Stepping out of the Principal's office with Satoru Gojo, Shin suddenly felt a massive wave of embarrassment wash over him. It was like waking up from a fever dream. He stole a nervous glance at his teacher and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Gojo had no intention of mocking his emotional outburst.
"By the way, Sensei, who can I ask for help buying materials?" Shin asked. "The things I need are going to be incredibly random. It would take me forever to track them all down on my own."
"Hmm, that is indeed a problem," Gojo mused. "I will have someone from the Gojo clan purchase whatever you need. Just write down a list of the names and quantities. Go back to your dorm and wash up first. I will check on you in a bit."
Shin looked down at his tattered, blood-stained clothes and nodded in deep agreement.
After taking a hot shower and changing into fresh clothes, Shin sat at his desk and began drafting his list. He planned to collect one of everything that naturally existed in the real world. He had to skip precious metals like gold, however. With his current funds, he could not even afford a fraction of a solid cubic meter of gold.
"I will buy a ton of iron first," Shin muttered to himself. "Unlocking Iron Ingots should unlock the entire iron crafting tree. Then I need a sample of every real-world food item. I also need one cubic meter of every type of wood, like Birch and Oak, plus every common stone variant."
Nearly two hours slipped by unnoticed. Gojo had been standing silently behind Shin for quite a while before he finally could not hold back his curiosity.
"Shin, these items are all very common, but the sheer volume is ridiculous. Do you even have enough money to cover this?"
Shin's pen abruptly stopped. He turned around in his chair and flashed Gojo a highly flattering, desperate smile.
"My handsome and beloved Sensei," Shin began smoothly. "Could I possibly borrow some money? I promise I will pay you back the moment I start taking official missions."
Gojo seemed to realize something. A chilling, predatory smile spread across his face. He quickly reached out, snatched the papers from Shin's hands, snapped a photo, and texted it to an unknown number.
He waved his hand with feigned indifference.
"Of course you can borrow the money. In fact, you do not even need to pay me back. Just do me a 'few' favors on some missions once you get a little stronger."
Shin knew instantly that Gojo's definition of a 'few' missions would equate to endless, unpaid labor. But he desperately needed the funds to unlock his basic crafting tree. It was the only way to increase his odds of rolling rare, non-existent items when leveling up.
"Alright, Sensei. I will definitely work hard to complete whatever missions you assign me," Shin agreed, the words grinding out between his clenched teeth.
Highly satisfied with his new pawn, Gojo laughed, patted Shin hard on the back, and strolled out of the room.
Because Shin's requested materials were so bizarre and heavy, it took the Gojo clan nearly a week to deliver everything to the Tokyo Jujutsu High campus. During that week, Shin lived on a brutal schedule. He alternated between being unilaterally beaten up by Gojo and frantically punching solid blocks to unlock his inventory.
The grueling routine finally broke with the arrival of a spiky, sea-urchin-haired boy.
"Hi, hi! Let me introduce you two," Gojo announced cheerfully, leading them both to the training grounds. "This is Megumi Fushiguro, a new first-year student. Megumi, this is Kagura Shin, your fellow classmate. There is also a girl joining us in a few months, making just three first-years for your class."
Gojo clapped his hands together.
"Alright, enough talking. You two are going to have a real fight. Do not hold back. You can only trust a comrade on the battlefield once you truly understand their strength, right?"
Megumi and Shin exchanged a glance and silently agreed with the logic. Shin immediately leaped backward to put distance between them, knowing Megumi was primarily a mid-to-close-range fighter.
"Divine Dogs! Nue!"
Megumi instantly summoned two distinct Shikigami. It was not that he wanted to hold back his numbers, but two was the current maximum limit his Ten Shadows Technique could sustain simultaneously.
Megumi charged at Shin alongside the twin wolves. Above them, the winged Nue dove from the sky, accompanied by the sharp crackle of electricity.
A block of TNT suddenly materialized in Shin's left hand, while a Flint and Steel appeared in his right. With a swift strike of the steel, the TNT block ignited, flashing with a brilliant white light.
"Go! I choose you!" Shin yelled, hurling the explosive.
The TNT sailed through the air toward Megumi. In the two seconds before detonation, Shin frantically built a Granite block "matchbox" around himself, leaving only a single gap for a window.
Nue's electrical dive crashed blindly into the Granite roof, causing the bird to stumble and lose its momentum.
"Boom!"
Megumi had recognized the flying object was dangerous and subconsciously commanded his Divine Dogs to evade. However, he wildly underestimated the area-of-effect radius of the explosion. The massive shockwave blasted him violently into the dirt.
A crater over four meters wide was carved into the Jujutsu High training grounds.
Megumi hit the ground but quickly rolled back onto his feet. In that brief window, Shin had already dismantled his bunker. Shin stood in the open holding a Fishing Rod, which he whipped forward with expert precision.
The hook caught Megumi squarely in the shoulder. A sharp pain flared as Shin yanked the rod backward, violently dragging Megumi through the air directly toward him.
Just as Megumi was pulled into melee range, a solid block of Birch Planks materialized in Shin's free hand. He swung it like a brutal, wooden battering ram.
Shin had specifically chosen Birch Planks for their density and moderate weight. It was heavy enough to cause serious damage without being instantly lethal.
"Crack!"
Even though Megumi rapidly channeled Cursed Energy into his arms to block, the sheer kinetic impact fractured his forearm and sent him skidding backward.
"Poof."
Unable to maintain their forms, Nue and the Divine Dogs dissolved into ink-like shadows and retreated back to Megumi's feet.
"Great Serpent!" Megumi shouted.
A massive, ghostly snake erupted from the ground directly beneath Shin. It launched him twenty meters into the air, its jaws opening wide to snap him in half.
Shin remained calm. An Iron Sword flashed into his hands. Using his downward momentum and the weapon's massive true weight, he drove the blade straight down.
From Gojo and Megumi's perspective, it looked as if the Great Serpent had willingly impaled itself. The enormous snake was cleanly split down the middle and dissolved into shadows.
However, Shin was still in a deadly freefall from twenty meters up, plummeting rapidly toward the hard packed earth.
While subconsciously enveloping his body in Cursed Energy, Shin swapped his sword for a Water Bucket. Just before hitting the ground, he dumped the water directly at his feet.
"MLG Water Bucket Landing!"
The stylish gamer trick worked, completely breaking his fall. However, realistic physics still applied. The violent impact against the sudden displacement of water severely bruised his ribs and sent a wave of muddy water straight up his nose.
"Cough, cough, hack!" Shin sputtered, rolling out of the puddle. Fortunately, it was nothing a little bread could not fix.