(Brain storage depot~)
(New author here. Some of the setting details might not be entirely rigorous, so please bear with me.)
(I'm purely an amateur writing for fun. If the plot makes anyone uncomfortable, I apologize in advance.)
(P.S. The protagonist is hopelessly obsessed with powerscaling debates, isn't all that bright, and sometimes acts without considering the consequences, seeing only immediate benefits. Fair warning.)
"What can Sukuna do besides take out loans?"
"He nearly lost to Satoru Gojo in a three-on-one, and only won thanks to that World-Cutting Slash he bought on credit. Then the interest caught up with him, he couldn't use it anymore, and Emperor Itadori still kicked him to death."
Dai Li was trashing Sukuna online again. Whenever he saw a debate thread about whether Gojo or Sukuna was stronger, he just had to click.
His hands flew across the keyboard, the keys clattering away.
"Gojo would've slaughtered Sukuna if he'd taken out loans too. Why do people keep thinking Sukuna's stronger? Did Uraume get internet access?"
"You're fucking Miwa! Your whole family's Miwa!" Though Dai Li was getting a little worked up, the reason he could argue so enthusiastically was his robust mental defenses. He soon let it go.
After a thoroughly satisfying debate, Dai Li trudged over to bed to scroll through his phone. He spotted a giveaway shared by someone in a Jujutsu Kaisen group chat. The person running it seemed to be a well-known Jujutsu Kaisen fan.
Dai Li tapped in for a look and discovered that first prize was a complete set of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga. He entered with a tap. It was free, after all, though with one-in-ten-thousand odds, he didn't expect to win.
Dai Li scrolled through his phone for a while, waiting for the draw.
"What's this special prize?"
"It's not in the rules."
"'A chance to challenge Sukuna'?" An hour later, Dai Li won the special prize. It looked like someone was just messing with him.
"Oh, so it's one of those meme prizes to make you feel included? Bet everyone who didn't win got this."
"Ha! If I went and elbowed Sukuna..."
Before Dai Li could finish, his vision blurred. The world spun around him, then everything went black, and he passed out.
After an unknown amount of time, Dai Li opened his eyes again. He was sprawled miserably in a lush green rice field. The standing water beneath him had soaked him through, leaving him cold, wet, and stiff.
"Ow, fuck! Where the hell did you dump me? Am I even still in China?" Dai Li got up, shivering nonstop.
[Congratulations on winning the special prize: a chance to face Sukuna. The system has just transported you into the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.]
"Oh, for chovy's sake, at least teleport me properly! Everything went black and I collapsed-I thought I was headed for the grave! I was lying in the mud, my pants are soaked, and I'm shaking all over."
[That has nothing to do with the system. It was purely the result of your excessive late nights.]
"Huh?! You're definitely dodging responsibility!"
"Fine, fine. I'm generous and forgiving, so I'll let it slide."
"But anyway, now that there's even a system involved, this really is the Jujutsu world?"
"I can actually go toe-to-toe with those Special Grade Sorcerers from Jujutsu Kaisen now. Satoru Gojo, Sukuna, Itadori-you're the challengers here."
[Host has awakened innate cursed technique: Life and Binding.]
"I've heard of Heavenly Restriction, but what's this Life and Binding thing?"
[Heavenly Restriction is a binding imposed upon a jujutsu sorcerer's body at birth. It does not affect the sorcerer's thoughts or behavior.] [The host's cursed technique, "Life and Binding," allows the sorcerer to place binding vows upon himself in exchange for increases in cursed energy, physical mobility, and so forth. Any possession belonging to you may also be offered as a sacrifice in exchange for the above effects.]
"Sounds pretty strong? Wait a minute, can't jujutsu sorcerers already make binding vows?! My cursed technique is just the same binding any Grade 4 Sorcerer can casually set up? Isn't that just taking out loans like Sukuna?"
"What's the point of that? You might as well just say I don't have a cursed technique, like Kasumi Miwa."
[First: effects obtained through binding vows established using the host's cursed technique, "Life and Binding," are 150% of their original value, including but not limited to improvements to the sorcerer's attributes and proficiency.] [Second: ordinary jujutsu sorcerers can only exchange self-imposed binding vows for improvements to their own attributes and proficiency. The effects of an innate cursed technique cannot be altered through binding vows. Vows such as revealing one's cursed technique conform to this rule.] [Third: binding vows established through "Life and Binding" still follow the Jujutsu world's principle of equivalent exchange.] [Fourth: "Life and Binding" is a cursed technique. Establishing binding vows through it consumes cursed energy.]
"Huh, maybe there's something to this. Could my cursed technique actually not be trash?"
[Your status panel has been opened automatically.] [Name: Dai Li] [Overall sorcerer strength: Grade 4 Sorcerer] [Total cursed energy level: Grade 4] [Overall physical ability: ordinary person] [Cursed technique: Life and Binding]
"A Grade 4 Sorcerer? I'm such a small fry. How many Kasumi Miwas am I roughly equivalent to right now?"
[This system has no such function, but an intelligent AI calculation is possible. The host's current chance of defeating Grade 4 Sorcerer Kasumi Miwa is... 0.]
