At 23:14 on February 8, 2006, a female office worker named Renshi posted a message on the forum, saying that she took a private railway and arrived at a station she had never seen before - "Kiratsuki Station".
The five passengers on the private train had all fallen asleep and could not be woken up no matter what she did. She went to the conductor's room for help, but found that it was completely blocked off and she could not see anything inside. No one came out to respond to her call.
Renshi decided to get off the bus.
Although netizens on the forum strongly advised him not to do so, Lian Shi was unwilling to sit there and wait for death, and insisted on getting out of the car.
At 00:09 on February 9, 2006, Renji posted that Kisaragi Station was empty, there was no timetable, and no return vehicles. She called the police for help, but the call was hung up as if it was a prank. She called her parents for help, but her parents in Osaka had no idea where Kisaragi Station was.
At 0:36, Renshi decided to walk out of the station and take a taxi home.
Netizens expressed their support and urged her to go home quickly.
At 01:14, Renmi walked along the railway for a long time without seeing anyone. She heard the faint sound of bells and drums behind her, as if some kind of festival was being held. She decided to leave quickly.
At 01:31, Ren Shi accidentally fell on her way out and was bleeding and injured. Fortunately, she met a kind person who was willing to give her a ride home. She had no other choice but to get into the stranger's car.
At 02:06, Lianshi sent the last message: The car kept going up the mountain and the driver didn't say a word. I was very uneasy and decided to find a chance to escape.
After that, there was no news of Lian Shi.
The post in the forum eventually became a hit, and the incident spread to every corner of the Internet overnight. The next day, the police finally took action and began looking for the woman who went missing on her way home from get off work.
A week later, Renmi is still missing and the situation continues to escalate. Under pressure, the police have to transfer the "Kisaragi Station" incident to the Jujutsu Association. The Jujutsu Association quickly issued an order that special-class sorcerer Gojo Satoru and special-class sorcerer Geto Summer Oil be in charge of the "Kisaragi Station" incident and must investigate the truth.
…
Three figures appeared in the subway station late at night.
Al, who was wearing a red scarf, complained quietly, "It's so cold."
Gojo Satoru yawned lazily: "That white-collar worker named Renshi took the subway at this station?"
"right."
My partner Geto Xia Yu, who had read the mission information carefully, replied, "It's right here. She should have taken the last subway. It's a privately-owned subway, so the last one that passes by at 11:30 pm is the one that goes by."
Tokyo's national subway starts running at around 4:30 in the morning and ends at around 12:30 at night. The operating hours of private subways vary slightly. For example, the subway on this line ends earlier than most national subways.
As they were talking, the last subway train slowly stopped in front of them.
Al looked up at the timetable on the electronic screen and said, "This is the last one."
As an online surfing enthusiast, he was very interested in the Kisaragi Station incident, so he took the initiative to join the work for the first time.
Gojo Satoru put his hands in his pockets and said idly, "So, try not to take the last subway, the last bus, the last Shinkansen... Just like the last toilet in the school is the most likely to be cursed by people, just avoid it."
Xia Yujie said helplessly: "Stop talking nonsense and get in the car."
He was the first to enter the subway, followed closely by Al, and Gojo Satoru followed closely at the end. After a while, the subway door closed automatically, and the last deserted subway slowly departed.
Al looked around and saw that besides them, there was only a drunk man sleeping soundly in the carriage they were in. The whole carriage was filled with the strong smell of alcohol coming from him.
Xia Yujie found a seat and sat down, flipping through the documents and said:
"Renshi's home was at the next stop. Normally, she only needed to take the subway for four minutes to get off at the next stop, but on the day of the accident, the subway ran for a full 20 minutes before stopping."
Al asked, "Did we stop at Kisaragi Station?"
“Yes.”
The blond-haired, blue-eyed boy counted the network map above the carriage. He checked the names of the stations one by one, and counted until the last station, but still couldn't find the so-called Ruzuki Station.
As expected, just like the results of the "Window" survey, there is no place called "Kirsukuri Station" in Tokyo.
"Tell me, if everything Renshi said in the post is true, then what kind of place is Kisaragi Station?"
A place that doesn't exist, but does exist.
Gojo Satoru held the pull tab on the subway and replied, "Perhaps it is the domain of a cursed spirit."
"Domain?"
"It's something similar to a barrier, a special space created by magical power. There are many kinds of domains, but this one... let's put it this way, when I open the classroom door, I see the classroom. But when you open the same classroom door, you see a forest. This Kisaragi Station is probably something similar, in short, it's a very special space."
Al understood immediately, "Isn't it a bit like the inner world and outer world in Silent Hill?"
"Oh, that's about right." Gojo Satoru smiled, "But, generally speaking, those who can expand their domains must be at least level one cursed spirits."
