CHAPTER 1: THE KING AWAKENS
The King of Curses died.
Not in a glorious battle against Gojo Satoru. Not at the hands of Itadori Yuji, the boy who had become his cage.
He was betrayed.
Stabbed in the dark by those closest to him. The very kings of curses he called his allies.
"The game isn't over yet... Here you are, in a new world. Play your role again, O King."
That was the last thing he heard before darkness swallowed him whole.
Then... light.
He opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was the ceiling. Wooden. Old. Cracked.
The second thing he noticed was his hands.
Small.
Too small.
He sat up quickly, his heart—no, Eren's heart—pounding in his chest. He looked at his palms. Ten fingers. Twenty fingers in total across both hands.
His fingers.
Ryomen Sukuna's fingers.
But the body... this was not Itadori's body. This was smaller. Weaker. Younger.
A child's body.
"What... is this?"
His voice was different. Higher. Younger. But the tone—the cold, arrogant tone—was still his.
He looked around the room. A small, poor bedroom. Old furniture. A single window showing a grey sky.
On the wall hung a photograph. A family. A man, a woman, and a small boy with brown hair and green eyes.
Eren Yeager.
Sukuna stared at the photo. Then he laughed.
A low, quiet laugh that grew louder and louder.
"Ha... hahahaha... HAHAHAHA!"
He understood now.
He was not in his world anymore. He was not in Itadori's body.
He was in the body of a child named Eren Yeager.
And this child... this child had a story already written.
Suddenly, a memory that was not his flooded his mind.
A wall. A massive, impossible wall.
Titans. Giant humanoid creatures that ate humans for no reason.
A mother being eaten alive.
And a boy screaming in rage, swearing to kill every last Titan.
Sukuna felt none of that rage. None of that pain. None of that grief.
He felt only curiosity.
"So this is your world, little Eren?" he whispered to the boy who no longer existed inside him.
"Let me see it."
He stood up on shaky legs. The body was weak. Pathetic. But his cursed energy still pulsed deep inside him. And his twenty fingers—the source of his power—were still here.
He walked to the window and looked outside.
His eyes widened.
Then he smiled.
A wall. A wall so tall it touched the clouds. Surrounding an entire city. Humans walked below like ants in a cage.
Beyond the wall... who knows what waited.
"So this is 'Paradise,'" Sukuna said.
"This world... is going to be fun."
There was a knock on the door.
"Eren? Are you awake? Breakfast is ready."
A woman's voice. Soft. Warm.
His mother. Eren's mother.
Sukuna did not answer. He just kept smiling at the wall.
"The game isn't over yet," he repeated to himself.
"Play your role again, O King."
He turned away from the window and walked toward the door.
The King of Curses was ready to play.
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END OF CHAPTER 1