This is a continuation of Chapter 12—a sort of special interlude!
"Ugh... my head's gonna explode."
It was a crude prototype of just empty space, but the price of dragging out my internal landscape to deploy a Simple Domain for the first time in my life was steep. The next morning, a skull-rattling headache surged the moment I opened my eyes.
"Forget training today, I'm better off just taking a long rest."
I muttered, pressing firmly against my throbbing temples. Jujutsu training is, after all, a brutal war of attrition that gnaws at both body and spirit simultaneously. If I tried to force my Cursed Energy to circulate in this state, my brain might actually fry.
I threw on my usual worn-out jacket and stepped outside. It was time for my daily survival routine: the bakery open-run to scavenge for cheap bread crumbs nearing their expiration date.
On my way back, stuffing my bag with crusts of white bread and croquettes—
I looked toward Kyoto's Karasuma Line Exit 4 from a distance. It was now completely sealed off by a sturdy iron fence, far beyond yesterday's yellow police line.
"Ugh... just thinking about it still gives me the shivers."
Involuntary goosebumps crawled up my arms. Beneath that iron cage, in the darkness of the underground, that Rules Creepypasta Cursed Spirit was likely still coiled and waiting.
I hurried my pace. However, the thought of returning to that musty, cramped tatami room just to stare at the walls felt suffocating.
Maybe I'll stop by somewhere to gather some info?
I headed toward a shabby net cafe (PC room) tucked away in a corner of a nearby downtown area. Sliding my coins across the counter, a clicking sound of my tongue escaped as I checked the rate table.
"700 yen for 3 hours? That's daylight robbery."
For a twelve-year-old orphan who needed every penny, these prices made my blood boil, but it was a necessary expense to figure out how the world was turning.
I sat down in a dim, partitioned stall and hit the power button. The clunky monitor flickered to life, and as soon as I accessed a portal site, massive headlines plastered across the main page caught my eye.
[ 2002 World Cup Fever! The Japanese Archipelago is Rocking! ]
[ Korea-Japan Co-hosted World Cup, Only One Month Until Opening!! ]
[ Kyoto Karasuma Line Exit 4 Temporary Closure Due to Suspected Unknown Gas Leak ]
My finger paused on the mouse wheel.
Right beneath the flashy World Cup articles filled with excitement and festive vibes, the living hell I experienced the day before was being reported in a tiny blurb, packaged as a shallow lie about a 'gas leak.'
"..."
The hidden jujutsu society, where people put their lives on the line to battle Cursed Spirits, and the surface society, leading peaceful lives while cheering for a soccer ball.
That horrific disparity reflected off the monitor's light, illuminating my face.
Leaning back in the plush net cafe chair, I scrolled through the 2002 World Cup articles with a subtle sense of anticipation.
Oho, so things are generally following the history of my original world?
If history flowed exactly as it had in reality, the future knowledge in my head was basically a golden goose. Since I needed quick cash, I could just flip some stocks during the IT bubble or short-trade blue chips, then buy a massive hoard of something like Bitcoin when it eventually appeared. It was a far safer and more reliable retirement plan than breaking my back as a sorcerer.
With a heart full of hope, I clicked the Politics/Economy tab to assess the situation, when—
"...Huh?"
My brow furrowed as I stared at the monitor.
"Wait, why isn't 'Joizumi' the Prime Minister?"
The face of the Japanese Prime Minister in the main article was a politician I had never seen before, completely different from my knowledge.
With a sinking feeling, I hurriedly searched for Korean news. Sure enough, instead of President Kim So-jung, a completely different person occupied the seat of the head of state.
"Haaa..."
I let out a deep sigh and dropped the mouse.
The details were subtly different from my original Earth's history. Different national leaders meant the government policies and corporate directions would be entirely different from the future I knew.
In this case, I couldn't be sure which company's stock would rise. I tried to pull a quick one... but it's a bust. Too bad.
My dreams of information gathering and getting rich quick ended in vain.
