[Simulation complete. Please confirm the special simulation results.] [Calculating and settling gains from this simulation.] [Conditions fulfilled: 15] [Ordinary Villagers killed: 3 (their names are not worth recording)] [Ordinary Attendants killed: 1 (their names are not worth recording)] [Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers killed: 10 (their names are not worth recording)] [Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers killed: 1 (Hajime Kashimo)] [Obtained: substantial improvements to cursed energy manipulation and efficiency. Current cursed energy manipulation precision: Standard Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer.] [Obtained: standard Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer physique and total cursed energy reserves. The simulated character's cursed energy has been extracted for an across-the-board improvement.] [Obtained: Amabuki Xia Xia Treasure Bag] [Obtained: Hajime Kashimo Treasure Bag]
Xia Xia sat down right on the floor, browsing the rewards displayed on the screen of light in the pure-white space.
His cursed energy manipulation and efficiency had both reached Grade 2. At last, Xia Xia was no longer stuck with the Elbow Strike cursed technique. Now he could fight a war of attrition and elbow someone all day long.
A standard Grade 1 sorcerer's physique and cursed energy reserves were pretty sweet, too. He had gone from an extra to a supporting character who got to make an absurd final speech before dying. In a sense, once he got out this time, Xia Xia could roam the Culling Game barriers to his heart's content.
Only the top-tier fights could get him killed now.
But the moment I finished the simulation, I noticed three problems I couldn't possibly ignore:
First of all, what do you mean, Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer Hajime Kashimo?
Still slandering him.
Could this world be a little kinder to poor Kashimo?
Fine, give me some stylish little pieces of junk for those extras Amabuki Xia Xia killed with one slash. But Hajime Kashimo was the strongest jujutsu sorcerer from four hundred years ago! Who knew how many Special Grades had died at his hands...
Are you sure there's nothing wrong with this rating system?
Why do you care so much about ratings? Ratings alienate sorcerers from the effort they put in!
Since Xia Xia's system had no intelligence and was essentially his own innate cursed technique, his questions naturally received no response. They vanished without a trace.
But a tenth of a second later, Xia Xia reached a conclusion.
"Could the standard for being a Special Grade Sorcerer be knowing Domain Expansion?"
He remembered an outrageous take he had made before transmigrating.
How are you a Special Grade if you can't use Domain Expansion? Step into Malevolent Shrine and you're instantly diced mango. Your ending basically amounts to getting brushed aside, being invited to deliver your absurd final words, and then, next challenger, please.
All right, Hajime Kashimo.
I overestimated you. You really are a genius, and the sorcerer grading system really is flawed. You're an unparalleled master who can kill Special Grades while still being Grade 1!
(In reality, modern Jujutsu Society judged Special Grades solely by damage output and destructive range. But Xia Xia only knew the subject secondhand, so the simulator born from his thinking naturally believed the same thing he did.)
Conclusion: poor Kashimo was just a mediocrity born in an age without Special Grades. Blame the gap between eras. (Outrageous take.)
And the other two problems: what the hell are the Amabuki Xia Xia Treasure Bag and Hajime Kashimo Treasure Bag? Are you really making me play a side-scrolling pixel sandbox survival game now?
[Treasure bags can be extracted and used at any time.] [In essence, treasure bags are the ultimate product of Cause-and-Effect Reversal. They can only be produced in special simulations, and their core is a fragment of broken, pruned history.] [Upon use, you will obtain the power of an additional character who does not belong to the correct timeline. Consequences unknown.] [There is a small chance of obtaining the dropped core reward, and a high chance of obtaining a trait or learnable skill possessed by an additional character from another timeline.] [Therefore, exercise caution before use.]
"Use it! What, am I saving it for New Year's?"
He immediately cracked it open.
[Using Amabuki Xia Xia Treasure Bag.] [Obtained: 'Core Reward'] [Obtained: Innate Cursed Technique • Demon-Repelling Edge] [Obtained: Domain Expansion • Death-Bound Curse] [Extremely substantial improvement to talent for using binding vows.] [Substantial improvement to swordsmanship talent.] [Moderate improvement to barrier technique talent.] [Small improvement to movement speed.] [Small improvement to cursed energy perception.]
"Beautiful! What a haul!"
"Love you, my past self. You gave me everything you should."
Although it was a shame he hadn't gotten those blades, Xia Xia himself didn't really mind. He wanted pure power. Bonds and attachments would only hurt his DPS.
A usable innate cursed technique immediately saved him from being a blank slate. Sure, a technique for forging blades honestly wasn't that powerful, but with a free deathrattle-style Domain Expansion that could kill anything below Special Grade thrown in, what more could he ask for?
Today, Xia Xia had returned to the realm of Special Grade Sorcerers. The Amabuki Swordsmithing Lineage had never produced anyone strong, but he would carve a path straight to the heavens.
