Jujutsu Kaisen: I Made Sukuna Owe 100 Million Yen

At 2 a.m., the rain poured down.

Kiyotaka Ijichi felt like he was about to die. As the assistant supervisor of the Jujutsu High School, he had been working continuously for forty-eight hours.

Just ten minutes earlier, Gojo Satoru had called, in a tone so light that it made one want to commit suicide, telling him to go buy Kikufuku—where could one buy Kikufuku in this weather?

"Damn it... damn it..."

Ichi stumbled and turned into a small alley.

He just wanted to find a place to shelter from the rain and have a smoke to calm his nerves, which were on the verge of collapse.

However, he was stunned when he wiped the fog off his glasses.

This is not one of the streets he is familiar with.

The neon signs on both sides flickered wildly as if they were malfunctioning, and deep in the alley, a warm yellow kerosene lamp was shining.

It was a retro Japanese-style shop.

The wooden sliding door was half-open, and a plaque hung on the eaves. There was no shop name on it, only a strange balance symbol drawn in black paint.

"A shop in a place like this?" Ijichi instinctively sensed something was wrong.

But she was too tired, so Iji put away her umbrella and pushed open the door.

"Sorry to bother you..."

Accompanied by the crisp sound of wind chimes, a dry, warm scent mixed with the aroma of old books wafted over, instantly dispelling the damp chill on Ijichi's body.

The store is not large, but its layout is extremely strange.

The four walls are not covered with ordinary shelves, but with densely packed dark drawers, much like the medicine cabinets in a traditional Chinese medicine shop.

Behind the counter, a young man wearing a dark gray vest and gold-rimmed glasses was looking down, intently wiping something in his hands.

It was a small, colorful square.

Ichichi narrowed his eyes. A Rubik's Cube?

wrong.

Each facet of that square seemed to be engraved with countless eyes, and as the man wiped it, those closed eyes seemed to tremble slightly.

Welcome!

The young man didn't look up; his voice was gentle and warm, yet it carried a sense of detachment.

"This is Exchange No. 8. Although it's closing time now, the fact that you managed to find this place in the heavy rain means—you have a 'dilemma' that urgently needs to be resolved."

Ijichi awkwardly rubbed his hands together, raindrops dripping from the hem of his suit jacket onto the floor. "Sorry, I just wanted to get out of the rain... By the way, are there any dessert shops still open around here?"

The young man's hand stopped.

He slowly raised his head. It was a face that would be unforgettable, with a straight nose, delicate features, and fair skin; he could easily be mistaken for a celebrity.

"We don't have desserts at the dessert shop." The man put down the Rubik's Cube he was holding and pointed to the bar stool in front of the counter. "But we do have a cup of tea that could save your life."

Ichiji sat down, smiling wryly, and said, "Help? I really do feel like I'm about to die from overwork."

"It's not just about overwork."

The man turned around, took out an unlabeled glass jar from the cabinet behind him, and put a small pinch of dark red tea leaves into the teapot.

"Anxiety, panic, self-doubt. You feel like an ordinary person caught in the middle of monsters, with both the 'strongest' you serve and the 'curse' you face gradually crushing your spirit."

The sound of water flowing into the teapot was exceptionally clear in the quiet shop.

"Mr. Kiyotaka Ijichi, the job of assisting in supervision must be difficult, right?"

Ijichi abruptly stood up, cold sweat instantly breaking out on his brow: "You know me? Which group of curse masters are you from?"

This is no coincidence! This is a trap!

"sit down."

The man uttered two words softly.

There was no fluctuation of magical power, but Iji felt an invisible pressure on his shoulders, causing his legs to buckle and him to slump back into his chair.

The man pushed a steaming cup of black tea in front of him.

"Don't be nervous. I'm just a small businessman." The man smiled, revealing a standard, almost insincere smile. "My name is Lynn. This tea is called 'Absolute Calm'."

"It allows you to shed all unnecessary fear and cowardice for the next 72 hours. You will work like a precise machine, run away from a Superior Spell Spirit without batting an eye, and even speak to Gojo Satoru without... well, at least without stuttering."

Ichiji stared at the cup of tea, his Adam's apple bobbing.

This is exactly what he needs right now. He's on the verge of a breakdown; if he doesn't find something to support himself, he might actually hang himself in the college's restroom tomorrow.

"And the price?" Ijichi's voice was dry. "How much did this tea cost?"

"I don't want money."

Lynn crossed her arms and braced herself on the counter, her eyes fixed on Ichiji.

"I'm offering you this cup of tea in exchange for your 'good luck' for the coming year."

