Kamihara Hajime stumbled into a wide-open hall—the kind the orphanage once used for events. But this wasn't where the hall should've been. Whatever domain he was trapped in had twisted the layout of the orphanage, warping reality around him.
He quickly scanned the room for exits, alert to any strange movement. Before long, he heard the sound—wet, crawling, scraping.
The large door creaked open.
A swarm of grotesque things poured in. They were the same malformed spirits from earlier—curses with childlike features, as if made from twisted memories. But now, there were more of them. Dozens. Maybe hundreds.
They hissed and wailed in incomprehensible voices, their jagged limbs pulling them forward across the floor at unnatural speeds. Hajime's scalp tingled, and his hands clenched reflexively.
He could amplify his body with the Energy, sure—but he was still a child. His stamina was limited, and there were too many of them.
"I'll clear out as many as I can first. There's no exit anyway... If I get too tired, I'll have to hide."
He dived in, fists wreathed in pale blue energy. Blow after blow crushed the weak curses, their forms dissipating with each strike. After downing more than a dozen, Hajime retreated strategically, weaving past their writhing bodies like a phantom.
By the time the remaining curses recovered and turned toward him, he was already gone. Left confused and directionless, the horde resumed their meaningless wandering.
---
Crunch.
Hajime froze mid-step. He thought he heard something. He paused—listened. Silence.
Then, a deep rumble shook the air. A sound like stone collapsing under tremendous weight.
"…That was close."
His brow furrowed. "Should I check it out?"
It was risky. But with no idea how to escape, he had to take chances. Besides, he could always run.
He moved toward the source—carefully.
What he saw next made his stomach twist.
A colossal curse crawled across the distorted landscape. Its bloated, infant-like body was three stories tall. Empty black pits for eyes. A mouth sewn shut with thick, blood-colored thread—and yet, it whimpered as it moved.
It was approaching a small building. A figure inside thrashed in panic.
Someone's in there.
Hajime's eyes narrowed.
The curse tore through the building like paper. Debris flew, and from within its hand emerged a terrified woman.
She screamed as the curse slowly raised her toward a gaping, vertical mouth embedded in its stomach.
"Haruna?!"
He recognized her. Her name was Haruna, a kind woman who worked at the orphanage. She had always been warm, fair, and deeply loved by the children.
"Damn it! Put her down!"
He grabbed a stone and hurled it with all his might. It struck the curse's side but did nothing.
Helpless, he watched as Haruna disappeared into the monster's maw.
Rage surged through him like wildfire.
He clenched his fists. If only he were stronger. If only he could do more than punch. No matter how fast he was, what could fists do against something so massive?
But as his emotions spiraled—grief, guilt, fury—something shifted inside him.
His Energy surged violently, as if responding to his heart. And then… an idea struck him.
Until now, he'd only used it to reinforce his body. Projecting it—actually attacking with it—had always felt out of reach.
But maybe, just maybe…
He planted his feet, focused his mind. The massive curse was now focused on him, lumbering forward, each step shaking the ground.
He gritted his teeth and raised his right hand. Using his left, he steadied it at the wrist.
The energy inside him churned.
"Die!"
With a furious cry, Hajime released it.
A blinding blue beam of cursed energy tore through the air.
It struck the curse mid-body.
The giant froze—then shattered. More than half of its body was obliterated in an instant. Even the building behind it was pierced cleanly, like something had tunneled through both at the speed of light.
From the destroyed curse fell a limp figure—Haruna. She looked intact, though unconscious. Her condition was uncertain.
Hajime staggered, knees almost buckling. His right arm throbbed with pain. But the surge of Energy inside him hadn't faded—in fact, it was regenerating unnaturally fast.
He looked up.
The curse was still moving—barely. Missing limbs, writhing weakly. But alive.
Hajime began walking toward it.
His heart pounded. His rage hadn't cooled—it had become focused. Controlled. He could feel his emotions like fire—but from the outside, observing them with a strange, lucid calm.
Like a conductor watching a storm of music from above.
He clenched his right fist, Energy coiling around it like a flame. It blazed so intensely, the blue shifted to black.
The curse was already crumbling, but he wasn't done. He didn't just want to defeat it. He wanted to destroy it—erase the hatred that gave it form.
As he walked, time seemed to slow again. He could feel every strand of energy running through his arm, every muscle fiber syncing perfectly with the cursed flow.
It's like breathing…
For the first time, his body and his Energy were in complete harmony.
He raised his fist—small, but burning with terrifying power—and brought it down.
When it struck the curse's head, the black flame annihilated everything it touched. The ground beneath it cracked and caved, and the monster disintegrated into dust.
Silence.
As the energy faded, Hajime collapsed to the ground. His right arm throbbed like fire, and he gritted his teeth through the pain.
Then—footsteps.
"Tap. Tap."
He looked up, exhausted but alert.
A figure emerged from the darkness—a tall woman with long pale blue hair tied in a ponytail. Her black Jujutsu Tech uniform hugged her graceful frame. Her presence was calm, yet commanding.
She's not a curse.
He exhaled in relief.
Something about her seemed familiar.
She approached slowly, her expression mixed with confusion and disbelief.
"You can call me Mei Mei," she said softly. Her voice was smooth, confident—like she was both impressed and curious.
She looked at the bruised, wary boy before her and asked, "Why are you here, little one? Did you see anyone else?"
---