The lights were on in Jujutsu High's underground operations room, cold white light falling across the full map of the Culling Game barriers spread out on the table, its routes crisscrossing.
Satoru Gojo lounged against the back of his chair, rolling a lollipop around his mouth with a clacking sound as he looked up at Qingxiao across the table.
"Do you have any way to contact and recall the people taking part in the Culling Game?"
"Sure do, bro. Sure do."
Qingxiao tapped a barrier boundary on the map with his fingertip:
"Just ask Kogane to exchange points for two privileges.
"Cross-barrier Cursed Energy communication, plus free passage for designated people."
Satoru Gojo raised an eyebrow and pulled the lollipop stick from his mouth. "Then do you have two hundred points?"
"Who do you take me for?" Qingxiao lifted his chin, a smug grin tugging at his lips. "I have six hundred."
"How many!?"
Satoru Gojo nearly slid out of his chair. He trusted that Qingxiao would never kill ordinary people, which meant he had killed over a hundred sorcerers.
Before he could make another comment, Qingxiao had already contacted Kogane and added the rules.
Next came recalling everyone. The two stood side by side before the map, making calls one after another.
"Nice. Now people from every barrier can gather in Shinjuku. It'll be lively."
Qingxiao tapped Shinjuku's location on the map and replied:
"Of course. How could we do this without an audience?"
With that, he turned and headed out. Satoru Gojo called after him, "Where are you going?"
He waved without looking back. "The Medical Room. Checking whether those two patients are dead yet."
The afternoon sunlight slanted through the Medical Room's windows, spreading a patch of warm yellow light across part of the floor.
The door