Chapter 1
"This is really… brutal…"
Outside a narrow alley in Shinjuku, Tokyo, the lights atop police cars flashed urgently. Officers had cordoned off the alley entrance with bright yellow tape that remained stark even in the dead of night, yet they all stayed cautiously outside the line.
Inside the tape stood two figures not dressed in police uniforms. One was a nondescript office worker with a long, narrow face and glasses, recording something on a tablet in his hands. The other, a silver-haired man wearing a black blindfold, looked around the alley walls with unabashed curiosity, occasionally letting out quiet exclamations.
"Wow… looks like a total mess…"
"Whoa, this was smashed outright…"
"Please don't just marvel at it, Gojo-san. The current situation is extremely rare." The bespectacled middle-aged man, Kiyotaka Ijichi, spoke in a timid tone, as if wanting to stop the silver-haired man but not quite daring to. "Judging from the residuals, the one eliminated here was an unregistered Special Grade Curse…"
"So?" Satoru Gojo continued observing the surroundings with keen interest. "What are you trying to say, Ijichi?"
"Recently, incidents like this have been happening one after another. First it was low-level Grade Three and Four Curses killed by some mysterious individual. Then Grade Two and One. And each time, they were resolved before the assigned sorcerers even arrived. At the same time, this mysterious person left no trace at the scene…"
Ijichi clutched his tablet uneasily, instinctively scanning the area. "And now it's escalated to Special Grade—this unregistered Special Grade Curse that, according to our intelligence, required the dispatch of a Special Grade sorcerer…"
"And based on the residuals at the scene, each one was taken down in a single blow."
Gojo straightened up and suddenly turned around, cutting Ijichi off with an easy smile. "Including this unregistered Special Grade."
Ijichi couldn't help but shudder slightly before speaking carefully.
"Based on the latest findings, anyone capable of one-shotting a Special Grade Curse must be at least Special Grade themselves."
"So who exactly is this person who's been killing so many Curses?"
...
Outside the tape, Detective Wataru Takagi from the First Investigation Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had just arrived in a hurry.
Standing beyond the line, he stared in confusion at Gojo, who was looking around the alley. After a moment, he hesitantly turned and asked, "Um… is that person inside observing the scene? But he's wearing a blindfold…"
Gojo was tall—at least 190 centimeters—with excellent proportions. Judging from the lower half of his face, he was undeniably handsome, though his overall aura felt somewhat frivolous. The type who charms effortlessly rather than the diligent, serious worker.
Takagi couldn't understand why, when even the police weren't allowed past the tape, someone like him could wander around freely.
Just as he was puzzling over it, a stout inspector in a camel-colored trench coat patted him on the shoulder from behind and lowered his voice. "That's because he isn't using the same 'eyes' we do to see…"
"Inspector Megure, what do you mean?" Takagi turned and recognized his superior, Juzo Megure, and couldn't help but ask.
"…Those people are specialists who handle the 'abnormal incidents' we can't solve." Megure stroked his mustache and shook his head. "Takagi, this isn't something we can interfere with. Just cooperate as much as possible."
As they spoke quietly, the two figures in the alley appeared to have finished their investigation and began walking out.
"There are no further issues," Ijichi said formally to Megure. "You can remove the tape shortly."
"Oh, I see. Thank you." Megure nodded. Then, remembering Takagi who had just arrived, he quickly introduced him. "This is also an officer from the First Division, Wataru Takagi. If there's an emergency in the future and you can't reach me, you may contact him."
He then introduced the two men to Takagi. "The silver-haired gentleman is Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer Satoru Gojo. The other is Assistant Supervisor Kiyotaka Ijichi."
"Jujutsu sorcerer?" It was the first time Takagi had heard the term. He froze for a moment before immediately extending his hand. "Sorry, that was rude of me."
"Ah, no worries." Gojo replied with a smile and shook Takagi's hand. Despite the blindfold, he located Takagi's hand with perfect accuracy.
In that instant, Takagi suddenly remembered what Megure had said.
This man didn't use ordinary "eyes" to see.
"Oh, by the way, Takagi-kun," Gojo suddenly leaned in, speaking with casual familiarity while Takagi was still processing. "There's a camera in that alley, right?"
Following the direction of Gojo's finger, Takagi saw a black security camera on the wall, its small indicator light faintly blinking.
"Ah, there really is a camera this time!" Ijichi exclaimed quietly. "Maybe this time we'll capture the person who eliminated the Special Grade…"
"Then next, please take us to view the footage recorded in the past half hour," Gojo said matter-of-factly.
---
Inside a small conference room at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
The curtains over the floor-to-ceiling windows were drawn, plunging the room into darkness. Takagi played the alley's security footage on his laptop, which was projected onto the screen.
"There's… nothing here." After staring at the nearly static footage for over ten minutes, Takagi muttered. "Will it even record the culprit?"
"Heh…"
Gojo reclined lazily in a white chair, chuckling at the comment. With his blindfold on, Takagi couldn't tell where he was looking.
