Orange-Haired Girl

Lin Ran slept fairly soundly that night. The room's soundproofing was decent too, and the couple next door did nothing too outrageous.

Though Lin Ran was only fourteen, he was already 182 centimeters tall. Outsiders might know he was a teenager, but they would never think he was only fourteen. What fourteen- or fifteen-year-old grew this tall?

Even at fifteen, Fushiguro Megumi was only 175 centimeters tall. With Lin Ran standing in front of him at this height, well... Lin Ran looked more like the older brother.

But standing before Satoru Gojo, well... he was still the little brother.

Lin Ran spent half a day finding a place near a large company. The rent here had not risen just because it was close to a major company and conveniently located.

The main reason was that this large company had experienced some supernatural incidents in the past, causing many of the nearby residents to move away. Only in recent years, after rents dropped, had the area gradually gained more residents.

Lin Ran did not care about supernatural incidents. In fact, he hoped there would be some—there was a good chance they were related to cursed spirits and curses.

After taking Lin Ran's money, the Landlady briefly reminded him that it was best not to go out at night, then quickly left, seemingly afraid he would change his mind and leave.

Watching the landlady's retreating figure, Lin Ran found it rather amusing. She had left in such a hurry.

"Looks like this area really isn't peaceful. Including me, only two people live in this building..." Lin Ran suddenly became intensely curious about the other resident. Before he arrived, that person had apparently lived here alone. Were they simply very brave, or were they not an ordinary person?

"Knock, knock, knock~"

Lin Ran lightly knocked on the other person's door, only then remembering that it was Monday. If they were an office worker or a student, they should have gone out already.

Lin Ran then returned to his own room. It was neither too big nor too small, over forty square meters, more than enough for one person. It had a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen.

The room was quite clean. Lin Ran did not know whether it was because the landlord cleaned regularly. After briefly unpacking, he organized his belongings and headed out to buy supplies.

Transportation in Sendai City was quite convenient, far more so than Hijikata Crematorium, where Lin Ran had stayed for over three months. That place was practically out in the countryside, and even buying something required taking a bus.

Of course, Kanagawa was still fairly developed. It was only that Hijikata Crematorium was rather remote.

After purchasing daily necessities and food at a large supermarket, Lin Ran returned home. Along the way, he received quite a few strange looks.

He was carrying bag after bag, to the point that the bags nearly buried him. Though Lin Ran was tall, there was no way it looked like he should have been able to carry so much. In reality, it took only a little effort, and he did not find it difficult.

It was more comfortable to buy everything at once. He did not like making several trips back and forth, which was why he stood out so much.

Once everything was settled, Lin Ran placed all the ingredients in the refrigerator. He had pots, bowls, and utensils too, so from now on, he would cook at home.

Once he had money in the future, it would not be too late to dine out and sample the local cuisine. With money, was he really going to worry about not being able to eat what he wanted?

With nothing to do, Lin Ran originally wanted to visit the large company nearby, but after thinking it over, he decided to first assess his own strength at home.

"At present, I can use Blue-Black Flash six times. If they all hit a cursed spirit, even a Grade 1 cursed spirit would die. But if I miss a few times, things will get troublesome..." Lin Ran knew that this was the weakness in his strength.

It would be fine if all his Blue-Black Flashes struck his opponent during a fight. But if the opponent was agile enough to evade his attacks, he would be thrown into a dangerous situation afterward.

However, this concern had now been replaced by the newly acquired Cursed Energy Armor. Lin Ran knew very well how powerful Cursed Energy Armor was. First of all, the reason it was called Cursed Energy Armor was naturally because it focused on defense.

Its defensive capability could temporarily block simple attacks from Grade 1 and Grade 2 cursed spirits. That was actually enough, since Lin Ran could not possibly remain in a state of being beaten forever. As long as he could defend against a cursed spirit's attacks for a short period, he would have the chance to counterattack.

