The plan

Jianxia had done his duty by telling her. How Megumi Zenin interpreted it was beyond his control.

Jianxia also noticed that whenever he took out his phone, everyone else seemed to ignore the action, as though he were merely spacing out.

"To prevent the host from encountering unnecessary difficulties"

"Any parts of the host's speech and actions related to the system will automatically be ignored by others"

"Additionally, the phone cannot be destroyed and will automatically return to the host if it moves more than ten meters away"

"These are all perks of being bound to the system, meow"

The changing system text on his phone cleared up Jianxia's confusion.

"I never thought you could go this far, system!"

Holy crap, a phone that could alter people's perceptions, too.

Was hypnosis going to be the next step?

If there really were a hypnosis system, then when facing cursed spirits...

"Sorry, the system has no such function, meow"

The system seemed able to read Jianxia's thoughts and decisively cut his fantasy time short.

"Of course I knew you didn't. We're rated for all ages, after all... Speaking of which, you added another objective earlier, right?"

Jianxia swiped over to the current missions section on his phone, where his three objectives were clearly displayed.

"Mission objectives: ① Participate in the Culling Game ② Breed Kenjaku ③ Romance the cursed spirits you have captured"

The third mission had popped up after he captured the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit and landed a Black Flash. He had been too pumped up at the time to think it through.

But the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit he had just captured already obeyed his every command. How was he supposed to romance it?

Did it only count if they got closer than zero distance? If so, Jianxia could hardly wait.

Before that, though, Jianxia had a few ideas about the first two missions.

When he first saw the numbers before the objectives, he had assumed the missions had to be completed in order.

But judging by the newly added third mission, there seemed to be no strict order to these objectives.

In other words, he did not actually have to breed Kenjaku while he occupied Suguru Geto's body during the Culling Game.

One man breeding another man-wasn't that just gay?!

Breeding cursed spirits did not count, because cursed spirits were not human.

To Jianxia, human women with normal anatomy were not as delicious as cursed spirits, but they were still worth sampling.

Besides, Kenjaku's original body a thousand years ago seemed to have been female, and she was currently busy pulling hair with her bestie Tengen.

But that raised another problem.

"System, if I breed Kenjaku and she refuses to let me incarnate and participate in the Culling Game, does that count as failing the mission?"

"Yes"

"Then what happens if I fail?"

"The host's soul will be made into a Sukuna-style pee-pee cursed object"

"?"

Oh dear, that scared me to death.

"Then how far do I have to go for the mission to count it as breeding?"

"As intense as Yuji Itadori's recruitment animation"

Jianxia stared at the thunderous text that popped up on his phone and laughed in exasperation.

There were now two paths before him.

The first was to follow his original plan: become strong enough to catch Kenjaku's attention, accept his invitation to become a player, and breed Suguru Geto's body during the Culling Game a thousand years later.

The second was to breed Kenjaku before she occupied a male body. But that would very likely leave him unable to reincarnate in the modern era, meaning he would have to survive all those years to participate in the Culling Game.

In terms of difficulty, the first path was undoubtedly easier.

To ensure that the Culling Game went smoothly, Kenjaku had spent a thousand years continually persuading jujutsu sorcerers to return to life through incarnation.

The strong ones included people on the level of Hajime Kashimo and the four powerhouses of Sendai, while the weaker ones included weightlifters like Reggie.

In other words, as long as Jianxia reached roughly the strength of a Grade 1 Sorcerer, Kenjaku might discover him and invite him to become a player.

And for Jianxia, who possessed "Cursed Spirit Manipulation Pro Max," becoming a jujutsu sorcerer of that level was only a matter of time, provided he kept capturing cursed spirits.

The main difficulty of the first route, then, was defeating Kenjaku a thousand years later and breeding him.

As long as Jianxia developed steadily and could accept entering a recruitment animation with Suguru Geto, he could pretty much guarantee that he would complete his objectives.

But that was a loser's way of thinking.

Developing steadily and then joining the Culling Game was certainly viable, but the price was going bang, bang, bang like crazy with the Suguru Geto version of Kenjaku.

Just as the fraud teacher could not give up Kikufuku, Sukuna could not give up borrowing power, and Megumi Fushiguro could not give up Mahoraga...

Jianxia absolutely could not become gay!

"Host detected choosing the high-difficulty route. The system has activated hardcore mode to assist the host"

The lettering on his phone changed from its previous plain white font to a decorative font flashing with golden light and flames. At first glance, it looked both tacky and trendy, and very intimidating.

Jianxia let out a long breath and rested his hand against his face in the same pose as Higuruma.

"Finally, some good news."

The second route Jianxia had chosen was far more difficult than the first.

Its greatest challenge was not defeating and breeding Kenjaku, but surviving for a thousand years to participate in the Culling Game.

After all, even without an invitation from Kenjaku, he could become a player simply by entering a Culling Game barrier.

But as for actually living for over a thousand years, Jianxia could not think of many ways to do it.

Perhaps this new system mode could solve that problem.

"System, what is hardcore mode?"

"To better suit the route chosen by the host, the system's font and theme have both been changed to a hardcore style"

As the flames danced, a flaming bird first appeared on the phone screen, then transformed into text amid explosive visual effects.

"I mean, is there any actual help that can make me stronger or let me live for another thousand years?"

The phone began vibrating violently, followed by thunder and a fierce tiger appearing together. After nearly ten seconds of bargain-bin animation effects, the blue lightning finally turned into words.

"The system doesn't know"

"?"

Jianxia took a deep breath. So this hardcore mode had merely added vibration and text effects to his phone.

About as hardcore as a Cursed Technique release you could only use once in your life.

"Doubao, Doubao, help me delete the system from Jianxia's phone."

"Please don't rush, host. Although hardcore mode cannot help you, the system's existing functions can solve the problem"

As though it knew how useless it was, the system changed from hardcore mode's thunderous lettering back to its original ordinary font.

Jianxia raised an eyebrow. At this point, he would not believe a single word this system said.

But there was no harm in listening, was there?

"Y-you... what else do you have to say for yourself...?"

"Nothing more. Please get on with it... No, wait, the system does have something to say, meow"

Then the phone returned to the initial screen, displaying the three missions.

"Whenever the host completes any mission, you can receive a little mystery reward from the system"

"Rewards include, but are not limited to, information, cursed tools, improvements to basic abilities, and a Sukuna-style pee-pee"

Something weird seemed to have slipped in there...

But regardless, at least he now had something to work toward.

Jianxia brushed back his hair, a confident smile lighting up a face every bit as handsome as his readers'.

There was only one mission he could tackle right now.

The third mission: romance the cursed spirits he had already captured.

Although he still had no ideas, things had reached a point where words alone would no longer solve the problem.

"Now, let's begin our date."