Chapter 9

Cursed Spirit?

It seems to be a setting I haven't heard of before. Have I recently come across any information related to this?

Gu Mo thought seriously for a moment but still couldn't come up with much. He hadn't been following many anime or dramas lately, and the games he had been playing recently were mainly about love and peace, with themes of humanitarianism, such as "Stellaris" and "Crusader Kings"...

In short, he hadn't been exposed to this kind of information recently, so it was hard to understand why such a setting would suddenly come up.

As he was thinking, Fushigi, who was running ahead, had already swiftly entered the school building. He kept a bit of his attention on the suspicious person behind him, not letting his guard down, while at the same time following the curse energy to quickly lock onto the location with the strongest negative fluctuations and the most intense curse aura.

Indeed, as the core of the curse vortex, it must be the location of the Special-Class Cursed Object!

However, just as Fushigi was about to rush up the stairs, he noticed the person behind him suspiciously slowing down and not entering the school.

This made him tense up, and without hesitation, he stopped and turned around, shouting, "What are you doing?! Come on!"

"..."

"..."

"Alright, alright..."

Gu Mo shook his head, withdrew his gaze from that direction, and didn't say anything more. He followed the young man in front of him.

He had actually been lost in thought and looking around, and his gaze happened to sweep over that area. Although it was dark and he couldn't see anything clearly, a bright sign appeared in his field of vision—

"???(100%)"

Gu Mo couldn't be sure if it was something he had imagined, but he instinctively wanted to see more clearly. However, he had only just slowed down a bit when he was immediately noticed by the young man in front, who promptly stopped him.

Well, it probably wasn't the right time for that—

After all, what could he do even if he saw it clearly? It would just disgust himself. With this thought, Gu Mo decisively dismissed his curiosity and retracted his gaze. He hesitated for a moment but still followed the young man into the building.

He hesitated because he remembered that he had just decided to be a normal person. Was it really appropriate to suddenly break into the school at night?

If he were discovered, he would probably be unable to explain himself.

After a brief moment of hesitation and seriously thinking about the disgusting monsters he had imagined, Gu Mo made his decision... It was too disgusting. Staying to face those things would be even more unbearable.

...

"This person... is problematic."

At the same time, on a high slope outside the school, a figure stood atop a tree, hidden by the night, observing the situation inside and outside the campus—his height was at least 1.9 meters, with a striking white hair and a black eye patch even in the night.

After a brief observation, he raised an eyebrow, as he had just made eye contact with the passerby following his student from a distance.

Indeed, from such a distance, the other person had cast a gaze at him, a calm and indifferent look that unmistakably locked onto his position... It was definitely not by chance but a clear recognition of his presence.

"Huh, interesting, even I was fooled..."

The man showed a look of interest. What kind of creature was this, so leisurely playing the game of pretending to be weak? His student, though promising and with great potential, was not yet capable of handling things alone. Why would such a creature be interested?

Well, it must be after the Special-Class Cursed Object, then?

He made this reasonable assumption while frowning. He had thought this mission would be simple, and his student could handle it on his own, allowing him to sneak in some free time to buy a late-night snack.

But now it seemed he couldn't do that.

It wasn't that the man was wrong—his strength was beyond question, and with his innate six eyes, he could see through the other's techniques, directly track or predict the trajectory of curse energy, and easily determine if the target was a curse user.

However, he had rarely been wrong before...

No matter how he looked at it, the other person was just an ordinary passerby, with no trace of curse energy, a completely ordinary human... Even he had thought so just now.

But this "ordinary person" had seen him from a distance, while he hadn't noticed the other.

In other words, the other had seen him, but he hadn't seen the other... Regardless of any carelessness, it at least indicated that the other was not as simple as he appeared, but a mysterious and powerful being.

Even whether they were human was questionable.

...

On the other side.

Gu Mo didn't realize that just because he had seen a health bar from a distance, he had suddenly become a subject of suspicion, even being stripped of his human status. If he knew, he would think it was absurd—no one would casually strip someone of their human status.

His attention was now completely focused on the dangerous scene before him. The young man named Fushigi led him straight to... well, which floor? The third or fourth?

He wasn't sure, as he hadn't counted while rushing up.

Anyway, that wasn't important. What was important was that Fushigi had accurately found the scene of the incident.

A terrifying curse erupted, and the curse vortex almost engulfed the entire school building. The center was on this floor, where the Special-Class Cursed Object, "Two-Faced Sukuna's Finger," had been unsealed. It was like the fresh scent of blood in the sea, attracting sharks from the surrounding waters.

"Damn!... Did I arrive too late?"

Fushigi clenched his fists tightly, staring at what was happening ahead.

In the dimly lit corridor, dense masses of flesh writhed, disgusting tentacles waved and squeezed, forming multiple deformed monsters... or should he say, cursed spirits?

