It had been a few days since I transmigrated into this brand-new world—into a body that wasn't originally mine.
Safe to say, after that mission, the four of us got beaten half to death.
Well… mostly Satoru and Geto did.
They caused the most damage, so naturally, they took the worst of the punishment.
The past few days had been surprisingly eventful. For a fantasy anime setting, you'd think I'd be having daily adventures—mysterious encounters, dramatic fights, maybe even some ridiculous comedic moments.
But no.
Plot twist: I was still in high school.
Which meant hours spent trapped behind a desk, listening to lectures, taking notes, and pretending I cared.
Even in a supernatural world, school could crush your imagination without mercy.
Overall, my life had been as normal as any high school student's could be… with the sole exception of the occasional mission that involved curses and near-death experiences.
And somewhere along the way, I discovered my cursed technique.
Visibility Manipulation
I had only awakened it a few days ago, so my experience with it was still painfully limited.
The name sounded amazing—something overpowered, something terrifying.
But the reality?
Not so much.
The whole point of the technique—or at least what it looked like from the outside—was that I could become unseen.
Invisible.
To the observable eye, I simply didn't exist.
Now, I know what you're thinking.
"That's the greatest cursed technique of all time! You can basically fulfill every man's dream!"
Trust me, I thought so too at first.
But there was a problem.
Even if I was invisible, I wasn't untouchable.
Dust particles clung to my body. Footprints still formed. A slight disturbance in the air could reveal me. If someone was paying attention, my position wasn't that hard to guess.
Still…
It wasn't useless.
"Shion Takagawa! Pay attention!"
The sudden shout jolted me awake, my heart nearly jumping out of my chest.
"S-Sorry, ma'am!" I shot up so fast my chair screeched, straightening my posture and bowing quickly.
It worked.
She continued her lesson, though not without shooting me a warning glare that made it clear she wouldn't let me off twice.
Phew… barely survived that.
I sat back down, exhaling quietly.
That was when a familiar sound reached my ears.
Giggling.
Snickering.
Satoru Gojo.
I clenched my fist beneath the desk.
If only I could…
If only I could punch that stupid smirk off his face and grind it into the floor.
But the gap between us was… humiliating.
Sighing in defeat, I slumped back into my seat.
Now that I think about it… isn't this technique fitting for someone like me?
In the first place, I wasn't even supposed to exist in this world.
And yet, here I was.
A stranger in someone else's story, carrying the whole package that came with it—an invisibility technique given to someone who wasn't important to the plot.
A side character…
A mob.
Someone never seen and never noticed.
I stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought.
Then I stopped.
What was I doing?
Sulking here was pointless.
I already knew how unfair this world could be.
Maybe after all of this was over… I could just ignore canon and disappear somewhere far away.
I knew it was selfish.
But to hell with it.
This was my life.
Satoru Gojo was strong enough to handle things anyway. I could leave him a few warnings here and there, maybe steer events just slightly, and things wouldn't turn out too horribly.
Let the main cast do the hard work.
In the end, everything would be resolved like it was supposed to be. Sukuna would be dealt with eventually.
So me staying out of the spotlight…
Shouldn't change the ending much.
…Right?
"Alright, that's it for today. Next week we'll be having our exams, so be prepared," the teacher said before leaving the classroom.
"Finally, we're done! I was bored to death," Satoru blurted out immediately.
"You're really shameless, you know that?" Geto replied, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
"What? I'm just saying what everyone's thinking," Satoru shot back.
Their constant bickering never seemed to stop.
The four of us filed out of the classroom together.
"You okay back there?" Shoko asked, her eyes never leaving her phone.
"Yeah," I replied, rubbing at my eyes. "I just haven't gotten any sleep."
"Don't tell me you're still playing that otome game you found at the store."
At that, I raised a hand sheepishly. "What do you want me to do? It's a great game, for your information."
And honestly… I hadn't been sleeping for two reasons.
First, that goddamn otome game was ridiculously addictive.
Second, ever since I started experimenting with my technique, my nights had become even shorter.
Before I knew it, time passed, and the four of us split off in our own directions, each in our own rooms.
.....
The dorm rooms assigned to the four of us were fairly close to each other, with the women's and men's dormitories separated into different sections.
The rooms themselves weren't anything luxurious.