Xia Yujie agreed, "Yes, the enemy this time is at least level one, maybe even special level. The higher-ups gave us this mission with the level of the cursed spirit in mind. However, if 'Kirsukiri Station' is really the cursed spirit's spawning ground, and it's always open somewhere waiting for prey to walk in, then we must strictly follow its steps when entering this barrier."
Strictly follow the steps of the curse spirit?
Al thought for a moment, "Does it mean that I need to meet certain conditions to enter? For example, the subway time?"
"That's right." Xia Yujie smiled and said, "How smart."
Al: “…”
The atmosphere between them recently has subtly changed into a strange state of "You are my son", "No, you are my son". Ever since using the vest of "Minamoto no Raikou", Al can't help but put on a layer of patriarchal filter when looking at Gojo Getsu Ieki - it has nothing to do with which vest he wears, because Al himself thinks that way in his heart, so no matter what vest he changes, his attitude will not change much.
Coincidentally, high school students have the same idea.
The Al with long purple hair is fine, but the Al with blond hair and blue eyes is definitely the character of his stupid son. How could he be allowed to turn the tables and become a father?
Four minutes later, the subway arrived safely at the next station, and the two young lovers wrapped in down jackets got on the train, chatting and laughing.
The curly-haired girl whispered to her boyfriend, "That's great, there are others besides us."
The boy said helplessly: "I told you not to be afraid. I'm here. What do you have to be afraid of?"
They whispered a few more words and then hugged each other sweetly. The three high school students: "..."
"That's not good."
"That's not good."
"That's not good."
The subway stopped at a very normal station, and two passengers got on who couldn't be more normal. This was not a good thing.
Sure enough, they sat safely until the last stop, until the staff walked into the carriage and started mopping the floor, and the three people had to get off the train.
A gust of cold wind blew by, announcing the end of today's investigation.
Al muttered, "This is a big crisis. If we can't reach Kisaragi Station, we won't be able to conduct any investigation."
It felt like he had made all the necessary preparations but had hit a cotton ball with a punch - well, he hadn't made any necessary preparations, he had just joined the team at the last second before Gojo Getao set off.
Kagome pondered, "It seems that the condition for entering the realm is not just the 'last train'... Also, if it is so easy to enter the realm of the cursed spirit, Renshi can't be the only missing person. Maybe we should ask the subway company to cooperate with our work, for example, let the subway that Renshi takes run the same route at the same time."
Al Dao: "The day of the accident was midnight on February 8, 2006? I remember that day was Wednesday, and today is Thursday. Maybe the cursed realm is only open on Wednesdays every week."
Gojo Satoru thought, "If that's the case, then it could be open only on the 8th of every month, or even longer, once a year, so the next time it opens would be on February 8th of next year."
Al suddenly realized: "Then let's be bolder. Curse Spirit only opens once every ten years, so we should wait ten years before coming back."
Xia Yujie: “…”
Why don't you just open the shop once every 100 years? He just wanted to live another 100 years.
That sounds terrible.
The next day, the third day, the fourth day... the high school students reported to the station regardless of wind and snow. With the cooperation of the private railway company, the last subway they took perfectly replicated the procedure of the day when Renshi had the accident. The time, subway, carriages, etc. were exactly the same.
But unfortunately, they never reached Kisaragi Station.
On this day, they were looking through past mission data in the high school's data room, trying to find some similar cases. Suddenly, Kagome stopped and said, "Speaking of which, should we go visit Ms. Renshi's residence? Maybe we can get something unexpected."
Al and Gojo Satoru turned to look at him at the same time. Al tapped his eyes and said, "Jay, I think it's better for you to get some sleep."
There were quite obvious dark circles under Xia Yujie's eyes, obviously he hadn't had enough rest.
Xia Yujie shook his head: "No, let's set off now. Kisaragi Station is always a hidden danger. We must solve it as soon as possible to prevent more ordinary people from losing their lives."
Renmi is from Osaka, and her parents live in her hometown in Osaka. When she was working in Tokyo, she rented a house with her high school classmates. When Al and his two friends found an apartment, the roommate was preparing to move.
"...Yes, because the rent is very expensive, I have no choice but to find a new roommate to rent a house with."
She smiled bitterly, feeling a little heavy-hearted.
After all, the missing Renshi was her high school classmate and roommate, and they had been very close over the years.
"She's been missing for two weeks, so she's probably in a dangerous situation now."
Two weeks had passed, and people had long given up hope that Renshi would survive.
My roommate said, "Most of Renshi's belongings have been taken away by her parents. After I move out, the remaining things will probably be thrown away..."
She opened Renshi's room and found it was empty, with only some inexpensive and meaningless things like table lamps.
