Next Target, 600PS!!
2 Chapters Today!!
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Despite finding Satoru Gojo's personality obnoxious, no one doubted his strength. His title as the modern era's strongest sorcerer wasn't self-proclaimed—it was a universally acknowledged fact.
And yet, Gojo was now saying he had almost died.
"Hey, hey! You're not joking, are you?" Shoko Ieiri asked.
"Do I look like the type to joke around?"
"..." Shoko didn't answer. She just gave him a flat look, leaving him to figure it out himself.
Fine. He did tend to joke around a lot.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm serious this time. If I hadn't dodged fast enough, I would've lost a lot more than just an arm!"
Gojo raised the arm he had just regenerated using Reverse Cursed Technique. The flesh was fully healed, but the torn fabric around his shoulder made it obvious what had happened.
"..."
So he wasn't joking.
"What is his Innate Technique?" Masamichi Yaga's demeanor turned serious. They had assumed this was just an ordinary wild sorcerer, but if the kid could actually wound Gojo, the situation was entirely different.
"I'm not entirely sure. What I do know is that he can make himself 'intangible' to phase through physical attacks, and he has the ability to warp space."
Gojo kept his tone light. Anyone listening would think he was discussing the weather.
Shoko couldn't help but interject, "I mean, those are terrifying abilities. Why are you saying it so casually?"
Either of those powers sounded like a nightmare to deal with.
"Hahaha! Isn't it interesting?"
"Aren't you worried someone might steal your title as the strongest?" Shoko looked at him with intrigue.
"I won't," Gojo smiled slightly, looking calmly at Shoko. "Because I'm the strongest!"
I'd win!
"..."
Forget it. Having this kind of conversation with Gojo was just asking for a headache.
"Hearing all that, I'm actually quite interested in him," Mei Mei chimed in with a playful look.
He was strong and unaligned with any faction. They could easily team up as bounty hunters. It would definitely bring in a lot of money.
"Oh, but he already has a girlfriend." Gojo said, recalling Sakiko Togawa.
Come to think of it, she had a similar hair color to Mei Mei. But in terms of figure, Mei Mei was the clear winner. Not just anyone could pull off that mature aura.
"..."
She hadn't said anything about wanting to date him. But it didn't matter.
Mei Mei just smiled. "I'll simply have to show him the charm of a mature woman."
While Mei Mei didn't subscribe to the elitist sorcerer mindset, she was confident in her own appeal. When it came to charm, she feared no one.
"Haha! I'm looking forward to it."
For some reason, Gojo was actually eager to see Mei Mei try to chase Kai down.
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Of course, none of this affected Kai's good mood.
Meanwhile, Eriri Spencer Sawamura couldn't wait to get home after school. She didn't even bother showing up to the Art Club, making up an excuse to skip.
"I'm home!"
She threw the words over her shoulder as she rushed into the house and sprinted upstairs.
"Welcome ba—"
Sayuri Sawamura, who had been alone in the villa, started to greet her daughter. Before she could finish her sentence, Eriri breezed right past without glancing her way, rushing straight into her bedroom and slamming the door shut.
"Hmm?"
That was odd. Sayuri raised an eyebrow, a playful smile touching her lips.
"Looks like Eriri has a secret."
She waited a little while before brewing some tea and heading upstairs.
Just as she was about to knock, she heard her daughter complaining through the door.
"That awful guy... his personality might be terrible, but he actually knows how to develop a plot."
Inside the room, Eriri was reading the second volume manuscript Kai had sent her. Thinking back to how he had blackmailed her with her "Kashiwagi Eri" identity earlier today, she couldn't help but grumble.
How could a guy like that exist?
But complaints aside, she couldn't help but marvel at the writing. Damn it. Why couldn't she come up with plots this interesting?
"..."
Outside the door, Sayuri's expression shifted into something far more amused.
'Develop? Develop what? Could she mean... that kind of development?' Had her daughter successfully 'graduated' to adulthood without her knowing?
"Hmph! Just wait. The next time we meet, I'll show you what I'm made of. I'll lock you in a dark room, hehe!"
'A dark room?' Sayuri inhaled sharply.
My, did her daughter have a side like that?
She had no issues with Eriri's childhood friend, Tomoya Aki, but she respected her daughter's choices above all else. Whoever her daughter ended up dating had to be someone she truly liked.
Holding the teacup, Sayuri quietly walked away.
Inside the room, Eriri was busy fantasizing about locking Kai in a small room and forcing him to write light novels day and night.
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Ding dong!
Just as Sayuri reached the ground floor, the doorbell rang.
She paused. Was her husband back? Unlikely. Being a diplomat was a prestigious job, but it required constant travel. Her husband rarely had time to be home.
