twenty four

September 8, 2018, 4:00 a.m.

Anchor point descends.

The anchor point is Jiairi Glass, and the landing place is her studio.

It was already dark outside, but the lights were still on inside the room. A doctor in a white coat was on night duty, dissecting bodies. The recent increase in the death toll had forced her, who already had little time to rest, to work overtime.

Because she was too busy, she didn't have time to think about the meaning, because she was the only one who possessed the reversal spell.

Everything fell silent, with only the sound of the scalpel in her hand breaking through flesh. It was a very special sound that she had heard thousands of times.

I have become very skilled at dissection, analysis, and reporting.

No matter how sociable and lively a person was during his lifetime, after his death the only person who would accompany him would be the doctor, which is like a cold joke.

"It's almost time to wrap up."

Suddenly, her body sensed the chill of being watched by an unknown person before her consciousness did. Ieiri Naoko clenched the scalpel tightly, pretending to notice nothing without making a sound.

Is the barrier at the technical college made of paper? The last exchange meeting was also invaded here. Is she the target this time?

"Glass."

The voice was hoarse and intermittent, with poor control of volume and speed, and sounded very much like a gong.

But she knew who it was.

"It's Hipper. You're here so late—"

Having relaxed her guard, Ieiri Shoko put the scalpel aside, took off her gloves and turned around to chat with the young and interesting junior.

“…”

The girl clutched the wound at the side of her neck with one hand, the other dangling from her trouser leg. A laceration ripped across her front, slanting from the side of her neck to her waist and abdomen, deep enough to reveal the bone and the faint glimpse of her internal organs beneath. The location of the wound on her neck affected the proper functioning of her vocal cords. Flesh and skin were twitching, and blood gushed out, flowing down her skin and covering the dried bloodstains. The blood oozing from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears had already turned a dark brown, though fresh blood continued to pour out.

The pair of eyes that resembled Gojo Satoru's were now revealed, and the blood seeping in stained the blue with red.

Like a terrifying bloody man or a broken puppet, he could still find her quietly despite suffering such a fatal injury. Is the person standing in front of her really a human?

"Are you working overtime?"

In this situation, she was still talking about irrelevant things. Her snow-white eyelashes blinked slowly, stained with blood, like a monster in a grotesque story showing her inhuman side to the frightened humans.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

The pair of eyes that brought such horror and uneasiness to her closed, and the girl leaned towards her, hanging on her, her breathing barely audible.

She felt the clothes on her chest were soaked and sticky, and the discomfort was spreading.

She saw a series of bloody footprints on the snow-white tile floor behind Hipper.

Oh...I have to work overtime.

Let’s inform Gojo Satoru first, he’s very worried about Hipper.

*

September 8, 2018, 4:02 AM. Just minutes into his sleep, Gojo Satoru was woken by the ringing of his cell phone. He turned around and picked up the phone to answer it.

"Glass, I just fell asleep."

"Satoru, you'd better come over here now. Your student is dying and there's something wrong with his wound."

The man's snow-white eyelashes trembled slightly, and he lifted the eye mask on the pillow, sat up from the bed, took off his clothes and put on his uniform.

"The remaining cursed power matches that of Ryoumen Sukuna."

The next second the person on the bed disappeared.

Ieiri Naoko has already placed the patient on the operating table, observing and calculating her bleeding volume. A blood transfusion is urgent.

There were sounds of a man's footsteps behind her, but Ieiri Naoko didn't even turn her head, and her voice was a little distorted through the mask.

"Do you know her blood type?"

"I don't know."

“…”

That's right, she was panicking. No teacher with a sound moral compass would know a student's blood type. That wasn't just understanding; that was voyeurism.

"There is still some O-type blood left in the blood bank. Let's pray that she doesn't have one of those rarer blood types." Jia Ru Nishiko walked hurriedly but not in a panic. She had long been accustomed to racing against death.

"Go get the blood bag, don't just stand there."

At four in the morning, she couldn't expect anyone else to be her assistant except Gojo Satoru, and there was nothing better than a runner who could teleport.

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the blood bag fell into her hands.

Next——

Ieiri Naoko leaned over and carefully picked out the pieces of clothing from the wound and stripped her clothes off.

"Satoru, it's so rude to stare at a student like that."

I know you're worried, but it depends on the situation.

