Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

"Does my sister think I'm the kind of person who's unsuitable for girls?"

Yue Ren's words made Ri He laugh. He suddenly remembered that this guy used to complain in junior high school that there would always be extra love letters in the shoe cabinet.

"Ah, no, hahaha, I forgot you've always been a good student... Sorry, sorry."

"But unfortunately, apart from Maki, who was the first to come to our house, I haven't met any other girls."

"...Well, you dare to play tricks on your older sister? You've got some nerve."

"Hahaha, you fell for it, didn't you? Serves you right for making fun of me."

"snort!"

"Don't be angry, I have a gift to make you feel sorry, sister."

"Huh? What is it? Did you buy something very expensive? I'm really going to get angry this time."

Rihe's smile vanished the moment she heard the keyword. It wasn't that she disliked her brother buying her gifts, but rather that this was a crucial period. Many people go astray at this age, and she didn't want her brother to develop extravagant spending habits, because no amount of wealth would be enough to squander.

The man from Yue smiled slightly.

"Of course I haven't forgotten my sister's dislike of extravagance. Don't worry, this is a little ornament I made myself. It didn't cost any money. You can see for yourself."

As he spoke, he took something out of his pocket: a necklace made of metal, shaped like a longsword wrapped in wings. It was polished and was a decent accessory, though it seemed a bit cheesy.

He casually handed it to his sister, who looked puzzled.

"I saw this in the ancient books. It seems to be a design that can bring good fortune and ward off disasters. It's a secret technique passed down only in the forging family's records. I hope you will accept it, sister."

Upon hearing this, Rihe became happy again, and his face flushed slightly.

"Oh, I see. It's quite nice, the style is very pretty, I'll take it."

"Please remember to wear it with you at all times for it to be effective."

"Okay, okay, when did you start nagging like this?"

As she spoke, the girl put it around her neck.

"Is this alright? Come on, let's eat."

After showing it to the Yue people, Rihe placed it into the beautiful ravine himself, and he gave them a look that said, "Is this alright now?"

"Yes, it's very pretty."

Finally at ease, Yue Ren sat down at the dining table.

It was indeed a seemingly ordinary pendant, but in the eyes of the cursed spirit, it was something as unbearable and unapproachable as the sun.

That's right, this is what the Yue people forged in the rest of their time—a "talisman" to protect their sister.

Something completely different from those "cursed objects" that are enshrined and worshipped; something that can truly provide protection.

I vaguely remember that at the beginning of the story, the so-called special-grade cursed object "Sukuna Finger" was actually placed in a louvered box for worship to ward off disasters and pray for blessings?

Asking an evil god to scare away malevolent spirits is a bizarre tactic that only people from this country could come up with.

But what the Yue people offered was something completely different.

Specialized positive energy circulates within it. From now on, as long as she still wears that, the cursed spirits should not approach within a radius of 100 meters of her.

Then there's no need to worry too much about my sister's safety anymore, but we still can't let our guard down. Forget about the cursed spirits, there's still the king of curses, "Ryomen Sukuna," who surpasses even the highest level. I'll find an opportunity to talk to my sister about moving sometime later. Most of the subsequent events will unfold in Tokyo, so I won't go into detail about myself for now. My sister has to stay away from this battlefield.

At this point, Yue Ren finally felt much more at ease, having taken his first step in "surviving" in this world.

the next day.

Yue Ren used to run 20 kilometers to school, and now he can consistently run it in under an hour, although he still has to get up early every day and endure being exhausted by the time he gets to school.

However, the increase in stamina makes it all worthwhile.

Moreover, he discovered that to increase his basic numerical experience, he had to train to the limit every time, so he always went all out in these long-distance runs.

It took only a few days for the time to go from an hour and a half at the beginning to less than an hour now.

He was intoxicated by the feeling of progress.

After taking a shower at the bathhouse not far from the dormitory, Yue Ren headed towards the classroom.

During this period, he spent his mornings studying and his afternoons training or honing his skills, leading a very fulfilling life that even gave him the illusion of returning to a peaceful era.

Until he met his teacher, Gojo Satoru, in the hallway.

"Yo."

