathing" alone to reinforce himself—he was flooding his entire body with raw cursed energy.
Ron had been training for some time to merge cursed energy with breathing techniques, and over the course of this year, he had achieved massive progress.
So much so that he had fully completed Yoriichi's template in the process—at a speed that even shocked himself.
Perhaps this body was naturally gifted in breathing techniques and cursed energy. Combined with Ron's vast experience from his memories, and Yoriichi's talent obtained through the template, the result was overwhelming.
He had truly become an invincible genius… or at least, that was what he thought.
"An explosive reservoir…" Ron thought, furrowing his brows in intense focus.
"Unlike Ren, whose power was sealed, I possess an infinite flow—but it's chaotic. If I don't shape it precisely, it'll explode in my face before it harms any demon."
As he thought this, Ron recalled their body—or rather, Ren's body—in the Jujutsu world. He had to admit that the seal on that body greatly restricted its potential.
On a nearby tree branch overlooking the waterfall, Yoriichi Tsugikuni sat perfectly still, as if he were part of the tree itself. His calm eyes watched his gentle younger brother.
"That strange aura around him… it doesn't feel harmful. I suppose only Ren and I can see it, since we possess what is called the 'Transparent World,'" Yoriichi thought.
Indeed, Ron had confessed to Yoriichi that he possessed the same eyes—the ability of the Transparent World. This deepened their bond even further, and for some reason, drawing closer to Yoriichi increased the template synchronization even more.
Suddenly, while Yoriichi was lost in thought, a small squirrel with a fluffy tail leapt boldly onto his shoulder and began tugging at his crimson hair tie as if it were a toy string. Yoriichi did not move an inch, continuing to stare at Ron.
Ron had his eyes closed, training seriously—unlike Ren, who would have opened his eyes and laughed at Yoriichi forever if he were the one training.
At that exact moment, Ron reached the peak of his concentration. He felt as though he had become one with nature, one with cursed energy… and suddenly—
Slip!
Ron's foot stepped on a patch of slippery moss he hadn't accounted for as he stood. The majestic aura vanished, the sage-like composure shattered, replaced by the face of a panicked boy flailing his arms in the air.
"Booooom!"
Ron fell into the waterfall basin in a thoroughly undignified manner, tumbling like a useless rock. Seconds later, he emerged coughing and spitting water, wet strands of hair plastered to his face, destroying every ounce of the "charisma" he had built over the past hour.
He looked up to find Yoriichi still in the same place, the squirrel still playing with his hair, and the expression of the greatest swordsman clearly saying:
"I saw nothing. Don't be embarrassed. Don't cry."
"What a kind big brother you are… thank you, Yoriichi-sama!" Ron thought, smiling like an idiot.
After Ron returned to his training, some time passed…
The sun began to set, painting the sky in shades of orange.
Ron emerged from the water wearing his black shirt, his clothes already dry from the heat generated within his body. He assumed Yoriichi had left, but when he turned around, he found Yoriichi standing directly behind him, silent like a ghost.
"Ah! Yoriichi-ni!" Ron stepped back, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry… I got a little absorbed in my training and lost track of time."
Yoriichi smiled—one of his rare smiles that didn't quite reach his eyes, yet still radiated warmth.
"If I didn't have the Transparent World, Yoriichi's template, and the fact that I'm his little brother… I probably wouldn't even notice that he's smiling. How can you make your smile this subtle, seriously?" Ron thought with a sigh.
He clenched his fist, feeling power surge through his veins. After a year of hellish training, Yoriichi's template within him was complete.
"Muzan… the Upper Moons… they're no longer impossible nightmares," he told himself confidently. "I'll turn them into test subjects for my new cursed techniques."
Yet amid this sense of power, a cold feeling pierced his heart—a chill unrelated to the waterfall's water.
Ron raised his head toward the sky, his expression shifting from confidence to pure anxiety. The link between the two souls was screaming.
"Ren…" Ron whispered with a trembling voice. "What are these chaotic emotions? You're scared… no, you're terrified!"
Ron stared at the sky, his face filled with overwhelming concern. Yoriichi looked at him, sensing his brother's unease, and a slight frown appeared on his face.
"What's happening to you… Ren?" Yoriichi thought, feeling that his younger brother was hiding something beyond the Transparent World.
…
The scene shifted abruptly—from the calm of the forest and the sound of birds, to the stench of rust, rot, and coagulated blood.
