Shiro Kamado didn’t harbor much hope that the other two versions of himself would be waiting in the Grey Fog Space.
After all, everyone was busy with their own lives, and the probability of two Shiros entering the space at the exact same time was generally quite low.
However, he was mistaken.
As he walked toward the center of the Grey Fog Space, he discovered that Soul Reaper Shiro was already sitting there.
“You came after all.
It seems we still have a lot of researching to do regarding this Grey Fog Space,” Soul Reaper Shiro remarked.
He didn’t seem surprised by Shiro Kamado’s appearance at all, nodding knowingly instead.
“Wait, what did you figure out?”
With a look of confusion, Shiro Kamado walked up to his Soul Reaper self and placed a hand on him to sync their memories.
Instantly, the Soul Reaper’s train of thought became crystal clear.
The Soul Reaper had decided to test a theory: if he stayed inside the Grey Fog Space indefinitely, how long would it take for someone else to show up?
As it turned out, Shiro Kamado had materialized in less than a minute.
“In other words, the flow of time in our respective worlds is completely different.
As long as one person enters, another version of us will follow shortly after.”
Shiro Kamado came to a sudden realization.
If they could exploit this unique property of the Grey Fog Space, they wouldn’t have to worry about a newcomer showing up to an empty room and missing out on an immediate connection.
“Heheh, I’m here!”
The moment he heard that carefree, casual tone, Shiro Kamado knew that Bystander Shiro had also entered the Grey Fog Space right on his heels.
Perhaps because he had been treated as “invisible” for far too long in his original world, the Bystander had become increasingly boisterous since gaining access to this place.
He acted as if he wanted to climb straight to the ceiling–assuming the Grey Fog Space actually had a ceiling.
His antics occasionally made Shiro Kamado want to give him a good thrashing.
Seeing Shiro Kamado reach a hand out toward him, the Bystander habitually took several swift steps backward.
Having shared the Bystander’s memories, Shiro Kamado knew that before his own arrival in the space, the Bystander had been beaten up by the Soul Reaper countless times for running his mouth.
Even though they shared the same nerve endings and felt the same pain due to their identical memories, the Soul Reaper had thoroughly enjoyed those painful reprimands.
“Wait, don’t get violent!
I’ve got some good stuff in my hands!” Bystander Shiro said, immediately raising his hands above his head in complete submission.
“Good stuff?
Is it a new game?
Don’t be so mysterious, let me see it already!”
As expected, Shiro Kamado was instantly influenced by the Bystander’s energy, shifting into a bit of a goofball himself.
At their core, they were the exact same person, so their personalities were fundamentally identical.
“Catch!
Shiro, this is the last of my memories!”
“Stop memeing and get over here!”
Ultimately, Shiro Kamado couldn’t hold back.
A punch landed squarely on the Bystander’s face, delivered with enough force that Shiro’s own knuckles turned red.
Wincing as he clutched his own face, Shiro Kamado finally realized just how ruthless the Soul Reaper was to tolerate sharing that level of pain just to beat up “himself.”
“Whoa, you actually succeeded in releasing your Shikai!
You can look through the memories slowly.
Honestly, now that you have a Zanpakutō, it feels like you won’t even need this info.
I’m heading back to my world to test out your Shikai’s power!”
With that, Bystander Shiro clutched his nose and left the Grey Fog Space with an excited grin.
Even after taking a punch, neither the Bystander nor any of the other Shiros would hold a grudge.
Punching yourself was more like a bizarre form of mental sparring.
Shiro Kamado silently browsed through the Bystander’s recent memories, which essentially looked like a computer’s internet history.
To his surprise, the Bystander had actually hired someone to build a forum–style website.
It was dedicated solely to discussing how to quickly and effectively kill Muzan Kibutsuji in *Demon Slayer*, crowdsourcing ideas from netizens to expand their horizons.
He had even planned to track down the author of *Demon Slayer*, Gotouge–sensei, to ask about scrapped lore and concepts that might provide clues for Shiro Kamado.
He had to admit that while the Bystander couldn’t directly make him stronger, this method of extracting information from the real world was incredibly useful.
If another Shiro ever transmigrated into a series they knew nothing about, the Bystander’s role would become even more critical–provided he could be a bit more serious.
The Bystander had already filtered out a few semi–viable suggestions from the forum users.
For instance, one suggestion was to drop a nuclear bomb directly on the Asakusa district, since Muzan had appeared there in the original story.
Good grief, did they want to turn all of Tokyo into radioactive ash?
Besides, that kind of technology didn’t even exist in this era.
Even if it did, what if the radiation reacted strangely with the demon biology?
Instead of killing him, it might just cause Muzan to mutate into something worse.
There were other bizarre ideas, like tossing Muzan into the deep ocean to trap him in a state between life and death until he eventually stopped thinking.
The most absurd one suggested finding a way to make Muzan fall in love with him to solve the problem from a romantic angle.
Shiro rubbed his temples.
As expected of internet trolls, their imagination knew no bounds.
Technically, that last suggestion was the only one he actually had a realistic shot at attempting.
Muzan was currently genderless and could shift between male and female forms, but his core essence remained male.
The mere thought of getting cozy with a gender–fluid monster gave Shiro Kamado goosebumps.
“These methods are way too unreliable.
It’d be faster for me to use *Death March* to turn all of the Twelve Kizuki into my puppets.”
As the old saying went: *Are kings and generals born to their stations?* Muzan Kibutsuji had sat on the throne of Demon King for long enough; it was time for a change in leadership.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.
That’s a dangerous train of thought.
Besides, you aren’t even a demon; you’re much closer to a Soul Reaper.
You even awakened your Shikai before me,” Soul Reaper Shiro said, blinking in sheer disbelief.
He recalled that in their original world, there were two people with similar grand ambitions, and both had met rather gruesome ends.
“If I make all the demons submit to me, then I *am* the Demon King.
Who cares if I’m biologically a demon or not?” Shiro Kamado stated confidently, completely forgetting that his Shikai could only control a maximum of four puppets at a time for now.
“Fine, fine.
Knowing myself, I’m sure you’ve suddenly decided to pull off something massive.
Good luck with that.”
The Soul Reaper stood up, waved with his back turned, and exited the Grey Fog Space.
Though he feigned indifference, he was actually far more eager than the Bystander to return to his world and achieve Shikai.
He had been a Soul Reaper for over a decade without ever learning his sword’s name.
Now that he finally could, the sheer euphoria humming in his veins was something only the other Shiros sharing his memories could truly comprehend.
“They’re all gone already?
I didn’t even get to map out my entire plan yet,” Shiro Kamado muttered, scratching his white hair in exasperation.
He finally understood why villains in movies always loved explaining their grand schemes to the protagonist.
Keeping a plan that could reshape the world entirely to yourself was incredibly frustrating!
“Excuse me…
do you know what kind of place this is?”
A timid, childlike voice echoed from the depths of the grey fog, causing Shiro Kamado’s eyes to light up.
Excellent!
A newcomer had finally arrived.
He was about to become the reliable, experienced senior.