Ding! "Detected that Seele has defeated the Disaster Curse Jogo on the host's behalf. Reward: 9,000 points."
Ding! "Detected that Seele has defeated the Disaster Curse Hanami on the host's behalf. Reward: 7,500 points."
Ding! "Detected that Makima has subjugated the three brothers of the Death Painting Wombs: Nine Phases on the host's behalf. Reward: 13,000 points."
After leaving the grounds of Tokyo Jujutsu High, three consecutive system notifications rang out in An Xora's ears.
The attack on the inter-school exchange event had provided An Xora with a total of 29,500 points.
"Jogo, Hanami, and the Death Painting brothers all gave rewards far exceeding the standard 2,500 points for special-grade cursed spirits… Is this because of plot relevance, or simply because they're stronger?"
Walking alongside Seele, An Xora pondered for a moment, concluding that it was probably a mix of both—though the former likely carried more weight.
After all, among the three Death Painting brothers, Kechizu didn't even possess his own innate technique and could only share one with Eso. Purely in terms of strength, he was likely inferior to the special-grade imaginary curse Seele had killed during her special-grade assessment—the one capable of Domain Expansion. Yet Kechizu's reward was still higher.
It seemed that powerful cursed spirits with notable roles in the original story were worth paying closer attention to.
That said… there didn't seem to be many such special-grade curses left for An Xora to "harvest."
Aside from the remaining Disaster Curses—Dagon and Mahito—there were probably only a handful of special-grade curses under Kenjaku's control that had even briefly appeared in the original story.
Before An Xora could think any further, the system's notification sounded again.
Ding! "Detected that the host has accumulated 100,000 points in this world through 'living off others.' The system will now enter a 72-hour non-stop online update. Upon completion, additional functions will be unlocked."
A system update?
Hearing this, An Xora froze for a moment.
So the system could update too? And the prerequisite was accumulating over 100,000 points?
"Seventy-two hours—that's three days. Updates don't affect normal system usage… that's fine."
As for what new functions would be unlocked after the update, An Xora was curious—but not overly excited.
Honestly, in his eyes, the system was already close to perfect. Any new features would just be icing on the cake. Besides, he was a professional freeloader— even if the new functions were incredibly powerful, he might not necessarily use them.
That said, considering it was a freeloading system, maybe the new features would be designed to help him live off others even more efficiently.
"Come to think of it, I waited almost a full month just for this exchange event. In a few days, the discount section of the shop should refresh too. I wonder what'll be available this time."
Glancing at the remaining refresh timer in the system shop's discount section, it showed just over three days—only a few hours later than the system update's completion time.
"Looks like I'll have to wait three more days to find out. In that case, I won't worry about it for now."
"Seele, let's find somewhere to eat lunch."
At this time of day, if he bought groceries and cooked himself, it would probably be afternoon before he finished. So An Xora decided to eat out instead.
"What would Brother An Xora like to eat?"
Walking beside him, Seele nodded obediently and asked.
"Anything's fine. I don't really dislike any particular cuisine."
Chinese, Western, Japanese—anything was fine as long as the ingredients and preparation weren't overly inhuman. Of course, he was most accustomed to Chinese food, but that didn't mean he refused to eat anything else.
"Let's just pick the best restaurant in the nearby city."
When in doubt, go for the expensive option—after all, it wasn't An Xora footing the bill.
"Mhm, I'll go with whatever Brother An Xora wants."
...
That afternoon, as dusk approached.
The afterglow of the setting sun bathed an empty road in warm light. Mahito, who had successfully stolen six of Sukuna's fingers from the Headquarters, arrived at the rendezvous point on schedule—only to find Kenjaku waiting there alone.
"Geto, why is it just you?"
According to the plan, Kenjaku was supposed to observe the situation outside Jujutsu High's barrier and find an opportunity to receive the retreating curses. Seeing only Kenjaku at the meeting point immediately filled Mahito with a sense of foreboding.
Could it be that everyone else—Jogo and Hanami included—had been wiped out?
Kenjaku felt equally helpless.
"After the barrier was lifted, I sensed no activity outside Jujutsu High. Jogo, Hanami, and Choso didn't appear at the agreed time. I had no choice but to come here alone and wait."
Though he put it that way, both Kenjaku and Mahito understood what this meant.
The curses and cursed spirits sent inside the barrier to draw attention had most likely been completely annihilated.
"This was my oversight. I underestimated the current strength of the jujutsu world. Any future plans will have to be reconsidered carefully."
Kenjaku spoke with his eyes closed.
"Are human sorcerers really that strong? Aside from you, who never entered the barrier, not a single one of them managed to escape?"
Even as a cursed spirit, hearing that his long-time companions were likely gone still stirred a faint sense of sorrow in Mahito.
Just as the atmosphere began to grow heavy, both Mahito and Kenjaku suddenly felt the ground beneath them tremble slightly.
Branches burst forth from the earth, and from within their tangled cover, Hanami and Jogo emerged—having dispelled their concealment.
"Oh? Jogo and Hanami—you're not dead after all?"
"We escaped by sheer luck."
Jogo replied in a low voice.
"Then the other three…?"
"They were all captured. We underestimated the strength of the human sorcerers. Even with Gojo Satoru blocked by the barrier, we were no match for that newly promoted special-grade sorcerer girl alone."
"The reason we managed to escape was because someone helped us in secret. That person seems to have a purpose and wants to cooperate with us—and hopes to meet you."
"Us?"
Hearing this, Mahito and Kenjaku exchanged a glance.
"Mahito is the leader chosen by us curses. As for Geto, it's because the other party specifically requested to meet a curse user capable of deploying a barrier to counter Gojo Satoru. The cooperation they're proposing likely has something to do with that."
Jogo explained, with Hanami nodding in agreement beside him.
"I see. Sounds like it might be worth meeting them—at least to find out what they want."
Without questioning Jogo and Hanami's words, Mahito simply stroked his chin for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Kenjaku, however, vaguely sensed that something was off.
Still, the jujutsu world's strength was currently far too overwhelming. Any potential ally—even one with questionable motives—was worth considering. Moreover, Kenjaku was confident in his own power; even if the other party harbored ulterior motives, he didn't believe they could truly threaten him.
Thus, Kenjaku also chose to agree, deciding to go and see what the situation was when the time came.
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