Inside the side hall of the Tombs of the Star Corridor, the atmosphere was so oppressive that even the air felt frozen.
The broadcast's voice—ringing out like a reaper's death knell—had just faded from everyone's minds, but the fear and despair it brought clung to every heart like rot deep in the bone.
Eight rules, every word steeped in blood, every sentence brimming with murderous intent.
Yoru stood before a giant, unfurled map of Japan, his crimson eyes gleaming as sharp as blade edges.
His gaze darted continuously across the ten marked black barriers as his mind raced at inhuman speed.
"You all heard that, right?"
Yoru's voice was calm, but everyone present could sense the terrifying fury suppressed beneath that calm.
"That lunatic Kenjaku didn't just drag ten million ordinary people into this killing game; he used these eight rules to completely cut off any path of retreat for everyone."
Megumi Fushiguro stared intently at the black dot representing Shibuya on the map, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.
"Nineteen days..."
"If players do not declare their participation within nineteen days of awakening their cursed technique, or if they fail to gain any points within nineteen days after entering, their technique will be stripped..."
Megumi grit his teeth, his voice carrying a tremor he couldn't quite conceal.
"Miss Ieiri said before that for modern humans, forcibly altering brain architecture is irreversible. Once their technique is stripped, their brain will instantly collapse, which means—"
"Death."
As soon as those words fell, the temperature inside the side hall seemed to drop to freezing.
Yuji Itadori slammed his fist hard against a nearby pillar, his eyes rimmed with red.
"How despicable!"
"This isn't some game at all—it's a one-sided slaughter! Who gave him the right to decide the lives and deaths of so many people?!"
Suguru Geto walked up beside Yoru. The Special Grade Cursed Spirit behind him let out low growls, exposing the profound agitation swirling in its master's heart.
"It's not as simple as mere slaughter."
Suguru pointed at the ten barriers on the map, his tone bone-chilling.
"Rule 5 explicitly states that sorcerers are worth five points, while non-sorcerers are worth one point. This is an overt encouragement for ancient sorcerers to butcher ordinary people who just awakened and have no way to defend themselves."
"And Rules 6 and 7..."
Suguru narrowed his eyes into dangerous slits.
"A player can spend one hundred points to force the game master to add a new rule. This might seem like giving players a glimmer of hope, but in reality, it's a bottomless trap."
Maki slammed the butt of her spear heavily onto the ground with a cold sneer.
"A trap? Isn't it obvious?"
"Scraping together one hundred points means slaughtering twenty sorcerers, or... one hundred ordinary people!"
"To survive, to change the rules that work against them, those cornered players will eventually degenerate into beasts that know only how to butcher!"
Hearing this, Yuki Tsukumo, who had remained silent all this time, couldn't help but sigh.
"That old monster Kenjaku understands the vulnerabilities of human nature far too well."
"Under the pressure of survival, morals and baselines become entirely worthless. These ten barriers will soon turn into true purgatories."
Yet, right when everyone felt an overwhelming weight and despair, Yoru suddenly let out a soft chuckle.
That laugh was laced with derision and contempt toward Kenjaku.
"The rules are indeed tight, calculating human malice to the utmost degree."
"But that doesn't mean it's invulnerable."
Yoru turned around, sweeping his deep gaze across everyone present, an aura of suffocating power suddenly erupting from his body.
"Did none of you notice that hidden within these eight rules lies a fatal logical loophole?"
Hearing that, everyone froze, their eyes instantly converging on Yoru.
Yoru raised a single finger, pointing at empty air.
"Rules 4 and 5 specify in detail how points are earned. Rule 6 grants players the right to spend points to add rules."
"However..."
The corner of Yoru's mouth curled into a dangerous arc.
"Nowhere in those eight rules, from beginning to end, does it mention 'how to end this game'!"
Hearing this, Suguru's pupils contracted sharply as the realization dawned on him.
"You mean..."
"Exactly."
Yoru nodded, a sharp glint flashing across his eyes.
"Having no end condition means this game was a closed loop from the very start."
"Kenjaku's true goal isn't to let players determine a victor at all. He wants to harness the massive cursed energy generated by players slaughtering each other inside the barriers to complete some undisclosed ritual!"
"More importantly..."
Yoru walked up to the map, rapping his knuckles heavily on the barrier's perimeter.
"Master Tengen said the Culling Game is a colossal cursed technique constructed using barriers across all of Japan."
"Every cursed technique has its core foundation."
"As long as we find the core of this barrier, or locate the key nodes maintaining this colossal cursed technique..."
Yoru clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles letting out a sickening crack.
"We can smash this bullshit game to pieces entirely from within!"
Hearing Yoru's bold and audacious deduction, everyone's eyes lit up.
The haze of despair was instantly shattered by that domineering, peerless confidence!
Indeed, why bother playing along with the rules Kenjaku established?
If the rules don't make sense, just flip the table entirely!
"Not only that."
Yoru turned his head toward Yuta Okkotsu, who was standing nearby.
"We have another reason we must enter the barriers."
"Master Tengen stated that the 'Angel', Hana Kurusu—the only one capable of undoing the Prison Realm's seal—is currently inside a Culling Game barrier as well."
"So, we have no other choice."
Yoru slowly drew Shiranui from his waist.
Under the dim lighting of the side hall, the crimson blade radiated a suffocating, terrifying heat, resembling a fire dragon primed to devour prey at any moment.
"Kenjaku wants to play a killing game spanning a thousand years."
"Then I'll enter the board myself to greet those ancient ghosts crawling out of hell!"
Yoru swung his long blade forcefully, the tip pointing directly at the largest black barrier on the map—Tokyo Colony No. 1 (the remaining Shinjuku/Shibuya zone).
"I've decided. I will personally infiltrate the core combat zone of the Culling Game."
"Find Hana Kurusu, unseal that idiot Satoru."
"And then, lop off Kenjaku's head and kick it around like a ball!"
This over-the-top, domineering declaration instantly ignited the flames of battle in everyone's hearts.
Yuji pumped his fists excitedly, Choso stroked the cursed blood on his wrist with a cold expression, and Maki looked ready to run her spear straight through those ancient sorcerers' throats without waiting another second.
Yet, amidst this wave of surging morale, Yuta Okkotsu took a sudden step forward.
On his mild, handsome face hung a gravity and solemnity unfitting for his age.
"Senior Yoru, I have no objections to you entering the board."
"However..."
Yuta looked up, his gaze locking straight onto Yuji Itadori.
"Before the Culling Game officially begins, there is another very troublesome problem we must resolve."
Yuta's voice was not loud, but it struck like a bucket of cold water, instantly dousing the burning enthusiasm everyone had just stoked.
"The jujutsu higher-ups have already issued me an absolute order."
"They demand that I, immediately and without delay..."
Yuta's hand slowly gripped the hilt of the white-cloth-wrapped blade at his back.
"Execute Yuji Itadori!"
As Yuta Okkotsu's words fell, the air in the side hall froze once more, an indescribable killing intent erupting the moment their eyes met.
Faced with this sudden death threat, Yuji stood frozen in place.
Yoru, on the other hand, merely narrowed his crimson eyes, gazing at Yuta's unfathomable, gentle smile, seemingly seizing upon some mad yet brilliantly exquisite breakthrough within this seemingly insoluble dead end.