At the Juvenile Detention Center.
Ren stood in the middle of a distorted corridor, gasping as if his lungs were on fire. His eyes were wide, locked onto the scene before him.
A few meters away floated a Special Grade Curse, a grotesque entity cackling with a slimy, nauseating laugh. "Kiiiieh—hehehehe!"
And beneath the curse's feet… was disaster.
Yuji Itadori, the lively boy, was slumped against the wall. His left arm had been severed at the shoulder, blood gushing out uncontrollably. His face was pale, and his eyes had lost their usual spark.
Elsewhere, signs of devastation suggested that Nobara and Megumi had been crushed or thrown into the pitch-black darkness.
Megumi's shikigami—the wolves—were shattered across the floor, the walls warped and broken. Nobara's hammer and nails lay discarded in a massive crater nearby.
"How…" Ren muttered, his voice choking in his throat. "How did things end up like this?"
Ren struggled to breathe, his mind unable to process what he was seeing, his body trembling from exhaustion and terror.
…
One hour earlier — (Flashback)
The car drove calmly toward the mission site. Ijichi, as nervous as ever, explained the mission details—the cursed womb and how it had appeared suddenly.
"There's a possibility of survivors…" Ijichi said with a shaky voice.
Ren stared out the window, his face devoid of expression, reviewing the plan in his head for the thousandth time.
"Save Yuji from losing his arm. Prevent Sukuna from ripping out his heart. Make sure Nobara and Megumi are safe. I know the scenario. I'll stay one step ahead."
In the back seat, Nobara whispered to Megumi while glancing at Ren.
"Heeey, Fushiguro… was Ren always like this? He looks really gloomy today…"
Megumi sighed quietly. "Kugisaki… don't judge him. This is Ren's natural personality. He just acts differently around us. Even Gojo-sensei feels that Ren changed after the incident last year…"
"An incident last year…?" Nobara asked curiously.
Megumi then explained the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons from the previous year—how Ren, despite not being registered as a jujutsu sorcerer, had slaughtered curses and saved civilians, and how, with the help of first-year student Yuta, he defeated the mastermind behind the incident who attacked Yuta and the first-years, including Maki Zenin and Panda, at Jujutsu High.
Ren heard their conversation but didn't comment. Unlike Ron, he was terrified. He was trying to protect the "characters" he loved from their inevitable fate.
When they arrived and saw the mother crying and begging them to save her son, Yuji clenched his fist and promised her he would. Ren looked at Yuji and felt the crushing weight of responsibility on his chest.
"I won't let you die, my friend."
When the mission began and they entered the building, everything changed.
It wasn't just an incomplete "Domain Expansion" like in the original story. The moment they took their first step, the ground split apart.
"Watch out!" Megumi shouted.
But the shadow didn't target Yuji or Nobara. It lunged like a massive black serpent—and swallowed Ren alone.
"Ren!!" Yuji screamed, reaching out to grab him, but the shadow was faster, successfully engulfing Ren.
Ren suddenly found himself in a completely different corridor. The spatial geometry was chaotic, the walls pulsing like the intestines of a giant beast. More importantly, the cursed energy in the area was distorted and unfamiliar.
"This wasn't in the manga…" Ren thought, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"Did my presence change the story? Is the world reacting to me as a foreign body… making the curse stronger and more hostile toward me—and them?"
Ren realized the horrifying truth: his plan to protect them might be the very reason for their downfall.
He imagined hearing Nobara's scream from somewhere far away, followed by the sound of Yuji crashing into something.
"No… no…"
Ren's expression shifted from shock to desperate rage.
His cursed energy exploded—not smooth like Ron's, but black, heavy, and filled with pain.
"Bang!"
He punched the wall in front of him, shattering solid concrete with a single blow, ignoring the blood on his hand. He sprinted through the twisted corridors, smashing every obstacle in his path.
"Yuji! Megumi! Nobara!"
He screamed their names, his voice a mixture of terror and power. He no longer cared about the scenario or changing events. All he wanted was to not be the reason they died.
At the end of the corridor, he saw the light—and he saw the curse raising its hand to deliver a final blow to Yuji's broken body.
"STOOOOOP!"
Ren shouted as he leapt toward them, his eyes blazing with blue flames, ready to tear reality itself apart to save them.
---
End of Chapter Thirty-Six