Curious, she walked over and opened the front door.
"Tomoya?"
Standing outside the villa was Tomoya Aki. He had his head down, looking flushed and highly anxious.
"Is... is Eriri home?"
Despite his efforts to hide it, the panic in his voice was obvious to Sayuri.
Did he find out Eriri had a new 'boyfriend' and was here to make amends?
Sayuri sighed softly. "Sorry, Tomoya, but Eriri isn't home yet. Her club activities probably haven't finished."
Since she was Eriri's mother, the least she could do was run cover for her daughter.
"I-I see." Tomoya knew Eriri was the ace of the Art Club, so he didn't doubt her. He felt he had rushed over too hastily. He should have waited.
"Did you need her for something specific?" Sayuri asked gently.
Tomoya hesitated for a second before handing her a plain box.
"Please... make sure Eriri gets this."
"..."
It really was an apology gift. The poor boy.
"Leave it to me." She accepted the box without question.
"Um, please make sure Eriri actually opens it!"
"Don't worry, I will."
Seeing him act so serious, Sayuri agreed while letting out an internal sigh. Her daughter was truly a sinful woman.
"I..."
Tomoya wanted to say something else.
But a moment later, his eyes locked onto the living room TV behind Sayuri. His face went pale, as if he had just witnessed a nightmare.
"Is something wrong?"
His bizarre reaction made Sayuri turn around. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
Yet, in Tomoya's vision, the black screen of the television flickered before a woman with long, disheveled hair slowly began crawling out of it.
"No! No! Don't!"
Screaming in sheer panic, Tomoya turned and bolted down the street. Sayuri called his name a few times, but he was already gone.
"That boy."
Did finding out about Eriri's new boyfriend break his mind?
Shaking her head with a sigh, she glanced at the box in her hands and headed upstairs.
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"Eriri?"
Hearing the knock, Eriri instinctively hid her phone.
"What is it?"
"..."
She was definitely chatting with her new boyfriend. Assuming she knew what was going on, Sayuri didn't pry. She just held up the box.
"Tomoya stopped by just now. He left a gift for you."
"TOMOYA AKI!"
Just hearing the name irritated her. If it weren't for him, Kai would never have discovered her identity as Kashiwagi Eri, and she wouldn't be dealing with blackmail. She had never been humiliated like that before.
"I don't want his gift. Throw it away!"
'She definitely has a new boyfriend.' Sayuri shook her head helplessly.
"Regardless, Tomoya went out of his way to bring this to you."
"I don't want anything from him. Just throw it out."
"That feels like a waste."
"Then you use it!"
"..."
Seeing Eriri act so stubborn, Sayuri didn't know what to say.
"But..."
"There's no 'but'. Mom, stop bothering me, I'm busy with important things!" She was right at the good part of the novel. If her mom found out, she would pester her to read it together, and she'd have to start all over again.
"Alright, alright."
Sayuri backed out of the room with a resigned smile and closed the door. Once she was alone, Eriri pulled her phone back out and resumed reading.
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"Sigh." Sitting on the living room sofa, Sayuri tried calling Tomoya to talk about the gift, but he didn't answer.
She glanced at the box on the coffee table. Driven by curiosity, she picked it up.
"Maybe it's something cute."
Sayuri might be in her thirties with a teenage daughter, but she was still very much a maiden at heart. The main reason Eriri grew up to be a massive otaku was because of Sayuri's heavy influence. Sayuri loved chatting about anime and manga all day, and Eriri had inevitably picked it up.
Curious, Sayuri opened the box. Seeing an old black VHS tape inside, she paused.
"This?"
It was nothing like the cute gift she imagined.
"Is it a trend to gift these nowadays?" For a moment, she felt like she was falling out of touch with the times.
Wanting to see what Tomoya had recorded, she walked over to the TV.
"A movie?"
The opening scene had the grainy, muted quality of an old film. It felt like a horror movie.
Sayuri wasn't a fragile girl who couldn't handle horror—she actually quite enjoyed the genre. She settled in and watched.
"It's a bit dated, but it's interesting."
Aside from the old-school plot, the execution was solid. She just couldn't understand why Tomoya would give this as a gift.
Crack!
Halfway through the playback, the television cracked loudly, and the screen devolved into white static.
"?"
Their TV was a high-end model. Did it break?
Before she could get up to check, the screen stabilized. This time, the image showed a dry, stone well in a forest.
"Wait, isn't this...?"
The story of Sadako was a famous urban legend in Japan. This setup was identical to the descriptions. She assumed it was just Tomoya pulling an elaborate prank.
But a second later, the dry well on the screen began to change.
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