Gojo Satoru took a quick look and shook his head.
"No trace of the curse."
Al asked, "Sister, did Miss Renshi contact you before she disappeared?"
"have."
The roommate took out her phone and said, "We chatted during the day, but I was asleep when she said the subway she was riding was a little strange. I guess she posted on the forum because I didn't respond."
Al took the phone, scrolled through a few pages, and suddenly noticed a strange photo.
"What is this?"
"This one?" The roommate recalled, "I think she picked it up on the construction site of their company. It looks like a human finger. She thought it was very novel and sent it to me. It looks disgusting."
——Look, does it look like something cursed? [Picture]
“…”
Indeed!
Gojo Satoru and Geto Summer also came over to take a look. The photo showed a strip of object wrapped in talisman paper, with a black nail faintly visible on it.
The young sorcerers were slightly stunned.
Although they had never seen this name... but the appearance of this thing was obviously a cursed object, not to mention that it was wrapped in a very orthodox talisman paper!
Xia Yujie quickly asked: "Where is this thing now?!"
The roommate thought for a moment and said, "I heard that everyone was feeling uneasy, so Renshi suggested putting the things back where they were. I think they were thrown into the hill behind the construction site."
They asked her for her detailed address and called Yemozhengdao. Sure enough, they learned that a collapse occurred at the construction site about half a month ago.
Two workers died and many were injured, and the incident was characterized as an accident, but in fact, the Jujutsu world recovered one of Sukuna's fingers from the construction site.
Al and the other two certainly knew about the incident at the construction site half a month ago, because the recovered Sukuna finger was now in the technical high school. What they didn't expect was that the two incidents could be connected together.
Xia Yujie thought: "That is to say, Renshi went to the construction site on a business trip during the day before the accident and touched Sukuna's finger."
Gojo Satoru said, "She came to Kisaragi Station, most likely because she was contaminated by the aura of a cursed object."
Al asked them, "Are we going back to the Polytechnic?"
"Um."
"Walk."
That night, with special permission from the old principal, they saw the legendary Sukuna Finger for the first time.
Sukuna, the cursed king from a thousand years ago, is said to have four arms, four eyes, a cruel and bloodthirsty personality. After his death, his twenty fingers turned into special cursed objects and scattered throughout Japan.
The biggest common feature of things that can be called special cursed objects is that they cannot be destroyed by external forces. This is why Sukuna's finger has been preserved for a thousand years.
I heard that the construction site was originally a school. When the school was demolished, a shrine was unexpectedly discovered underground of the school, dedicated to an unknown person, and the finger was found in the shrine.
The old principal said, "When the sorcerers arrived, the construction site was full of cursed spirits that were attracted by Sukuna's fingers. The accident at the construction site was also caused by the cursed spirits."
Yeyao Zhengdao asked sternly, "You want to take it on the subway?"
"Yes." Xia Youjie replied: "Perhaps this finger is the key to entering the realm."
The old principal was silent for a long time, then shook his head: "The meaning of Sukuna's finger is unusual. If you want to take this thing on a mission, you must get approval from the higher-ups."
Yega Zhengdao said: "I can apply to the higher-ups, but given their cautious nature, they will most likely not agree."
Xia Yujie frowned slightly.
Al suggested, "Master, it would be enough if I were to be contaminated by the aura of the cursed object, right? It is not necessary to carry it with me."
“Yes.”
Gojo Satoru pinched that finger, and tapped Al's forehead with a bit of disgust, and then tapped Geto's forehead. Through his six eyes, he clearly saw that Al and Geto's foreheads were stained with Sukuna's cursed power.
Oh, and it got on his hands too.
The three high school students thanked the old principal and the class teacher. They looked at the time and took the auxiliary supervision car to the station as usual.
Al and his two companions were full of expectations, but to their disappointment, they still did not arrive at the Kisaragi Station that night.
They got off the train at the next stop. After a while, the assistant supervisor drove to the next stop. Seeing them standing together in silence, he couldn't help but comfort them, "It failed today... It doesn't matter. At least all the passengers who took the subway during this time are safe!"
Al nodded in agreement.
"You're right, Mr. Ota."
Wednesday.
11:30 pm.
Gojo Satoru and Geto appeared at the station again. Al, who had transformed into a spirit, said with emotion, "We are really stubborn."
The indomitable spirit of the sorcerers is really worth learning for a otaku like him.
Gojo Satoru yawned and asked him, "Al, if I transform into a spirit, will it be warmer than usual?"
"Objectively speaking, no," Al replied seriously, "but spiritualization will give me considerable psychological comfort."
Gojo Satoru was puzzled and asked, “Come to think of it, why are Heroic Spirits so sensitive to changes in temperature?”