Just a bed pushed against the wall, a small desk, a wardrobe, and a private shower.
Still, I couldn't complain. This place was free, after all.
After taking a quick shower, I changed into fresh clothes and headed toward the training court.
The area outside, provided by the school, was massive in comparison to the dorms.
It had a simple, standard layout.
A wide, lush field of grass stretched out in the center, while a circular white track wrapped around the edges—clearly meant for jogging and running drills.
Standing in the middle of the field, I began with light warm-ups.
After finishing that ordeal, I finally moved on to what I came here for.
Experimentation.
First and foremost, I needed to understand the nature of my cursed technique.
The main function was simple: it allowed my body to vanish from sight.
In other words, invisibility.
The next important point was cursed energy consumption.
Surprisingly, the technique only required a minuscule amount to activate. But what I found strange was the effect of output.
The more cursed energy I poured into it, the more my presence faded.
The less I used, the more visible I became.
In short—
Higher output meant deeper erasure.
Lower output meant I reappeared.
To test this theory, I searched the area for a suitable target.
My eyes landed on someone in the distance.
A staff cleaner
My lips curled upward.
Jackpot.
I quietly made my way toward him.
Activating my cursed technique, my body dissolved into nothingness, vanishing completely from view.
Step by step, I approached carefully, tiptoeing so I wouldn't make a sound.
Once I was right in front of him, I waved a hand to catch his attention.
Nothing.
His expression didn't even twitch.
Perfect.
Waiting until he looked away, I quickly reached down and snatched one of the brooms from his cleaning equipment.
"Now that that's done… last thing is to sweep the floor."
Without hesitation, he reached out to grab the broom from where it should've been.
But his hand met nothing but air.
"...Huh?"
He froze.
Then his eyes darted around.
"Wait… where did I put it? I swear it was right here!"
He began rummaging through his supplies, panic rising as he searched.
Meanwhile, I stood right beside him, holding the broom in my hands, barely containing my laughter.
Now came the real test.
I focused hard, trying to lower the output of my cursed energy. Trying to make the broom reappear in place.
What can a little scare like a floating broom do to an old man right?
But my control was still sloppy.
The moment I reduced it too much, my entire body suddenly reappeared in place.
And unfortunately…
That was the exact moment he turned around.
His eyes landed directly on me.
To him, it must've looked like I teleported out of thin air.
"AAAAHHH!"
He screamed like his soul left his body.
And instinctively—
"AHHH!"
I screamed too.
Our voices echoed throughout the hallway.
...
It took him a while to calm down, but eventually he managed to steady his breathing, though his hand still clutched his chest.
"I'm so sorry, Kenji-san," I said, scratching the back of my head sheepishly. "I just wanted to return the broom."
He stared at me for a moment, then let out a tired chuckle.
"It's fine… just don't appear like that again. You'll give someone a heart attack."
He waved goodbye and walked off, still shaking his head.
I waved back, waiting until he was far enough away.
I feel bad… I might've almost made him meet his wife in the next life much sooner than expected…
Anyway.
That little incident proved one thing.
My technique desperately needed control.
Still, it had potential.
A lot of it.
It could be used for scouting, tracking, stealth missions, and even sneak attacks from an enemy's blind spot.
Luckily, the only thing keeping me afloat was this newfound body of mine's cursed energy output.
Though, if I had to take a rough guess, it was probably around the level of a Grade 1 sorcerer.
Which saved me a lot of trouble, since it meant I could use my technique for long periods of time without burning out.
But without proper cursed energy management, it was useless.
Raw and untamed cursed energy can only reach you as far as it can go.
Contrary to what most people believed, cursed energy control wasn't something you could master instantly.
The anime made it look easy, like everyone could regulate their output perfectly.
But in reality…
It was far more difficult.
Though maybe…
Maybe I was just especially bad at it.
If I can gain proper control, I might reach the point where I can completely nullify my presence…Something similar to Toji.
He wasn't undetectable because of a technique.
He was undetectable because he had no cursed energy output at all.
If I could erase myself completely—
Not just visually, but spiritually—
Then I wouldn't simply be invisible.
I'd become an unseen force.
The core of my cursed technique was invisibility.
But if I pushed it to its absolute limit…
Then perhaps, my theory would be proven right...