Cursed Energy Output

After the five had eaten and drunk their fill, they returned to Jujutsu High. Satoru Gojo had also arranged a private dorm room for Nobara Kugisaki.

Jujutsu High had plenty of dorm rooms across several floors, but there were no women-only dormitories where all the girls stayed together, nor were there designated areas that were entirely male dorms.

So Nobara Kugisaki's room was not far from Lin Ran and the others'—just around a corner.

The doors could all be locked from the inside, and the women's dorm rooms had cursed restrictions in place, so there was no need to worry about men barging in.

It had been a fulfilling day. When Lin Ran returned to his room, he discovered that the entertainment facilities here were truly scarce. There was not even a television mounted on the wall. Fortunately, he still had a computer. Its specs were a little poor and it was an old machine, but it still worked.

After turning on the computer, Lin Ran watched the news for a while before logging into his social media app.

Hijikata Shichiro was shown as online in his friends list. Lin Ran smiled at the screen and sent him a message.

Lin Ran: Shichiro, watching anime again?

A few minutes later.

Hijikata Shichiro: Fuck, how did you know? Did you install a camera in my room?

Hijikata Shichiro: Where's the camera? Tell me now so I can take it down.

Lin Ran: You're as funny as ever.

Hijikata Shichiro: Hehe, Ran-chan, how are things over there? Are you doing okay? Do you have enough money?

Lin Ran: Everything's good. How are things on your end? Going smoothly?

Hijikata Shichiro: Smoothly, yeah. I'm managing the crematorium pretty well now—better than my grandpa ever did.

Lin Ran: That's good. Your father, so far away in another country, must be very pleased.

Hijikata Shichiro: Ah, why bring him up? For all we know, he might already be dead.

Hijikata Shichiro's father was an international mercenary. It could be said that Hijikata Shichiro had not seen his father for a very long time. Mercenaries lived with their lives on the line every day, so there was no telling when they might die on a battlefield.

Hijikata Shichiro did not feel much about it. His grandfather had raised him since childhood, so he was closer to his grandfather than to his biological father.

Lin Ran: It's getting late. Get some rest early. If you run into any problems, you can always come to me.

Hijikata Shichiro: What problems could I possibly run into? I'm more worried about you. Take good care of yourself out there. If you run out of money, just tell me. No need to be polite.

Lin Ran: Got it. Good night!

Hijikata Shichiro: Good night, Ran-chan!

After closing the chat window, Lin Ran leaned back in his chair, a smile appearing on his face. "Then it's time to claim the next reward."

Lin Ran had previously accumulated 142 Points. Adding the 40 Points he had earned this time, he now had 182 in total.

10 Points = Cursed Energy Overload, 50 Points = Beginner Blue-Black Flash, 100 Points = Technique—Cursed Energy Armor, 150 Points = Cursed Technique—Cursed Energy Output, 250 Points = Cursed Tool Black Steel, 350 Points = Time Flash, 450 Points = Power Doubling, 600 Points = Domain Expansion—Sun and Moon, 800 Points = Unlock Space-Time Mirror.

These 182 Points were just enough to claim Cursed Energy Output. However, he needed 250 Points to claim the next item, Cursed Tool Black Steel, so he was still a little ways off.

That gap was still easy enough for Lin Ran to close. He only needed to deal with a few more Grade 3 Cursed Spirits.

"Claim Cursed Energy Output." Lin Ran willed it.

[Congratulations! You have obtained Cursed Energy Output!]

"Let's test it out." Lin Ran immediately activated Cursed Energy Output. In an instant, his Cursed Energy spread through the entire room like ripples, even extending beyond it to envelop the whole dormitory building.

In this state, Lin Ran could sense everything around him and vaguely see what Yuji Itadori and Fushiguro Megumi were doing.

"This..." Lin Ran was stunned. How was this Cursed Energy Output? It was clearly a radar.

Not only that, Lin Ran discovered that he could manipulate objects within his sensory range, though doing so consumed a great deal of Cursed Energy.

But Lin Ran had an abundance of Cursed Energy. He was not afraid of spending it.

So Lin Ran let out a mischievous chuckle. Yuji Itadori was currently wearing headphones and reading manga. Lin Ran spotted a teacup beside his desk and used his Cursed Energy to move it, making it fall to the floor.

Clatter~

"Hm?" Yuji Itadori took off his headphones and looked strangely at the floor. The cup had fallen over, spilling the water inside.

"What's going on? The cup fell by itself." Yuji Itadori said curiously, but did not think too much of it. He got up, set the cup aside, and mopped the floor dry.

"Hahaha, this is really interesting." Lin Ran laughed. This ability was downright absurd. Although its range was still limited for now, it would definitely expand later.

Some people might be thinking at this point: Since you have this ability, why not take a look into Nobara Kugisaki's room? See what she is doing and whether she is scared alone?

Pah!

How could he do something like that? Was Lin Ran that kind of person?

Besides, what if he got caught?

Could he still stay at Jujutsu High after that?

Would Teacher Gojo not know?

What the hell were they thinking?

Naturally, Lin Ran would never do something like that. Mainly because he was not that kind of person. Of course, he might make an exception under special circumstances—but what counted as special circumstances?

When Nobara Kugisaki was being attacked in her room, when Nobara Kugisaki had fainted in her room, or when Nobara Kugisaki had an accident in her room.

Those were the times when Lin Ran would use this ability, not for the perverse amusement of seeing what someone else was doing. Ahem, while most men might have that sort of problem, Lin Ran would avoid it whenever he could.

After learning about Cursed Energy Output, some of Lin Ran's shattered confidence had returned. With this ability, even if he ran into that Purple Cursed Spirit again, he wouldn't get beaten so badly.

Just then, within Lin Ran's sensory range, he saw Yuji Itadori quietly leave his room and head toward his.

"What's this guy doing so late at night?" Lin Ran found Yuji Itadori's behavior strange.

"Knock knock knock~"

After an extremely soft knock, Yuji Itadori's voice sounded. "Lin Ran~ Are you asleep?"

"No, come in." Within his sensory range, Lin Ran directly used cursed energy to unlock the door, and Yuji Itadori opened it and walked in.

"You're still awake?" Yuji Itadori discovered that Lin Ran really hadn't gone to sleep. He wasn't even on the bed, instead sitting in front of the computer and staring at the desktop.

"Don't you think that's a weird question? You're the one who came looking for me. So, what is it?" Lin Ran had no idea why Yuji Itadori had come to see him.

"Hehe... It's nothing, really. It's just..." Yuji Itadori glanced at Lin Ran somewhat sheepishly.

"???" Lin Ran asked in confusion, "What is it? Just say it. Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Haha, actually, I'm a little hungry, but I don't want instant noodles. If you're hungry too, how about cooking some noodles? And make me a little while you're at it."

So he'd been making a fuss over nothing—it was just because he was hungry. Lin Ran laughed. "That's easy. I'll make some right now."

"That'd be great!" Yuji Itadori wiped a trace of drool from the corner of his mouth.

Just as Lin Ran was about to walk out the door, he remembered something and suddenly said, "Oh, right. Go check whether those two are asleep. If they aren't, ask if they want a late-night snack. If not, I'll only make enough for the two of us."

"Got it!" Yuji Itadori patted his chest. "Leave it to me."