Time stretched on in that moment.
It felt as though a minute had passed, or perhaps an entire year.
Throughout it all, Rihito's consciousness remained hazy. Only Mahito's laughter reached him faintly.
"Time to wake up, dear Rihito."
Hearing Mahito's voice, Rihito slowly opened his eyes.
"Take a look at your body. What's different from before?" Mahito propped his chin in both hands and watched Rihito curiously.
Coming to his senses, Rihito touched his cheeks and quickly checked his body.
Phew-no mutations. Looks like it worked.
Before his happiness could surface, he met Mahito's curious eyes. His heart tightened, and he immediately stopped dwelling on it.
"My body... changed."
Rihito gathered his thoughts and focused on his body.
Whether in this world or the world he had lived in before transmigrating, an ordinary person couldn't perceive what was happening inside their own body.
But what Rihito felt now was strange.
He could "see" inside himself, where streams of deep blue, shapeless liquid flowed through his body.
"So this is... cursed energy."
Rihito concentrated, trying to mobilize his cursed energy.
As though answering his call, the deep blue fluid surged from his chest toward his arm along some pathway he had never sensed before.
His palm grew hot.
Puff!
A brilliant blue flame appeared out of thin air.
"Wow! Looks like you've got quite a talent for controlling cursed energy, Rihito." Like an inquisitive newborn, Mahito immediately leaned closer and lavished him with praise.
Rihito let a flicker of excitement show at just the right moment.
"Rihito, hurry and try your ability. Your innate cursed technique."
Innate cursed technique.
Rihito's heart stirred. This was the crucial part.
He closed his eyes and focused on sensing the cursed technique engraved into his flesh.
An innate cursed technique was a talent engraved into a sorcerer's body upon awakening.
In most cases, a sorcerer possessed only one cursed technique, but there were exceptions.
Sukuna, Kenjaku, and Itadori were all examples.
"My innate cursed technique is..."
Rihito's eyes snapped open, a flash of delighted surprise passing through them.
He stood and gently placed his right hand on the stone stool he had been sitting on.
A second later, a chill traveled from the stone stool into his palm.
No, that wasn't right. The heat in his palm was being "sucked" away.
Then a visible current of cold enveloped the stone seat, even coating its surface in a thin layer of frost.
With a crack, a fine fracture appeared in the middle of the stone stool without warning.
Rihito lifted his right hand. His once-pale palm had turned bright red, as though scorched by intense heat, yet he showed no sign of discomfort.
"So cold!" Mahito lightly touched the stone seat and jerked his hand back like lightning, his expression exaggerated, like a playful child who had burned himself on something.
Rihito offered no explanation.
He raised his right hand and gently pushed it toward the stone seat.
The next instant, a scorching wave of heat erupted from his palm.
Boom!
Under the impact of that heat wave, the already-cracked stone seat shattered instantly into chunks of varying sizes.
Looking at the stones scattered across the ground, Rihito fully understood his cursed technique.
Stealing heat!
Any target affected by his cursed technique would have its heat forcibly extracted. That heat would then be stored inside his body, ready to be released at any time.
I'll call it-Zero Coffin!
Clap, clap, clap.
"A fine cursed technique!" Mahito applauded cheerfully, then walked toward Rihito.
Watching Mahito draw closer, Rihito suddenly felt an impulse.
Now that I have power, should I try fighting back?
If I can get away from Mahito, I won't have to fear for my life anymore.
But the thought lasted only a second before he dismissed it without hesitation.
He had only just awakened his cursed technique. He couldn't use it proficiently yet.
Against Mahito, a newly awakened sorcerer couldn't even hope to escape, let alone win.
He couldn't forget that in the original story, even Kento Nanami, a Grade 1 Sorcerer, had nearly lost to Mahito.
In his place, Rihito wouldn't have the slightest hope of survival.
Keep him appeased.
Mahito pressed his palm against Rihito's chest. Rihito relaxed his body and let him examine it.
A few seconds later, watching Mahito withdraw his hand from his chest, Rihito finally felt the tension in his heart ease.
"Rihito, now that you have power, what's the first thing you'll do?" Mahito asked curiously.
"Kill someone." Rihito didn't hesitate.
He had prepared that answer long ago.
Every answer he gave had to land squarely within Mahito's interests. If Mahito found him boring, he would be the one to suffer.
Surely Mahito would be interested in how a student who had just gained power would use it to kill people.
"Not a bad idea. But who do you want to kill first, Rihito?"
Mahito's response was exactly what Rihito had expected.
He was just about to answer when Mahito abruptly interrupted him.
"Oh, I almost forgot. You haven't gotten used to your power yet." Mahito slapped his forehead. Seeming to think of something, he grabbed Rihito and ran off in another direction.
"Come on, Rihito. I'll take you to have some fun."
Rihito didn't dare resist. He could only let Mahito drag him along.
Mahito moved fast. Rihito had to push himself to the limit just to barely keep pace.
As they continued onward, transfigured humans began appearing sporadically around them again.
Most of these transfigured humans had been casually discarded after Mahito's failed experiments, and quite a few still had moving limbs.
Their slowly waving arms looked as though they were pleading for help.
Rihito watched without the slightest change in expression. Only deep within his eyes did a nearly imperceptible chill flicker.
After roughly five minutes of running at full speed, Mahito stopped just as Rihito was about to give out.
"Hey, Rihito. You've never killed anyone before, have you?"
"N-no..."
Rihito's heart sank as a terrible possibility immediately surfaced in his mind.
"Of course. How could a student who's only just gained power have killed anyone? But..." Mahito turned around, undisguised malice showing on his stitch-covered face.
"Say, Rihito, don't you want to
kill someone? I happen to have a few failed test subjects I haven't gotten around to disposing of. Why don't you take care of them for me?"
As he spoke, Mahito stepped aside.
Not far ahead, two transfigured humans, each two meters tall with bluish bodies, came into Rihito's view.
No, rather than transfigured humans, they were more like unfinished products.
A third of their bodies still retained human features, and half of each face still bore vivid expressions. Their mouths opened and closed, producing indistinct syllables.
"Help... me..."
Rihito looked into those eyes.
They were clouded, but traces of fear and defiance remained.
This was what happened when you failed.
This was the price of losing a gamble in this world.
He raised his right hand. His palm still held some lingering warmth from his earlier experiment.
Mahito tilted his head, his pale eyes brimming with anticipation. "Go on, Rihito."
Rihito didn't answer.
He raised his right hand and charged straight at them.
Before you continue