Alex threw the manga so hard it hit the wall and dropped flat to the floor.
He was still staring at it like it had personally offended him.
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
He pointed at it even though nobody was there.
"You build up Gojo like that, make him that guy, then kill him like that? Like that? Nah. That's rubbish."
He paced around his room with one hand in his hair and the other still twitching with annoyance.
"And don't get me wrong, Sukuna is my guy. That's my favorite character. But that ending? Trash. Pure trash. If Gojo was going to lose, fine. But die like that? Just like that? After all that? Come on."
He kicked the manga lightly with his foot.
"You people just enjoy pain. Gege, you enjoy pain."
He bent down, picked it up, looked at the page again, and got angry all over.
"No. No, no, no. This is stupid. This is so stupid."
He dropped it again.
"For this alone, I curse you. Properly."
A few minutes later, his anger cooled down just enough for hunger to take over.
He grabbed his phone, checked the time, shoved it into his pocket, and muttered, "I need food before I start insulting fictional people again."
On the way outside he was still grumbling.
"Gojo should've won."
Then after a few steps, "Or at least survived."
Then after crossing the road halfway, "Actually Sukuna should still win, but not like that."
Then a horn blasted.
Alex turned.
Everything happened too fast.
A scream.
A flash of headlights.
Pain.
Then nothing.
The next thing he knew, he was floating.
He blinked.
Then blinked again.
There was no ground under him. No pain either. No blood. No truck. No street. Just white. Endless white.
Alex looked at his hands.
Still there.
He touched his chest.
No injury.
He looked around slowly.
"Okay," he said. "This is either heaven, hell, or I finally lost it."
A voice answered him.
"Not quite."
Alex spun around.
Someone was sitting in the middle of that white space like they had always been there.
Not old. Not young. Not man. Not woman. Just... there.
The figure wore a soft smile that made Alex suspicious immediately.
"You died," the figure said.
Alex stared for a few seconds, then let out a slow breath.
"Truck-kun?"
"Yes."
He closed his eyes.
"Of course."
"You seem calm."
"I watched too much anime. This is basically culture at this point."
The figure chuckled.
Alex folded his arms.
"So what now? Judgment? Reincarnation? I become a worm? A tree? One of those unlucky background civilians in a cursed spirit attack?"
The figure leaned forward a little.
"You may make a wish."
Alex froze.
Then he straightened.
Then he pointed at himself.
"One wish?"
"Yes."
"As in proper wish?"
"Yes."
"No trick wording?"
"No trick wording."
Alex looked up like he was consulting the ancestors.
"Alright," he said. "Don't speak. Let me think."
He started pacing in the empty space.
"If I mess this up, I'll hate myself forever."
He stopped.
Then started muttering.
"Dragon Ball? Too messy. Naruto? Dangerous childhood. Bleach? Soul stuff is too confusing. JJK..."
He paused.
Then smiled slowly.
"Actually…"
The figure watched him quietly.
Alex turned fully.
"I want to be reincarnated in the Jujutsu Kaisen world."
The figure nodded once.
"Continue."
"In the Heian Era."
Another nod.
"As Sukuna's older brother. Five years older."
The figure's smile widened a little.
"You aim very high."
"Obviously."
He walked closer.
"And I want a gamer system. Not some weak one. I want it based on the Naruto world."
"Specific."
"Yes. Very."
"Anything else?"
Alex didn't even wait.
"I want pure Uzumaki bloodline. Pure Uchiha bloodline too. Full potential. I want the ability to awaken the Rinnegan later."
The figure raised a brow.
"You are quite greedy."
"I got hit by a truck. Let me cook."
The figure laughed softly.
Alex kept going.
"I want the One-Tail too. Full jinchuriki package from birth."
"The beast called Shukaku."
"Yes."
"Anything more?"
"Yes," Alex said immediately. "I want the whole thing to start as soon as I'm born. No delayed nonsense. No sealed memories until fifteen. No surprise system unlocking after suffering for twenty years. From birth."
The figure looked at him for a long moment.
"You have thought about this before."
"Every anime fan has."
The figure stood.
The white around them rippled a little.
"Your wish is possible."
Alex grinned.
Then the figure added, "But power always comes with weight."
Alex shrugged. "That's fine."
"You say that now."
"I mean it."
The figure studied him.
"You want to be the brother of a monster."
Alex's grin faded.
He shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Sukuna is still my favorite character."
"Even knowing what he becomes?"
Alex was quiet for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Alex let out a small breath.
"Because he's honest. Twisted, evil, terrible, sure. But honest. He never pretends. Never hides behind fake righteousness. If he's a monster, he owns it."
"And you wish to stand beside that?"
Alex thought about it.
Then said, "Maybe."
The figure tilted its head.
"Maybe?"
"I said older brother, not servant."
That got another smile.
"So what will you do if the boy becomes exactly what history says he becomes?"
Alex looked down for a second, then back up.
"I don't know."
"Not the answer of a prepared man."
"It's the real answer."
The figure said nothing.
Alex rubbed the back of his neck.
