After the battle

"That's why I said this was too reckless, Long Xi..."

"I understand why you're worried, but... this is still too risky. Your injuries will take at least two days to heal."

"Listen to me properly..."

"Stop moving around. These wounds are hard to treat..."

A voice. The first sound Ryu Ishigori heard when he woke up was a male voice that sounded somewhat unfamiliar.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky.

Unexpectedly, he saw neither the clouds that had filled the sky when he fell nor the bright daylight after they cleared.

He was in a room that looked a little cluttered.

"Long Xi?..."

"You didn't kill me?..."

Long Xi, who had been getting a lecture nearby from his senior-at least in theory-immediately slipped away and appeared beside Ryu Ishigori's bed.

Seeing Long Xi wrapped in bandages from head to toe, Ryu clicked his tongue, let out a deep breath, and looked back at the ceiling.

"You're too naive, Long Xi..."

"We might be the kind of close friends you only find once in a lifetime, but I was giving it everything I had, trying to kill you..."

Ryu Ishigori was just about to tell him to kill him when Long Xi cut him off.

"Killing you wouldn't do me any good..."

"And judging by how things stand, it looks like I won..."

"The winner gets to decide what happens to the loser, right?"

"By comparison, Takako Uro accepted reality much more easily than you."

Long Xi's incessant chatter did not make Ryu Ishigori feel the slightest reluctance to part with him, and after their great battle, the two finally had a rare chance to relax.

Is that bitch still alive?...

"I really underestimated you. Does your ability work through emotions? To think you could strengthen ordinary attacks that much..."

"Judging by your current condition, is the maximum multiplier over twenty? It might be a little higher..."

!? Strong, strong?!

Seeing Long Xi's surprise, Ryu Ishigori smiled as if to say, "So you can make that face too."

It really was unexpected. Of all the people who had fought Long Xi so many times, he was the only one who had successfully seen through the basis of his ability.

Though, strictly speaking...

Pretty much everyone who had fought Long Xi a few times was already dead. For example, that old bastard and the Guangdong twin-tails?

He felt as though, ever since arriving in this world, apart from those first few days of wilderness survival in Tokyo...

He had spent the rest of his time playing Uncle Long Xi's Bizarre Adventure.

He was either fighting for his life or running for his life.

It had completely thrown him, a seventeen-year-old high school student who would not even officially come of age until July.

Long Xi: Did he look like some kind of killing machine?

[Long Xi's here. Another city is about to be destroyed.]

[Wait a minute? If the streamer is seventeen, why isn't he taking the college entrance exam? Did he walk into the wrong exam hall? He ended up in the Culling Game!]

[Ryu Ishigori: Kids, I lost.]

[Coming through...]

"Could you tone it down a little? I just finished fighting. You can't do this to me..."

[I believe in you, streamer! While there's still time! Hurry up and have a tense, thrilling showdown with Uncle Higuruma!]

[NO! NO! NO! Higuruma's strength isn't scary!]

[I haven't read much, so don't lie to me!]

The barrage of comments showed no sign of slowing down. Everyone was clamoring for Long Xi to head straight to the Tokyo colony after recovering and elbow-check another prodigy, Hiromi Higuruma.

Still, those were the moderates.

The radicals had already planned a thousand ways for Long Xi to die against Sukuna.

Readers: The radicals are still too conservative.

"What?!!"

Ignoring everyone's various ideas in the comments for the moment, Long Xi turned toward a woman's startled cry.

Takako Uro was staring at Long Xi with an expression that said, "Are you some kind of monster?"

And Long Xi's response was...

"Hehe~"

"What do you mean, 'hehe'?!"

Takako Uro angrily hurled the bandages in her hand at Long Xi, who caught them easily and waved his hand.

The veins on Takako Uro's forehead bulged even more!

Beside her, Riko Amanai nervously turned her head away as well, keeping a little distance from her new friend.

