Building Incident

It had to be said that Satoru Gojo's analysis made a great deal of sense. Still, Lin Ran found it very strange. He had clearly concealed his cursed energy well, yet he had still been discovered.

Perhaps it was because of that Black Flash kick, which had left a distinctive aura behind.

"Mr. Gojo, you truly are the pillar of the Cursed Technique World, the symbol of invincibility. Your analysis is indeed spot-on. But forgive me, I can't tell you everything. I can only say that I have some personal matters to deal with." Lin Ran's words were no different from saying nothing; he simply meant that he couldn't tell Satoru Gojo what he had been doing over there.

Without getting an answer from Lin Ran, Satoru Gojo simply stood there facing him. The eyes behind that black blindfold seemed capable of seeing through everything.

"Hahaha... it's fine, don't be so nervous. Hmm, the noodles you cooked were delicious." Satoru Gojo suddenly patted Lin Ran on the shoulder, took a slip of paper from his pocket and placed it on the table. Then, as he walked to the door, he said, "Wait for me at this place in one week."

Lin Ran watched Satoru Gojo leave. The man had surprisingly not pressed him for answers and had simply left so peacefully.

He picked up the note on the table. It read: Tokyo XXX Location. It seemed that was the meeting place.

"I didn't expect getting into Jujutsu High to be this easy. It was even easier than I imagined." Lin Ran had thought he would miss his chance to attend Jujutsu High, yet things had turned out so unexpectedly.

There was still a week left. Lin Ran no longer planned to go to school. It would be best if everyone just thought he was dead; there was no need to return and explain anything.

Sasaki and Iguchi were both fine, so they would definitely go to school tomorrow. That meant he wouldn't have to go, and Sasaki and Iguchi could believe that he was dead.

Otherwise, if he went back to school, not only would Sasaki and Iguchi question him, but Yamasano Megumi and some of the other girls would as well. That would be far too troublesome.

Since he had exactly one week left, Lin Ran wanted to check out the largest company nearby—the place people said had once been plagued by frequent paranormal incidents. If he encountered any Cursed Spirits, he would be more than happy to exorcise them.

In any case, today he had gained Ryomen Sukuna's fingernail and Satoru Gojo's admission notice. It was truly a double blessing. Next, he would begin his real life as a jujutsu sorcerer.

Sugisawa High School.

As usual, the students came to class, except the section of the school building used for club activities had been sealed off by the police.

The students could easily see the damaged school building, but no one knew what had happened.

Curses existed in the real world, but most people were unaware of them. After all, such things did not happen often; they were merely matters of probability.

The school would give the students some explanation to help them move past the unsettling atmosphere. To them, academics were still the most important thing.

In this incident, rumors spread that a first-year student had died in an accident—Lin Ran, who had only recently transferred in. He had still left a deep impression on his classmates.

Because of this, Sasaki and Iguchi seemed to have become quieter and more withdrawn. They often lost focus in class, always thinking of that tall figure standing before them and letting them escape.

"If Lin Ran hadn't been there, I might already be dead. That's right... the one who should have died was me. I was the one who got Lin Ran killed..." Sasaki sank deeper and deeper into self-blame.

She did not even notice when the bell rang for class to end. It was only when Iguchi patted her shoulder that Sasaki came back to herself.

"Don't blame yourself too much." Iguchi did not know how to comfort Sasaki. He himself felt terrible.

The school classified such incidents as paranormal events. Anything that could not be explained was generally treated as a paranormal event, with no conclusion ever reached.

Unless they invited the relevant people to investigate. But the incident was already over, and someone had told the school that Sugisawa Middle School would not experience anything similar again.

Thus, the school did not pursue the matter further. Once they hired some renovation workers to repair the damaged parts of the building, the matter was considered settled.

Yamasano Megumi looked at the empty seat beside her. Lin Ran had originally sat there, but now it was vacant.

No one dared sit there anymore, afraid of picking up something bad. So from then on, Yamasano Megumi sat by herself.

She reached out and touched the chair, wanting to feel some trace of Lin Ran's presence, but she could feel nothing. It was only a small comfort to herself.

Lin Ran certainly had no idea that someone was still worried about him. Dusk was approaching, and office workers were reaching the end of their workday.

Lin Ran stood before a massive skyscraper. It belonged to a major corporation, a large conglomerate—and this was the company where paranormal phenomena frequently occurred.

His purpose in coming here was naturally to see what cursed object was affecting the place, then exorcise it.

Many of the nearby residents knew about the incidents that had happened at this company, though only within this area. People farther away paid no attention to it.

Lin Ran casually asked around and quickly got the answers he wanted.

This really was a huge publicly listed company called Heisei International Group. It had an enormous number of employees, and every department was busy beyond measure.

But at some point, a series of paranormal incidents had begun occurring here, and quite a few employees had died at this company.

Yet the coroner's conclusion was always that they had died from overwork—in other words, sudden death caused by staying up late.

Everyone considered that conclusion reasonable. After all, plenty of young people these days died suddenly from staying up late. Those young people ate, drank, partied, guzzled beer, and ate barbecue every day, only to die from the consequences of sleep deprivation.

As for the young people working at this company, they had dedicated their lives to their jobs.

To outsiders, there was nothing particularly paranormal about it. After all, if someone worked overtime and stayed up late until their body could no longer endure it, they would die.

Just like how a person would die if they were killed.

But too many people at Heisei International Group died from overwork every year. Nearly three or four people died each month. Even for a company with several thousand employees, that was a large number.

Lin Ran observed from downstairs for a while. Sure enough, it was just as he had expected. More than half an hour had passed since the end of the workday, yet only a handful of people had left the company. Everyone else was still working overtime.

Why was that?

To uncover the truth, Lin Ran had to enter the company. The instant he took his first step inside, a strange sense of oppression rose within him.

It seemed that anyone who entered this building would feel uncomfortable.

Even people who were not employees could wander around and visit freely. The company's president welcomed it; he always wanted to show outsiders how hardworking the company's employees were, as if he took great pride in it.

Among businesses, those bosses truly envied him for having so many young people willing to work themselves to the bone and make money through overtime.

That spirit might have been admirable, but in Lin Ran's eyes, the people working overtime here were deeply unhealthy.