Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture
The Kinema Cinema had been completely sealed off.
Yellow police tape stretched across the entrance.
Crowds gathered outside the barrier, whispering nervously while pointing toward the building.
Several police cars flashed red and blue lights.
But the person truly in charge of the scene was not a police officer.
Instead—
A man in a black suit stood near the entrance, sweating nervously.
Kiyotaka Ijichi.
A black sedan stopped beside the barricade.
The door opened.
Yagami Sora stepped out calmly.
His gaze swept across the scene before landing on Ijichi.
"How bad is it?"
Ijichi pushed up his glasses, his face pale.
"Terrible."
"Three high school students inside the theater died on the spot."
"Their heads were grotesquely deformed."
He swallowed.
"It's as if something twisted their bodies from the inside… like clay being kneaded."
"The cause of death has been confirmed as a cursed spirit attack."
"Based on the cursed-energy residue…"
Ijichi hesitated.
"…the perpetrator was likely a Special Grade cursed spirit."
"Special Grade?"
Sora raised an eyebrow.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Are Special Grade curses growing on trees lately?"
He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked directly past the police tape.
The officers nearby didn't even try to stop him.
The moment he entered the cinema—
The smell hit him.
Blood.
Rot.
And beneath it all—
A thick, twisted aura of cursed energy.
Sora stepped into the screening room.
The once orderly cinema now resembled a nightmare.
Three corpses were scattered across the seats.
Their bodies were twisted into impossible shapes.
Bones bent in directions human anatomy should never allow.
It was as if their bodies had been molded like soft clay.
Sora studied them quietly.
"…The soul was altered."
He murmured under his breath.
Only one cursed spirit used techniques like this.
A stitched-faced curse that enjoyed playing with human souls.
Mahito.
Sora raised his hand.
His fingers brushed a faint strand of lingering cursed energy in the air.
"Vector Manipulation — Analysis."
Instantly, streams of information flooded into his mind.
The cursed energy hadn't completely dissipated.
Instead—
It trailed outward.
Leading somewhere beyond the cinema.
"Ijichi."
Sora turned toward the entrance.
"Handle the aftermath."
"Keep the media away from this."
"I don't want headlines about 'mysterious deformity deaths.'"
Ijichi nodded nervously.
"Understood."
"Also," Sora continued.
"Check the ticket records."
"I need to know who else was in this theater besides the victims."
Ijichi quickly flipped through the documents in his hands.
"…Actually, I already checked."
"One other person was present."
"A high school student named Junpei Yoshino."
"But…"
"He's currently missing."
"Junpei Yoshino…"
A flash of recognition crossed Sora's eyes.
So it was exactly as he expected.
In the original timeline—
This boy would fall into despair after years of bullying.
Mahito would manipulate him.
Experiment on him.
And eventually kill him.
But now—
That tragedy no longer needed to happen.
"I'll find him."
Sora waved his hand and began walking out.
Ijichi hurried after him.
"Wait!"
"Yagami, should we call for backup?"
"The opponent is likely a Special Grade curse!"
Sora didn't even turn around.
He simply waved lazily.
"Special Grade?"
"Before me, ranks are meaningless."
"There are only two types of enemies."
"Those I want to kill."
"And those I don't."
Meanwhile — A Dark Alley
Not far from the cinema.
Junpei Yoshino leaned against a damp brick wall.
His body trembled slightly.
The scene from earlier replayed endlessly in his mind.
The three boys who had bullied him—
The ones who had humiliated him for years—
Had suddenly transformed into grotesque lumps of flesh.
Their bodies twisted.
Their heads distorted.
Fear?
No.
Junpei realized something strange.
What he felt wasn't fear.
It was…
Relief.
A deep, satisfying sense of justice.
"…Did you do that?"
He had chased after the man with stitches across his face.
That strange man had only smiled.
Then started talking about souls.
About how the body was merely the shape of the soul.
"…Is that the power of a curse?"
Junpei stared at his hands.
His eyes flickered with uncertainty.
If he possessed that power—
Would no one ever bully him again?
Would he finally be able to destroy the people who tormented him?
Footsteps echoed at the entrance of the alley.
Junpei immediately looked up.
His body tensed.
Was it the police?
Or that stitched-faced man again?
But instead—
A boy stepped into view.
Black hair.
High school uniform.
Tall and calm.
His hands rested casually in his pockets.
He looked roughly the same age as Junpei.
But his eyes—
They were far too sharp.
Too deep.
They seemed capable of seeing straight through him.
"Junpei Yoshino."
The boy stopped about five meters away.
His voice was calm.
Junpei instinctively stepped backward until his back hit the cold wall.
"Who are you?"
"A policeman?"
"A policeman?"
The boy laughed softly.
"Don't compare me with people who only clean up after tragedies."
He walked forward slowly.
Each step made the air feel heavier.
"My name is Yagami Sora."
"I'm a jujutsu sorcerer."
He stopped one meter in front of Junpei.
Looking directly down at him.
"You were inside that theater earlier."
Junpei's pupils shrank.
His heart pounded violently.
"I… I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't lie."
Sora interrupted calmly.
"You reek of that cursed spirit."
"I could smell it from three blocks away."
He leaned closer.
Their faces were only inches apart.
"And the expression in your eyes right now…"
"…I know it well."
"Hatred."
"Desire for revenge."
"And the temptation to fall into darkness."
Junpei's face turned pale.
His secret had been exposed instantly.
He forced a bitter smile.
"So what?"
"Are you here to arrest me?"
"Because I didn't save them?"
"Arrest you?"
Sora straightened and shrugged.
"I don't waste time on things like that."
Instead—
He raised one finger.
And snapped.
A ripple spread through the air.
The metal trash can beside Junpei suddenly collapsed.
CRUNCH.
It flattened instantly—
Like paper crushed by an invisible hand.
Junpei's eyes widened in shock.
"That…"
"That's power too," Sora said calmly.
"That stitched-faced curse's power twists souls."
"Turns people into monsters."
He looked directly into Junpei's eyes.
"My power…"
"…controls the world itself."
Silence filled the alley.
Then Sora spoke again.
"So tell me."
"Do you want to follow that twisted curse…"
"…and become nothing more than a toy for his experiments?"
"Or—"
Sora extended his hand.
"…do you want to learn real power from me?"
"Power strong enough to crush every piece of trash that ever hurt you."
Junpei froze.
His heart pounded violently.
Standing before him—
Was a boy who radiated absolute confidence.
Dominant.
Mysterious.
And overwhelmingly powerful.
"Choose carefully."
Sora's lips curved into a faint smile.
"In this rotten world…"
"…power is the only truth."
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