A scoff

Kyo-yu's head exploded instantly!

Brains and blood splattered across the floor!

The wandering curse user, Kyo-yu.

Dead!

[Ding! Killed a curse user with Grade 1 strength!]

[Loot dropped: 8 million Japanese yen!]

The system notification rang out in his mind.

A flicker of delight crossed Yagami Jue's eyes.

With the Black Market's 30-million bounty, he had just raked in 38 million!

I'm rich!

But that wasn't the most important part.

Yagami Jue bent down and picked up the finger wrapped in yellow talisman paper beside Kyo-yu's mangled corpse.

A Special Grade Cursed Object-Ryomen Sukuna's Finger.

Even through the seal, Yagami Jue could feel the terrifying cursed energy within, enough to make his heart tremble.

An ordinary person would have lost their sanity to that curse just by getting close.

But Yagami Jue's 138 points of constitution kept the curse completely at bay!

System, can you recycle this thing?

Yagami Jue asked in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Special Grade Cursed Object detected: Ryomen Sukuna's Finger (1/20)]

[This item contains extremely high energy. The system can recycle and dismantle it!]

[Recycling value: 50 million Japanese yen!]

[Alternatively, the host may consume it directly for a chance to unlock a special constitution or a fragment of a top-tier Taijutsu manual!]

Yagami Jue's heart skipped a beat at the notification.

50 million Japanese yen!

Or consume it to unlock a constitution!

The temptation was enormous!

But he knew the plot well.

If he swallowed this finger, he would very likely become Sukuna's vessel, just like Yuji Itadori.

His body could certainly suppress Sukuna with only one finger's worth of power.

But what followed would be endless pursuit by the Jujutsu Higher-Ups and relentless pestering from that lunatic Satoru Gojo!

Trouble!

Nothing but trouble!

Right now, he just wanted to quietly make money, raise his stats, and become a powerhouse behind the scenes.

How was he supposed to grow stronger with a crowd watching him every day?

System, recycle it now!

Yagami Jue made his decision without hesitation.

Fuck the main plot!

Fuck Ryomen Sukuna!

All I want is money!

[Ding!]

[Special Grade Cursed Object successfully recycled!]

[Received: 50 million Japanese yen!]

[Host's current account balance: 88 million Japanese yen!]

Looking at that long string of zeros on the panel,

Yagami Jue couldn't help throwing back his head and roaring with laughter!

88 million!

Together with the stats he had already accumulated,

his strength was about to take a genuine leap!

"System!"

"Open the panel!"

"Spend it all on stats!"

Fierce winds howled across the top floor of the abandoned, unfinished building.

The rubble strewn across the floor and Kyo-yu's mangled corpse bore witness to the brief but brutally violent slaughter.

Yagami Jue stood amid the wreckage, his eyes blazing.

88 million Japanese yen!

That enormous sum was enough to let him run wild in the early stages of the plot!

"System, put all 88 million into constitution and speed!"

"Split it evenly!"

[Ding!]

[Successfully deducted 88 million Japanese yen!]

[Allocating stat points...]

[Constitution +4,400! Current constitution: 4,538!]

[Speed +4,400! Current speed: 4,552!]

BOOOOM!!!!!

The instant the system notification ended,

Yagami Jue's body suddenly went rigid!

There was none of the agonizing muscle-tearing pain he had felt when increasing his strength before.

Instead, a terrifying transformation reached deep into his marrow-even into the depths of his soul!

Strange black markings suddenly appeared across his skin, like the totems of an ancient demon god!

His heartbeat no longer made a simple thumping sound.

Instead, it sounded like a heavy pile driver hammering the ground, each beat a deep, thunderous boom! Boom!

Even the air around him rippled under the force of those powerful heartbeats!

"Ugh..."

Yagami Jue dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth as he plunged both hands deep into the hard concrete floor!

He could clearly feel it.

His bone density was soaring at a rate that defied every law of biology!