Of course, Cursed Energy Armor was not only for defense. Its true power shocked even Lin Ran.

Cursed Energy Armor could absorb a portion of Cursed Energy and convert it into defense. This enhancement was permanent. In other words, as long as Lin Ran used Cursed Energy Armor while fighting cursed spirits, its defensive power would permanently increase. Naturally, the speed of that increase depended on the cursed spirit's grade and the duration of the battle.

The final function of Cursed Energy Armor was that it could draw upon its defensive power to create one or two final attacks after Lin Ran had exhausted his strength.

Whenever the defensive power of Cursed Energy Armor was converted into Cursed Energy after exhaustion, its defense would decrease. Therefore, this was a final measure of resistance and had to be used carefully.

With these three major advantages of Cursed Energy Armor, Lin Ran was truly delighted. Leaning back in his chair, he felt incomparably comfortable. Now, he only needed to defeat one more Grade 4 cursed spirit to claim the next reward.

Cursed Energy Output.

After obtaining this reward, Lin Ran felt that his attack range would expand and that he would become more adept at using Cursed Energy. In short, as long as he did not encounter a Special Grade Cursed Spirit or a particularly powerful Grade 1 cursed spirit, he would be very safe.

This world did not only require vigilance against Special Grade Cursed Spirits. There were also evil Jujutsu Sorcerers and cursed objects. Encountering any of them would indeed be troublesome.

So Lin Ran tried to keep a low profile. Before he had fully grown stronger, it was better not to draw attention too early, lest he be targeted by powerful enemies and die young.

Well, of course, with Yuji Itadori being Ryomen Sukuna's vessel in plain sight, most evil forces would be drawn toward him, reducing the attention they paid to everyone else.

Besides Yuji Itadori, there was also Satoru Gojo, a top-tier combatant. Most evil forces were busy figuring out how to deal with that bug. Would they have time to bother with Lin Ran?

After analyzing his circumstances, Lin Ran relaxed considerably. He did not need to deliberately cater to anyone, nor did he need to deliberately avoid anyone. He only needed to follow the course of this world.

As for whatever unexpected changes might happen in the future, he would adapt when the time came. After all, the world was full of unknowns, and the unknown was what gave people the drive to keep moving forward.

"Click~"

"Back already?" Lin Ran's hearing was sharp. He heard someone coming upstairs from below. By now, the sky had grown dark, and without realizing it, it was already evening.

Hearing the footsteps on the stairs, Lin Ran decided to go out and take a look at just who this bold "neighbor" was.

Soon, the footsteps reached the fourth floor. Pretending to be heading downstairs, Lin Ran finally caught sight of the mysterious neighbor.

"It's actually a girl?"

Lin Ran froze slightly, one foot still resting on a stair as he looked at the girl climbing up from below.

That was right. The person before him could indeed be called a girl. She could not have been more than two years older than Lin Ran, stood at roughly less than 160 centimeters, and wore a fitted dark blue outfit. But the most eye-catching things about her were her orange hair and delicate face.

"Who was this girl again?" Lin Ran remembered her, but he suddenly could not recall who she was. Especially after seeing her in person, she felt a little unreal.

Nobara Kugisaki had noticed Lin Ran long ago. But now that Lin Ran was staring fixedly at her, she frowned.

"This guy isn't some pervert, is he?" Nobara Kugisaki thought, though her gaze shifted away from Lin Ran. She had not lived here long, but she knew that nobody would normally come to live in a place like this.

Cheap rent was one thing, but no matter how cheap it was, not many people would choose to live here. She had only moved in for peace and convenience, and to take care of some personal business while she was at it.

Then what was this boy in front of her after?

"Could it be she asked around about me?"

"Followed me on purpose?"

"Or was she really just a pervert?"

Nobara Kugisaki frowned as she climbed the stairs step by step, her right hand already clenched into a fist. If this brat dared make a single move, she would beat him to a pulp!