"She's asleep."

The implication is that she doesn't know.

“…”

She actually thought that Gojo Satoru would considerately avoid her, but she overestimated his bottom line.

Although the words sounded rather rude, she more or less guessed what Gojo Satoru was thinking - he wanted to see with his own eyes what had hurt his cherished student, to bear witness to the wound, and to analyze it thoroughly.

His body was naked again, and the wound that had cut through his body was fully exposed. The wound had a smooth edge, and the attack was sharp enough, but with Ryoumen Sukuna's current strength, it seemed that it was not enough to cause this level of damage to Hipper.

Judging by the number of fingers Yuji Itadori has consumed, Ryomen Sukuna is still a long way from regaining his peak strength. Hipper is, after all, a Special Grade, and a student of Gojo Satoru, so defeating the current Curse King is no problem.

So, what's going on now?

The one who injured Hipper was undoubtedly Ryomen Sukuna. The filth of the wound was conspicuous and overbearing, and he did not try to hide the scars he left at all.

Are there two Ryomen Sukuna in this world? Are you kidding? That's a bit too cold, isn't it?

“More than that.”

Gojo Satoru suddenly spoke up, interrupting her thoughts, and she didn't understand what he meant.

More than that.

How could he forget this? Since there is more than one Gojo Satoru, there must be more than one Ryomen Sukuna.

If fate had destined him to fight Ryoumen Sukuna, then there would be as many Ryoumen Sukuna as there were Gojo Satoru. Oh, why did I only think of something so simple now?

Yeah, why did you think of it just now?

His students were almost about to die in places he couldn't see. It was like this with Yuji Itadori, and so was Hipper. One by one, they died quietly in places he couldn't see, couldn't touch, and couldn't catch up with.

Although he once said that sorcerers are alone when they die, they must be prepared to die.

but……

If only I could…

No, if...

No ifs.

“…”

After all, he is their teacher. Even though he has already accepted the result that his students will die, he is still angry when he really faces all this.

The overwhelming rage was gradually pulling at his rationality, but the flow of the cursed energy around him was still orderly.

Strangely balanced, he had long since accepted death, from...

It started from the day Geto Suguru died.

His students are still too weak. Even if they have great potential, they can be killed by some "accidents" now. He will not protect them forever.

Putting aside Itadori Yuji, Hipper's strength had always been a problem, like an unfathomable black hole. He kept raising the threshold requirements, and Hipper always achieved them without much effort, as if... she had once reached a height that others could not reach, that was insurmountable.

So she was walking the path she had walked before, and because she had walked it before, she was already familiar with it and it came naturally.

So why was he seriously injured like this? With such a cute face, such a focus on image, and the image of a genius idol, what could be more important than all this that would make you risk your life to accomplish it?

Hipper, don't you have too many little secrets? Can you share one or two with the teacher?

The wounds gradually recovered under the reversal technique, but it seemed that not all injuries were healed.

Both of their eyes were focused on Hipper's hands.

Black, ominous threads spread from the fingertips to the wrists. They did not come from Ryomen Sukuna, but from something more secret and dangerous.

"Extensive organ failure, necrosis in both hands, difficulty seeing, and probably severe damage to the brain nerves."

The reversal technique is ineffective against these injuries due to some unknown obstruction.

In short, the person survived, but his life span was questionable and his strength was greatly reduced, probably to the level of level two.

I hope she can accept this result calmly. For a genius, everything is within her reach, but suddenly she loses everything...can she still stand up?

"Get out. I need to clean her up."

After running errands, Jia Ru Xianzi kicked him out rudely.

Gojo Satoru retreated outside the door and sat on a chair, thinking about how to pry some secrets out of the genius.

Coercion or inducement? It seems that there is nothing that can attract geniuses.

Seduction? No.

Beat him up? Hiss… No, I’m so weak now, I’ll cry if I get punched, right?

“…”

There's really no way to deal with a genius. Hipper won't listen to any persuasion, so we can only see if she has a conscience.

Does she really have a conscience?

Oh, yes, yes, there's one more thing. Hipper didn't learn the reversal technique the day she and Nazori switched bodies. Is there something she can't learn? Oh well, Gojo-sensei still has to show up. Is it that hard to bow down and ask for help when you encounter a problem you can't solve?