But for Your Sake

Xia Xia discovered that whenever the simulation reset, the Cursed Tools he had forged with [Demon-Repelling Edge] would not disappear. He could keep them, but there could only be one Cursed Tool with the same name, made from the same material during the same period, and he could not rename it during the simulation.

The good news: Softcore Players only dropped money, not equipment. The bad news: he could not exploit multiple saves to duplicate items. They were unique.

Lame. He had been hoping to kill Uncle Izumino hundreds or thousands of times to see whether he could farm a shiny, alternate-color Izumino longsword. Instead, all he got was this no-stacking rule.

After so many simulations, he had also discovered that the Demon Blades and Cursed Tools forged from feral Jujutsu Sorcerers and trash Cursed Spirits simply did not feel right in his hands. Compared with the three "Amabuki specialties" bought with the sacrifice of his parents and his best buddy, they were pathetically weak.

So he began plotting against Hajime Kashimo.

Jokes aside, who would not want a glittering lightning longsword that might even have a second form? In some garbage online game, it could at least sell for hundreds or thousands as a set piece.

Don't blame me for being heartless. Even the grand prize in Uncle Kashimo's treasure bag is just a master-level Hollow Wicker Basket.

The plan was sound, but executing it was far too difficult.

Hunting high-level material like Hajime Kashimo meant facing more than the possibility of him getting pissed, activating Palworld, and self-destructing. There was also the fundamental problem that killing him by force was virtually impossible no matter what Xia Xia tried-yes, yes, opening his domain would certainly let them die together, but how was Xia Xia supposed to forge a blade when he was dead?

Xia Xia put his brain to work.

Every chance encounter, every meeting, was a performance prepared well in advance. At first, his forced smiles were so awkward that even he could barely stand them. Then they became convincing, an adjustment that came from the heart, until his imitation and deception approached perfection.

He would adapt.

Then those lousy ideas were repeatedly exposed by Hajime Kashimo, leading to passionate one-on-one duels that ended with both of them dead and our young hero starting over.

Hajime Kashimo could not see through Xia Xia's identity or gauge his true strength, but a legendary warrior's unique insight always let him discern whether the man before him was acting against his true feelings.

Only a genuinely honest, heartfelt desire could move him. Only a pure scheme, untainted by any malice, could catch him off guard.

Xia Xia reviewed his attempts many times and discovered that Hajime Kashimo seemed to have a screw loose. He had no interest in anything except fighting.

If you did not provoke him or failed to interest him, he would walk straight past without giving you a second glance. If you blocked his path and challenged him, he would immediately fight you to the death. A bullheaded highway bully, all brute force and no brakes.

Convincing someone like that to lower his guard was impossible.

If absolute relaxation was impossible, then relative relaxation would have to do.

People had a weakness for playing the teacher. For a veteran who had once taken the world by storm, that martial bearing had seeped into his bones. A warrior's pride like that could not be erased.

The greatest truths were the simplest. Rather than dream up convoluted schemes, he might as well lower himself and directly ask for instruction...

Then kill him in one strike.

One hundred and forty deaths had bought him the still-warm corpse of Hajime Kashimo now held in his hands.

Worth it. So worth it.

Xia Xia had never imagined it would go so smoothly. He had underestimated a battle fanatic's love and pride in martial skill, and overestimated the vigilance of a legend from four hundred years ago.

Thank you, Hajime Kashimo.

Thank you. Really, truly, thank you so much.

I'll gratefully accept this.

"Orichalcum." "Tamahagane." "Earth-Covered Gilding."

"Sword Guard."

What words could describe lightning held still? The blue-green blade was simple and classical, symbolizing the clean, unsullied ideals and convictions of a warrior's lifetime. Its guard was a plum-blossom platform in the style of sacred blades housed in traditional ancestral shrines, dignified without sacrificing grandeur. The hilt was fine pear wood, traced with delicate gilded lines.

By the time the domain dispersed, Xia Xia held a peerless blade in his hand.

He had considered many names associated with the Thunder God: Ame-no-Murakumo, Futsu-no-Mitama, Musou Isshin... But in the end, he chose a name that was almost ironic.

[Raikiri]

[Quality: Special Grade]

[Effect 1: Demon-Repelling Edge]

[Effect 2: While equipped, grants the wielder permanent immunity to lightning-aspected Cursed Energy and all attacks derived from it. Automatically activates Defensive Cursed Technique • Hollow Wicker Basket upon entering a domain other than the wielder's own.]

[Effect 3: When near death, transforms the wielder into a storm of Cursed Energy. In this state, lethal damage will not cause death until their Cursed Energy is completely exhausted or they are killed by special means.]

Beautiful. Three modifiers, worthy of the Thunder God's name.

Even measured against history, it could leave a brilliant mark on the Amabuki family's blade-forging rankings.

There was just one blemish.

"Fucking Hollow Wicker Basket is still haunting me."

Xia Xia had not expected Hajime Kashimo's influence to persist even after death. That obsession had even crossed causality, forcibly granting a Demon Blade this bizarre effect.

What respectable blade activated Hollow Wicker Basket?

The world was full of wonders. Now he had seen one.

Next, Xia Xia tossed the blade into the shadow beneath his feet, then turned his hand back and slit his own throat.

After dying so many times, he had long since stopped treating his life as something precious. At the slightest disagreement, he would restart. Better to reload than waste time agonizing.

He had to die.

Remember, in his fight with Hajime Kashimo just now, he had mortgaged the rest of his life for that World-Cutting Slash-like attack with no windup. Rather than drag out his ruined life, he might as well start over and default outright on his Binding Vow.

What does a Binding Vow made in this life have to do with my next restart? Take your complaints to my simulator.