"Well, that's obvious right now, isn't it? Miwa might be trash, but I'm an ordinary guy who's never learned martial arts and only just awakened his cursed technique."
"Oh, right, where am I, anyway? I'm still soaking wet." A sudden chill yanked him out of his thoughts. Dai Li's current situation was rather grim.
With that, he wrung out his pant legs and gently wiped the mud from his face.
[This was a random teleportation. Your current location is Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.]
"Sendai, huh? Plenty of iconic scenes happened here, and the plot of Jujutsu Kaisen's first episode took place at Itadori's school in Sendai. Still, it's so cold right now. Should I ask someone for help and find somewhere to rest? I'm covered in mud."
But that was... a loser's way of thinking.
"I'm trying out my cursed technique right now. Heh, heh. Anyway, first I'll try moving the cursed energy inside my body."
Unlike Sukuna, that king of loans who borrowed whenever he couldn't win, his own cursed technique was a legitimate "loan." Could borrowing count as being a sore loser in his case? Of course not.
Whether it was natural talent or a change the system had brought about in Dai Li, he quickly got the hang of manipulating cursed energy. Within a breath, he had coated his right fist in it.
"Ohhh!! It works! Let's see if my punch is fast enough! Hard enough!"
Dai Li set his sights on an old tree nearby, planning to use it for practice. He stepped forward, swung his body, and drove his right fist out, his momentum surging forth like a streak of lightning! At least, that was how he imagined it.
"Ohoho! That hurts!" The recoil from the old tree was too powerful. Pain shot through his clenched hand, and a scream escaped his lips.
"Damn it! Forget Gojo and Sukuna-I can't even break a tree? Am I really that bad, or are all Grade 4 Sorcerers this pathetic? You damned Tree Sentinel, you'll be my first sacrifice today! Watch me sacrifice this tree and boost my cursed energy."
Dai Li tried to activate his cursed technique, "Life and Binding."
"Hmm... yeah, this should be the feeling. Watch me pawn you off!"
The cursed technique failed to activate.
"That can't be right. All my senses are telling me this is how it works. What's going on, system?"
[Sacrificing an object in exchange for benefits is an extension of the cursed technique. The sacrificed object must belong to you. This tree is not the host's property. You may use Cursed Technique Lapse and attempt to establish a binding vow concerning the concept of trees.] [The proportional amount of cursed energy obtainable by sacrificing a tree is 0. During the initial growth stage, the host may improve his strength by establishing self-imposed binding vows, much like an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer.]
"The concept... and doing it like other jujutsu sorcerers? Then I'll give it another try."
With that, he activated his cursed technique and voluntarily placed a binding vow upon himself.
"From this day forward, I will never cut down a tree."
Dai Li chose to increase his total cursed energy first.
[Total cursed energy has increased slightly.]
"Holy shit, it actually works! Doesn't that make me invincible?! Everyone else has a credit limit on their loans, but I can borrow endlessly!"
Dai Li was already imagining which song he would play when he fought Sukuna.
But something unexpected happened. He instantly toppled over, utterly drained. The system had only told him that establishing binding vows through "Life and Binding" still required cursed energy. It hadn't told him how much.
With his cursed energy exhausted and his knowledge of its application lacking, he was now completely powerless. Dai Li clearly realized he still had a long way to go before becoming invincible.
The cursed energy required to use "Life and Binding" was calculated according to the benefits obtained through the technique. In other words, even a sorcerer with enormous cursed energy reserves could not exchange cursed energy for more cursed energy to achieve infinitely compounding returns.
An ordinary jujutsu sorcerer's total cursed energy had a ceiling. No matter how hard they trained, they could never break through their own limit. Thus, directly raising a sorcerer's cursed energy ceiling consumed a great deal of cursed energy.
If a jujutsu sorcerer was a wooden barrel with one short stave, the water it could hold was cursed energy. How much cursed energy it held depended on the height of all the staves, including the short one. Without fixing that short stave-in other words, without training-water would leak out over it no matter how big the barrel was. A sorcerer's training meant continually extending that short stave until it matched the others, allowing the barrel to hold more cursed energy.
But after fixing the short stave, an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer couldn't keep building upward to increase the barrel's cursed energy capacity. "Life and Binding," however, directly used replenishable water, along with a price, to raise all the staves while bringing the short one up to match.
A cursed technique that increased cursed energy without requiring the sorcerer to train and grow, while directly raising their cursed energy ceiling, could truly be called heaven-defying.
"Damn it, what kind of bullshit cursed technique is this? Other people transmigrate and either start out invincible or become invincible after reviving a few times. Why the fuck do I still have to pay back loans?"
Dai Li was once again "embracing" the earth in the rice field, indignant at what he had been through.
"Oh, right! I was so busy testing my cursed technique that I forgot I'm a man with cheats."
"System! Give me my beginner's gift pack!"
[This system has no such thing.]
"Huh?? Then you at least have quests, right? The kind where you get a reward after finishing them? Give me a quest."
[Quest issued: defeat the "King of Curses," Ryomen Sukuna. Reward: unknown?] [Note: no further quests will be issued until this quest is completed.]
"!??!"
Before you continue