"I'm not going there to kill him before he grows. I'm not going there pretending I'll suddenly become some saint. I like him too much for that. But if I get a chance to change things, I'll take it."
"And if he refuses to change?"
Alex's expression hardened a little.
"Then I'll deal with it when I get there."
The figure watched him carefully.
"You would fight him?"
"If it comes to that."
"You would save him?"
Alex looked away and laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
"If I can."
There was a pause.
Then the figure said, "Good."
Alex frowned. "Good?"
"You did not answer like a fool."
He blinked.
"I was supposed to answer what? 'I'll fix everything with friendship'?"
"Yes. Many do."
Alex snorted. "That would get me killed in one chapter."
The figure took one step forward.
"Then hear me clearly. You will keep your memories. You will gain the bloodlines you asked for. You will carry the beast you asked for. You will receive your system from birth. But the world you enter will not bend because you were a reader once."
Alex's face turned serious.
"Meaning?"
"Pain will still be pain. Death will still be death. Love will not save everyone. Strength will not answer every question."
The words stayed between them.
Alex swallowed once, then nodded.
"I understand."
"No," the figure said. "You do not. But you will."
That hit harder than he expected.
For the first time since arriving there, Alex felt the weight of what he had asked for.
Not a game.
Not fantasy from a screen.
A real life.
A real world.
A real younger brother who would one day be feared by the age itself.
Still, he lifted his chin.
"I'm not changing my wish."
"I know."
The figure raised a hand.
Words appeared in the air.
A pale screen.
A system window.
Alex's eyes widened.
[Wish Confirmed]
[World: Jujutsu Kaisen]
[Era: Heian]
[Role: Elder Brother of Ryomen Sukuna]
[Age Difference: 5 Years]
[System: Shinobi Gamer System]
[Starting Gift Pack:] [Pure Uzumaki Bloodline] [Pure Uchiha Bloodline] [Potential Pathway: Rinnegan] [Jinchuriki: One-Tail Shukaku] [Activation Time: Birth]
Alex stared at it like a man staring at heaven.
Then he looked at the figure.
"This is beautiful."
The figure almost looked amused. "You truly are simple."
"I just got everything I wanted."
"Not everything."
Alex narrowed his eyes. "What did I miss?"
The figure stepped closer until they were face to face.
"I did not promise you peace."
Before Alex could answer, the white space started shaking.
The screen broke apart into countless glowing fragments.
The voice came one last time.
"Live well, Ryomen."
Alex opened his mouth.
"Wait, Ryomen?"
Then he fell.
The white vanished.
Sound came first.
A woman crying out.
Voices speaking over each other.
Hands moving.
A heavy pulse in the air.
Then pain.
Not sharp pain.
New pain.
Birth pain.
Alex tried to breathe and got hit by the smallest, weakest breath of his life.
Then he realized.
He couldn't move properly.
He couldn't speak.
He couldn't even open his eyes all the way.
For one terrible second, panic hit him.
Then instinct crashed into it.
Then a scream left his mouth.
Not words.
A baby's cry.
Alex wanted to curse.
Instead he cried louder.
Somebody laughed softly.
"He's strong."
Another voice answered, older and tired. "Of course he is."
Alex forced his eyes open.
Blurred shapes.
Faces he couldn't understand yet.
Bodies moving.
Then a screen appeared in front of him.
Clean. Blue. Real.
[Welcome, Host]
[Name: Ryomen]
[Age: 0]
[Status: Newborn]
[Bloodline Installed: Uzumaki]
[Bloodline Installed: Uchiha]
[Special Entity Sealed: Shukaku]
[System Sync: Complete]
Alex—no, Ryomen now—stared at the floating screen with the full shock of someone who had no business seeing game text right after being born.
Then another voice echoed in his head.
Rough. Proud. Sleepy. Ancient.
"Well now," it said. "This is annoying."
Ryomen nearly stopped crying out of pure disbelief.
The voice continued.
"So you're the brat I got shoved into?"
Inside his tiny newborn body, Ryomen screamed.
Shukaku.
The beast gave a low laugh inside his mind.
"Try not to die too early, kid."
Ryomen would have said ten different things if his mouth worked.
Instead he sneezed.
Someone holding him chuckled.
"Look at him."
Another voice came from nearby.
"What will his name be?"
There was a pause.
Then the tired woman spoke, weak but certain.
"Ryomen."
The name settled over him.
Not Alex.
Not yet.
Ryomen.
He swallowed inside his tiny body and looked at the screen again.
Then a final line appeared.
[Main Quest Updated]
[Live]
That was it.
Just one word.
No explanation.
No comfort.
No map.
Ryomen stared at it, then almost laughed if he had the lungs for it.
Of course.
That was how it would be.
No easy path.
No cheat that would solve everything by itself.
Just life.
A strange warmth touched his chest.
Not from the hands holding him.
Not from the room.
From somewhere deeper.
A bond not yet formed, but waiting.
Five years from now, another child would be born.
A child history would remember as a calamity.
A child the world would call a monster.
Ryomen closed his eyes slowly.
"Then come," he thought.
And somewhere in the dark part of his soul, Shukaku laughed again.