The door opened, and a boy shorter than one point seven meters walked in. He wore a white coat, and from his face to his build he seemed weak and easy to bully. Even his self-introduction sounded timid.

  Yet this timid boy made Maki Zenin jolt awake. She grabbed a weapon and slammed it into the blackboard beside him, less than a centimeter from his neck.

  At the same time, Panda raised his fist, and Inumaki pulled down the collar covering his mouth. They each stood on one side of Maki Zenin.

  Only then did the boy manage to finish the first sentence of his introduction. “I am Yuta Okkotsu. Please take care of me.”

  Facing something like this right away would overwhelm anyone. For the already timid Yuta Okkotsu, his legs shook and he almost collapsed onto the floor.

  The fiercest of them, Maki Zenin, glared at Satoru Gojo first, then spoke directly. “Hey, you are cursed, right? This is a place to study curses. What is a cursed guy doing here?”

  “Maybe Okkotsu himself does not know why he is here,” Akira said calmly as he opened his eyes. He gently helped Gardevoir tidy her clothes and hair, and among the whole classroom only the Ake Clan family had not moved.

  “That is because Gojo-sensei is lazy,” he continued. “So lazy that he cannot even be bothered to explain.”

  “Bingo. As expected of my assistant, Makoto, you really get me,” Satoru Gojo said, his thick skin matching his strength. “Then I will leave the explanation to you. Keep it short.”

  “Got it.” Akira stretched lazily and explained amid the usual looks of contempt aimed at the broomhead. “Do you know that in Japan, the number of abnormal deaths and disappearances exceeds ten thousand each year? Only a small part are accidents. Most are caused by negative emotions overflowing from the body as curses, and some are even malicious incidents caused by Curse User. Only curses can defeat curses. This is the place where we study curses to exorcise them, the Tokyo Metropolis Jujutsu High School.”

  Yuta Okkotsu was still shaken and could not speak, but his expression said everything. He clearly wanted to shout that this should have been explained earlier.

  “And also, you should step back right now. Maki Zenin, put on your glasses. The Cursed Spirit attached to Okkotsu is not ordinary.”

  The moment Akira finished speaking, a furious roar rang out. “Do not bully Yuta!”

  In an instant, a pressure like a pitch-black swamp covered the entire room. At the center of the swamp was a pair of pale giant hands, which casually grabbed the blade stuck in the blackboard and twisted it into scrap.

  At the same time, Akira heard a familiar prompt. “Detected Pokémon meme.”

  Maki Zenin knew a Cursed Spirit had made a move and pulled back at once, putting on the glasses as Akira had told her. After a long period of harsh training, she could sense the presence of a Cursed Spirit within a certain range even without glasses, but only its rough direction. Details like shape and size were still out of reach, so she needed the help of Cursed Tool Glasses.

  Then she saw it. A huge presence stood behind Yuta Okkotsu, almost filling the entire blackboard. It had humanlike hands, a chest caved in as if struck hard with ribs clearly visible, and its upper face was blocked like Satoru Gojo’s, except his was a blindfold while this one was a mass of flesh.

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  The lower half of its face was a gaping mouth full of sharp fangs, like a demon. Even without fully manifesting, its sense of existence, pressure, and scale of curse far exceeded anything Maki Zenin had ever seen, including the giant caterpillar that had nearly killed her when she first met Akira. No explanation was needed, because instinct alone gave the answer. Special Grade.

  After crushing the blade, the Cursed Spirit was not satisfied and reached forward with its other hand toward the culprit who had “bullied” Yuta Okkotsu. Its fingers tore through the air, warping it unnaturally, and the podium, desks, and chairs in their path shattered into pieces. Seeing this, Maki Zenin finally understood how Yuta Okkotsu had stuffed four boys into a storage locker that normally felt cramped with just two people, and still left them badly injured rather than dead.

  The Special Grade Cursed Spirit attached to him had surpassed ordinary attacks and reached a level where a basic strike was like a Domain Expansion fueled by Jujutsu. For someone like Maki Zenin who relied purely on close combat, this was the worst possible matchup. At the critical moment, Akira stepped in.

  He had been watching all along and now grabbed a desk, pouring it full of Cursed Energy as he charged straight at the giant hand. With a loud crash, the desk broke apart as expected, but the combined burst of Cursed Energy and physical strength brought the Special Grade Cursed Spirit’s attack to a halt. The impact forced Akira backward until his body hit something soft.

  He turned his head and saw Maki Zenin looking away as she said, “Thanks.” “No need,” Akira replied with a crooked smile, thinking to himself that maybe good deeds really did pay off.

  After the failed strike, the opposing Special Grade Cursed Spirit revealed more of its body. One hand sheltered Yuta Okkotsu, while the fingers of the other moved with rhythm as it asked in an innocent yet chilling voice, “Do you want to play with Rika Orimoto?” “Wait, Rika Orimoto, you cannot come out!” Yuta Okkotsu finally reacted and tried to stop the destruction.

  Akira waved his hand instead. “Stretching a bit after waking up is fine. Let her play for a while.” He had destroyed hundreds of Cursed Spirit in his life, but he had never truly fought a top level powerhouse, so he let things unfold to test his limits.

  Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit RikaRika Orimoto was the perfect opponent. With Satoru Gojo present and Shoko Ieiri also inside Tokyo Jujutsu High, there was no real risk. He glanced at the white haired broom head, saw no objection, and relaxed.

  He punched through the outer wall of the classroom, opening a hole. “There is not enough space inside. Let us go outside to play. Gardevoir, Psychic Power.” “Sha~” Gardevoir floated up as psychic power surged out, carrying Akira, Yuta Okkotsu, and even Orimoto Rika Orimoto flying outside.

  Yuta Okkotsu had never experienced anything like this and fell back into a dazed, timid state. Orimoto Rika Orimoto was instead in high spirits, clapping her hands and cheering, “We are flying. This is so fun.” Gardevoir frowned at the sight.

  This was the first time she had seen a being that could fully endure her Psychic Power and still move normally. In the past, when she used Cursed Energy, enemies were forced under control and heavily affected even if they could move. Satoru Gojo did not count, since her Psychic Power could not even land on him and was deflected outright.

  Akira gently patted her head and explained, “That is the ceiling among Cursed Spirit. She is not easy to deal with. You do not need to hold back this time.” “Sha, sha.” Her doubt turned into resolve.

  She canceled her usual Psychic Power and replaced it with a new move mastered at level 42. Skill, Psychic Force. It was an upgraded version of Psychic Power, doubling its power, range, and precision, resulting in an explosive leap overall.

  Even though there was one more Pokémon now, and even though she went out less after entering Tokyo Jujutsu High, Gardevoir’s experience gain had not slowed down and had even increased. The reason lay in the newly obtained Pokémon trainer template, Green. Known as the trainer of trainers, the effect of System was simple and direct, increased experience gain.

  Just before the skill was released, Akira spoke up. “Okkotsu, move farther away. Do not get caught in it.” “Ah, okay. Be careful, Rika Orimoto is really strong,” Yuta Okkotsu said kindly as he retreated.

  “I know.” Facing Orimoto Rika Orimoto, one mistake would spell disaster for both him and Gardevoir. Akira steadied his breathing, opened the backpack he carried, and drew an ancient sword chosen from the Cursed Tool Vault.