"The camera won't capture the culprit," Gojo said lightly. "Because it isn't human."
"Huh?"
Takagi looked utterly confused. At that moment, Megure patted his arm.
"Don't ask too much for now. I'll fill you in later," the stout inspector said seriously.
"…Okay."
Silence returned. Takagi stared numbly at the projection. After a while, however, something changed in the footage.
In one corner of the screen, a gleaming bald head suddenly appeared.
"Someone's here!" Takagi perked up. "Is he the culprit?"
The bald man walked from the edge of the frame into the depths of the alley, then tilted his head up as if looking at something.
Takagi followed the direction of his gaze—but saw nothing.
What was that bald man looking at?
As he wondered this, Takagi refocused on the screen. In the next second, the image around the bald man flickered—so fast it felt like his eyes were playing tricks on him. Yet upon closer inspection, the bald man was still standing there.
Was it a camera glitch?
Just as Takagi thought that, the bald man turned and calmly left the alley.
"..."
So he was just some random bald passerby?
Takagi was still thinking this when he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that Gojo—who had been sitting moments ago—was suddenly standing beside him. Gojo quickly rewound the footage to when the bald man first appeared.
"It's that guy." Gojo pointed at the laptop screen. "Could you investigate his identity and pass the information to me?"
"Eh?" Takagi blinked. "He's the culprit?"
Gojo paused, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha, of course not. Didn't I say the camera can't capture the culprit?"
He extended a long, well-defined finger and tapped the bald head on the screen without hesitation. "On the contrary, this shiny head belongs to the one who solved it."
Seeing Takagi's confusion, Gojo tapped a few keys on the laptop. "It's hard to explain. Let the footage speak. Switch to frame-by-frame playback. Then you'll understand."
The video rewound to the moment of the flicker and advanced one frame at a time.
In the first frame, the bald man stood there with his arms hanging loosely. In the next frame, his right hand had suddenly risen, throwing a punch into the air. Even in frame-by-frame playback, his arm moved so fast it became a blur.
In the third frame, he had already returned to his original stance, standing there blankly.
After that, nothing unusual happened. Two seconds later, he turned and walked out of the alley.
"..."
Takagi was stunned. "You can only notice his movement by watching frame by frame…"
Realizing the bald man had seemingly defeated something invisible in the air, Takagi felt a chill run down the back of his neck. He jumped to his feet and rushed out of the conference room.
"I'll investigate his identity right away!"
...
"Is this really okay?" Ijichi asked cautiously while driving, hands gripping the steering wheel. "We tracked down his identity overnight and are now going to block him first thing in the morning… No matter what, he's someone who defeated a Special Grade Curse. He probably wouldn't appreciate being investigated like this…"
"It's fine, it's fine." Gojo replied cheerfully from the passenger seat. "If he gets angry later, I'll just tell him it was Ijichi's idea and that I knew nothing about it."
"W-What?! How can you say something so terrifying in such a refreshing tone?! I'll get punched, won't I? Just like those Curses that were taken down in a single blow…"
Buildings and roads sped past outside the car window. Gojo sat leisurely in the passenger seat, enjoying the scenery, while the overworked bespectacled assistant muttered anxiously.
"Ah, Gojo-san, Is this workplace harassment? It's workplace harassment, right?!"
Suddenly, Gojo spoke briskly. "Turn right at the next fork and drive to the end. Then park."
The long-suffering salaryman obediently turned into the right lane and gradually slowed to a stop at the end.
Ahead stood a small supermarket that looked especially beloved by housewives. Through the transparent automatic doors, crowds could be seen bustling inside. A sign on the door read: Today's Special—Discounted Cabbage.
"Is it here? …Eh, Gojo-san?"
Before Ijichi could say more, Gojo had already opened the car door and stepped out. Ijichi hurried after him, locking the car and jogging to catch up.
As the two of them ascended the supermarket steps one after the other, the automatic glass doors chimed and slid open. A bald man wearing an ordinary white T-shirt and sweatpants emerged, carrying a bag of cabbage.
"Ah! It's him!"
With a single glance, Ijichi recognized the bald man from the surveillance footage and, completely out of character, blurted loudly, "It's this guy!"
"Ah?"
Startled by Ijichi's shout, the bald man looked up, staring at him blankly.
—If anything, this was a bald man who didn't look strong at all. His face had a vacant, somewhat foolish expression. His clothes were plain. If placed in a manga, he'd be the kind of background character drawn with a few simple lines.
This person… was he really the one who defeated a Special Grade Curse?
"Um… are you the mysterious jujutsu sorcerer who defeated the Special Grade Curse?" Ijichi asked hesitantly.
"Jujutsu sorcerer? What's that?"
The bald man scratched his head with his finger, looking confused. Then realization dawned on him.
"Oh, is this some kind of prank show? Where's the hidden camera?"
"Eh?"
"Sorry, I don't have time right now," the bald man continued. "I need to get to the next supermarket's sale within three minutes."