The underground research area of the Eastern Folklore Research Institute.
Eiji was listening to an old professor report on the latest research progress.
"Speak plainly."
After listening to the old professor recite what sounded like gibberish for over ten minutes, Eiji finally couldn't take it anymore.
The old professor, interrupted by Eiji, paused and instinctively looked at Eiji's clear yet... confused eyes.
"My apologies, I forgot you haven't gone to university yet. I got excited and used a lot of technical jargon."
The old professor scratched his head sheepishly. It wasn't just because Eiji was the benefactor funding their research, but also because he had treated a child as an equal conversation partner.
When Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto weren't around, Eiji often displayed a maturity beyond his years. Coupled with his rapid development, if not for his still childish face, no one would have thought of Eiji as a child.
He opened his mouth, intending to retort, "If you count my past life, I might not be younger than you," but then he thought better of it, realizing that would be even more embarrassing.
Eiji helplessly closed his mouth.
This scene made the old professor chuckle heartily, clearly having imagined Eiji's attempted retort as the stubbornness of a child.
"Simply put, we've discovered a property of Cursed Energy: Cursed Energy is subjective."
The old professor's body trembled slightly after saying this.
This old professor had originally been involved in energy weapon research. Later, due to directives from Japan's "father," many projects had to be canceled.
The old professor's research project also had a significant portion of its funding cut.
Disheartened, the old professor chose to retire and live out his remaining years in peace.
Eiji, who unexpectedly received this news, had a strange idea pop into his head.
Energy? Weapons?
Cursed Energy could be considered a type of energy, a single-soldier combat energy. Cursed Tools were weapons that utilized this energy.
This idea lingered in Eiji's mind, and later, Eiji prepared a pair of glasses, similar to Maki Zenin's, that allowed ordinary people to see Cursed Spirits, and paid a visit.
The old professor, idle at home and bored, was quite frustrated. When cooking, he either cut the potatoes too thick or cut his own hand. When cleaning, he left watermarks everywhere and accidentally broke a vase.
Under his wife's disdainful gaze, the old professor could only drink tea and read newspapers every day.
Go out and play?
Having spent his entire life researching, the old professor didn't know how to play.
His children had their own jobs and he didn't want to bother them.
It was at this time that a strange young man approached him, showing him a world he had never encountered before.
This immediately piqued the old professor's interest.
After a deep conversation with Eiji, the old professor immediately agreed to help Eiji with Cursed Energy research.
At first, Eiji was very happy, until he saw the equipment procurement list the old professor handed him.
Trembling, he took out the bank card Satoru Gojo had given him years ago. Looking at the balance, Eiji, who hadn't smoked since his rebirth, suddenly felt the urge to light a cigarette and calm down.
This was also why Eiji began accepting a large number of Cursed Spirit extermination requests.
Research and development really burned money. Fortunately, Cursed Spirit extermination was also a quick way to earn money.
After examining the equipment with his subordinates, Eiji directly called Satoru Gojo.
There was no other way; some things were restricted, and others required connections.
With the equipment ready, he hired many assistants. Eiji didn't have to worry about this; the old professor found them all himself.
They captured a few Grade 4 Cursed Spirits for research, purchased several Cursed Spirit containment devices, and hired two low-level Jujutsu Sorcerers to manage the Cursed Spirits.
The entire process was so expensive that Eiji almost wanted to quit.
"Cursed Energy is inherently subjective, isn't it? Otherwise, how could we control them?"
Eiji looked at the old professor speechlessly.
You spent so much money just to discover this?
Hearing this, the old professor sighed.
"Yes, Cursed Energy is inherently subjective. What does that make us who have studied materialism our entire lives feel?"
After speaking, the old man sadly stroked the Divine Dog beside Eiji.
His worldview and values, which he had believed in for decades, had been shattered. It took the old professor quite some time to adapt.
"You can see them now?"
Eiji was somewhat surprised. Although the old professor was wearing glasses now, they were reading glasses, not the Cursed Tool glasses used to observe Cursed Spirits.
"That's right. This is also why I said Cursed Energy is subjective just now."
