Killing intent

He remembered that in the original story, this was where poor Junpei had met Mahito.

Then Mahito had played him for a fool, until he ended up as a lump of mangled flesh.

Tsk. What a miserable end.

Yagami Jue grumbled inwardly, his gaze locking onto a gloomy-eyed boy with long bangs sitting in the front rows.

Junpei Yoshino sat there, his body trembling slightly with tension.

A short distance in front of him, three thugs with brutish faces were making a racket, their feet constantly kicking the seats ahead.

"Hey, look at that disgusting bastard. Looks like his whole family just died."

One of the fat thugs pointed at the dead person on the screen, then at Junpei, letting out a grating laugh.

"Hahaha, looks just like that Yoshino kid."

Junpei lowered his head, clenching his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

Humiliation and rage spread through his heart, but he didn't dare say a word.

"That combination of two-faced bullshit and bullying is so fucking disgusting."

Yagami Jue stuffed the last handful of popcorn into his mouth, brushed the crumbs off his hands, and stood up.

He strolled over to stand behind the three thugs.

"Hey."

Yagami Jue tapped the fat thug on the shoulder.

"Movie not good enough for you? Why all the talking?"

The fat thug turned around impatiently.

"Huh? Who the hell are you? You dare tell me-"

Before he could finish, his voice abruptly cut off.

Because he saw a pair of eyes.

Black eyes as cold as an ice cellar, yet brimming with crazed killing intent.

Yagami Jue grinned, exposing a mouthful of stark white teeth.

"You've got three seconds to get out."

"Or I'll pull your tongue out and sew it onto your asshole."

Around them, the audience in the screening room sucked in sharp breaths.

"Holy shit, that handsome guy's got balls!"

"Those three are notorious around here. Can he handle them alone?"

"Shh, keep it down. With that vibe, he doesn't look like someone you want to mess with."

Everyone whispered among themselves, but no one dared step forward.

Yagami Jue's stare made the fat thug shudder.

But after glancing at his two companions, he felt he couldn't afford to lose face.

"Fuck, you're asking to die!"

The fat thug sprang to his feet and actually pulled out a switchblade.

"I'm gonna make you bleed today-"

Bam!

A dull impact rang out.

The fat thug didn't even have time to open his knife.

Yagami Jue merely swung his right hand casually.

It really was a casual swing.

But with over ten thousand points of strength behind it, even that casual swing whipped up a terrifying gust.

The fat thug flew sideways through the air!

Crash!

He slammed into the side wall, cracking several marble slabs.

Then he collapsed to the floor like a puddle of sludge, passing out without even managing a scream.

The bones on one side of his face had been shattered.

The remaining two thugs were scared witless.

They looked at their companion on the floor, then at the expressionless Yagami Jue, and their crotches instantly grew soaked.

"S-sorry! We're leaving right now!"

The two thugs scrambled out of the screening room, even losing a shoe in their flight.

The screening room fell utterly silent.

Only the speakers accompanying the big screen continued to emit horrifying screams.

Junpei Yoshino stared blankly at everything, completely petrified.

He had never seen violence so simple and brutal.

And it had been directed at the people who bullied him.

"Th-thank you..."

Junpei stood up, his voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, his eyes filled with awe.

Yagami Jue shot him a cold glance.

"Don't thank me. They were just disturbing my sleep."

"As for you, you've got the kind of face that begs to be punched. If you don't learn to fight back, you'll be the one getting your skull smashed next time."

With that, Yagami Jue headed for the exit without looking back.

[Ding! Chance encounter quest complete!]

[Reward credited: 50 million Japanese Yen!]

Done. Five hundred thousand in the bag.

Yagami Jue was overjoyed. This was the bliss of making money.

Junpei watched him leave, hesitated for a moment, then actually ran after him.

In the corridor outside the screening room.

The lighting was dim, and the air carried the stale smell of tobacco.

"Um... please wait!"

Junpei Yoshino ran up, gasping for breath.

Yagami Jue stopped and turned back impatiently.

"What? Want me to teach you? You can't afford my fees."

Blushing, Junpei stammered, "N-no. I just wanted to ask... what price do you have to pay to become strong like you?"

Yagami Jue looked into the boy's gloomy eyes.

He thought the kid was already on the verge of snapping.

If he didn't give him some guidance now, Mahito would soon lead him astray.

"A price?"

Yagami Jue sneered.

"The price is throwing away that pathetic little bit of kindness you have and treating everyone in your way as trash."

"With money, you can get stronger. Without money, go rob, go kill, get stronger, and then take back everything you want."

Just then.

Laughter that chilled them to the marrow drifted out of the shadows deep in the corridor.

"Hehehe... beautifully said."

"Such an extreme belief in the supremacy of the flesh. It really excites a 'human' like me."

Yagami Jue's gaze instantly sharpened, his muscles instinctively tensing.

He whipped his head around toward the shadows.

There stood a man in a gray hoodie, his face strikingly beautiful yet covered in stitches.

He leaned against the wall, toying with a constantly writhing clump of soul fragments.

Mahito.

A special grade cursed spirit.

The sudden, eerie presence sent Junpei stumbling backward in terror, and he accidentally fell to the floor.

"Wh-what is that? His face..."

Mahito ignored Junpei, his mismatched eyes fixed on Yagami Jue.

His gaze brimmed with sickly greed.

"Wow. I can hardly believe it."

Mahito slowly approached, his steps light.

"Your body... doesn't have a trace of cursed energy?"

"And yet, beneath that flesh, I see a soul larger and more solid than a black hole."

"Hey, what's your name? Can I touch your soul?"

Mahito extended a stitch-covered hand, a cruel yet innocent smile spreading across his face.

It was the longing of someone faced with the ultimate toy.

Yagami Jue ranted inwardly, Holy shit, this bastard really is just as twisted as he was in the original.

Want to touch me? I'm afraid I'd shatter that claw of yours!

His expression remained unchanged, however, as he silently slipped on the [Blue Steel Knuckle Dusters].

"You want to touch my soul?"

Yagami Jue's lips curled into a savage grin.

"Then you'd better have your coffin money ready."

"Today, I'm gonna find out just how well a special grade cursed spirit's skull can take a beating!"

The instant the words left his mouth.

Yagami Jue moved.

He didn't even open the Eight Gates.

He relied solely on his base speed of over twenty thousand points.

Boom!

The carpet beneath his feet instantly burst apart.

Like a bolt of black lightning, he closed the distance in an instant, appearing right in front of Mahito's nose!

"So fast!"

Mahito's pupils violently contracted. He didn't even have time to react, only instinctively transforming his arm into a shield of flesh.

Bam!

The dull impact echoed through the corridor.

Mahito was blasted away like a battered ball, smashing straight through three walls before landing in the alley outside the cinema.

Junpei lay on the floor, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"One punch... broke through the walls?!"

"Is he even human?!"

In the alley.