Chapter 40

[Will the next group of viewers please enter--]

Satoru Gojo spotted one of the figures and suddenly blurted out, "Geto?"

There was no mistaking it. This wasn't someone occupying his body, but the real Suguru Geto.

The robed leader of the Time Vessel Association looked much as he had before his death, though his expression was somewhat gloomy. He raised his eyes and met Satoru Gojo's gaze. Those three years of bitter summers seemed to flash past, yet they both knew an unbridgeable rift had already opened between them.

"Suguru Geto?!" Principal Gakuganji exclaimed instinctively. He whipped around to face Satoru Gojo. "Didn't you say you'd executed the traitor Suguru Geto?"

Then why was he here?!

Yuta Okkotsu remembered this man too-the one who had tried to take Rika away!

Satoru Gojo showed Gakuganji no respect whatsoever. "You're so loud."

Principal Gakuganji's face turned livid. "Satoru Gojo!" If only he could beat him...

Suguru Geto, however, offered a reply. "My memories end at the moment I died."

"D-does that mean you're a g-ghost?!" Doppo Kunikida looked as though his soul was about to leave his body.

Osamu Dazai even fanned the flames. "That's right, he's a ghost~"

Then Atsushi Nakajima's panicked voice rang out from the side. "Kunikida, pull yourself together!"

"Louisa." Fitzgerald, who had also entered with the later group, shielded his face with his right hand and instructed her, "Go buy some tissues."

"Lord Francis, it seems we can produce things here simply by imagining them." The Guild's strategist, her own eyes red and swollen, handed him a stack of tissues.

"Well, that's convenient." Fitzgerald took a few tissues and continued covering his face.

Beside him, Lucy's eyes were already horribly swollen. John and the others seemed somewhat dazed as well. Only Lovecraft still looked completely out of it.

"What's with that guy?" Nobara Kugisaki nudged Megumi Fushiguro with her elbow. "He looks loaded. Why's he acting so weird?"

Megumi Fushiguro shook his head. It wasn't as though he knew everything.

"Hmph, what else?" Ranpo Edogawa glanced their way, then looked away. "They were watching the whole time, actually. They've only just appeared now."

"Wow." Satoru Gojo understood. No wonder Suguru Geto looked so strange.

After all, no one could remain unmoved after witnessing an epic like that, least of all Suguru Geto.

Precisely because Satoru Gojo understood Suguru Geto so well, he knew it was bound to affect him.

Satoru Gojo didn't ask how Suguru Geto felt, knowing he wouldn't answer anyway. Instead, he smugly boasted to the leader of the Time Vessel Association, "It's my turn next. Make sure you enjoy the strongest in all his glory."

He even pretended to be bashful. "Just don't fall for me like An Xinyi did."

The false, benevolent smile on Suguru Geto's face stiffened. For the first time in a long while, he felt his fist clench.

Satoru Gojo always knew exactly what to say to infuriate people.

Nobara Kugisaki made her disgust plain. "As if. How could An Xinyi possibly fall for something like you?"

Utahime Iori mocked him just as fiercely. "Stop being so full of yourself. Not a chance."

Without a doubt, the earlier viewing had already brought some of them over to An Xinyi's side.

As for the Bungo Stray Dogs group, some wore brilliant smiles while others looked icy.

They really should screw this bastard over after all.

The last to appear was a boy with a relaxed smile and conspicuous Pentagram Earrings. Since he knew no one present, he leisurely found a seat and sat down. Only a handful of people noticed him.

Was that... Hao Asakura?

They knew who he was because he had appeared in the viewing. They only knew he was powerful, but had no real sense of just how powerful yet.

Hao Asakura ignored the overt and covert scrutiny. In truth, most of the people here were too weak to warrant his attention. Only a rare few, such as Satoru Gojo, merited a second glance, and even then, that was all.

In fact, Hao Asakura was in a good mood. This strange space seemed to suppress his spirit sight, allowing him a rare taste of peace and quiet.

Besides... even Hao Asakura had been moved by what he'd just seen. His gaze lingered on Fitzgerald for a few seconds before returning to the big screen. What other surprises might it have in store for him?

Suguru Geto had defected.

When Satoru Gojo first heard the news, he couldn't believe it.

Satoru Gojo wandered aimlessly. Where he went didn't matter to him now. He only wanted to vent the frustration bottled up inside him.

