"Phantom Parade"

[You did not beg for mercy, nor did you run.]

[Because you knew that before an absolute gulf in strength, any struggle would only be a futile, ugly display.]

[You looked at Suguru Geto and suddenly smiled.]

["Is that so... then I wish you every success in your grand ambition."]

[Your unexpected composure sent a fleeting flicker of surprise through Suguru Geto's eyes, which held nothing but coldness and pity. But that insignificant ripple was not enough to change the course of the butcher's blade already descending.]

[Several sharp Cursed Spirits instantly pierced your chest, grinding your beating heart to shreds like a meat grinder.]

[The agony lasted only a brief instant, followed by endless cold and darkness that stripped away all your senses.]

[Your body toppled backward uncontrollably. In your final glimpse before your consciousness scattered completely...]

[You saw Suguru Geto. Holding a girl in each arm, he stepped over the blood-red corpses and severed limbs strewn across the ground, walking into the depths of the twilight sunset without looking back.]

[His retreating silhouette, backlit by the sun, was lonely and resolute, yet radiated a suffocating pressure that belonged to a Special Grade alone.]

[You died.]

[Death ending detected.]

[Card "Parting Gift" [SR] activated.]

[This simulation has ended.]

[Cause of death: Purged by Special Grade Curse User Suguru Geto as a "Relic of the Old Era."]

[Evaluation: As a bystander, you witnessed the birth of the most evil Curse User in the history of Jujutsu Society. You struggled to survive between power and rules, only to be crushed by an ideology in the end. Your death was insignificant, but what you gained... was enough to change your fate.]

[Calculating rewards...]

[Congratulations on receiving the following inheritances: You gained memories of serving as an Assistant Supervisor at Tokyo Jujutsu High; a small amount of Cursed Energy manipulation experience and Barrier Technique experience. Although you did not need to fight as an Assistant Supervisor, you never neglected to train yourself in your pursuit of strength; "Parting Gift" unlock reward: innate Cursed Technique, "Phantom Parade"; your Cursed Energy increased. Your initial Cursed Energy will be multiplied by the number of simulations. Current Cursed Energy: 15 (5*3).]

[Rewards distributed. Soul synchronization beginning-!]

"Hah-!"

Li Shunchen's eyes flew open, and he sucked in a sharp, ravenous breath like a drowning man finally breaking the surface.

He instinctively clutched his chest, where his heart was pounding madly, far faster than normal.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his back, as though the phantom pain of Cursed Spirits piercing his chest a second ago, the sensation of bones shattering, and even the suffocation of blood flooding his windpipe still lingered in the nerve endings of his real body.

But close on the heels of that terror came an unprecedented, burning sense of fullness.

If his initial 5 points of Cursed Energy had placed Li Shunchen below average even among ordinary people, then reaching 10 points after the previous simulation had brought him to a normal level. Now, at 15 points, he could be considered average.

But compared with his delight at the increase in Cursed Energy, what surprised Li Shunchen more was that he had never expected to unlock and obtain an innate Cursed Technique directly through "Parting Gift."

With that, he had officially become a Jujutsu Sorcerer.

A Jujutsu Sorcerer who only awakened his Cursed Technique at fifteen might not be unique in this world, but he was certainly an exceedingly rare case.

Unlike others awakening their Cursed Techniques, however, Li Shunchen did not have to slowly feel his way through to understand what his technique did. He could learn its effects directly through the system panel.

["Phantom Parade": A Cursed Technique of "phantoms" that reads and reproduces memories within Cursed Energy to recreate and deploy them.]

Reading memories within Cursed Energy...?

Recreate and deploy... did that mean copying?

Li Shunchen looked at the description of "Phantom Parade," clearly still unable to fully understand its effects.

As though the system had seen through Li Shunchen's thoughts, the text describing "Phantom Parade" changed into a more detailed explanation.

["Phantom Parade":]

[1. By reading another's Cursed Energy, you can obtain information about their Cursed Technique. Both Cursed Spirits and Jujutsu Sorcerers can be read, as can the dead.]

[2. Once you understand the other party's Cursed Technique sufficiently and know its principles and name, you meet the minimum conditions for reproduction. Knowledge of chants and hand signs will affect the results. The information does not necessarily have to come from analysis; memories you already possess are equally valid.]

[3. Reproducing a Cursed Technique counts as casting that technique normally. Its effects depend on your proficiency and mastery of the corresponding technique, rather than your familiarity with "Phantom Parade."]

[4. Note: For certain Cursed Techniques requiring special physical traits (such as the Six Eyes) or special conditions, the copying requirements will be extremely stringent, or their full effects may be impossible to achieve.]

After reading this, Li Shunchen roughly understood the technique's effects. It was also a technique that suited the simulator quite well.

Although the explanation suggested that the number of techniques he needed to practice and master had increased considerably, none of that would be a problem with the simulator.

Suguru Geto... Li Shunchen silently repeated the name, still marking down the grudge for now.

However, he did not feel the same anger he had when Naoya Zenin killed him in his first simulation.

Because he also understood that Suguru Geto's actions were less directed at him personally than an expression of dissatisfaction with, and a declaration of war against, the existing order.

Li Shunchen likewise felt that this world was deeply twisted. His perspective simply differed from Suguru Geto's, and precisely because of that, he thought more deeply about where the problem truly lay.

But now that he had obtained a Cursed Technique, even if he encountered that situation again, the outcome would be entirely different.

This time, however, Li Shunchen had changed his mind. He no longer intended to join Tokyo Jujutsu High as an Assistant Supervisor. He planned to join as a Jujutsu Sorcerer.

In this world where strength reigned supreme, the blade in one's hand was the only truth.

Li Shunchen tightened his grip on Asagirimaru and slowly approached the room harboring the Cursed Spirit. He also equipped "Low Presence" again in the card slot left empty after consuming "Parting Gift."

Li Shunchen did not look back. He simply gripped the hilt tightly and walked step by step toward that iron door leading to hell.

Under the effects of "Low Presence," his figure began to blur, as though it would melt into the night.