Chapter 1: The Culling Games Survivor Enrolls in J High
The sky over Seoul was a clear, peaceful blue. It was completely normal. No giant, floating cursed spirits. No domains expanding. No buildings being flattened by a four-armed King of Curses.
For seventeen-year-old Han Ji-woo, it should have been a perfect day. But as he stood in front of the massive gates of Jae Won High School, his legs were trembling.
'Just breathe, Ji-woo,' he told himself, adjusting the straps of his backpack. 'It's just high school. It's not the Culling Games. Nobody here is going to try and eat your soul.'
A few months ago, a simple vacation to Japan had turned into a literal nightmare. Kenjaku had plunged the country into the Culling Games, and Ji-woo, a completely normal, often-bullied kid, had been forcibly awakened to Cursed Energy. He had barely survived by the skin of his teeth. After Yuji Itadori finally defeated Sukuna and the dust settled, Ji-woo thought his life would return to normal.
But the heavy, dark Cursed Energy humming beneath his skin never left. Worse, he had no idea how to control it. All he knew was that it made him physically stronger than a tank. He had transferred to J High hoping for a quiet, fresh start away from the bullies at his old school.
He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the heavy "aura" leaking from his body, and stepped inside.
Ji-woo double-checked his schedule. Architecture Department. He pushed open the heavy wooden door to his new classroom. Instantly, the smell of sweat, sawdust, and raw testosterone hit him like a physical wall.
The room didn't look like a classroom; it looked like a training camp for underground fighters. Desks were pushed aside, and everywhere he looked, giant, muscular teenagers covered in scars and tattoos were lifting weights or glaring at each other.
The heavy metal door clicked shut behind him.
The entire room went dead silent.
Every single head snapped toward the door. Ji-woo swallowed hard. His old bullying trauma immediately flared up. 'Oh no. I've walked into a tiger's den.'
Seven of the most intimidating guys he had ever seen—the top brass of the Burn Knuckles—slowly stood up and surrounded him. They towered over him, their shadows casting over his nervous face. To them, Ji-woo just looked like a skinny, trembling transfer student, but their instincts were screaming that something about the air around him felt incredibly heavy.
One of them, a guy with a terrifying scowl, stepped forward and clamped a massive, calloused hand onto Ji-woo's shoulder.
"Hey, new kid," he growled, leaning in close. "Relax. We just need to know one thing."
Ji-woo's heart hammered against his ribs. His body subconsciously tightened, a microscopic spark of black Cursed Energy flickering deep in his muscles, ready to reinforce his bones just in case he needed to punch a hole through the wall to escape.
"Are you..." the Burn Knuckle narrowed his eyes, "...a bad person, or a good person?"
Ji-woo blinked. The Cursed Energy fizzled out. What kind of question is that?
"I-I'm a good person!" Ji-woo stammered, raising his hands defensively. "I'm just a new transfer student! I don't want any trouble!"
The tension in the room instantly vanished.
The intimidating giant let out a booming laugh and slapped Ji-woo on the back—a hit that would have winded a normal kid, but Ji-woo barely felt it thanks to his enhanced body.
"A good person! Perfect!" the guy grinned, his scary face suddenly looking ridiculously cheerful. "You passed. Come on, we need to take you to the Boss."
"The... Boss?" Ji-woo asked, letting himself be dragged down the hallway.
"Yeah. Our leader. He took out the old trash running this district a month ago and made this place ours. He hates bad guys more than anything."
They led him to a clearing behind the school building. There, doing one-handed pushups with a giant concrete block resting on his back, was a guy covered in tattoos, with a fierce, uncompromising glare.
It was Vasco.
"Boss!" one of the Burn Knuckles called out. "Got a new transfer for the Architecture Department! He says he's a good guy!"
Vasco stopped his pushups. He easily shrugged the concrete block off his back, standing up to his full, intimidating height. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and locked eyes with Ji-woo.
Ji-woo froze. Vasco wasn't a cursed spirit, but his pure, unyielding intensity was terrifying.
Because Ji-woo was nervous, his control slipped. Just for a fraction of a second, the raw, heavy pressure of Kenjaku's Cursed Energy leaked out of him, distorting the air around his feet.
Vasco's eyes widened slightly. His instincts—honed by thousands of street fights—screamed at him. The guy standing in front of him looked like a nervous nerd, but he felt like a natural disaster.
Vasco took a slow, deliberate step forward, cracking his knuckles. He stopped right in front of Ji-woo, his shadow completely enveloping the new kid.
"You say you're a good person," Vasco said, his voice deep and serious. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out, holding it up between them. "Then do you like chocolate milk?"