As for why the Maximum Technique hadn't dropped, that was because he hadn't borrowed enough yet. Once he hit the battlefield, he would do what needed doing. Who didn't have a second form and a power-up skill?
After receiving the power, Xia Xia inexplicably felt an urge to "take out a loan." He had a feeling he would be able to pull off some serious tricks with binding vows from now on.
Once again, love you, my past self!
Next up was the great Thunder God, Hajime Kashimo. The strongest from four hundred years ago, absolute martial might. The one who would teach you love was...
[Using Hajime Kashimo Treasure Bag.] [Obtained: 'Core Reward']
We're set! This run is in the bag! Who said treasure bags only had a small chance of dropping core rewards? This is a double-gold start! This is Hajime Kashimo we're talking about! Give me Mythical Beast Amber right now!
[Obtained: Master Hollow Wicker Basket]
That was it.
"That's it???"
[Settlement complete.] [All your treasure bags have been used.]
"..."
You mean I got my first kill on Hajime Kashimo, burned through practically an entire lifetime's worth of simulation time, went through hell and back, and finally pulled a core reward out of that old bastard's treasure bag, only for Hajime Kashimo's core reward to be fucking master-level Hollow Wicker Basket???
He went red. His face flushed, and his complexion perked right up.
His fists clenched hard. Even his energy and spirits had improved.
The flush on the boy's face said more than a thousand words.
Nothing wrong with that. Hajime Kashimo only used Mythical Beast Amber once in his entire life. Maybe he wasn't even proficient with it. But Hollow Wicker Basket? Poor Kashimo used that his whole life. What do you call that? Staying true to your original aspirations and seeing them through.
Didn't Hajime Kashimo still open his basket after his incarnation in the main timeline? The second he entered someone else's domain, he clasped his hands into a seal. Anyone who didn't know better would've thought he was hiding an ultimate move. After dicing him into mango cubes, even Sukuna said he really held on to his skills till the bitter end.
So he really went to his grave without ever opening a domain.
I declared the Amabuki Xia Xia dynasty had arrived, and the guy next door said to stop stirring up shit about poor Kashimo-let him play with Mythical Beast Amber, then. Does he even know how to use it? Better to give it to me for a self-destruct.
Xia Xia got up off the floor and walked several laps around the screen of light in the pure-white space. Deep breaths. Yes, deep breaths. Stay calm. Don't get angry. I'm not angry.
After a long while, Xia Xia recovered.
There was no one else in this space anyway, so he didn't have to worry about being laughed at. He lay flat on the floor, his expression utterly serene.
People needed the ability to regulate their own emotions. He felt much better now. After thinking it over, he decided his priority was to launch a reality simulation and test his newly acquired abilities. He would try them out on the serial-killer uncle and the Snake-Fish Cursed Spirit first.
He desperately wanted a fierce, all-out fight to wash away the frustration deep inside him. Preferably against some irredeemable bastard, the kind whose death earned you good karma.
Wouldn't you agree, Uncle Izumino?
Meeting means we're destined.
Once I enter the reality simulation, everything will get better. This time, I'm going to give Hajime Kashimo a proper grilling.
But there was still a breath trapped in his chest that felt horribly uncomfortable. It was like winning five million on a lottery ticket only to discover it had expired ages ago, then finding out on the way home that someone had stolen the electric scooter he had bought on credit to deliver takeout. He could only walk home, only to discover he'd lost his house key, too, and then get docked twenty bucks for a late delivery.
Meow, meow, meow.
Goddamn it, Hajime Kashimo, you really deserve to die.
Serves you right, never learning Domain Expansion your whole life. Sit on your little Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer stool until you die. Getting diced into mango cubes and juiced by Sukuna was already a generous reward for how fast you fired your pea shooter.
This world is still too kind to poor Kashimo.
Why did Mahito have to run off so fast? Wouldn't it have been great to use Idle Transfiguration to turn poor Kashimo into a little girl and go straight into an alternate route? Instead he had to dawdle around as an unofficial participant, and then, in the final battle, we got, "Without even a moment to mourn Satoru Gojo, the strongest from four hundred years ago arrives." Let me be blunt: little-girl Kashimo would have had a better chance of winning Sukuna over than the man himself had of winning the fight.
Does he even know how to fight? And you sent him in anyway. Class after class at Jujutsu High, same shit, different packaging. First you feed them Satoru Gojo, then Hajime Kashimo. Keep losing like this and even our Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers won't be able to beat Grade 2 Cursed Spirits.
This isn't over!
After venting his burning urge to argue to his heart's content, Xia Xia switched the panel to reality simulation mode, then leaped forward and began a new round of simulation.
Time to stomp some noobs. What else is a new account for?
Where's the entertainment if you don't stomp noobs?
If you don't stomp them and I don't stomp them, when will the little fish ever grow up?
Before you continue