More had spread across my entire torso, as I'd noticed earlier. Still warm and in varying sizes. But not painful.
What stood out was how rapidly my condition had shifted the moment I picked up the finger.
That was weird.
Now knowing it was a cursed object of the King of Curses made a cold shiver run down my spine again.
Not least because of how Shoko and Satoru had reacted.
It had to be because of Sukuna.
From that moment on, things only got worse for me.
The fact that he had appeared specifically during my first solo mission. Was that a coincidence?! Probably.
But could it have also been fate? Definitely – but why?
I had absolutely nothing to do with him.
I'd heard of this Sukuna today for the first time.
Besides, how would that have even been possible?
He hadn't been around for a thousand years.
And aside from all that – why me of all people?!
Shoko and Satoru had both been acting extremely strange. And when I say "acting," I mean it. Poker face or not, there was something in the air, something underlying that I just couldn't grasp. Something serious—and I didn't have the faintest clue what it was.
Exactly that feeling—I hated it! Not being allowed to know something. It made me curious, even though I was trying to get used to the fact that life was significantly calmer when you didn't stick your nose into everything.
Another weird detail that just occurred to me: I was the only one feeling unwell. Or was I?!
Shoko didn't have a fever. No dizziness.
Satoru hadn't had an increase in body temperature either. No decline in general condition.
And me? I had nearly died—and Sukuna's finger had been with us the whole time. In the room.
I didn't understand... Maybe because I had touched it and the other two hadn't?! Speaking of! Where was it, anyway? If Shoko had mentioned it earlier, then it must have definitely caught their attention.
Again, I exhaled with effort.
There were only two options, and one of them seemed rather unlikely.
Still in my uniform—or the two of them had already taken it wherever. Whatever the case, I certainly didn't want to come into contact with that cursed object again.
I closed my eyes, exhausted. Pulled the blanket higher over me, pushed my head deeper into the pillow, and let the topic of Sukuna rest for now. Because I had just been more than happy. Not just because I had won that damn fight to the death, but because I could finally begin working in my beloved field.
Forensic medicine!
Yes, that was a dream come true!
Even in the Jujutsu world, my heart leapt for it. It burned for it.
For days, this field had captured my eyes and my interest when I decided I wanted to work in healthcare.
Even if my career as a medical assistant had begun in general practice—paired with short stints in different specialties and later in a trauma surgery practice—I felt most at home in forensic medicine.
The place where practically no one ever ended up.
Of course, I had sent out applications for that too, "but none of them were interested in me," I yawned loudly and let myself be carried off to sleep a few breaths later.