"Once I subjectively understand Cursed Energy, I can gradually begin to observe it."
Eiji found it hard to believe. If one truly understood Cursed Spirits well enough to observe them, then why did Maki Zenin in the original story still need to wear glasses to observe Cursed Spirits?
She had received education related to Cursed Spirits and had even killed a large number of them. Dare you say Maki Zenin didn't understand Cursed Spirits?
Nue was summoned from his own shadow. As expected, the old professor didn't notice the additional summoned spirit in front of him.
It was the Divine Dogs' action that made the old professor aware of the anomaly.
"Judging by the little guy's behavior, have you summoned a new summoned spirit?"
"That's right. If you can really see cursed spirits and summoned spirits by understanding cursed energy as you said, then why can't you see Nue?"
"Because I don't know Nue's appearance, size, or the nature of its cursed energy. My mind can't picture Nue, so I naturally can't observe it. But I knew the appearance of the Divine Dogs the first time we met."
Hearing this, Eiji remembered Nanami teaching Itadori to observe cursed remnants in the original work.
The cursed remnants were there, but Itadori couldn't see them until Nanami taught him. After Nanami taught him, Itadori could see them.
"Kid, do you know Schrödinger's cat?"
"I've heard of it."
"You can research it when you have time. Now, let's look at the results of my research."
With that, the old professor led Eiji to a laboratory.
Inside the laboratory was a metal box containing a level 4 cursed spirit emanating a chilling aura.
"Matsushita-kun, begin."
"Yes, Professor."
After speaking, the researcher named Matsushita flipped a switch.
The space inside the box seemed to ripple slightly, and Eiji could see the air inside the box distorting faintly.
The level 4 cursed spirit, radiating cold, began to wail in pain.
"What is this?"
"An electromagnetic wave."
"Electromagnetic wave?"
"That's right. You can think of it as us heating the experimental apparatus with this electromagnetic wave."
"An induction cooker?"
No, that thing inside was a box.
"A microwave?"
"...It's different, but you can think of it that way if you want."
Seemingly sensing Eiji's confusion, the old professor continued.
"At the beginning, we had a question: why can cursed spirits penetrate matter, yet still physically strike and destroy it?"
Eiji recalled the cursed spirit that phased through the ceiling and walls to injure Megumi Fushiguro at the start of the story, and then the one that appeared through a wall and grabbed the child to threaten Nobara.
"When a young researcher proposed an idealistic viewpoint, we quickly verified it and found that cursed spirits also observe themselves in this 'idealistic' manner."
"It believes it can phase through walls, so it phases through walls. It believes it can touch things, so it touches them. Later, we conducted a test: a researcher without cursed tool glasses fired a gun, and the bullet passed straight through the cursed spirit. However, when an observer wearing glasses fired, the bullet created a hole in the cursed spirit's head."
"This further convinced us that cursed spirits and cursed energy exist through idealism."
"However, this idealism has significant limitations. It cannot exceed their cognition, otherwise, the cursed spirit will be unable to maintain its body and will collapse."
"By studying the cursed remnants left behind after cursed spirits dissipate, we discovered the special energy that constitutes cursed spirits."
"Later, we began to research this special energy and found a way to interfere with it."
"Take this cursed spirit, for example."
The old professor pointed to the cursed spirit in the laboratory, which was already beginning to dissipate.
"According to the cursed spirit guide you gave me, this cursed spirit was born from people's aversion to extreme cold. After studying it multiple times, we found that while observing it, applying... electromagnetic heating can disrupt the stability of its energy structure, thereby killing it."
After thinking for a moment, the old professor decided against using technical jargon and opted for the explanation Eiji related to a microwave.
"You didn't use cursed energy?"
"No cursed energy was used."
Hearing the old professor's affirmative reply, and because he genuinely didn't detect any cursed energy fluctuations from this large "microwave," Eiji believed him.
They had indeed found a way to harm cursed spirits using science without employing cursed energy.
Regardless, it was a good start.
-----------
Translation by: randomtranslator.com
Read 2500+ original & fanfic translations and Translate for Free at: randomtranslator.com