Wu Tiao, with his back against the wall and hands in his pockets, casually greeted the Yue people as they arrived.

"Gojo-sensei? You're here early today."

"Ah, I have something to do. Come with me, Yue Ren. There's no class today, I have a mission."

Yue Ren was slightly taken aback, then a smile crept onto his face. So it's finally here? His first high school assignment.

A moment later, Yue Ren was sitting in a car with another classmate, Zenin Maki, beside him.

There were only four people in total, and they were already familiar with each other. After training together for the past few days, they could nod to each other when they met.

"The mission is level two. According to 'Window's' information, it should involve one level two cursed spirit and several level three and four cursed spirits. It's indeed a very challenging mission for you, but I believe in you. Good luck!"

After saying this, Gojo Satoru waved for the car to leave.

Only the two people with their own expressions remained in the car, along with Ijichi, who was driving with a blank expression.

Yue Ren finally understood why others always disliked Gojo Satoru. He now truly understood how much trouble such careless and irresponsible behavior could cause others.

A level two cursed spirit, based on what Yue Ren has learned over this period, is a cursed spirit that has reached the limit of physical combat.

They possess overwhelming strength, speed, or physical toughness compared to humans. Compared to first-level cursed spirits, they simply haven't learned to use cursed power yet, but they are beings capable of posing a life-or-death crisis to any sorcerer who has just graduated from school.

Before "Special Grade" cursed spirits were commonplace, Level 2 cursed spirits were already the limit for experienced sorcerers. To make an analogy, the giant cursed spirit that Yuta and Maki encountered on their first mission was at the Level 2 level. Although Yuta ultimately defeated the enemy with great strength, they would probably have perished on that mission if it weren't for Rika, the Special Grade vengeful spirit cursed spirit.

Although it was a mission chosen by Gojo to test Rika's condition, and he was constantly watching the battlefield to ensure their safety, it was precisely because of this that the power of that cursed spirit was demonstrated, wasn't it?

He was also afraid that the two inexperienced individuals would be killed by the cursed spirit.

Therefore, he was very puzzled as to why Gojo hadn't come along. Did something come up at the last minute? Or did he think the two of them could handle it?

That shouldn't be the case. Could it be a butterfly effect caused by my arrival? If having Yuta Otsuki participate in that exorcism was to test Rika's strength, then what about myself? I haven't shown any special power. Could it be a cursed tool? That doesn't seem impossible.

The specific reasons are unknown to Yue Ren. At this moment, he is simply trying his best to familiarize himself with all the known information to ensure that he has even the slightest chance of winning.

"Maki-nee, have you ever exorcised a level-two cursed spirit?"

"Nonsense, how could that be? A level two cursed spirit is capable of destroying a house with a single blow. I've only been at the college for a short time, and level three was my limit a while ago."

Maki was also extremely agitated at the moment. To be honest, if she were alone, she wouldn't mind challenging her limits, but now that Yue Ren was by her side, the added uncertainty made her uneasy. It wasn't that she disliked Yue Ren for being a burden, but rather that she felt she couldn't protect him in this level of danger.

She was already considered a senior, and she didn't want something like this to happen to a junior she got along with so well on their first mission.

"It seems that Mr. Gojo really thinks highly of us, giving us such a task."

"Who knows what that bastard was thinking? By the way, what about you? You weren't scared out of your wits, were you?"

"You don't need to worry about that, Maki-nee. I have a high tolerance for horror movies. I'm the kind of person who can watch one at night and still walk home alone without getting scared and incontinent."

"Oh, really? You're pretty good... Wait, who cares about your resistance to horror movies? By the way, what's the connection between exorcising cursed spirits and watching horror movies?"

After answering for a while, Maki suddenly realized that she had been tricked by the boy's words, and instantly gave him a death stare.

The Yue people simply shrugged.

"Isn't the fear of cursed spirits largely due to their terrifying appearance? Having a strong mentality is definitely an advantage, isn't it?"

"...Now that you mention it, it makes sense...You're pretty impressive in a way."

As she felt her heart gradually calming down, Maki realized that the boy was subtly helping her. This junior was surprisingly capable.

"Of course, Maki-nee, just watch me do it."

Maki rolled her eyes as she watched the Yue people boasting.

