A Sudden Visitor

After what happened at the school, Yuji Itadori would surely be forced to join Jujutsu High, and then leave Sugisawa Middle School.

Lin Ran leaned back in his chair, moonlight falling across his fair, resolute face as he gazed out the window in thought.

"If Yuji Itadori goes to Tokyo Jujutsu High, it wouldn't be impossible for me to stay here alone. But there would be more opportunities if I were with them, and we could look out for each other..."

"But I can't join Jujutsu High at all right now. First, my origins are unknown. Second, where did this cursed energy of mine come from? Third, how am I supposed to join Jujutsu High?"

These questions were indeed troublesome. Once Yuji Itadori headed to Tokyo, there would basically be no more opportunities, and Satoru Gojo would not return to Sendai City anytime soon either.

After all, Gojo and Fushiguro Megumi had come here to retrieve Ryomen Sukuna's finger. Now that Yuji Itadori had eaten it, there was naturally no reason for them to remain.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have come back tonight. Maybe I could've run into Gojo." Lin Ran shook his head. It was too late to say anything now. He could only stay in Sendai City for a while longer.

"Forget it, forget it. I'm a little hungry. I'll make a bowl of noodles first." Lin Ran got up and stretched, then began preparing noodles for himself.

In his previous life, one of his identities had been that of a food blogger. And not the kind who bought food made by others and ate it himself—he made it for himself to eat.

Many bloggers bought piles of food from other businesses to eat. To put it bluntly, they were merely mukbang streamers, with little to do with being food bloggers.

So Lin Ran put a great deal of care into delicious food. As long as he could make something himself, he would do so. After all, his cooking was even better than that of restaurants outside.

First, Lin Ran soaked the noodles in cold water. While they soaked, he chopped scallions and prepared the other seasonings.

Water heated in the pot. Five minutes later, Lin Ran removed the noodles from the cold water and placed them into the boiling water.

After that, he followed the usual steps, and the noodles were soon nearly done.

Just then, Lin Ran suddenly heard footsteps drawing closer and closer.

"This building should only have me in it. So who could it be?" Lin Ran stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the closed door.

Knock, knock, knock!

A knock sounded at the door. Lin Ran frowned. Those footsteps clearly did not belong to the landlord; he could tell that whoever was outside was someone else.

Just as Lin Ran was about to ask who it was, the other person spoke first.

"Um... don't be nervous. I'm Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu High. I need to speak with you about something. Would it be convenient to open the door and talk?"

"Gojo?"

Lin Ran froze. Why had Gojo come looking for him?

If he remembered correctly, they had never even met. So how did Gojo know about him, and how did he know he was here?

There was no use thinking about it now. The man had already come to his door. After straightening his clothes, Lin Ran quickly opened it.

"Yo, hello!" Gojo's tall figure appeared before Lin Ran. His neat outfit and strange yet handsome style were something only Gojo could pull off so perfectly.

"Hello." Lin Ran did his best to appear calm.

Truthfully, this was his first time meeting the so-called pinnacle of combat power in this world. If Gojo wanted to, he could kill the current Lin Ran at any moment.

But Lin Ran was not worried about that. He was neither a cursed object nor a cursed spirit, so Gojo would not exorcise him.

"Ah, that smells amazing. Are you cooking something?" Gojo's prominent nose twitched, as though he had discovered something wonderful.

"Oh, yes. I'm making a late-night snack. If you don't mind, you can..."

"I don't mind, I don't mind. Then I'll gladly accept." Gojo did not even wait for Lin Ran to finish before laughing and walking inside.

Lin Ran had expected as much. Aside from being handsome and powerful, Gojo also had a habit of refusing to play by the rules. Anything unreasonable became reasonable with him, and he seemingly never stood on ceremony.

"The bowls and chopsticks are here. Do you need me to serve you some?" Lin Ran closed the door and walked over, looking at the back of the man who was much taller than him.

"No, no, I'll do it myself." Gojo did not hold back. He picked up a bowl and chopsticks, fished noodles from the pot, then ladled a spoonful of golden-red broth over them. Leaning in to sniff, he said, "Smells so good~"

Lin Ran was already hungry as well. He served himself some noodles and began eating straight away. He did not ask why Gojo had come yet; they could talk after the noodles.

Still, Lin Ran could more or less guess the reason. After all, this was Satoru Gojo.

"You're Lin Ran, right? It seems like you're the only one living here, so why did you make so many noodles?" Gojo asked before taking his first bite.

"Yes. There used to be another tenant here, but he moved out over half a month ago. Now I'm the only one living here. I also have a pretty big appetite, so this isn't too much for me." After speaking, Lin Ran slurped up a mouthful of noodles.

Gojo had already begun eating while listening. He had wanted to continue questioning Lin Ran, but once he tasted Lin Ran's noodles, he broke into a grin. Before he could ask anything else, he started wolfing them down in huge mouthfuls.

Before long, only the broth remained in Gojo's bowl. He tipped his head back, lifted the bowl, and drank every last drop.

Only then did he burp contentedly. His face rosy, he said in satisfaction, "That was so good~"

"Hehe..." Lin Ran laughed. That was exactly the expression and response he wanted from Gojo; otherwise, he would have made those noodles for nothing.

Before delicious food, even the pinnacle of combat power had to crawl forward. That was an unchanging truth. Food came first.

"I was still hesitating before, but now... you have to come back with me." Gojo set down his bowl and chopsticks, suddenly saying this.

"What?" Lin Ran did not understand for a moment.

"Who told you to be such a good cook? You can make even such simple noodles taste like this. If I leave you here, that would truly be a waste of talent." Gojo laughed, looking at Lin Ran. "There are lots of little gluttons there. Once you go, you'll be perfect for dealing with them."

Although Gojo had said it abruptly, Lin Ran roughly understood. He probably meant for Lin Ran to return to Tokyo with him.

"You left very discreetly, but you left behind a unique trace of cursed energy at the scene. I asked Megumi, and he told me that someone had been eaten by a curse before he went upstairs. After examining the place, I found the trace you left behind. It was hidden, but I could still detect it. With the cursed energy you possess, there's no way you could have been killed so easily. But I can't figure out why you were there."

"You have cursed energy, and it's quite unusual. If you wanted to defeat that kind of curse, it shouldn't have been a problem. So why did you leave instead?"

Gojo's expression turned serious again as he waited to hear Lin Ran's answer.