Ryu Ishigori looked at Takako Uro's arm.

Has it already been healed?

His gaze shifted to his own body. Most of it had already been wrapped in bandages.

Still, some parts needed further treatment...

"Anyway, thanks for the bandages."

"While I'm at it, can I ask what we're having for dinner tonight? I haven't eaten anything in ages..."

"I haven't even had any water..."

Despite what he was saying, Long Xi's gaze never lingered on Takako Uro for even a moment.

Instead, he stared unblinkingly at Riko Amanai beside her.

Riko-chan! Save me! Save me! Save me!

Riko Amanai answered with her eyes as well.

What am I supposed to do? She's still furious!

Please! You need a favor from me too, don't you?!

...Just this once! When we get back, I'm spending three whole days at the beach! You're paying!

Riko Amanai's help clearly made a difference. At the very least, she did much better than Long Xi, who had just beaten Takako up.

After all, women were incredibly difficult creatures to understand. Even now, Long Xi did not think he could communicate normally with a woman.

By comparison, men who only cared about the thrill of battle were much easier to talk to...

"Women really do go on and on..."

"But I still want to ask: was saving me really a good idea? Aren't you afraid I'll beat you up again?"

Handing the bandages to Yuta Okkotsu, Long Xi, who could not output Reverse Cursed Technique, rubbed his chin and began considering Ryu Ishigori's question.

"If this were the beginning, I might have been a little afraid."

"But now, I'm not afraid of you at all..."

[Achievement: Domain Expansion!]

[Reward: Moderate Physical Enhancement!]

[Achievement: Aizo!!]

[Reward: Cursed energy output efficiency increased by 5%]

[Hidden achievement: Sendai's Four Heavenly Kings (full clear)]

[Reward: Greatly increased total cursed energy!]

[Name: Long Xi]

[Age: 17]

[Cursed energy: Above Grade 1]

[Physical strength: National Athlete ×2]

[Cursed energy efficiency: 2/5 of Satoru Gojo's]

[Cursed technique: Early Access! (LV.2)]

[Skills: Cursed Energy Manipulation (LV.5), Reverse Cursed Technique (LV.3), Black Flash (mastery: when serious, attacks have a 15% chance of triggering Black Flash. The next consecutive trigger has a 20% chance, increasing by 5% each time for three consecutive triggers.)]

[Cursed technique: Furious Flame Mound (LV.2 → LV.3 (87%) Note: The system will not provide assistance. Please achieve understanding on your own, host!]

[Unlocked skills: Furious Flame Mound-Flame Seed, Furious Flame Mound-Void]

[Cursed technique: Sweet Rain from the Heavens (LV.2 → LV.3 (4%)) Note: Reached level two through independent understanding. The system will not provide assistance here either.]

[Unlocked skills: Sweet Rain from the Heavens-Disorder, Sweet Rain from the Heavens-Swift (compress rainwater infused with cursed energy to unleash a concentrated bombardment. Likewise, surrounding water can be controlled for this purpose; no longer limited to rainwater.)]

[Overall evaluation: I love you so much! I really love you so much, Long Xi! Please, bring me even greater battles! Bring me even grander battles!]

[I love you the most, most, most, most, most!!!]

Although the system always seemed a little improper, giving him the strange feeling that he was Sukuna while it was cosplaying Yorozu...

The improvements he received were undeniable.

As for his supposedly above-Grade-1 cursed energy reserves, he estimated that they were roughly one and a half times what he had originally possessed.

In other words, even without relying on any binding vows, his normal state now possessed Special Grade combat strength!

If he fought Ryu Ishigori again, he reckoned that just the initial three hours of rain, with that single binding vow, would let him speedrun the fight without taking any damage.

Long Xi's faint, teasing smile was clearly no act.

Everything about him radiated a feeling that struck Ryu Ishigori as ominous. He would win?!

Pursing his lips, Ryu turned his head away.