Have You Fallen, Jie Jian?

Jie Jian! Yuji Itadori's group simply did not have enough people to assign someone to every colony.

They had not had many people to begin with, and now sending both a person and a panda into the same colony did not seem like a good idea.

Realizing this, Yuji immediately folded the slip of paper in his hand again.

"Let Panda go to Tokyo No. 2 Colony. I'll draw another one."

However, this move drew Kinji Hakari's displeasure.

He shouted and directly interrupted Yuji's movement.

"Oi, brat! There's no taking back your bets at a casino!"

Yuji's hand froze in midair.

True enough, it was not as though he had never played pachinko.

Backing out after playing pachinko was not something a qualified gambler should do!

"All right, then I won't switch."

Yuji withdrew his hand and decided to go to Tokyo No. 2 Colony with Panda.

Megumi Fushiguro helplessly turned his head away.

He really could not bear to watch.

What did these two idiots think the Culling Game was?

A gambling game at a pachinko parlor?!

Megumi forced himself to accept these two fools.

He silently recited to himself.

Forget it, forget it. Yuji isn't suited to acting alone anyway.

Having Panda-senpai accompany him might not be a bad thing.

Panda raised his paw toward Yuji.

"Yuji, then we'll go to Tokyo No. 2 Colony together tomorrow!"

"Yes! I'll be counting on you then, Panda-senpai!"

"No problem! Stick with me, and I guarantee you'll be fine."

"Panda-senpai is so cool!"

"Hahahaha! Of course I am!"

Panda and Yuji's cheerful voices rang through the briefing room, carrying none of the unease of people about to enter the Culling Game.

Megumi chuckled softly as well, and some of the gloom in his heart dispersed.

And for some reason, seeing Yuji about to head to Tokyo No. 2 Colony gave him an inexplicable sense of reassurance.

At that moment, Yuji leaned his head in front of Megumi.

"Fushiguro, which colony did you draw?"

"Me? Let me see."

Megumi had not checked what he had drawn yet. He slowly unfolded the slip in his hand.

The words "Kyoto Colony" appeared at the top of the paper.

Seeing that everyone else had drawn, Kirara Hoshi, who had been nestled in Kinji Hakari's arms, sat up as well.

"Then it's my turn!"

But Kinji grabbed Kirara's arm.

"Kirara, you'll stay outside on standby."

"Huh!" Kirara pouted unhappily. "You're leaving me out?"

Kinji spoke unhurriedly.

"Didn't Okkotsu go to Sendai? We still haven't heard from him, which means phones probably can't be used inside the colonies.

"In that case, it's best to leave someone behind to keep track of what's happening outside."

Listening to Kinji, Kirara did not know whether to be happy or unhappy.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll stay behind."

Seeing everyone settle on their tasks, Kinji nodded in satisfaction.

"All right! Everyone get some rest early. Tomorrow, we officially join the Culling Game!"

November 12.

Today was the twelfth day since the Culling Game officially began.

After so much time had passed, the situations within each colony had basically become clear.

Different colonies had different circumstances. Some were divided among several competing factions, some had one dominant power surrounded by several strong ones, while others were ruled by a single powerful sorcerer.

But nearly all of these colonies shared one common trait.

That was that the remaining ordinary people and weaker sorcerers within them lived extremely difficult lives.

Kenjaku had not merely placed players into the colonies. He had also released a vast number of cursed spirits once controlled by Suguru Geto's Cursed Spirit Manipulation.

Those cursed spirits were insignificant to powerful sorcerers.

But to ordinary people left behind or who had mistakenly entered the colonies, as well as newly awakened sorcerers with weak techniques, they were nothing short of a catastrophe!

For those without combat ability, encountering even a single cursed spirit could become a fight for life or death.

And cursed spirits actively sought out humans. Most such people in the colonies had gradually fallen prey to the cursed spirits' hunt, but one place was an exception.

Tokyo No. 2 Colony.

In the southeast corner of the colony stood a cluster of luxurious villas.

At that moment, the garden of a lavish villa at the center of the complex was littered with discarded bottles and food wrappers.

At the very center of the garden was also the remains of a massive bonfire.

It was not hard to see that a bonfire party had been held there the day before.

Judging from the bottles left on the ground, it had been no small gathering, and there must have been many attendees.

There were even a few people on the garden lawn who still had not woken from their drunken stupor.

If anyone unaware of the situation saw this, no one would think this was a Culling Game colony.

They seemed completely unconcerned about being in the perilous Culling Game, lying unconscious on the grass just like that.

If people from other colonies saw this, they would probably break down on the spot.

Brother, did you come to join the Culling Game or take a vacation?

How were we being chased everywhere by cursed spirits while you could sleep soundly here?!

Even now, though it was only ten in the morning.

By another nearby pool, several energetic young men and women were still drinking, dancing, and eating barbecue.

On a lounge chair beside the pool, Jie Jian drank while secretly glancing at a scantily dressed girl nearby.

At that moment, a figure stepped in front of him, blocking his view.

Looking up, Jie Jian recognized him as the first opponent in this challenge: Charles Bernard.

Seeing Jie Jian in his disheveled clothes, Charles looked at him with disappointment.

"Have you fallen, Jie Jian?!"

Jie Jian put down his wineglass, swept his hair back, and looked at him with a cold expression.

"You're too arrogant, Charles. From the beginning, no one has ever stood in the heavens. You are..."

But before Jie Jian could finish, Charles interrupted him.

"Stop right there! Were you about to say, 'I will stand in the heavens'?!

"I'm telling you, that's copyright infringement. Be careful, or Aizen will come collect royalties from you."

Jie Jian chuckled and corrected him.

"There's something wrong with what you said. Even if someone wanted royalties, it should be Kubo-sensei. What does it have to do with Aizen charging me?"

Charles shook his head helplessly and did not argue with him over the matter.

"Anyway, what exactly are you thinking? Are you planning to drink and dance with girls every day?"

"So what?" Jie Jian immediately puffed up his face and retorted. "Isn't drinking and dancing with girls great? Don't you want to hang out with young ladies every day?"

Charles nodded unconsciously.

Being able to play with beautiful girls every day really was his dream.

But in the next moment, he snapped back to his senses and anxiously looked at Jie Jian.

"We're still in the Culling Game! We have to follow the game rules!"