Fully Independent Cursed Corpse

[Your gaze swept over the mountains of cute plush toys piled around the room.]

[Although they all had vicious fangs or sharp claws, the eyes of every one were designed with something... resembling human emotion.]

[Masamichi Yaga's hands paused.]

[He remained silent for a long time. Instead of scolding you for overthinking as he usually did, he slowly turned to look at this student he could not see through, and at the Sun Wukong on your shoulder, which seemed to possess a spirit of its own.]

[Had you been your former self, he would never have told you.]

[But the talent you now displayed made him feel that perhaps you really could understand.]

["Shunchen, do you know what a cursed corpse truly is?"]

[Yaga picked up a core that was still pulsing faintly, his voice low.]

["Today's cursed corpses, even your Wukong, are merely puppets. They move using the cursed energy injected into them by sorcerers. Once that energy runs out, they're nothing but elaborate ornaments."]

[Masamichi Yaga paused, then continued.]

["But what I'm researching is an 'autonomous, independent' cursed corpse."]

["Something alive?"]

[Your question cut straight to the heart of it.]

["You could say that."]

[Masamichi Yaga's gaze grew distant, as though he were looking through the dim workshop at people who had long since passed away.]

["I've been trying to copy the 'information' of the dead-the information of their souls-and write it into a core."]

["If it succeeds, it will no longer be a tool that needs recharging, but a living creature capable of generating its own cursed energy and possessing self-awareness."]

[At this, Yaga gave a self-deprecating smile.]

["Insane, isn't it? Desecrating the dead, toying with souls."]

["No."]

[You reached up and stroked Wukong's cold head on your shoulder, your gaze calm.]

["If it's merely copying, then yes, that is desecration. But what if it's a way of giving someone's feelings a home?"]

[Masamichi Yaga froze for a moment, then gave you a long look.]

["You're right. Actually, I know perfectly well that even if I do create one, it will no longer be the 'person' who died. It will only be a vessel carrying the living's memories of the dead-a completely new, manufactured 'curse.'"]

[He put down the core, a barely perceptible trace of tenderness and sorrow in his voice.]

["In this jujutsu society filled with death and parting, whether for those who died or those left behind..."]

["Perhaps this false reunion could at least offer some small measure of comfort."]

[You obtained preliminary blueprints for the theory of fully independent cursed corpses.]

[You looked at the blueprints in your hands, then at Wukong on your shoulder, silently thinking.]

["If I could truly bring the Great Sage Equal to Heaven to life..."]

["A fully independent cursed corpse... a real helper that could keep moving indefinitely without me supplying cursed energy."]

[Time slipped quietly by in the dim workshop amid tireless sparks of cursed energy.]

[In the days that followed, your classmates at Jujutsu High rarely saw you.]

[Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were busy exorcising cursed spirits outside, infuriating the assistant supervisors along the way.]

[Shoko Ieiri spent all day in either the dissection room or the infirmary, passing the time amid drifting smoke.]

[As for you, you practically moved your bedding into Masamichi Yaga's private workshop.]

[It was an incredibly tedious yet fascinating stretch of time.]

[Research into fully independent cursed corpses proved far more difficult than you had imagined.]

[It involved not only weaving complex cursed energy circuits, but also replicating soul information, balancing the resonance of three cores, and that most elusive aspect of all: the soul's observation of itself.]

[Even with the Overachiever card's boost, even with Masamichi Yaga teaching you everything he knew, your progress was still like pushing a cart through a swamp. Every step forward demanded enormous effort.]

[After all, what you were trying to touch was the divine domain of creating life.]

[You did not know how many years Masamichi Yaga had spent creating this miracle in the original timeline.]

[You only knew that replicating such a perfect life-form from scratch in just one year was an almost impossible task.]

[Simulation progress: month six.]

[The core theory of "full independence" remained stuck at the bottleneck of "mutual incompatibility."]

[But you did not obsess over the dead end. You decisively applied all your findings from the past six months of core stability research to your existing combat asset, Wukong.]

[Inside the workshop, a flicker of amazement crossed Masamichi Yaga's eyes behind his sunglasses as he watched the figure in the center of the testing area.]

[Wukong still stood at a compact fifty centimeters tall, but its internal structure had undergone a complete transformation.]

[You had melted down fragments of special grade cursed tools purchased at high prices to reforge its skeleton, and it now held a specially made cursed tool capable of extending: the Ruyi Jingu Bang (imitation).]

["Go."]

[With a mere thought from you, there was no need even for a guiding motion of your fingers-only the transmission of cursed energy fluctuations.]

[Wukong vanished from its spot in an instant, moving so fast that even its afterimage was difficult to catch.]

[The next second, a black iron staff punched straight through the half-meter-thick reinforced concrete wall in the testing area!]

[This was no longer a toy. It was a tireless killing machine that felt no pain and was so small it was difficult to target.]

[Against an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer, the current Wukong even had a strong chance of securing a solo kill.]

[Simulation progress: month nine.]

[As the time of the "Star Plasma Vessel" mission drew near, your enhancements to Wukong also reached the limits of your current materials and techniques.]

[You looked at it, yet felt no relief whatsoever. Instead, an indescribable heaviness settled over you.]

[At this point, apart from those two special grade freaks, probably no one at Jujutsu High could reliably defeat this monkey.]

["But... it's not enough."]

[The image of Toji Fushiguro surfaced in your mind-the man with a scar at the corner of his mouth, wearing tight-fitting clothes and carrying the Inverted Spear of Heaven.]

[That tyrant known as the "Sorcerer Killer."]

[You were clearheaded.]

[You did not believe that spending just one year on this fifty-centimeter Sun Wukong would let you match the monster who could kill even Satoru Gojo.]

["I can't pin all my hopes on it."]

[You closed your eyes, repeatedly running through the battles that might follow in your mind.]

[If you expected Wukong to fight Toji Fushiguro one-on-one, there was only one possible outcome: it would be torn into scraps of stuffing scattered across the ground.]

[Its role could not be that of a trump card, only a surprise piece.]

[It was a shield to take a blade, a mosquito to obstruct his vision, a... disposable pawn to buy those fractions of a second needed to escape.]

["A little cruel, isn't it, Great Sage?"]

[You reached up and stroked Wukong on your shoulder.]

[Wukong did not respond. It merely tilted its head mechanically.]

[In the end, it was not the miracle with a soul that Yaga had spoken of. It was merely a weapon you had built to survive.]