Hajime Kashimo spotted the man who had caused that huge commotion in the commercial center earlier and walked over.

With a Cursed Energy release covering that much ground, he ought to have some skill. Don't bore me too much.

Then Hajime Kashimo was disappointed.

Nothing special. The fluctuations in his Cursed Energy were not weak, but they were not particularly strong either. Probably a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer. The Jujutsu Society of this era was nothing impressive.

Just as he was about to leave and ignore this mediocrity, the young man he had dismissed waved at him, wearing the bright, easy smile unique to youth.

"Hey, nice weather today. Want to fight?"

"..."

"Then I'll gladly oblige."

An invitation to fight was hard to turn down, whatever the circumstances. A duel or a death match-it was all good. It all got the blood pumping.

Xia Xia's smile grew even brighter.

Turning a god's body into a sword and using it to thrash its original owner was another must-try experience for a player on his second playthrough. What did it mean when your own loot countered you? Just look at how dirty that was.

The Demon Blade left its sheath.

"Hold on, kid. There's something wrong with that blade. Something seriously wrong."

Hajime Kashimo's instincts as a top-tier warrior immediately sounded the highest alarm in his brain. That blade gave him a very bad feeling. He had a premonition that if it came down on him, he might die.

"Oh, it's fine. Just an ordinary Cursed Tool, that's all. The materials were a little high-end."

Xia Xia approached him with a smile.

"Wait. Hold on!"

"No matter how you look at it, that blade's aura is dangerous! What's ordinary about it? And give me your name. I, Hajime Kashimo, do not cut down nameless opponents."

Hajime Kashimo tactically retreated two steps, but the chill in his heart did not fade. Instead, it intensified as the man drew closer.

"My name doesn't matter."

"What matters is that this blade is called [Raikiri]. Don't you think it suits you, Lord Hajime Kashimo, Thunder God of four hundred years ago?"

Then came Xia Xia's merciless diagonal slash.

Calling it a diagonal slash was not quite right. This direct cut was more like the legendary blow that cleaved Mount Hua: wherever its force reached, all other martial arts gave way. It was so powerful that the shriek of the split air only gathered and erupted as the blade descended. Hajime Kashimo only registered that the blade was fast, terribly sharp, and then his vision flashed white.

The lightning had been severed.

Lightning attacks struck this man, yet he neither dodged nor defended. They were merely pebbles falling onto water, stirring ripples without doing any harm.

The cut was not lethal, because it changed course upon reaching Hajime Kashimo's neck and cleanly shaved off what little facial hair this body had possessed.

The blade returned to its sheath.

"Who exactly are you?"

Hajime Kashimo suppressed the towering waves of shock inside him and questioned the young man while barely maintaining his composure.

"Just an ordinary Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer."

"In this era, I'm not even anyone worth mentioning. I can only scrape by using underhanded tricks. I'm nowhere near your level as the strongest of four hundred years ago."

Xia Xia spoke casually.

Those humble, flattering words sounded particularly cutting to Hajime Kashimo. His once-arrogant face actually took on the bewilderment of an old man.

I'd already hunted down so many Jujutsu Sorcerers. I was the strongest four hundred years ago. So why do I suddenly feel like the times have left me behind...?

"Those feral Jujutsu Sorcerers? Don't make me laugh. Those savages belong in cages. They're just a heap of substandard materials too talentless to bother forging into blades."

As though he had seen through the mighty Thunder God's attempt to retreat into comforting thoughts, Xia Xia shamelessly launched another round of indiscriminate insults.

Ill-mannered Jujutsu Sorcerers called ordinary people unevolved monkeys. But viewed from that perspective, weren't the feral Jujutsu Sorcerers who only awakened their Cursed Techniques after entering a Culling Game barrier simply savages? And savages could hardly avoid being put in cages.

"Is that so?"

Hajime Kashimo's thinking suffered a tremendous shock.

His warrior's heart told him that this era was full of powerful opponents he could challenge, battles whose thrills he could savor.

But his pride as the Thunder God and an extremely senior veteran made him deeply frustrated. Was he supposed to admit he was a mediocrity born in an age with no powerful fighters? How could he...?

"What century is this? You're still pulling rank based on seniority?"

"Never mind anything else. At your level, you can't even break through my defenses. What can you do besides get dust all over me? You'd be better off spending that time studying your Cursed Technique and trying to develop some new tactics."

"An old fossil like you ought to keep up with the times, too. Otherwise, you'll end up shut inside a museum like an artifact, gawked at like a monkey."

There was little finesse to those words, but every one landed a critical hit.

"What do you know? Conditions in our day were nothing like what you have now. At least I was still..."

Hajime Kashimo's veteran soul burned fiercely. He had had enough. Why did these youngsters have no respect for their elders or care for the young? Their words were vicious.

"Are you Special Grade, Hajime Kashimo?"

Xia Xia asked a rather illogical question.

"In my era, I was."

Hajime Kashimo's answer was fair, neither servile nor arrogant.

"Can you use Domain Expansion?"

Xia Xia finally showed his hand and began the torment.

"..."

Hajime Kashimo gave no answer.

"I can."

"Domain Expansion • Death-Bound Curse."

The pitch-black forging domain enveloped Hajime Kashimo, but this time he did not resist. Instead, he stared at Xia Xia with a blank expression, as though his spirit had drained away.

"What are you trying to say, child?"

"I can use Domain Expansion, and I'm a standard Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer of this era. You can't use Domain Expansion, you can't even beat me, and you're Special Grade?"

Silence was golden.

"I hear that before you died, you even boldly proclaimed yourself invincible, and were just waiting to become a Cursed Object, undergo incarnation, and fight Sukuna, the King of Curses from a thousand years ago, across time?"

Some people were deafening even in their silence.