Over the past month, eight women have disappeared one after another at night in the old commercial street of Shinjuku. Initially, it was just treated as a regular case and handed over to the police. However, the day before yesterday, a woman ran out of the commercial street in a panic and happened to run into a nearby patrol officer. After being sent to the hospital, she was diagnosed with a mental disorder caused by extreme shock, and she kept muttering about a Cursed Spirit. After discovering the situation, we organized an investigation and found traces of Cursed Energy hidden quite deeply at the scene.
Miss Tayama Rin, serving as the Assistant Supervisor, gave the group a rough overview of the mission background while handing over more detailed mission briefs.
Genji took the mission brief, flipped through it briefly, and then handed it to Geto Suguru.
"Being able to hide its own Cursed Energy traces, this Cursed Spirit should possess considerable intelligence. I just don't know what its specific grade is. When we get to the scene, I'll have Gojo Classmate scout it out thoroughly with his eyes," Genji said, looking at the group.
"Apart from all being female, there don't seem to be any commonalities among all the missing persons at the moment," Geto Suguru said after finishing the brief.
"Even if there aren't many people in the old commercial street at night, it's impossible that only 8 victims have passed through here in a month. It shouldn't be a random selection of victims, right?"
"Why think so much? When we get there, we'll just find it and exorcise it directly," Satoru Gojo said carelessly while sitting to the side.
"You can't say that, Satoru. There are still 8 missing persons whose whereabouts are unknown; at the very least, we need to determine whether they are still alive." After spending time together yesterday and this morning, Geto, influenced by Satoru Gojo's way of speaking, also changed how he addressed them.
"What do you plan to do, Genji?"
"Let's split into two groups. Gojo Classmate and Classmate Geto, you two go check out the commercial street. Ieiri-san and I will go to the hospital to visit the only survivor to see if the Reversal technique can be of any use. If all goes well, we might be able to find out exactly what happened that night."
"Alright, let's arrange it that way," Geto Suguru agreed.
"By the way, Genji, your way of speaking is too polite. I've already told you to just call us by our names," Satoru Gojo said, talking about something irrelevant to the mission, while Genji completely ignored him.
"Then Ieiri-san and I will head to the hospital first." Saying this, Genji and Shoko got into Miss Tayama's car and headed to the hospital.
"How cold," Satoru Gojo shrugged, then walked into the commercial street with Geto Suguru.
7:00 PM, commercial street, Satoru Gojo and Geto Suguru were walking on the road.
"It's so desolate. There's hardly anyone here, isn't there?" Satoru Gojo evaluated, looking around.
"This kind of old commercial street is like this. The vast majority of foot traffic has been taken away by the newly built commercial streets and large commercial plazas and malls next door, leaving only these shops and people abandoned by the times here." Geto Suguru was clearly more knowledgeable about this aspect than Satoru Gojo, the young master of a clan.
"If you observe carefully, you will find that it's not just the shops that are old; there aren't even many young people among the shop assistants. That's why sometimes these places become gathering grounds for negative emotions, nourishing Cursed Spirits."
"A regret of the times, huh." Satoru Gojo said a rare serious sentence.
Suddenly, Satoru Gojo stopped in front of an alley.
"Something is not right with this alley."
"This seems to be the last alley the missing persons entered before they disappeared," Geto Suguru recalled from the mission introduction.
However, just as the two were about to step into the alley, Satoru Gojo suddenly stopped Geto Suguru.
"What's wrong?" Geto Suguru looked at Satoru Gojo, only to find that the latter had taken off his sunglasses at some point.
"This alley seems to have been covered by an innate domain."
"An innate domain? Could there be a Special Grade Cursed Spirit here?"
"I'm not sure. Even as an innate domain, it's not quite complete here. It seems to simply be warping space, preventing anyone who enters from coming back out. Be careful. Even if it's not Special Grade, I expect there are multiple Grade 1s, although for the two of us, it doesn't make much difference."
However, just as the two were talking, the shadows in the alley suddenly expanded rapidly.
"Careful..." Before Satoru Gojo could finish his sentence, the expanding domain enveloped both of them.
Meanwhile, on the other side, at the hospital.
Miss Tayama walked over after finishing her communication with the Assistant Supervisor stationed at the hospital.
"Ieiri-san, Genji-san, it's ready. Come with me."
Miss Tayama led the two towards the ward while saying, "Although the victim has regained consciousness, her mental state has not improved. It would be best to be careful when communicating in a moment."
"Speaking of which, Miss Tayama isn't much older than us. Why did you become an Assistant Supervisor?"
Genji, seeing that they were still some distance away from the inpatient department, started chatting.
"It's nothing," Miss Tayama responded.
"I've been able to see some strange creatures since I was a child, but I didn't know they were Cursed Spirits. It wasn't until I was in college that I encountered a curse incident and was fortunately rescued. At the same time, Mr. Yaga, who participated in the rescue, noticed me. Although my Cursed Energy doesn't allow me to become a Jujutsu Sorcerer, I can serve as an Assistant Supervisor. Having experienced the curse incident, I no longer wanted to return to an ordinary life, so I became an Assistant Supervisor under Mr. Yaga's recommendation."
"That couldn't have been easy for you," Shoko sighed.
"Actually, it's nothing. For someone like me who can see Cursed Spirits, wanting to live a normal life is a bit difficult. Alright, we're here." Miss Tayama smiled and then stopped at the door of a hospital room.
"Please be careful when asking questions. According to colleagues at the hospital, the victim is not only extremely easily stimulated right now but also carries a certain level of aggressiveness." Miss Tayama reminded the two again, then opened the ward door.
After entering, the group realized that the victim's condition was worse than usual. She was curled up on the hospital bed, wrapping herself tightly in a blanket, and the windows were tightly covered by curtains, not letting a single ray of light in.
"Miss Yamagami Ami," Miss Tayama called out the victim's name.
"These two are the latest people in charge of your case. They came over to understand some of the situation from you."
However, the person on the hospital bed did not react to Miss Tayama's words. Seeing this, Miss Tayama didn't think much of it and continued to persuade her gently.
Finally, Yamagami Ami tremblingly raised her head from the blanket and looked at the group. But when her eyes met Genji's, she suddenly broke down and screamed, "Don't come over," appearing to be very afraid of Genji.
"What's going on?" Seeing this, Genji was also confused and looked at the other two to ask. However, the other two had no answer either.
But if things continued this way, it would be impossible to get any effective information.
"Miss Tayama, please take Genji-san out first. Leave this to me," Shoko said to the two.
Is it okay? Genji asked with her eyes. After receiving an affirmative answer, she walked out of the ward with Miss Tayama. However, the moment before leaving, Genji sensed traces of Cursed Energy on Yamagami Ami.
"Aren't the traces of Cursed Energy on her a bit too much? Is it because surviving means she is still a target for Cursed Spirits?" Before Genji could figure it out, she was pushed out of the ward by Miss Tayama.
"Alright, now it's just the two of us. Next, I'll ask you questions. If you remember anything, just say it." Shoko looked at Yamagami Ami and began to ask.