In short, multiple different monsters were crowded on this section of the corridor, their bloated and disgusting bodies entangled together, with various severed limbs on the ground—

The scene was exceptionally bloody, with flesh and blood flying everywhere. It seemed the monsters had already fought each other, causing severe injuries, resulting in this stalemate.

At the center of the writhing mass, a girl's figure could be vaguely seen. She seemed to have lost consciousness, either from injury or from the shock.

Amid the writhing masses, grayish hands and slimy tentacles intertwined, pulling the girl into the mass, gradually swallowing her.

"This..."

Gu Mo's eyes twitched wildly. Although he didn't want to admit it, this scene was strangely familiar... Was this something he could freely watch? Could it be that the information and setting he remembered were actually this?

What a joke!

He had always been a good person, never watching such things!

"Damn! They're trying to swallow the person and the cursed object!"

Fushigi clenched his fists, anxious but indecisive. His experience was still too shallow to make a decisive and ruthless decision in such a situation.

He was hesitant to act, fearing he might harm the unconscious girl, but his reason told him that if he did nothing, he would not only fail to save the innocent passerby but also watch the Special-Class Cursed Object be swallowed, gaining immense curse power and becoming even more dangerous.

— "Bang!!"

Fortunately, this dilemma didn't last long. A window on the side of the corridor suddenly shattered, and a robust figure burst in, seemingly having climbed up to this floor.

"Yuuji?!" Fushigi was surprised. He had told the other to wait outside, so why was he rushing in now?

But the effect was quite good. Even he hadn't expected this, and the cursed spirits, who had considered him the main threat, were even more unprepared.

In the sudden and unexpected situation—

The hero's sudden and fearless entry—

Rushing into the crowd of monsters—

This figure, not using any curse techniques, relied on brute strength, punching and kicking, forcibly tearing apart the entangled monsters or pushing them back, then seizing the opportunity to grab the girl's arm and barely escape before the monsters could react!

The entire process was extremely dangerous and thrilling, and any mistake could have cost another life...

Fushigi held his breath, only exhaling in relief when he saw the boy safely rescue the girl and get her out of danger.

At the same time, he couldn't help but glance at the other person—

That person had a completely absent-minded look, standing beside him, completely ignoring the chaotic scene around him, his eyes staring at the broken window, as if in a daze...

Fushigi clenched his fists, knowing that this person couldn't possibly be an ordinary person!

Ordinary people would be terrified, pale, and ready to run away. This absent-minded, indifferent, and even uninterested in the thrilling scene was simply unbelievable!

Gu Mo didn't realize he was being criticized by Fushigi, and the other's doubts and anxiety about him were growing.

He just rested his chin on his hand, tilted his head, and stared at the broken window, deep in thought.

— "It must... be fake, right?"

— "The window must not have broken, right? It must be like that!"

Indeed, in this tense and dangerous moment, his mind was filled with such absurd and irrelevant thoughts, focusing on the broken window.

After all, he had just thought about not making too much noise, and this was hard for him to accept.

Arcs of light flashed through the air, leaving brief afterimages on the retina, accompanied by the sound of tearing. The cursed spirits in the corridor were torn apart without any resistance!

Two black and white spirit dogs pounced, tearing them apart and swallowing them whole.

Blood and flesh flew everywhere, but fortunately, as spiritual entities, their physical characteristics were just simulated effects. As the curse power dissipated, the fragments and limbs quickly lost their properties and vanished into the air.

"Although I want to ask why you came, you did well..."

Fushigi, who had just used a curse technique to command the cursed spirits and seize the opportunity to defeat the curse, quickly approached the high school boy named Yuuji, his tone urgent, while still keeping an eye on Gu Mo behind him.

"Now! Check the cursed object!"

"The cursed object... this one?" The boy, who had just checked the condition of the unconscious girl and slightly relaxed, quickly found a strange object in her hand.

It was a withered finger, which at first glance looked like a human finger, but upon closer inspection, it had subtle differences, with overly sharp nails and slightly bizarre lines, giving a creepy and eerie feeling...

"That's right, it's Two-Faced Sukuna's Finger. Give it to me quickly! This thing is dangerous." Fushigi nodded, extending his hand to Yuuji.

"What's the use of this thing?" The boy examined the cursed object in his hand. Were the spirits just now after this?

"Don't ask so many questions, give it to me quickly!" Fushigi took a few steps forward, his tone urgent. This wasn't the time for explanations!

Two-Faced Sukuna?

Gu Mo's heart skipped a beat. In a game he had played recently, set in a demon-infested Warring States era, where he controlled a beautiful lady to slay various bandits and demons, there seemed to be this element.

Could it be because of this kind of content?

"Can I take a look? I'm a bit curious."

As he thought, Gu Mo spoke lightly, taking a step forward with a curious expression. However, Fushigi, who had been cautious of him, immediately turned around, warning him—

"Don't come any closer! Stay back!"

He knew it, this person was definitely up to no good, targeting the Special-Class Cursed Object!!

"?!"

Gu Mo was taken aback, stopping in his tracks, a question mark floating above his head.