Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.
Traditional Japanese buildings were scattered throughout the lush mountain forest.
Jin followed behind Satoru Gojo and Megumi Fushiguro, passing beneath a moss-covered torii gate.
Two rows of old stone lanterns stood along the road, filling the area with a heavy religious atmosphere.
As they walked, Megumi explained the basics of the jujutsu world to Jin in Gojo’s place.
“That fire ability of yours is actually an innate cursed technique you were born with.
Cursed techniques usually awaken around the age of five.”
“But there are also plenty of sorcerers like you whose techniques don’t awaken until adulthood.”
At this point, Megumi glanced sideways at Jin.
“Jujutsu High has always actively recruited unaffiliated sorcerers like you, so they don’t accidentally go down the wrong path later.”
“Overall, joining Jujutsu High is probably your best option.”
“Tuition, food, and housing are all free, and you can learn jujutsu-related knowledge to improve your own strength.”
“You can also earn appropriate compensation by occasionally going on missions to exorcise cursed spirits.”
Jin walked with both hands in his pockets, casually looking around at the buildings.
“After all that, you’re basically just saying I’d be working for the government.”
He chuckled and replied flippantly.
“If they weren’t even willing to spend money training their tools, then the organization would really be beyond saving, wouldn’t it?”
Megumi fell silent for a moment, unsure how to respond.
Strictly speaking, Jin wasn’t wrong.
But being able to say it so bluntly and without the slightest attempt to hide his opinion…
Jin gave him a very similar feeling to a certain irresponsible white-haired man in a blindfold walking nearby.
Gojo, who was walking ahead, laughed when he heard this and turned around in agreement.
“Hahaha!
You’re not wrong.
The old fossils at the top more or less think exactly like that.”
“But the higher-ups are the higher-ups.
I’m not on their side at all.”
Gojo raised one hand beside his mouth and leaned close to Jin’s ear to whisper—without lowering his voice in the slightest.
“By the way, I can’t stand them either.
More than once, I’ve seriously considered killing every last one of them.”
Jin looked at Gojo, who had leaned close to his ear, and teased him.
“Then why don’t you?
Aren’t you the strongest?”
Gojo straightened up and seriously answered Jin’s question.
“Because of certain considerations, now isn’t the right time.”
Back when Jin watched the anime, he’d always hated the jujutsu higher-ups.
Useless at everything except dragging others down and bullying their own people.
It was honestly impressive that Gojo had managed to tolerate them until the final battle before purging the higher-ups.
If an ordinary person possessed Gojo’s strength, the very next day would’ve probably turned into, ‘I don’t eat beef.’
Jin raised a hand to his chin and appeared thoughtful.
“Is it because there are too many of them and you can’t kill them all cleanly?”
“My technique should be pretty efficient for killing people.
One fire and I could probably burn them all to ash.”
Gojo had never heard anyone respond to his statement with such wholehearted agreement before.
He couldn’t help looking back at Jin in surprise.
“Hahaha.
No, that’s not really the problem.”
Listening to their conversation, Megumi silently put a large amount of distance between himself and the two of them.
He sighed internally.
Somehow, he had a feeling his future days were going to be difficult.
Having Gojo, a teacher who loved causing trouble, was bad enough.
Now they were recruiting another guy who seemed perfectly compatible with him.
He had the ominous feeling that these two walking disasters were going to create some truly incredible sparks together.
After climbing several dozen stone steps and reaching the school’s main gate, three…
figures?
approached them head-on.
A giant black-and-white panda, a green-haired girl with glasses and a high ponytail carrying a long case over her shoulder, and a short white-haired boy whose high collar covered his mouth.
The panda waved at Gojo from a distance, its chubby paw swaying through the air.
“Satoru!”
Gojo happily raised his own hand in reply.
“Panda!”
Once they came closer, Panda noticed Jin behind Gojo.
It crossed its arms over its chest and leaned its round body closer to Gojo, asking curiously.
“Huh?
Satoru, where’d you pick up another wild sorcerer this time?”
Jin’s attention immediately locked onto Panda, and he stared without blinking.
A talking panda.
That was far more interesting than the two humans beside it.
Panda noticed his gaze and raised a paw in greeting.
“Hello!
I’m Panda!”
Maki Zenin looked Jin up and down, her gaze finally stopping on his bare chest as she frowned.
“Where’d this exhibitionist come from?”
Toge Inumaki nodded toward Jin, his voice coming from behind his collar.
“Kelp.”
Jin raised his head, golden eyes looking down at Maki.
“Watch your mouth, gorilla woman.”
Maki’s frown deepened.
She reached for the long case over her shoulder, her knuckles cracking.
“You bastard.
You haven’t even enrolled yet and you’re already this arrogant?”
“Looks like I need to teach you how to respect your seniors.”
The smell of gunpowder instantly filled the air.
Inumaki silently took a step backward while Panda raised both paws defensively.