I had about two hours left. As a twelve-year-old orphan, I had no friends to meet, and since my soul belonged to a grown adult, I couldn't exactly go play on the swings at the playground.
"Let's see, is there anything to kill time... oh?"
As I scanned the desktop, an incredibly familiar icon caught my eye. Even in this bizarre world of jujutsu, Starcraft existed.
As if possessed, I double-clicked and connected to Battle.net.
I recalled that in the Japan of my original world, Starcraft's popularity was in the gutter, but in this alternate history, there were surprisingly many concurrent users. The lobby was filled with public rooms looking for 'noobs.'
However, the map preferences were totally different from Korea's. Rather than the national standard maps like 'Kook Ki-bong' or 'Fighting Spirit,' the ratio of fixed-start 1v1 maps like 'Blue Storm' was overwhelmingly high.
Is the Samurai dueling culture reflected in their games? What a funny place.
Anyway, as I scrolled through looking for a room, one title caught my eye.
[ storm king / 1:1 noobs only ]
"'Storm King,' what a grand nickname. Let's see if he's actually any good."
I entered the game with a smirk.
[ILILLILILILIII] (Protoss)
[storm king] (Zerg)
My ID was the most classic of the classics: a barcode made of uppercase I's and lowercase l's. The countdown ended, and the game began with the familiar sound of mineral mining.
10 minutes later—
[storm king]: Wow, seriously, stop using cheesy builds ㅡㅡ
[ILILLILILILIII]: ?
[ILILLILILILIII]: If you're gonna play greedy without scouting on a fixed map, you gotta pay the tax ^^
[ILILLILILILIII]: Besides, if you'd just built one Sunken when you saw the proxy gate, you would've held easily.
[ILILLILILILIII]: You even used the worker you were supposed to scout with to attack my Zealot? You're dedicated, I'll give you that!
storm king has left the game
"...Ah, he left. Such weak mental fortitude."
I chuckled looking at the 'Victory' text on the screen.
The subsequent games followed a similar pattern. To gauge the skill level of Japanese players, I used the most reliable method for distinguishing noobs from pros: testing their response to early 'shoobu' (all-in) rushes. The results were pathetic. Countless bases crumbled just because they couldn't handle the annoying micro of a single Probe paired with a Zealot.
Of course, carrying Korean DNA, I didn't just quietly win the games and leave.
I placed 'Manner Pylons' between the enemy Nexus and their minerals to screw up their pathing,
spammed 'hi' in all-chat every time I landed a hit to distract them,
and when it looked like it was heading to a base trade, I never forgot to hide buildings in the corners of the map and exercise the winner's right to gloat until the very end.
"Whew, now this is the life. This relieves stress way better than slicing up Cursed Spirits."
In that dark corner of the net cafe—
Clicking away, I was fully immersed in the game, wearing a wicked smile that was, for once, actually fitting for a twelve-year-old child.
I secured an overwhelming win streak, yet a strange thirst remained unquenched.
Since I was already doing this, I wanted to have a bloody match against a real peer, someone who could push me. The skill level of these public room users was simply too boring.
Is there no one who can actually play...?
While scrolling and refreshing the lobby list, one title jumped out at me.
[ Fighting Spirit / Pros Only ]
"Oh? Fighting Spirit?"
A classic map you'd usually only see on Korean Battle.net, paired with a confident room title. The host's ID was [KEN]. Something about that simple, self-assured name made my heart beat faster.
"Alright, GG~"
I entered without hesitation.
[ILILLILILILIII] (Protoss)
[KEN] (Zerg)
The countdown ended and the match began.
I smelled a pro, but I committed to my specialty once again: the cheese. I set up a Pylon and Gateway in the center of the map and sent a worker immediately. Fortunately, my first scout was successful, and we were in a close vertical spawn position.
"Vertical spawn? Perfect. It's over."
I grinned and poked my first Zealot and a Probe into the enemy's natural expansion.
However—
"...Huh?"
