The rush of wind tore the breath right out of Julian’s throat, smothering any attempt at a curse.
The ground sped toward him at horrifying speed.
Gray concrete grid lines expanded by the millisecond.
Where the hell did you drop me?!
Is this the game?!
Adrenaline flooded his bloodstream, turning his senses excruciatingly sharp.
He thrashed in midair, trying to orient his body, trying to catch something—anything—to break his descent.
It was entirely useless.
Julian plunged through the open air, staring helpless at the rapidly approaching street.
Impact.
Everything went dark instantly as his skull slammed into the pavement.
Julian bolted upright in the white void, clutching wildly at his neck and forehead.
“Is my head still on?!”
He panted, his shirt soaked through with cold sweat, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
The horrific sensation of his forehead collapsing against solid concrete lingered behind his eyes, vivid and agonizing.
A floating blue panel expanded directly in front of his face, followed by the System’s emotionless voice.
[ Attempt Failed: 1 ]
[ Cause of Death: Terminal deceleration trauma via direct head-to-concrete impact.
]
[ Evaluation: Complete failure.
Perished prior to engaging in official combat within the Culling Game.
]
[ Clearance Reward: Minor increase in Cursed Energy capacity.
Minor increase in Physical Resistance.
]
The notification snapped Julian out of his lingering horror.
He pointed an aggressive finger at the display.
“Are you serious right now?!
You dropped me three thousand feet in the air!
How is that a game?!”
“The Host was successfully transferred into the Culling Game,” the System replied smoothly.
“The spatial coordinates upon barrier entry are assigned randomly by the barrier’s structural rules.”
Julian stopped.
The mechanics clicked into place.
The Culling Game.
Players entering the barriers were randomly distributed across set spatial points within the territory.
Some of those entry coordinates were positioned hundreds of meters above the ground.
Unprepared sorcerers or awakened civilians who couldn’t fly or soften their landing simply fell to their deaths the second they crossed the threshold.
He had drawn the worst possible spawn on his very first attempt.
Julian dragged a hand over his face, letting out a long, shaky breath.
“Okay…
fine.
System, can you at least override the spawn coordinates next time?
Give me a ground-level point?”
“Negatory.
The Culling Game barrier operates under an established Binding Vow system.
External modification of entry coordinates is impossible.”
Julian groaned, sinking back onto the white floor.
So he was stuck playing Russian roulette with the sky every time he entered.
Still, he couldn’t actually stay dead.
It was just a really aggressive form of extreme sports without a parachute.
“Is the spawn randomized every single time I enter?” he asked.
“Correct.
Every entry triggers a new coordinate selection.”
Julian relaxed slightly.
Most players who survived the initial drop were either sorcerers with innate mobility techniques or people who got lucky with ground spawns.
As long as every attempt generated a new location, he was bound to hit a safe spawn point eventually.
He turned his focus back to the reward log.
He stared at the “Complete failure” mark, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Yeah, yeah.
Mock me all you want.
Throw a normal guy off a skyscraper and see how long he lasts.”
His eyes shifted down to the bonus rewards.
Minor increase in Cursed Energy capacity.
Minor increase in Physical Resistance.
Julian checked his own interface panel.
His Cursed Energy stat still read ‘Non-Sorcerer,’ showing no visible change.
But when he clenched his fist and struck his own chest, the impact felt slightly duller than usual.
His frame felt a fraction sturdier.
A sudden thought struck him.
“Hey, System.
If dying increases my physical stats…
if I keep dying, will my body eventually reach Yuji Itadori’s level?”
“Insufficient data.
Rewards are calculated based on overall performance and survival duration per attempt.
The Host must explore parameter limits independently.”
Julian rolled his eyes.
“Right.
Useless as always.”
He stretched his limbs, hesitation creeping back over him.
He knew he couldn’t permanently die, but the sensation of hitting the ground at terminal velocity wasn’t something a human brain wiped away easily.
His body instinctively revolted at the thought of jumping back in.
“Is the Host prepared to re-enter the Culling Game?”
Julian shuddered at the prompt, then sucked in a deep breath through his teeth.
“Screw it.
No risk, no reward.
I can’t stay in this white box forever.”
He braced his shoulders.
“System!
Drop me back in!”
“Understood.”
White light swallowed his vision once more.
The light faded.
The roar of wind rushed back into his ears, tearing at his hair.
Julian looked down at the exact same concrete intersection expanding beneath his boots.
“You have got to be kidding me!
Where is the randomizer?!”
Impact.
The white space materialized around him instantly.
[ Attempt Failed: 2 ]
[ Cause of Death: Terminal deceleration trauma via direct head-to-concrete impact.
]
[ Evaluation: Complete failure.
Perished prior to engaging in official combat within the Culling Game.
]
[ Clearance Reward: Minor increase in Cursed Energy capacity.
Minor increase in Physical Resistance.