The Gaze from 68 Years in the Future

Xia Xia thought he had died as hideously as a stray dog, but then he thought of Wu Zixu, the prime minister of Wu during the Warring States period. After the King of Wu believed slander and had him killed, Wu Zixu left a bitter final wish: his family was to gouge out his eyes after his death and hang them above the East City Gate, so he could watch the armies of Yue destroy Wu with his own eyes.

Xia Xia did not think he was that impressive, but he had reacted the same way before dying.

He wanted to see Yorozu's face for himself when Sukuna died in battle because he was missing a finger.

That sword strike had been sharp, but it still lacked a little power.

What a shame. If I'd been just a little stronger, I could've killed Yorozu...

Wait, what do you mean Yorozu is already dead?

When Xia Xia saw that the condition on the light screen had been fulfilled, he let out an inhuman, vicious laugh.

Good riddance. Good fucking riddance.

So Yorozu had already been doomed the moment she took that slash. She'd just forced herself to sit through the cutscene before dying in a corner like a rat.

How ugly, you crazy bitch.

Xia Xia, who had still been feeling some resentment and indignation, was now positively gloating.

He had never been a gentleman anyway. How many people in the powerscaling community were decent human beings? As a nobody, he ought to have a nobody's signature traits.

Get cocky when ahead, throw his life away when behind.

Damn, that felt good.

Now, let's review the haul from this trip.

[Xia Xia was killed, hollowed out through the middle. The killer was Yorozu.]

[Dropped 591 platinum, 60 gold, 15 silver, and 3 copper.]

[Conditions fulfilled: 85]

[Rewards pending calculation.]

[Resurrection countdown...]

[Calculation complete.]

[Characters killed: wild Grade 2 Cursed Spirits ×15 (unnamed). Extremely low world influence.]

[Characters killed: Grade 1 Cursed Spirits ×3 (unnamed). Low world influence.]

[Characters killed: Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers ×60. Low world influence.]

[Characters killed: Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers ×5. Moderate world influence.]

[Character killed: ancient Jujutsu Sorcerer Reggie (Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer). High world influence.]

[Character killed: ancient Jujutsu Sorcerer Yorozu (Special Grade Sorcerer). Very high world influence.]

[Reward count: 85]

[Obtained: substantial increases to total Cursed Energy. The simulated character's Cursed Energy has been extracted, providing an across-the-board enhancement.]

[Obtained: additional trait, "Resuscitation."]

["Resuscitation": each instance of damage taken records one mark. At 3 marks, restore 5% of maximum health. Internal trait cooldown: 10 seconds.]

[Special character killed. Obtained: Reggie's Treasure Bag.]

[Special character killed. Obtained: Yorozu's Treasure Bag.]

"A bumper harvest."

"Open the treasure bags."

[Used: Reggie's Treasure Bag.]

[Obtained: "Core reward."]

[Obtained: an enormous boost to talent related to contracts and receipts, with a chance to gain a deeper understanding.]

Useful, but not that useful.

Perhaps he could give more thought to the chances of winning big with a small stake when establishing a binding vow, or exploit loopholes when making contracts with others. At least this ability had some practical use.

[Used: Yorozu's Treasure Bag.]

[Obtained: "Core reward."]

"Nice!"

As long as it gives me the Construction Technique, this first-kill reward will be an unprecedented jackpot. I mean, the Unlimited Blade Works that follows will be insane.

[Obtained: special effect, "Cursed Technique Harmonization" ×1.]

[You may select two Cursed Techniques and establish a connection between them, ultimately combining them into one. This may strengthen them, or it may weaken them-you know how it is. Fate is never merciful.]

"..."

Xia Xia was flooded with mixed feelings.

I only have two Innate Cursed Techniques.

And you gave me a skill-fusion furnace?

Afraid I won't die fast enough? You want to turn me back into a blank slate who can't even use Domain Expansion?

Even nerfing me shouldn't work like this, right?

But then again...

He would have plenty of simulation attempts in the future.

Besides, going all in was a virtue.

Rather than agonize over it, he might as well take the plunge.

He had arrived as an ordinary person, and now he was strong enough to kill a Special Grade ancient Jujutsu Sorcerer on borrowed power. All that fretting was not his style.

Also... before taking another gamble, Xia Xia had to confirm something absolutely crucial.

He had to prove he had not gone mad.

"Have I fallen into some kind of special state?"

"For example, has the mind from the simulation interfered with my real body and thoughts?"

Remembering the warmth he had felt upon first meeting Yuji Itadori, Xia Xia abruptly felt an inexplicable chill.

He felt that even if Itadori Xia Xia's memories had influenced him, he would not have changed this drastically. It was not that he thought having emotions was bad, but...

Xia Xia was not supposed to be this kind of person.

Let me say it again.

Spare me the talk. Skip the plot, skip the life. I came here to duel Sukuna, so put the boring stuff aside-the people I met in Simulated Life don't matter. All I want is pure power.

Answer me.

[Retrieving log records.]

[Confirmed.]

[You are currently being affected by a special Cursed Technique effect.]

[The technique has targeted your Cursed Technique, "Innate Cursed Technique: Akashic Records." This technique is being influenced by a special Cursed Technique to serve as an observation anchor. Due to your continued use of this technique, your thoughts are being affected.]

[Special status: "The Gaze from 68 Years in the Future."]

"Haha... hahahahahaha..."

Xia Xia seemed to freeze for two seconds.