The opponent's reaction was on a different level compared to the losers I'd faced so far.
The moment he saw my proxy gate, he didn't panic at all. He immediately dropped a Sunken Colony and used a fantastic spread of Drones and Zerglings to surround and devour my Zealot in an instant.
My early-game all-in was perfectly shut down. I became dirt poor, unable to stop the subsequent flood of units he produced, and I suffered a mundane defeat. As the 'Defeat' screen appeared, messages from him started appearing in the chat.
[KEN]: Kid, did you have a lot of fun with that trick?
[KEN]: I see you were 5-0, looks like you were enjoying yourself, but that won't work on me.
[KEN]: Take it from an old man's concern, but a brat shouldn't play so cheaply.
[KEN]: Carve it into your bones.
"..."
The way he lectured me like some geezer who had lived for hundreds of years made my insides boil, but I could only bite my lip in front of the monitor. I couldn't talk back.
If you lose the national sport, you shut your mouth. That is the rule of the loser.
ILILLILILILIII has left the game
I left the room without a word.
But the second I was out, I screamed internally and tracked down his ID.
Aaaaargh! Fuck, I'm getting revenge right now!!
[ILILLILILILIII] (Protoss)
[KEN] (Zerg)
A revenge match requested through gritted teeth.
This time, I didn't go for a shallow all-in. I went for a heavy macro game, opening with a solid FFE (Forge Fast Expand).
My scouting Probe scanned his main base. His movements were unusual.
Looks like he's going for 3-Hatchery and then a Hydra Den... trying to steamroll me with pure Hydras.
I read his move perfectly and immediately set up a Robotics Facility to prepare Reavers. I blocked my natural entrance with Cannons and Gateways and waited for his pure Hydra rush.
Before long, a swarm of red dots began pouring down the minimap.
He had squeezed out a massive army of Hydralisks, which began hammering my defensive line.
"Come on, come on, come on...!"
Bam—! Boom—!
At the very moment my buildings were about to break—
Miraculously, my +1 Ground Weapons upgrade finished, and my first Reaver crawled out right on time to spit out a Scarab.
"There it is!!"
The upgraded firepower and the Reaver's splash damage perfectly severed the Hydralisks' momentum. It was a chillingly perfect defense.
"Worm cut—!!!"
At that moment, completely forgetting I was in a net cafe, a thunderous cheer erupted from my mouth.
"...Hey."
"H-Hiek! A-Ah, sumimasen! Sumimasen...!"
The delinquents and office workers in the surrounding seats all glared at me at once. I ducked my head behind the monitor and frantically spouted apologies in Japanese. My face burned with embarrassment, but the look of pure joy wouldn't leave my lips.
Now, shall I exercise the winner's right to gloat?
I put my hands on the keyboard and started typing twice as fast to return the same 'geezer advice' he gave me earlier.
[ILILLILILILIII]: Hey old-timer~ enjoyed yourself with the pure Hydras? Carve it into your bones lol
I slammed the enter key and waited for him to flip out.
However, the system message that appeared in the chat window turned my spine cold.
KEN has left the game
"...Huh?"
A master of hit-and-runs. The loser who was supposed to listen to my revenge had already turned off the game and fled.
Leaving a runner alone is not polite.
I scrolled through the room list and, like a lightning bolt, crashed into the room KEN had just remade.
[ILILLILILILIII]: Dude, you have zero manners ㅡㅡ
[ILILLILILILIII]: Don't run. Let's settle this with one last final showdown.
He didn't reply. But it didn't seem to be a refusal, as the countdown for the game start blared through the speakers.
[ILILLILILILIII] (Terran)
[KEN] (Zerg)
The races had changed. But from my previous win, I roughly understood his style. He was the type who preferred standard, heavy macro.
In that case, I couldn't be satisfied with just winning. I would give this arrogant old fart a humiliation that would haunt his soul.
I formulated a perfect plan for maximum toxicity in my head.
