Culling Game

Yuji Itadori perked up immediately when he heard the explanation.

"We can go together?"

"Of course you can." Satoru Gojo smiled. "There's no rule saying new students have to solo the dungeon."

The corner of Long Xi's mouth twitched. He already knew Masamichi Yaga wasn't a bad guy, but this still felt absurd.

Especially that bit about soloing a dungeon. How did it sound so natural yet so unreliable coming from Satoru Gojo?

The last time Gojo went for a solo kill, he'd nearly gotten cut down himself. Long Xi had only one response to that.

Long Xi: Am I getting exorcised too?

Masamichi Yaga glanced at Satoru Gojo without objecting.

Clearly, this arrangement also served his purpose.

"The three of you will go together tomorrow."

"Long Xi will take the lead."

"Itadori and Fushiguro will provide support."

"I only care about the results."

In plain terms, he wanted Long Xi to submit his answer through actual combat.

Or you could call it a formality.

Long Xi nodded.

"Understood."

Satoru Gojo raised his hands and clapped.

"All right, tomorrow we'll clear out a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit."

"And the day after tomorrow-"

He deliberately drew out the last word.

Itadori took the bait right away.

"What about the day after tomorrow?"

Satoru Gojo curled his lips into a smile, looking every bit like a gossip blogger about to spill the tea.

"The day after tomorrow, your last classmate will arrive."

"The fourth person in your year, in other words."

Itadori's eyes lit up.

"A fourth? A boy or a girl?"

"That's a secret."

"Are they strong?"

"That's a secret."

"Do they have a nice personality?"

"Still a secret."

Yuji Itadori was left speechless. Why was his teacher like this? Was he seriously not going to give them anything at all?!

"Then why even bring it up?!"

Satoru Gojo answered with complete confidence.

"To build anticipation."

Long Xi silently nodded beside them.

That was very Satoru Gojo. He could finish the serious business in three sentences, but he'd rather keep everyone hanging for an entire day.

Unfortunately... keeping him in suspense was pointless. After all, he'd watched the original anime.

Of course he knew exactly who would appear next.

The only woman in the main cast, Nobara Kugisaki, who was both elegant and cute. She was also one of the rare women in Jujutsu Kaisen whose personality could be rated as middle-of-the-road.

And what were the others like, you might ask?

A yandere, an absolute menace, a gender swap, a Sukuna lover, and a two-person Angel combo.

Compared to those people, Nobara Kugisaki, who was merely proud and self-centered, was practically an angel.

Though... if he had to pick, Kasumi Miwa was the real angel.

By the time they left the principal's office, it was completely dark.

The night breeze swept down from the mountains, quickly bringing a chill.

Satoru Gojo walked at the front, talking nonstop the entire way.

One moment, he was introducing the dorm area to Itadori.

The next, he was telling them that people patrolled Jujutsu High at night.

Then he solemnly informed them that if the principal was "in a bad mood," he might give students extra training in the middle of the night.

Yuji Itadori's head was spinning.

"Seriously?"

Megumi Fushiguro remained expressionless.

"No. Don't believe him."

Satoru Gojo immediately turned around to protest.

"Megumi, you're robbing the new students of their campus surprises."

"I just can't be bothered to watch you keep lying."

Long Xi wanted to laugh as he listened beside them.

Leaving aside how the strongest sorcerer fought in battle...

When it came to winding up his students, he was a true grandmaster.

And... it really is fun being with them...

With me here, those things shouldn't happen in the future, right?

I hope this won't be our last stroll together beneath the setting sun...

"Long Xi? What are you doing?"

Long Xi turned and saw the suicide bomber's face right up close. Once again, his lips curved into a smile that was anything but well-meaning.

"Nothing... I was wondering whether you could beat a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit."

"If it's me... I'd win, right?"

...Yuji Itadori's enrollment was part of the second episode's plot, so naturally, Long Xi had been livestreaming the whole time.

He barely looked at the chat, though. It was mostly the same simple comments over and over, so a quick summary was all he needed.

He was giving his viewers the experience of watching a new anime, but today's audience was a little smaller than he'd expected...

Maybe it was because not much had happened today.

Looks like I'll have to find a way to create more big moments...

With that thought, Long Xi headed to the dorm area with the others. Once they arrived, they spent a while messing around in the common area.

Yuji Itadori dug out some snacks, and Satoru Gojo casually stole half.

The chips had floated out on their own the instant the bag opened. Using Limitless like this really was shameless.

Still, Yuji had some complaints after half his limited-edition chips were snatched away in one go.

"Why are you stealing your students' food, too, Teach?!"

Satoru Gojo crunched on a chip, his tone perfectly natural.

"Because I'm your teacher."

"What kind of bandit logic is that?!"

Long Xi leaned against the sofa, watching their antics, and finally relaxed for once.

Honestly, this atmosphere was pretty strange.