Ichiji was stunned: "Huh?"

"For the next year, you're guaranteed to lose the lottery, be late for the tram, never have the seasoning packet in your instant noodles, and you'll most likely step in dog poop on the street." Lynn shrugged. "Trading these insignificant misfortunes for the most crucial 72 hours of 'absolute calm' in your career. A fair trade, right?"

madman.

This person is absolutely insane.

Ichiji silently screamed in his heart to run, but his hand moved uncontrollably to pick up the teacup. The alluring aroma filled his nostrils, making every tired cell in his body scream, "Drink it!"

"Since it's good luck... then take it." Ijichi gritted her teeth. "Anyway, someone like me has never been lucky."

He tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

The hot liquid slid down the esophagus into the stomach, then exploded and rushed to the brain.

That feeling was wonderful.

All the anxiety and fear in his mind vanished instantly. His heartbeat returned to normal, and his vision became clearer than ever before.

Iji put down his teacup and adjusted his glasses.

This time, his hand did not shake.

"Thank you for the treat." Ichichi stood up, straightened his soaked suit, and said calmly, "Although I don't know what your purpose is, this tea is indeed effective. Farewell."

He turned and pushed open the door, his steps steady, no longer showing any of his previous dejection.

Lynn remained seated behind the counter, watching Idi's figure disappear into the rain.

"Deal reached."

Lynn snapped his fingers.

A faint golden speck of light floated up from where Idi had just been sitting; it was the "fortune" that had been extracted. Lynn took out a small, transparent bottle, put the speck of light inside, and casually tossed it into a drawer.

As the drawer closed, a line of pale blue text, visible only to Lynn, appeared in the air.

[Transaction complete!]

[Item obtained: Ijichi's Year of Good Fortune.]

[System estimate: 500 points.]

Current balance: 570 points

"Only 500 points? Not even enough to exchange for the lowest-grade spell item."

Lynn took off his gold-rimmed glasses, which he used to appear refined, rubbed his temples, and sighed helplessly.

He is not from this world.

A week ago, he was living a typical 9-to-5 corporate life on the other side of the world. But when he woke up, he found himself transported to a world called Jujutsu Kaisen and became the owner of the "8th Exchange".

He doesn't have the six eyes of Gojo Satoru, who is born at his peak, nor does he have the iron stomach of Itadori Yujin, who can swallow fingers.

According to the ranking system of sorcery, his physical strength is at most "level four", which is probably enough to defeat an unarmed assistant supervisor.

In a world where top-tier cursed spirits roam freely and curse masters are as common as dogs, this level of strength is just asking for trouble.

His only reliance was this strange shop that had accompanied him through his time travel, and the system called the [Equivalent Balance].

"In this store, I am invincible."

Lynn knocked on the counter. This was one of the shop's rules: an absolute peace zone. Even if Ryoumen Sukuna entered, he couldn't incite any form of violence here.

Another rule of the store is "wish resonance".

This shop does not exist in fixed physical coordinates; it only appears in the eyes of Jujutsu Kaisen characters who are on the verge of a mental breakdown and yearn for change.

This also means that everyone who can open this door is a potential high-quality leek (a term for easily exploited individuals).

"But once I step out of this door, I'm just an ordinary person."

Lynn chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Unless... someone owes me money."

This is the most terrifying and core capability of the "equivalent balance"—the "forced breach of contract right".

Once someone makes a deal with him, that person becomes his "private property" until the debt is paid off.

By paying a fee, you can have yourself and your creditors protected by the system when faced with a life-threatening situation.

In addition, the system's shop has all sorts of strange and unusual items.

From gadgets with special effects to various techniques, constitutions, and domains, everything is available.

That's the source of his confidence to act with impunity in this world.

But all of this is predicated on one thing: someone has to be willing to make the deal.

"Activating 'forced default' costs at least 100 points... That's simply not enough to cover my expenses."

Lynn looked at the pitifully small balance. According to the system's measurement, one point was equivalent to ten thousand yen.

"The luck of an assistant supervisor may not be worth much, but if it's that person..."

Lynn picked up the colorful "Rubik's Cube" again.

If Gojo Satoru were here, he would definitely recognize the true nature of this thing—a top-grade cursed artifact, the Prison Gate.

Although it was a counterfeit model bought at a low price, it had a similar structure and some functions to the genuine product.

It rained harder and harder.

"Go, Mr. Ijichi."

Lynn murmured to herself, "You need to calm down. After all... you're sending those three kids to the juvenile detention center to die tomorrow."

"Next, it's time to meet that real big client."