It was the exact same sequence all over again.
Same white room, same mechanical voice, same dismal post-death report.
Julian stared at the floating interface without a shred of expression left on his face.
“System.
Is the spawn point actually randomized?”
“It is entirely random.”
“Then why did I drop onto the exact same piece of pavement twice in a row?!”
“Probability allows for consecutive identical outputs.
The Host is advised to attempt another entry.
The destination may vary.”
Julian dragged a breath through his teeth.
“It better.”
Two back-to-back freefalls had strangely dulling effects on his panic.
The lingering ghost of pain in his skull was still unpleasant, but at least the system was quietly raising his physical durability with every failed run.
If he died enough times, maybe his base stats really would catch up to someone like Yuji Itadori.
He shook off the thought and readied himself.
“Send me back in.”
White light flashed.
The world materialized.
Good news: the scenery had changed.
Bad news: he was still in the sky.
Instead of a grey concrete grid, the ground below featured the glass dome of a sprawling shopping mall.
Julian raised a hand toward the heavens, flipping a single finger to the sky as the glass rushed up to meet him.
“Kenjaku, you absolute bastard!
How was any normal human supposed to clear this game?!”
Crash.
[ Attempt Failed: 3 ]
[ Cause of Death: Structural demolition via direct head-to-roof impact.
]
[ Evaluation: Complete failure.
]
[ Clearance Reward: Minor increase in Cursed Energy capacity.
Minor increase in Physical Resistance.
]
Julian sat up in the void, shouting at the ceiling.
“Again!
Drop me again!
I refuse to believe I can’t touch the ground alive!”
Attempt four ended inside the exposed rebar of an unfinished high-rise.
Attempt five ended on the artificial turf of an open-air stadium.
Attempt six dropped him right back to his original spawn point, where his forehead once again tested the density of city pavement.
By the time the failure counter hit nine, Julian’s eyes were completely dead.
He sat cross-legged on the white floor, staring blankly at the floating numbers.
“Whatever.
Let’s see how many times a guy can fall before his mind snaps completely.”
He waved his hand listlessly.
“Send me.”
The light flickered.
The wind roared.
Julian opened his arms to accept death number ten, only to freeze.
The surface rushing toward him wasn’t concrete, glass, or steel.
It was dark blue water.
“Water!
It’s water!”
He was dropping toward a harbor bay, the ocean surface expanding beneath his boots.
The height was still dozens of meters up, but it wasn’t a solid brick wall.
Julian thrashed in midair, adjusting his posture as fast as he could.
Boom.
He hit the surface hard.
Without professional diving form, the impact slapped against his chest and belly like a sheet of plywood, knocking the air clean out of his lungs.
He sank deep into the frigid blue, his vision spinning.
Yet, his head was intact.
His skull hadn’t cracked.
The accumulated physical resistance from nine straight deaths had paid off.
His body held together under the force of the landing.
Julian kicked his legs, breaking through the surface and gasping for air.
“I made it!
I actually landed!”
The celebration lasted less than two seconds.
A low, gurgling roar echoed through the water beneath him.
Julian looked down through the clear spray.
A massive, pale aquatic cursed spirit with rows of jagged teeth was swimming straight toward his floating body at terrifying speed.
Kenjaku hadn’t just released sorcerers into the barriers—he had filled them with countless wild curses.
And the coastal waters were crawling with them.
“Unbelievable…
my luck is absolute trash!”
Julian turned and kicked frantically toward the concrete docks in the distance.
Cursed Energy acted as a beacon to cursed spirits.
Even with his low reserves, his presence in the water stood out like a flare in the dark.
Shapes began moving in the deep water around him, aquatic curses surging toward him in a frantic frenzy, colliding with one another in their rush to feed.
Water churned behind him.
Julian glanced back just in time to see a gaping maw lined with needle-thin teeth rising straight out of the surf, reaching for his torso.
The stench of rotting fish and cursed decay hit his face before the jaws could close.
No way.
I am not dying in some fish monster’s mouth after surviving nine freefalls!
A surge of pure, raw desperation flared in his chest.
His heart hammered against his ribs, refusing to accept another death loop right here on the shoreline.
He didn’t want to die.
“Get off me!” Julian screamed, drawing back his right fist and swinging it blindly toward the monster’s face.
Unseen force surged from deep within his center, drawn out by the sheer terror and rage spiking through his nervous system.
A vibrant, flickering aura of blue Cursed Energy wrapped tightly around his knuckles.
Bang!
His fist slammed into the side of the curse’s snout.
The explosive release of reinforced force shattered the creature’s jaw, sending its massive form tumbling backward into the churning waves.
Julian stared at his dripping fist, his jaw slack.
Cursed Energy…
I actually channeled it!
Negative emotion was the trigger.
Under the immediate threat of being eaten alive, his body had forcibly ignited the latent energy within his core.
More shadows moved beneath the water’s surface.
Julian didn’t waste another second trying to analyze the feeling.
With Cursed Energy flowing through his limbs, his strength and speed surged.
He sliced through the water like an Olympic sprinter, hauling his body up onto the concrete ledge of the pier in three fast strokes.
He collapsed onto the hard ground, rolling onto his back and breathing heavily as he looked down at the water.
In the bay below, several aquatic curses thrashed against the edge of the sea wall, unable to haul their limbless bodies onto dry land.
“Come on then!” Julian wheezed out a laugh, wiping salt water from his eyes.
“Can’t climb, can you?
Stay in the water, you ugly bastards!”
His chest heaved as the rush of adrenaline slowly subsided.
As his mind calmed, the blue glow around his hands faded, slipping back down into his core.
He pushed himself up onto his elbows, taking in his surroundings.
He was standing on a commercial dock surrounded by stacked shipping containers and rusted cranes.
Pop.
A small puff of white smoke burst into the air right beside his ear.
A tiny, bat-winged creature with a pale, insectoid face fluttered out from the vapor, hovering at eye level.
“Yo!
The name’s Kogane!
Congrats on entering the barrier and officially joining the Culling Game!”
Julian flinched, almost throwing a punch at the floating creature before catching himself.
The mechanical voice in his head was cold and distant.
This thing’s voice was right next to his ear, high-pitched, lively, and undeniably real.
He leaned back slightly, watching the small shikigami flutter in place.
“Kogane…”