They'd been fighting for their lives during the day.

At night, they could sit together and fight over snacks.

Jujutsu sorcerers really did have a rather unconventional mental state. Eventually, a call from who knew where finally summoned Satoru Gojo away.

Before leaving, he turned back and waved at them.

"Get to bed early."

"If anyone yawns tomorrow, I'll assume they want extra training."

Once he left, things grew considerably quieter.

Yuji Itadori pulled Long Xi into another conversation about tomorrow's mission. Megumi Fushiguro stood nearby and added a few details before they finally returned to their own rooms.

Long Xi closed his dorm room door and dropped straight onto the bed.

It was quiet now.

It was also time to see just how much he'd accumulated over the past few days.

He raised a hand and called up the panel.

The attributes section appeared first.

[Cursed energy attributes: Bottleneck reached at current stage]

[Further growth direction: Purification]

[Recommended development direction: Force]

Long Xi stared at those three lines for several seconds.

In other words...

It wasn't about piling on more quantity now.

It was about refining what he already had into something purer.

He opened his hand, and cursed energy slowly gathered in his palm.

And this so-called force... what is that supposed to be...?

Soon, a dense mass of cursed energy condensed in his palm.

He'd originally thought it would have a somewhat dark hue. At the very least, it should have looked a little murky, like the cursed energy commonly seen in the jujutsu world.

But it didn't.

It was pure white.

Utterly clean.

Dazzlingly white.

There wasn't even a trace of another color.

Long Xi looked down at it and fell silent for two seconds.

"...What kind of development is this?"

He gently pushed it forward.

The cup on the table instantly sank half an inch into the surface.

The wooden table gave a soft crack.

The power hadn't become flashier.

Instead, it was steadier and heavier.

He tested it a few more times, confirming that it really had reached the "purification" stage before stopping.

He couldn't figure it out.

So he'd put it aside for now.

Long Xi shifted his attention to the second section.

[Current follower count: 103421]

He'd passed a hundred thousand.

Even he perked up considerably at the sight of that number.

Before, it had been a slow climb through the thousands and tens of thousands.

Now, he truly had an established following.

From now on, whenever he started a stream, he'd have a core audience.

His reserve cursed energy, emotional amplification, and stream popularity could all remain stable.

The hundred-thousand-follower reward popped up as well.

[Reward 1: Emperor Bell (Three Pure Ones Bell)]

[Cursed tool description: Derived from a Taoist ritual bell and modified by the system into a special cursed tool compatible with cursed energy.

The bell is engraved with three layers of curse patterns: Purging impurity, awakening the mind, and dispelling delusion.

Once infused with cursed energy, its chime can disperse low-level cursed residue, disrupt the gathering rhythm of cursed spirits, and briefly reveal hidden cursed energy and weak points in barriers.

The steadier the wielder's mind, the purer the chime, and the stronger its suppression of possession-type curses, swarm-type cursed spirits, and mental interference cursed techniques.]

The next second...

A palm-sized bronze bell dropped into his hand.

It felt slightly cool to the touch.

The bell had an antique appearance, with fine, intricate patterns.

Long Xi gave it a gentle shake.

Ding-

The sound wasn't loud.

Yet as the chime spread, it seemed to sweep away a layer of murkiness from the room. Even his mind felt much clearer.

"This thing's pretty good."

Long Xi's eyes lit up.

In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, this thing was practically a god-tier tool for clearing weak enemies and scouting ahead.

For some reason, though... it gave him the distinct impression of something he'd use early on, then turn into an accessory later.

The second reward popped up right after it.

[100,000-Follower Milestone Challenge Unlocked]

[This is an additional reward]

[Objective: Kill three Grade 3 Jujutsu Sorcerers/Curse Users or Grade 2 Cursed Spirits]

[Current progress: 0/3]

After reading it, Long Xi couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from curling up.

There was already a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit waiting for him tomorrow.

This challenge was practically the system setting the meal on the table for him in advance.

Given his current situation, trying to kill three Grade 2 Cursed Spirits would probably leave him looking like he'd had his fill-stuffed himself to death, more like-and then had his brain rotted to death by mass-produced sugary fluff, right?

"Fine."

"All I have to do is land the finishing blows anyway... It'll be fine..."

He casually scrolled farther down, planning to read the last section and then go to sleep.

But the moment his gaze landed on it-

The icon at the very bottom, which had been grayed out for two days, suddenly lit up.

[Culling Game Instance]

It didn't just light up.

It was ridiculously bright.

In an instant, that light washed the entire room white.

Long Xi's forehead twitched.

"No, wait-"

Before he could finish-

The bed beneath him suddenly gave way to empty space.

He plunged straight down.

The dorm room, the ceiling, the lights.

Everything in his field of vision flipped violently upside down.

Long Xi only had time to spit out one curse.

"Fuck you, system-"

The next second-

His entire body plummeted into the sky.