[The old village in September smelled of rotting straw, and the air was stiflingly hot.]
[The vehicle stopped on the bumpy dirt road.]
[You switched off the engine and glanced at Suguru Geto in the passenger seat.]
[The Special Grade Sorcerer had barely spoken during the journey, merely turning his head to watch the desolate scenery outside, his eyes as empty as a dried-up well.]
["Geto, we're here."]
[Suguru Geto came back to his senses, his signature gentle smile returning to his face, though it looked particularly forced.]
["Thanks for the effort. I'll look around the village and check the distribution of cursed residue. Go speak with the village chief about the situation."]
[The two of you split up.]
[For some reason, Cursed Energy Allergy had been producing a faint sting for a while now, but this warning came not from a powerful cursed spirit, but from a kind of... thicker, more nauseating malice.]
[Before long, he met the village chief and the villagers with their shifty eyes.]
[After a few brief questions, Li Shunchen noticed something was wrong.]
[There was no trace of a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit here.]
[There wasn't even a proper curse.]
[The supposed "disappearances" and "mysterious deaths" seemed more like a human cover-up.]
["Um... it's over there."]
[The village chief pointed to a dilapidated wooden house at the far end of the village, his face showing both fear and disgust.]
["Those two monsters are behind all of it! Once we get rid of them, the village will be peaceful again!"]
[Your brows drew tightly together as you pushed through the crowd and walked toward the wooden house. When he saw the scene before him clearly, his pupils abruptly contracted.]
[It was a wooden cage, both cramped and filthy, with two skeletal little girls locked inside, their bodies covered in bruises and wounds.]
[They clung tightly to each other, their eyes filled with fear of this world and despair.]
[Faint fluctuations of cursed energy came from their bodies. They had the potential to become talented jujutsu sorcerers.]
[For an instant, you seemed to see your past self: in the Zenin Clan during the previous simulation, likewise treated as an outcast, likewise stripped of dignity, likewise treated as livestock.]
[Reason told you that, as an Assistant Supervisor with no combat duties, you should wait for Suguru Geto.]
[But the anger born of sharing their suffering made it impossible for you to stand by.]
["Open the cage."]
["Are you kidding me!"]
[The village chief suddenly grew agitated and raised the hoe in his hand.]
["You're with them, aren't you? I knew people from the city couldn't be trusted! They killed members of the Tanaka Family. They have to die!"]
["That's right! Beat these monsters to death!"]
["Don't let him release the monsters!"]
[Ignorant malice flared in an instant, and dozens of villagers surrounded you with clubs, stones, and farming tools.]
["I was sent by the government..."]
[You tried to take out your credentials and order them to stop, but a fist-sized stone slammed into his forehead. Blood immediately streamed down, blurring his vision.]
[Thud! A thick wooden club struck your back hard.]
[Endure Humiliation and Bear Burdens activated! Pain reduced by 30%, physical defense slightly increased.]
[You staggered but did not fall.]
[If you wanted, you could easily snap the neck of the village chief before you. You could kill all these ordinary people within three minutes.]
[But... you couldn't.]
[Jujutsu sorcerers were strictly forbidden from harming non-sorcerers.]
[This was an ironclad law of Jujutsu Society.]
[Once he fought back, he would become a curse user. All his prior undercover work, his plans, and that one-year cooldown would come to nothing.]
[After being declared wanted, he might even be hunted down by Satoru Gojo!]
[For the bigger picture, you had to endure.]
[You protected your head and let the clubs rain down on your body.]
[It didn't hurt as much as you had imagined. The card's damage reduction worked well, but the humiliation was far more intense than the physical pain.]
[You couldn't understand why you had to be beaten by this trash.]
[Why did you have to be constrained by rules when you possessed power?]
[Was this the sorrow of the weak?]
[Just as you were beaten to the ground, blood staining your white shirt red.]
[The surrounding clamor suddenly vanished.]
[A soul-shuddering chill instantly enveloped the entire village. The villagers' hands froze in midair, clubs raised, as they stared behind Li Shunchen in terror.]
[Li Shunchen raised his head with difficulty and saw that figure through his blood-smeared glasses.]
[Suguru Geto stood there, his bangs hiding his eyes and obscuring his expression. But the air around him seemed to have frozen, and the shadow beneath his feet was writhing and expanding wildly, as though connected to hell.]
[Suguru Geto looked at the scene before him.]
[Two little girls with the talent to become jujutsu sorcerers were locked in a cage and treated like dogs.]
[And the Assistant Supervisor he had brought, though one of the weak within the Jujutsu High system, was now being beaten half to death by these monkeys without any cursed energy, all to protect those two girls.]
[The strong protect the weak?]
[Was this the righteousness I had always upheld?]
[The string in Suguru Geto's mind, stretched taut for an entire summer, finally snapped at that moment.]
["Monkeys."]
[Suguru Geto softly uttered the word. The next second, hell descended.]
[A massive cursed spirit shot skyward from his shadow and, like harvesting wheat, instantly tore the villagers surrounding you to pieces.]
[Blood, severed limbs, screams-the thugs who had been so overbearing moments before were now as fragile as sheets of thin paper.]
[This was not a fight. This was a massacre.]
[Clutching your bleeding forehead, you swayed to your feet and stared in shock at the village, now transformed into a scene of carnage.]
[Though you also badly wanted to kill these people, you hadn't expected Suguru Geto to go this far.]
[This wasn't merely killing. It was a declaration of war against all of Jujutsu Society.]
[In just half a minute, the village fell silent. Only the sound of the cursed spirit chewing flesh and blood remained, along with the shrill cries of distant cicadas.]
[Suguru Geto walked to the cage, gently tore open the wooden bars, and held out a hand to the two trembling girls.]
["Don't be afraid. No one will be able to bully you again."]
[After seeing to the girls, Suguru Geto slowly turned and looked at you standing in a pool of blood.]
[The gentleness and uncertainty of the past were gone from those narrow eyes, replaced by a coldness and compassion that had seen through life and death.]
["Are you going to betray Jujutsu High? The higher-ups won't let you get away with killing so many people."]
[At those words, a self-mocking smile curled Suguru Geto's lips.]
["Betrayal? No."]
["I've merely chosen righteousness. A paradise... without monkeys, with only sorcerers."]
[Then his gaze focused on Li Shunchen again, as though he were looking at a tool that, while useful, had already become obsolete.]
["Li, thank you for your hard work these past two years."]
["You're a very good Assistant Supervisor. Not only can you put up with Satoru's whims, but you can also step forward at a time like this."]
["But... unfortunately."]
[Suguru Geto raised his hand. A pointed, cone-shaped cursed spirit materialized behind him, aimed at your heart.]
["You're merely another component attached to that rotten system. The rules you uphold are precisely what caused this hell."]
["For the new world, the dust of the old era must be swept away."]
Before you continue