Kōbe Hikaru was a dead man.
Literally.
But at the same time, he was also a transmigrator.
He hailed from China, originally named Shen Huguang—an absolutely authentic, yet incredibly unlucky, transmigrator.
A transmigrator who died on the spot right after crossing over.
Three months ago, his soul inexplicably detached from his bed in his modern rented apartment.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a pile of corpses on an ancient battlefield.
Scattered all around him were the bodies of samurai, severed limbs, and rivers of blood.
The air was thick with the stench of blood and gunpowder smoke, while crows circled in the distance.
He looked down and realized he was still in his own body—a textbook physical transmigration—except for the broken spear inexplicably lodged in his chest.
And then he died.
Not metaphorically.
He actually died.
The joy of transmigration was snuffed out by the cold grip of death before it could even well up in his heart.
In the final moment before his consciousness plunged into darkness, only one thought crossed his mind—
‘This is a massive rip-off, isn’t it?’
Then, he woke up again.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
It could have been a few hours, or perhaps a few days.
When he opened his eyes once more, he noticed his vision had changed drastically.
His sclerae were pitch-black, and his pupils were a piercing crimson.
The surrounding corpses had already begun to rot, but he couldn’t smell the stench.
Because he no longer needed to breathe.
His chest did not rise or fall, his heart did not beat, and the blood had congealed in his veins.
He had become a moving corpse.
More accurately, a Ghost Samurai.
A yōkai.
Perhaps because he was now a yōkai, even though his body was dead, the thoughts in his mind had not vanished.
And the reason for his ‘resurrection’ was a translucent panel that had suddenly appeared in his mind.
A system named [Affinity System].
The introduction on it was written clearly.
He had stared at that panel for a long time.
‘An affinity conquest system?’
‘Isn’t this the standard cheat found in those harem novels?’
‘Conquer beautiful girls, gather affinity, and reach the pinnacle of life?’
Just as he was about to cheer, he noticed a keyword—Non-Living Entity.
‘What counts as a non-living entity?’
‘Rocks?
Trees?
Houses?’
‘Can those even be conquered?’
He tried to initiate a ‘conquest’ on a nearby rock.
Failed.
He tried again on a broken spear next to him.
Still failed.
His gaze swept across the battlefield, eventually landing on a tachi hanging from the waist of a samurai corpse not far away.
It was a relatively well-preserved black tachi.
He crawled over and unequipped the sword from the corpse.
It seemed to have worked.
Looking at the prompt on the panel, he finally understood the operational logic of this system.
It was indeed an affinity system, but the conquest targets were not humans, not yōkai, and not any living creatures.
Only ‘objects’ like knives, swords, bows, armor, barriers, and divine artifacts—as well as complete entities with a certain level of heritage—fell within its conquest range.
At first glance, it seemed rather useless.
But thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t entirely unworkable.
After all, at the time, he didn’t know what kind of world this was.
However, since he could turn into a Ghost Samurai—something that was obviously bizarre at a glance—this was likely a world where the supernatural existed.
There were definitely other yōkai similar to him.
Then there should also be items with incredible abilities, right?
Like legendary famous swords, divine artifacts, and magical treasures.
If he could max out the affinity of those things…
Wouldn’t he be able to claim all the abilities of those divine weapons for himself?
However, he quickly discovered another problem.
Different objects seemed to require different methods to increase their affinity.
For example, the katana in his hand required him to ‘feed it with blood’.
In other words, he had to nourish the blade with fresh blood.
And based on the system’s hints, some objects might require ‘conversation’ to increase affinity.
Some required ‘maintenance’.
Some required ‘companionship’.
Some might even require…
celebrating a birthday?
He wasn’t entirely sure, but he had a vague feeling that conquering those legendary divine artifacts would definitely not be as simple as feeding a sword.
But that was a matter for the future.
At that time, he was completely destitute.
The only thing he needed to consider was surviving and finding a way out.
Nothing more.
…
The night breeze in the forest gradually died down.
Carrying the ‘fully fed’ Muramasa, he walked out of the woods.
This sword was naturally not the original katana.
That had just been an ordinary weapon.
In the three months since his transmigration, that sword had long been consumed—its affinity maxed out, its abilities assimilated into himself, and its ultimate fate being destruction.
It wasn’t destroyed because of the fusion, as only its abilities were absorbed; it simply broke because its ordinary materials couldn’t withstand repeated battles.
Although he still kept its fragments hidden away, it obviously couldn’t be used anymore.
His current sword was a spoil of war obtained later.
And right now.
After finishing feeding this mass-produced Muramasa, which also required ‘feeding with blood’, he didn’t linger in the area.
Those five Green-Skin Demons were merely peripheral members of some yōkai gang.
Their true core members were definitely still holed up in the mountains.
With his current strength, poking that hornet’s nest would be unwise.
After passing through a bamboo grove, he arrived at a low hill.
The view here was expansive, allowing him to see the rolling mountains in the distance and a ruined village at the foot of the hills.
He sat down on a bluestone and laid the Muramasa across his lap.
Moonlight spilled down, casting a cold, ghostly luster over the blade.
“You ate five Green-Skin Demons today, so you should be in a better mood, right?”
He spoke to the sword, his tone like he was coaxing a picky child.
“I know you’d rather eat Demon Slayers, but those guys are too troublesome to deal with.
It wouldn’t be fun if we got counter-killed.
Let’s grind some levels first and talk about it when we’re stronger.”
The prompt on the panel didn’t change.
It seemed the sword wasn’t buying his excuses.
He sighed and reached into the cloth bag at his waist, pulling out a small piece of oiled cloth.
It was a maintenance tool he had scavenged from the battlefield.
Although a bit rough, it was barely usable.
He dabbed a little oil onto the cloth and began to carefully wipe the blade.
“See how good I am to you?
I even give you a spa treatment after dinner.
What other sword gets this kind of treatment?”
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
Although it only increased by 1 point, every little bit counted.
He continued wiping the blade, muttering under his breath.
This was also what the Affinity System considered ‘communication’.
Although weapons couldn’t speak, the system could interpret their ‘moods’.
As long as he kept interacting with it, the affinity would slowly rise.
“Once your affinity reaches 30, we can unlock your first special ability.
Then we’ll be able to fight stronger yōkai and drink better blood.
It’s a virtuous cycle, understand?”
Just as he was speaking, his hand suddenly stopped.
He looked up, his crimson pupils contracting slightly.
On the distant horizon, a massive wave of demonic aura was rapidly approaching.
The demonic aura wasn’t strong.
Singled out, it was even weaker than the leading Green-Skin Demon from earlier.
But the problem was—
There were too many of them.
Densely packed and overwhelming.
Like a plague of locusts sweeping through, they threatened to dye the entire night sky a murky grayish-green.
And mixed within that wave of demonic aura was a wisp of a completely different presence.
Bright, scorching, and carrying a certain sacred flavor.
It was human spiritual power.
“Buzz—”
The Muramasa in his hand suddenly vibrated, the hamon on the blade shimmering with a faint purple light.
He stared at the incoming tide of demonic aura in the distance, his mouth twitching.
“I know you want to eat, but that depends on whether we can actually win.”
He stood up and gripped the Muramasa.
“Let’s assess the situation first.”