If his bones had been harder than steel before,

then now, even the hardest diamond in the world would crumble like tofu against them!

His speed was even more terrifying!

4,552 points of speed!

What did that mean?

The speed of sound was already slow motion to him!

His reflexes could now even catch the minute paths of refracting light!

"Huff... hah..."

A full ten minutes passed.

Only then did that terrifying sensation of transformation gradually subside.

Yagami Jue slowly stood up, drenched in sweat, the black markings sinking back beneath his skin.

He looked down at his hands.

They looked no different from those of an ordinary high school student.

But only he knew what world-shattering power lay hidden within this body!

[Host: Yagami Jue]

[Current rank: Heavenly Tyrant (initial stage)]

[Account balance: 0]

[Constitution: 4,538]

[Strength: 1,360]

[Speed: 4,552]

"Heavenly Tyrant... initial stage?"

Looking at the changed rank on his panel, Yagami Jue curled his lips into a wild grin.

Even if it was only the initial stage, he was now utterly confident.

He could stand still and let a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit attack, and it wouldn't even break through his defenses!

As for his speed, even against a special grade cursed spirit, if he couldn't win, he could flee so fast it wouldn't even catch his shadow!

"But my strength has fallen too far behind."

Yagami Jue rolled his neck.

With 1,360 points of strength, he could tear an armored vehicle apart barehanded, but compared with his constitution and speed, both over four thousand, it still seemed a little weak.

He had to keep making money!

Just then,

piercing sirens and hurried footsteps suddenly rang out from below the unfinished building!

"To the person inside! You're surrounded!"

"Put down your weapons and surrender immediately! Otherwise, we will use force!"

The amplified voice echoed through the night.

Yagami Jue walked to the edge and looked down.

Dozens of police cars and black sedans had surrounded the unfinished building.

Several helicopters even circled overhead, their searchlight beams sweeping wildly across the floors.

Beside those black sedans,

several solemn-looking people stood dressed in black suits.

Judging by the faint cursed energy emanating from them,

"People from Window? Or assistant supervisors from Jujutsu High?"

Yagami Jue's eyes turned cold.

It seemed that killing Kyo-yu and recycling Sukuna's Finger

had produced violent energy fluctuations that ultimately drew the authorities' attention.

"Trying to arrest me?"

Yagami Jue scoffed.

"With a bunch of ordinary cops who don't even have cursed energy, and a few pathetic weaklings of assistant supervisors?"

He didn't take them seriously at all.

His speed was now a staggering 4,552!

If he wanted to leave,

even an army of ten thousand surrounding this place wouldn't get so much as a whiff of his exhaust!

Whoosh!

Yagami Jue flickered and vanished from the top floor in an instant.

Downstairs,

Kiyotaka Ijichi stood beside a black sedan, sweat pouring down his face.

He checked the time on his watch, his voice trembling.

"Mr. Gojo still isn't here?!"

"According to the Cursed Energy Detector, an extremely terrifying surge of cursed energy just erupted on the top floor!"

"And... and it was the signature of the Special Grade Cursed Object, Ryomen Sukuna's Finger!"

The assistant supervisor beside him was deathly pale as well.

"That signature appeared for only an instant before disappearing completely."

"Could... could that curse user called Kyo-yu have swallowed the finger?!"

If that was true, a curse user possessing special grade cursed energy

would kill every police officer and supervisor here today!

"Mr. Gojo said he's buying Kikufuku, a Sendai specialty, and won't arrive for another five minutes..."

Ijichi covered his face in despair.

At a life-or-death moment like this, the strongest man was still buying sweets!

"We can't wait! Tell the police to prepare an assault with heavy firepower! We absolutely cannot let that curse user escape Sendai City!"

Ijichi gritted his teeth and gave the order.

Dozens of fully armed special police officers immediately raised their riot shields and assault rifles, cautiously advancing toward the unfinished building's entrance.

The instant they approached the entrance,

BOOOOM!!!

A deafening sonic boom suddenly exploded in everyone's ears!