Lin Ran's Objective

The sky gradually darkened, and nearly everyone had left the school. By the time night had fully fallen, the campus was unnaturally quiet.

Lin Ran knew there were still two other people in the school besides him: Sasaki and Iguchi. Those two fearless fools planned to unseal Sukuna's Finger tonight.

At that moment, deep within the pitch-black school building, a faint flame flickered behind glass at the end of the hallway.

Sasaki and Iguchi sat facing each other. The candle on the table illuminated only a small area, making the surroundings feel dim and mysterious.

Sasaki was holding an oval object wrapped in strange characters. Under the candlelight, the characters flickered between bright and dim, though neither Sasaki nor Iguchi could see that eerie sight.

"It seems a little tight. I can't take it off," Sasaki said, discovering that the paper-wrapped object was not as easy to unwrap as she had imagined. It seemed to have been stuck together.

Watching Sasaki's serious expression, Iguchi asked, "Did we really have to sneak in here just to do this?"

Iguchi did not feel anything unusual. Nothing he had done today differed from normal, aside from this little trinket looking somewhat mysterious. Still, there was no need to make such a big occasion out of it, was there?

"We should turn on the lights," Iguchi said suddenly, getting to his feet to do just that.

Sasaki stopped him. "No, don't ruin the atmosphere. Feeling the thrill is the essence of the Occult Research Club. Besides, nothing will happen anyway."

"Uh... fine." Iguchi simply sat back down.

"Ah, I got it off!" Sasaki's words made Iguchi rise again just after sitting down. He wanted to see exactly what this cloth-wrapped thing was.

Sasaki began moving more carefully. Although she knew nothing would happen, the atmosphere had suddenly become subtly tense, and she unconsciously swallowed.

Layer by layer, circle by circle, the yellowed strips of cloth gradually dwindled, piling up on the tabletop.

When the final layer was peeled away, there was a purple-black finger inside. The two of them froze.

"A human... finger?"

"Is it real?"

"It's real."

Just then, Lin Ran threw open the door to the Occult Research Club room and shouted at the two inside, "You two, run!"

"Huh? You're... Lin Ran?" Sasaki and Iguchi both recognized the new transfer student. After all, Lin Ran was quite popular among the first-years. Though he usually seemed quiet and aloof, that did not stop others from paying attention to him.

At that moment, the candle flame on the table suddenly went out. The next instant, a bone-chilling creaking sound echoed through the room.

"What's going on?"

"Move!" Lin Ran grabbed Sasaki's and Iguchi's clothes with both hands and flung them outside. The two crashed onto the floor in the hallway.

"That hurt..." Sasaki clutched her shoulder. Just as she was about to ask why Lin Ran had treated her like that, she saw countless hands and tentacles writhing in the darkness of the room, rushing toward the doorway.

Only then did Sasaki realize she had caused trouble. They seemed to have run into serious danger. Meanwhile, Iguchi leaned against the wall, his legs trembling so badly that he could not move.

"If you don't want to hold me back, get out of here now. I can leave on my own," Lin Ran shouted as he stood in front of them.

"Uh... y-yeah." Iguchi and Sasaki no longer knew what to say. Their powerless legs seemed to regain strength because of Lin Ran's tall figure.

Iguchi was a man, after all. No matter how frightened he was, he could not worry about that now. He helped Sasaki up, and the two quickly ran down the stairs.

Once he saw them leave, Lin Ran let out a sigh of relief. By then, the Cursed Spirit had already picked up the purple-black finger from the ground and was stuffing it into its mouth.

"You still want the finger while I'm here?" Lin Ran sneered. "Cursed Energy Armor."

Cursed energy instantly surged from Lin Ran's body, and a suit of armor formed from cursed energy covered him from head to toe. His right hand shot forward.

"Krrrraaa!"

Dozens of disgusting hands instantly grabbed at Lin Ran's outstretched arm, trying to tear it apart.

What the Cursed Spirit had not expected was that it could not merely fail to rip apart Lin Ran's hand—it could barely even stop him.

Lin Ran swiftly snatched the purple-black finger away, then leaped up and kicked the Cursed Spirit in the face. "Blue-Black Flash!"

Bang!

"AAAAAHHHH, OOOOHHHH~" The Cursed Spirit let out a cry of pain, its eyes filled with terror as it melted into the wall.

Lin Ran looked at the purple-black finger in his hand for a while. "So this is Sukuna's Finger? Good. I'll take the fingernail."

In that bizarre environment, Lin Ran forcefully pried off Sukuna's Fingernail. With a crack, the black nail fell away.

In theory, a Special Grade Cursed Object could not be destroyed or divided. Yet Lin Ran had truly done it.

"Hey, Cursed Spirit from earlier, this is for you!" Lin Ran raised his hand and threw Sukuna's Finger away. He only needed the fingernail; the finger itself had to be left for Yuji Itadori, who would soon arrive.

Lin Ran quickly charged through the Window, climbed onto the roof, and headed into the distance.

At that moment, Fushiguro Megumi and Yuji Itadori arrived at the school. They could clearly sense the presence of a curse inside a nearby building.

"Looks like it has already been unsealed. Wait here. I'm going in." Fushiguro Megumi gave Yuji Itadori a quick instruction before vaulting over the iron gate and rushing inside alone. He did not know whether it was too late to save those two.

Just as Fushiguro Megumi was about to rush in, he saw Sasaki and Iguchi fleeing down the stairs in panic, tears welling in Sasaki's eyes.

"Please save Lin Ran! He... he's still upstairs!" Sasaki could no longer hold back her tears and burst into sobs.

If Lin Ran died today because of her recklessness, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.

"What happened? Why is Lin Ran upstairs?" Yuji Itadori quickly vaulted over the iron gate and steadied Sasaki-senpai.

Lin Ran had adamantly refused to join any club, so why had he been in the Occult Research Club when trouble broke out?

"I... I don't know. Hurry and save him. There's a terrifying monster up there." Sasaki could barely speak coherently.

"Stay here and look after them. I'll go up and take a look." Fushiguro Megumi rushed up the stairs. If someone really was up there, they were probably already in grave danger.

Sure enough, when Fushiguro Megumi reached the upper floor, he saw only a disgusting Cursed Spirit. Lin Ran, the man the woman had mentioned, was nowhere to be seen.

"Was he eaten? Damn it!" Fushiguro Megumi spread his hands, then swiftly brought them together in a hand sign. "Divine Dogs."

In an instant, black matter swirled through the previously empty space, rapidly taking the form of two wolf-like dogs.

One was white, the other black. They bared their sharp fangs, ready to strike at any moment.

The Cursed Spirit that had just swallowed Sukuna's Finger initially thought the person who had beaten it earlier had returned, and it instinctively trembled. Cursed Spirits could be afraid too, especially the more intelligent ones.

Now, however, it realized that it was not that terrifying guy from before, but someone else.

In that case, there was nothing to fear. It immediately roused the curses around it and attacked this guy together, just in time to vent the frustration from the beating it had taken earlier.