An Enduring Urban Legend

In the Northern Hemisphere, autumn days grew shorter and shorter. After 5 p.m., the sky was already very dim.

In the Island Nation, this dim stretch of time was called Demon Hour, roughly from 3 to 5 in the morning and 5 to 7 in the afternoon.

No one knew whether wandering around outside during this time would lead to encountering "demons."

But running into Cursed Spirits was highly likely.

At 6:30 p.m., on a dim side street, a cute-looking little girl darted through the city's alleys.

"So this is the kind you like, Geto."

Eiji, standing some distance away, looked thoughtful.

"I just shaped it on a whim."

Suguru Geto stared at the surveillance feed with an indifferent expression.

"What people make on a whim says even more about what they like. After all, people subconsciously pursue the kind of person they like."

Seeing that his teasing had failed, Eiji picked up a newspaper and began reading.

In 1979, a twenty-five-year-old woman in Himeji City dressed in a trench coat and mask, pretending to be Kuchisake-onna while blocking people in alleyways with a kitchen knife, was arrested by the police.

In 1981, a man dressed as a woman hid scissors in his trench coat and cut a woman.

In 1991, a female student at Uchi Private High School pretended to be Kuchisake-onna to take revenge on her classmates.

In 2001...

"More than twenty years have passed, yet Kuchisake-onna is still this popular."

Eiji glanced at the thickness of the newspaper in his hands. There were clearly several more pages underneath.

"Maybe it's precisely because of these imitators that Kuchisake-onna has remained in everyone's memory."

The urban legend of Kuchisake-onna.

It could be called an enduring horror icon of the Island Nation. Eiji remembered that, in his previous life, this ghost story had remained popular for over forty years.

There were many theories about the origins of Kuchisake-onna, but two were particularly widespread.

One came from a report about a car accident. In 1968, the police discovered the scene of a car crash. After experts reconstructed it, they found that the dead victim's mouth had been split all the way to their ears. The image of Kuchisake-onna gradually spread afterward. In 1979, the prefecture reported news of Kuchisake-onna sightings, in which an elderly woman from the prefecture fainted in terror after seeing her.

Kuchisake-onna's image was formally established through that report as well.

The other theory claimed that a mother with violent tendencies who abused her child had her mouth cut open by scissors when she died. Later, she would possess mothers with violent tendencies, then wear a shabby brown coat and a scarf, hide a large pair of scissors inside her coat, let her long hair hang loose, wear a mask, and lurk around schools.

When Kuchisake-onna saw a child, she would ask, "Am I pretty?"

If the answer was no, she would kill them.

If the answer was yes, Kuchisake-onna would remove her mask, reveal the terrifying scar splitting her mouth, and ask again, "Am I pretty?"

Say yes, and Kuchisake-onna would use her scissors to make your mouth look the same. Say no, and you could start preparing for reincarnation.

Unfortunately, this was the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. Cursed Spirits possessed almost no intelligence. Otherwise, Eiji would have liked to find someone to test whether those bizarre ideas from internet users in his previous life actually worked.

Like kissing her directly.

At first, Suguru Geto found these Imaginary Cursed Spirits rather awkward, because in his view, they were clearly avoidable.

Eiji did not care much. They were all Negative Emotions. Compared with strange, vague, intangible Cursed Spirits, Cursed Spirits with clear targets and abundant information were actually easier to handle.

The group discussed this matter for quite some time afterward. In the end, Suguru Geto began treating Imaginary Cursed Spirits as ordinary Cursed Spirits.

They were all Negative Emotions anyway.

"The target has appeared."

Suguru Geto rose to his feet, ready to set out.

"Don't rush. Let me take a look."

Eiji pressed a hand onto Suguru Geto's shoulder.

Because Kuchisake-onna, who had only possessed Grade 1 strength in previous years, had grown stronger again and reached the level of a Quasi-Special Grade Cursed Spirit, the Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer assigned to exorcise her had been severely injured. Thus, Jujutsu Headquarters thought of Suguru Geto, who had defeated Rainbow Dragon.

There was no helping it. He was cheap and useful.