Just as the two looked ready to start fighting, Gojo slid between them and held both hands out in a stop gesture.
“Stop—!”
He turned toward Maki and the others and waved casually.
“Introductions can wait.
This soon-to-be student wants to spar with me.”
“We’re on our way to the battlefield right now.
That’s the situation.”
“Spar with you?!”
Maki and Panda exclaimed at the same time, their voices overlapping.
Inumaki’s eyes widened.
“Tuna.”
The three exchanged glances, instantly growing excited.
Even Panda’s ears stood up.
“Please let us watch!”
Gojo turned toward Jin, his tone becoming unusually serious.
“What do you think?
If you don’t want spectators, I’ll turn them down.”
Information about a cursed technique could mean life or death for a sorcerer.
Even companions wouldn’t casually reveal their abilities to each other.
As a newcomer to the jujutsu world, Jin might not understand that yet, but they still needed his permission.
Jin didn’t care.
His ability was simple and straightforward, driven mostly by raw numbers.
There wasn’t much worth hiding.
“Whatever.”
The three immediately cheered.
“All right!”
Only then did Panda notice Megumi approaching from far behind and ask in confusion.
“Megumi, why are you walking so far away?”
“Panda-senpai.”
Megumi rubbed his neck and quickened his pace to catch up, his expression blank.
He certainly couldn’t tell them that those two had just been discussing the most efficient way to overthrow the jujutsu world.
A few minutes later, the group arrived at a forest inside the school grounds.
Towering trees stretched overhead, their dense branches blocking out most of the sky.
A thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground.
Gojo raised a hand and patted the trunk of a tree beside him.
The bark was rough, making a dull sound beneath his palm.
“Since I get to choose the location, I figured I’d pick terrain favorable to the student.
That way, nobody can accuse me of bullying a kid.”
He looked around and nodded in satisfaction.
“How about here?
Not bad, right?”
Jin pulled a cigarette from his pants pocket, placed it between his lips, and took out a lighter.
Clink!
The metallic lid of the Zippo flipped open with a crisp sound.
The flame touched the cigarette.
Jin inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled smoke through his nose.
A thin gray-white column drifted through the air.
“Just so we’re clear, I’m not putting out any fires.”
Jin gestured around the forest with the hand holding his cigarette.
“If this place burns down, don’t blame me.”
Gojo smiled, both hands in his pockets as he tilted his head toward Jin.
“Smoking isn’t good for you.
If I remember correctly, you’re still underage, aren’t you?”
Jin put the lighter back into his pocket and flicked away some ash.
His golden eyes glanced sideways, a faint smile on his lips.
“You don’t look like the kind of person who actually cares about that.”
Gojo paused, then his smile widened.
“Good grief.
Without realizing it, I’ve started lecturing people too.
That’s not good.”
[Random Quest: Last 2 Minutes Against Satoru Gojo]
[Quest Reward: Total Cursed Energy +20%]
Seeing the system notification, Jin felt a surge of delight.
He hadn’t expected a bonus reward.
A thoughtful gleam flashed through his dark-golden eyes as the cigarette between his lips quickly burned down.
Not far away, among the spectators—
Maki slammed her long case onto the ground, planted both hands on her hips, and shouted excitedly.
“Place your bets!
Place your bets!”
“I bet half a minute!
Two hundred and fifty thousand yen!”
Inumaki held up one finger, then used both hands to indicate thirty.
“One minute, three hundred thousand?”
Maki translated for him.
Inumaki nodded.
“Salmon.”
Panda rubbed its furry chin, looking troubled.
“I don’t have much allowance left.
Can I bet fifty thousand yen?”
“No!”
Maki slapped Panda hard on the back.
“Minimum bet is two hundred thousand!
Didn’t you just make a bunch of money from your last mission?
How are you broke again?!”
“Can’t help it.
I spent it all buying merchandise.”
Panda was a penniless loser who couldn’t be squeezed for anything more, so Maki turned toward Megumi instead.
She lifted her chin.
“Megumi!
What about you?”
Megumi expressionlessly looked away, clearly uninterested.
“Boring.
I’m not participating.”
“Hah?”
Maki strode over and hooked an arm around his neck.
“What?
We finally get a new student crazy enough to fight that idiot.
Don’t ruin the mood!”
Megumi’s neck tilted awkwardly beneath her hold.
He sighed helplessly and pushed her arm away.
He looked toward Jin, who was warming up his wrists in the distance, and remained silent for two seconds.
“Two and a half minutes.
Three hundred thousand yen.”
Maki’s eyes lit up before narrowing suspiciously.
“You think pretty highly of him, huh?”
She curled her lip and crossed her arms, completely unconvinced.
“But there’s no way, right?
Even without his cursed technique, with just hand-to-hand combat, that guy definitely can’t last two and a half minutes.”
“Get ready to lose your money!”
Megumi didn’t argue.
He simply watched the two figures in the distance.
“A hunch.”