The early to mid-game flowed with standard builds for both. I prepared a classic SK Terran (Science Vessel/Marine/Medic with Tanks), while the opponent used Mutalisk harass to pester my base while transitioning into 'Mokdong Zerg'—Ultralisks, Lurkers, and Defilers.
Flap, flap.
The moment I confirmed his Mutalisk swarm was clustered near my natural expansion to seize vision—
Now.
Aiming for the timing when he mistakenly thought he had full control over the map's center and my base, I sent the SCVs I had sneakily tucked away to the remote starting locations at 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock. I set up hidden expansions there and began madly building Factories and Barracks to match my main base's tech level.
Time passed into the late game.
Because I had dumped my resources and population cap into the hidden expansions, my defensive forces at the main and natural base were pitifully small. Meanwhile, he marched toward my natural with a mountain of Defilers, Ultras, and Lurkers.
Pshhh—!
"Whoa, look at that. He's just plastering everything in Dark Swarm."
As the yellowish-brown Dark Swarms covered my natural, my ground forces' ranged attacks became entirely useless. My Marines and Medics were brutally shredded into a mist of blood by the Ultras' scythes and the Lurkers' spikes.
Pretending to panic, I only flew my key units, the Science Vessels, into the air to evacuate while quietly watching my main base turn into a wasteland.
Thinking he had secured the win as my buildings burned one by one, he finally typed an arrogant message.
[KEN]: Leave
Two characters packed with overwhelming contempt.
I chuckled in front of my monitor and typed back with maximum desperation.
[ILILLILILILIII]: Ah, brother ㅠㅠ please just give me one more coin!
[ILILLILILILIII]: Can't you just pull back your units once? ㅠㅠ please!!
[KEN]: Don't be pathetic.
[KEN]: Unless you want to be base-traded.
"Whew, this guy really committed to the persona."
On the screen, my final Command Center exploded into scrap and collapsed.
Under normal circumstances, the 'Defeat' window should have popped up right then.
But—
[KEN]: ?
The game didn't end.
The second his confused question appeared in the chat—
I grabbed the Science Vessel fleet I'd hid away and the 200-supply army of fully upgraded Marines and Medics I'd been churning out from the hidden expansions and A-clicked them into his main base.
[ILILLILILILIII]: lolololololololololololololololololololol
[ILILLILILILIII]: lolololololololololololololololololololol
[ILILLILILILIII]: LMAO ROFL STOMP~
I hammered the keyboard, unleashing a barrage of insults and 'lol's. My stim-packed Marines charged in at insane speeds, shredding his expansions and hatcheries. His Defilers and workers, doused in Irradiate, coughed up blood and melted away.
No matter how much micro he tried to do, there was no way to stop this massive force while his main army was stuck at my old, ruined base on the other side of the map. It was a complete reversal and utter humiliation.
I stared intently at the monitor, waiting to see how much foam would fly from his mouth as he spewed curses.
However, the response that came up a moment later went completely against my expectations.
[KEN]: Ha, fun.
[KEN]: This feeling of losing... it's been a thousand years.
"..."
I stared blankly at the screen after reading that chat.
A thousand years? You haven't lost in a thousand years?
"...Pffft, HAHAHAHAH!!"
I clutched my stomach, nearly falling out of my chair.
I mean, seriously? Just because you lost one game, you're gonna lean this hard into a middle-school edgelord persona? What, are you some kind of monster or vampire? You're a literal internet ghost!
It was a textbook example of a 'fake-cool loser'—perfectly furious, yet trying desperately to act unbothered. Grinning, I delivered the final blow.
[ILILLILILILIII]: Omfg lol stop acting like such a loser, grandpa!
[ILILLILILILIII]: If you lost, just leave gracefully~ bye bye!
KEN has left the game
"Later, loser~"
Watching the opponent flee the room after even his final struggle failed, I stretched with an incredibly refreshed feeling. I was completely oblivious to the fact that my opponent was actually a Curse User and the root of all evil.
It was a perfect rest that washed away all the deep fatigue of the jujutsu world.