"Tch, I won't care if you cry your eyes out because you're scared by a cursed spirit."

"It's alright. If I encounter a cursed spirit like that, I'll run as fast as I can towards Maki-nee. Don't worry."

"You..."

The tension between the two gradually subsided during their casual conversation. Finally, they arrived at their destination: a temple-like building in a desolate mountain.

Since the car couldn't reach the top of the mountain, the locals waited for them at the foot of the mountain, saying they could contact them at any time if anything happened. However, the Vietnamese people felt that in this kind of situation, it would be absolutely impossible to make contact successfully if something went wrong.

Once he reached the top of the mountain, a mission prompt appeared on his retina.

"Temporary Task"

Difficulty: High

"Mission objective: Defeat a level 2 cursed spirit."

Time Limit: 1 hour

"Timer begins"

The message was extremely bad; the text was all in bright red, as if they were afraid others wouldn't know how dangerous the mission was.

But now that things have come to this point, there's no way to retreat. He can't very well say that he has a premonition that this mission is very dangerous.

Moreover, if it were before yesterday, he might have desperately tried to leave, but now, having acquired Yuanhong, he says he is absolutely not worried.

This task system only calculates based on his data panel, that is, it calculates the probability of danger he faces that cursed spirit bare-handed. This is something he discovered before, since the display was the same when he encountered that ruined cursed spirit before and after forging the cursed tool.

"Come on, show us your work. The 'account' is in your hands now."

"Leave it to me."

In response to Maki's instructions, Eshito nodded, made a gesture with one hand, and muttered something under his breath.

"Born of darkness, darker than black, cleansing away all filth and defilement."

The next moment, a semi-black, transparent liquid appeared above the building and then expanded outwards. Within seconds, a semi-transparent dome covered the area around the building, and the surrounding environment seemed to suddenly change from sunny to rainy.

"Alright, let's go."

He casually took the katana from behind him and placed it at the most suitable position for drawing his sword at his waist.

"Hmph, not bad."

After glancing at it, she gave a slight indication of approval. While feeling a little disappointed in her own aptitude as a sorcerer, Maki couldn't help but be happy for this guy, who had improved so quickly.

Holding their respective naginatas in their hands, the two cautiously explored the area, one in front of the other.

As for the process, Yue people sometimes really want to complain. Couldn't the tent have been made transparent? It's already a desolate place, and they added such a gloomy atmosphere. Putting aside everything else, the visibility is terrible, isn't it? Anyone with a little bit of a fear would be scared to death.

Seriously, exploring it is like going into a haunted house; someone with a heart condition could easily have an accident.

"Can you sense the cursed power?"

"...It seems to have come from underground. There are no visible traces of filth, but we can sense that it was waiting for us, probably lying in wait. We haven't found any other traces of cursed spirits. Maybe they were eaten?"

"Heh, that's a great idea. Well then, let's lure it out."

Maki admitted that she really didn't know what to do when facing someone hiding in the shadows.

"I'm counting on you, Maki-nee. Compared to me, who can sense the curse's power, I feel like it's more likely to ambush you."

"......Um?"

The mischievous Yue man once again received a death stare.

"I'm sorry, but Maki-nee is definitely more reliable. If I were the target, I'd probably be gone in an instant. So I'm hoping Maki-nee can act as the 'bait.' I'd be extremely grateful."

"Hmph! Good thing you know."

Maki continued deeper into the area, while Eshito explored the surroundings, appearing to be working together as a team.

This obvious tactic had an excellent effect on the low-IQ cursed spirit; at least, the thing underfoot was indeed heading towards Maki's direction in Yue Ren's perception.

It's clear now; that guy was indeed waiting for the two of them to be alone.

Yue Ren smiled, clearly understanding the other party's movements. His efforts over the past few days had indeed yielded remarkable results; a week ago, he would never have possessed this kind of perception.

Armed with his own weapons, the Vietnamese man prepared to follow the guy, making sure he wouldn't be spotted.

However, when he tried to go around to the side room, he found a situation that forced him to stop: a new cursed spirit, not as powerful as the one underground, probably only at level four.

Considering that Maki might be in danger, he didn't intend to hesitate.