At the same time, he didn't want to see those old fossils' faces at all. It would only make him want to crush every last one of them to death.

While passing through the Tsugaru area, his Six Eyes picked up an extremely terrifying surge of cursed energy, at least on the level of a special grade.

Was it a cursed spirit?

"Just your bad luck."

Satoru Gojo was full of anger with nowhere to vent it right now.

But when he actually saw the cursed spirit, he visibly paused.

The cursed spirit stood beneath a tree in a small courtyard.

Beneath slightly long bangs, his ink-black eyes were cool and distant. His pale skin, delicate features, and white shirt made him look like the prince schoolgirls dreamed of.

"Hey, now that's rare." Satoru Gojo widened his beautiful Heavenly Eyes. Within his field of vision, terrifying cursed energy had warped even the sky, and its source was this seemingly ordinary boy. "Among all those ugly freaks, there's actually a decent-looking one like you. That's a first for me."

"If it weren't for-" Geto... Satoru Gojo thought of Suguru Geto. In the past, he probably would have beaten this cursed spirit half to death, then handed the Poké Ball to Suguru Geto.

That thought soured Satoru Gojo's mood further, and he lost interest in talking.

"Just your bad luck..." It was only a cursed womb, yet it already possessed special-grade levels of power. Once it was truly born, it would be terrifying.

"Blue!"

A pale blue point of light gathered at his fingertip.

The boy was utterly silent. Whether Satoru Gojo was rattling on by himself or preparing to attack him, he neither spoke nor dodged.

"An? An?" Suddenly, a voice broke the impasse. A man poked his head out of a window. He had clearly drunk a great deal, his face flushed an unnatural red. "Where's breakfast? Haven't you brought it back yet?"

The boy finally moved, lowering his head slightly. "Sorry, Akino. I'll bring it right over."

Only then did Satoru Gojo notice that he was carrying two bags. One held two salted fish, and the other contained some ingredients.

Ignoring Satoru Gojo, the boy walked straight past him and entered the house.

The cursed energy at his fingertip dispersed instinctively. Satoru Gojo froze. He was certain that the man just now was an ordinary person.

And ordinary people couldn't see cursed spirits.

Yet that boy, whom an ordinary person could see-

Was actually human?

"Idiot. An'an was human all along. You could tell just by looking." Ranpo Edogawa gave Satoru Gojo a thoroughly scornful look. "He relies way too much on those eyes of his."

Satoru Gojo protested loudly, "Look at all that cursed energy! He's practically on par with a special grade cursed spirit. Isn't it perfectly normal to assume he's a cursed spirit?!"

"Tch. This lousy teacher clearly got it wrong, but he still won't admit it. Pathetic!" Nobara Kugisaki gave him a sidelong look.

"Exactly. You're pathetic, Satoru." Panda nodded.

"How could you? None of you are taking your teacher's side?" Satoru Gojo clutched his heart in anguish. "Your teacher's so hurt~"

"Tch. Gross." Maki Zenin adjusted her glasses.

"Salmon, salmon." Toge Inumaki nodded in agreement.

Satoru Gojo... Satoru Gojo collapsed and didn't get up.

Once inside the house, An Xinyi felt no joy at having narrowly escaped death.

For An Xinyi, perhaps there really had been an instant when he had no desire to resist.

Even someone as strong as him could have a moment of weakness.

Just die like this.

Stop worrying about everything. Just die like this.

If he simply died like this, would he finally be free of "Regret"?

Given Satoru Gojo's strength, dying wouldn't be strange. If he died suddenly, perhaps there wouldn't even be time for "Regret."

Avoiding pain and fearing it were human instincts.

Even An Xinyi was no different.

Yet at that moment, he couldn't help loathing himself. How could he do this?

Hadn't he already decided? No matter what, he couldn't give up. No matter what, he couldn't run away. Otherwise, how could he face those worlds he had overwritten?

He was the only person in this world who had no right to die.

By the time An Xinyi had emerged a little from his inner torment, he had already stumbled out of the room in a daze and found himself facing a pair of beautiful Heavenly Eyes.

The owner of those eyes scrutinized An Xinyi from every angle, thoroughly and with a decidedly intrusive gaze. Then he spoke in an exceptionally punchable tone. "Huh-you really are human."

"Say, shouldn't you do some serious self-reflection? This is the first time I've met a human who looks more disgusting than a cursed spirit."

An Xinyi: ???