Then he let out a terrifying laugh.

"So this was how you dealt with it?"

"Yuji Itadori, I have to admit, you're even more twisted and despicable than I am."

In Xia Xia's mind, those memories gradually faded.

Half of the memories belonging to Itadori Xia Xia were disappearing. His tenderness toward Yuji Itadori, his obsession with Kenjaku-all those sweet emotions were vanishing.

The emptiness deep within the core of his soul embraced him once again, once again severing his illusory bonds.

He was still Xia Xia.

The original Xia Xia.

Yuji Itadori was a great Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Everyone in the powerscaling community acknowledged that the Tiger Heavenly Emperor had dominated for sixty-eight years. Yet only the most miserable year of this power-fantasy protagonist's life, when he was fifteen, had been adapted into Jujutsu Kaisen.

The true name of Yuji Itadori's Domain Expansion was unknown.

Some called it "Mysterious Farmhouse," while others called it "All Within the Four Seas Are Brothers." What was certain, however, was that this domain could greatly increase other people's affection for and trust in Yuji Itadori, "persuading" them on a soul-deep level to believe in him, and potentially implanting false, happy memories.

The powerscaling community had already declared that even Mahoraga would become a plow ox upon entering the Tiger Heavenly Emperor's Mysterious Farmhouse. By the time he adapted and realized what was happening, he would already have plowed more than twenty mu of land.

To fix an empty shell like Xia Xia, the great Yuji Itadori had used his great power in the simulation, sixty-eight years into the future, to forcibly grant him human emotions, attempting to turn him into a good person with humanity.

Was something like that even possible?

Yes.

Yuji Itadori's information and knowledge were all recorded in "Innate Cursed Technique: Akashic Records." As long as Xia Xia continued using this mighty power, the gaze from the distant future would never fade. He had been watching him all along.

"..."

"Absurd!!!"

"I will fight him! How could I ever become his puppet?!"

A dangerous hue appeared in Xia Xia's eyes.

It was the resolve he had shown before fighting to the death, the dark shade that had spread from the empty shell once named Xia Xia.

It was a will that truly belonged to him.

"Fuse them."

If it won't serve me, I might as well destroy it all.

The Akashic Records is strong. Very strong. Once I acquire all my opponent's knowledge, I can kill them instantly.

But I don't care.

If the price of using it is being filled with false goodness, kindness, and beauty, being made to live the way someone else wants, and becoming a "good person" who disgusts me...

Then I would rather become a demon.

I would rather become a curse.

I would rather become an everlasting calamity than live in humiliation according to your will.

Xia Xia had never understood Sukuna so well: why, when he had been reduced to that pathetic lump, he had chosen death even though Yuji Itadori had offered to coexist with him and let him live.

The King of Curses had been the King of Curses from beginning to end.

Villains did not need redemption. That was an insult.

Pity and mercy were insults of the highest order.

Does free will truly exist?

I will prove the answer with my life.

"Remember this, Yuji Itadori. This is the last time. You disgust me."

Xia Xia clenched his fists. In his heart, he teased apart that trace of sweet warmth, thread by thread, then burned it all to ashes.

He had never been so grateful to be a monster.

"For my dear self, right now! Immediately! Use Cursed Technique Harmonization and fuse away 'Innate Cursed Technique: Akashic Records'!!!"

[Consumed "Innate Cursed Technique: Demon-Repelling Edge."]

[Consumed "Innate Cursed Technique: Akashic Records."]

[Consumed "Cursed Technique Harmonization."]

[Notice: Cursed Technique Harmonization has three possible outcomes: failure, success, and great success.]

[Failure will result in the loss of all Cursed Techniques.]

[Success will harmonize them into a special Cursed Technique.]

[Great success signifies an unknown transcendence.]

[All harmonization results are irreversible.]

[Regardless of the outcome, upon confirmation, you will lose your two original Cursed Techniques.]

[Please confirm.]

"Fuse them."

Xia Xia's words were ironclad.

Is Yuji Itadori fucking gay or something? One simulation and he's latched onto me like gum, complete with Naruto-style mental contamination. You'd better not be some legendary King of Lovers sixty-eight years from now, or you could hop over to the Nasuverse next door and become a full-fledged Evil of Humanity.

Goodbye, Amabuki Xia Xia.

Goodbye, Itadori Xia Xia.

I have no regrets. For the road to the Sukuna-Dueling Continent, for the destination of my powerscaling journey, I cannot turn back before I reach victory.

Xia Xia stared at the words gradually disappearing from the panel.

Only a stillness like stagnant water remained in his heart.

Come on. I'm betting everything I have. Whether I soar into the sky or get nerfed to death, it all comes down to this!

No, there's one more thing.

As everyone knows, binding vows are a business with no overhead. The price paid to establish one can be a positive effect, right?

Come on, you genius of binding vows.

"I hereby establish a binding vow."

"Take the familial affection and feelings I gained as Itadori Xia Xia, and all those unnecessary, subsequently added emotions I feel toward Yuji Itadori, Kenjaku, and everyone else because of that special Cursed Technique, and consume them together..."

"With this as the price, restore me to my original self. Erase every emotion I gained during this time, and in exchange, increase my luck to the greatest possible extent."

Xia Xia, you really are a cunning, despicable bastard.

You're destined never to become human.

But you will definitely go farther.

All the way to the end.

[Cursed Technique Harmonization result...]

[Great success.]