Although they did not dare lower the reward because of Satoru Gojo's warning, compared with the Jujutsu Sorcerers of The Three Great Families, who sat high above everyone else and constantly made demands, the polite Suguru Geto was simply an angel.

They only needed to pay according to the minimum Special Grade standard. He was polite, knew how to respect his elders, and was powerful.

Perfect.

Although most of Jujutsu Headquarters came from The Three Great Families, that did not stop them from hating their own families.

After all, the people with real strength and authority were all within the families. They were supposedly the higher-ups of the Jujutsu World, but in reality, they were merely working for The Three Great Families and had to act according to their moods.

Therefore, Suguru Geto, who could even take down Special Grade Cursed Spirits as long as the money was right, had truly saved them a great deal of time spent negotiating and arguing. He could even help them save a little of the budget. As for where that budget ended up...

"Nice figure."

"That's all you noticed after staring for so long?"

Suguru Geto looked at Eiji speechlessly.

"I'll head over to the professors first. Follow the plan."

"Fine. With you protecting them, the professors won't be in danger anyway."

Suguru Geto rubbed his forehead.

In his view, ordinary people should stay behind and be protected by Jujutsu Sorcerers.

Therefore, he had quite a few objections to Eiji bringing ordinary people along for the capture of a Quasi-Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

Suguru Geto knew about the Lab Eiji had established. He had even gone there for a part-time job during summer vacation.

After more than half a year of research, the Lab had begun producing weapons capable of harming Cursed Spirits.

Tests showed that these weapons inflicted heavy damage on Grade 4 Cursed Spirits and were also quite lethal against Grade 3 Cursed Spirits.

Later, when the professors wanted to use Grade 2 Cursed Spirits for experiments, the security department firmly refused.

What a joke. We're only Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerers.

Sure, the equipment here was good enough to handle Grade 3 Cursed Spirits, but Grade 2 was out of the question.

If we couldn't beat a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit, we could still run away with everyone. If we couldn't beat a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, we'd be wiped out.

We came here to work as security guards because we didn't want to fight for our lives outside, and now you want us to risk our lives against Grade 2 Cursed Spirits the moment we get here?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

No matter how the Old Professors assured them that the weapons were incredibly powerful and, according to the data, could definitely handle Grade 2 Cursed Spirits, the guards would not budge.

Eventually, the request reached Eiji.

After thinking it over, Eiji sent Suguru Geto an internship invitation.

Because it was Eiji's invitation, Suguru Geto did not refuse.

Thus, carrying confusion and a trace of curiosity, Suguru Geto followed Eiji to the Eastern Folklore Research Institute.

"Are you sure this is a folklore research institute and not some club's armory?"

Suguru Geto pointed at the pile of guns and cannons in the center of the room with a speechless expression.

Some of those guns and cannons had been bought from Toji Fushiguro, while others had been built by hand by the Old Professors.

After being modified, they could harm Cursed Spirits.

However, because the techniques for Cursed Energy modification were still immature, they could not yet be mass-produced. Moreover, the Old Professors' understanding of Cursed Energy remained vague. They felt as though they had vaguely grasped something, yet were still just short of the mark.

As a result, the weapons' destructive power fluctuated wildly, and they could not leave the Lab at all.

Only after the guards confirmed that the several Grade 2 Cursed Spirits brought into the Lab were completely under Suguru Geto's control did they dare enter with their guns raised.

The guards were thrilled. They had never imagined that they would one day be able to pin down and beat up Grade 2 Cursed Spirits they would not even have dared think about before. (In truth, Suguru Geto was controlling them. Otherwise, the Grade 2 Cursed Spirits would have beaten them flat long ago.)

The professors were thrilled as well. Every weapon was tested in turn, and the data they gathered was enough to keep them busy for quite a while.

Suguru Geto did not mind. He had received the commission fee and the internship certificate, and his Grade 2 Cursed Spirits were unharmed.

They looked badly beaten, but they were Cursed Spirits, collections of Negative Emotions. They were not like living creatures that would die from injuries to places such as the heart.

Many Cursed Spirits could still bounce around perfectly fine even after more than half their bodies had been blown away.