Al thought for a moment and answered seriously, "Maybe it's because I'm a fragile homebody."
"..." Gojo Satoru sincerely complimented him: "That's what I like about you."
They got on the bus while talking. It was the same carriage, but today there were three passengers. Two of them were asleep in their seats, and the other was drunk and was sleeping soundly on a chair.
...The most unchanging scenery on the bus is indeed this group of drunkards.
At this time, the cursed aura on the high school students still hadn't dissipated.
Xia Yujie found a seat and sat down at random. He looked hopeless and uninterested. He hadn't said much tonight. As the subway slowly started moving, Xia Yujie leaned against the window and closed his eyes.
The carriage was as quiet as usual. Gojo Satoru lowered his head to play with his mobile phone for a while, and suddenly glanced out the window as if he had realized something.
His eyes behind his sunglasses stared straight out the dark window for a while, then he lowered his head to look at the sleeping Geto.
It was as if Geto Suguru had obsessive-compulsive disorder. He couldn't sleep or eat until the incident was resolved. He hadn't had a good rest recently and unexpectedly fell asleep in the carriage.
At this time, four minutes had passed.
The subway has not yet reached the next station.
Gojo Satoru's eyes behind the glasses became brighter and brighter, like a ferocious beast waking up from a doze, and his whole aura became eager and aggressive.
He said excitedly, "Al, don't cancel the spirit transformation."
"receive."
Of course, Al was aware of the unusual atmosphere.
"Only one person was awake."
——This may be the key to entering the realm of life!
"...Je-chan, Je-chan..."
"Master!"
"Jay..."
"Jay, wake up."
Xia Yujie suddenly woke up, "Ah... Sorry, have we arrived yet?"
He stood up reflexively, but found that the door of the carriage was open and it was pitch black outside. It didn't seem like the usual scenery. Gojo Satoru, who was sitting next to him, was as still as a mountain and had no intention of getting up and getting off the car.
The blond-haired, blue-eyed young man has already taken human form and is waking up the other people in the carriage one by one. However, the other three people in the carriage show no signs of waking up.
Xia Yujie's eyes widened, "We are——"
Gojo Satoru turned to look at him and smiled, "Kirsaragi Station, we're here."
Xia Yujie: “!!!”
During the time he was asleep, the subway ran non-stop for twenty minutes and finally stopped in this dark station.
Al came back and told them, "I can't wake up the others. Masters, do you want to go to the commander's room?"
"Okay." Gojo Satoru finally stood up and turned his wrist: "Let's go."
They passed through several empty carriages and arrived at the conductor's cabin. It was just as described in Lian Shi's post. The glass was tightly taped with yellow tape, and it was impossible to see what was going on inside.
Al knocked on the glass. "Anyone there?"
Of course there was no response.
So Berserker turned around and asked the two hosts, "Do you want to open it and take a look?"
Gojo Satoru and Geto Kagome looked at each other and nodded.
Al grasped the door handle that was locked from the inside, and with a feat of great strength, he removed the door entirely.
“…”
With a click, they finally saw the condition of the commander's cabin - there was no commander's cabin at all on the other side of the door.
There was only pitch-black darkness before my eyes.
Gojo Satoru whistled and said with great interest, "This is just right!"
The taste of horror movies, isn’t it here?
Al was not surprised by this development. He asked, "Do you want to get off? If you do, it's better to get off from our side of the train. But what about the passengers on the train?"
Gojo Satoru thought, "Well, passengers, let's put the passengers here."
Kagome Kagome agreed: "Five passengers who were in the same carriage with Ms. Renmi woke up and found that they had slept all the way to the terminal. After that, they went home. It was not until the police came to inquire that they realized that someone was missing from the carriage. It should be okay to leave it alone."
As long as you don't get off the train and wait patiently for the subway to start again, or simply fall asleep on the subway, you can leave the realm of the cursed spirits alive.
Renshi's problem was probably that she chose to get off the bus.
But just in case, they took photos of the three passengers before getting off the bus.
Ruyue Station was empty and exuded a cold and damp smell. The various facilities in the station were very old, and it looked like an old station from 20 or 30 years ago. The timetable was empty, and the signposts were rusted and the words on them were blurred. The street lights on both sides were even worse, with seven out of ten being broken. The whole station looked very eerie.
This is Kisaragi Station.
They stared at the sign for a while, and Xia Yujie said, "There are two things in Ms. Renshi's post that really caught my attention."
He slept soundly for twenty minutes, and having successfully invaded the realm of the cursed spirit, he was now feeling very alert.
"One was the mysterious man she met as she walked out along the railway, and the other was the sound of bells and drums she heard as she left."
I encountered a strange man after I walked out, and the sound of drums that seemed to be a festival was obviously coming from the opposite direction.
He suggested: "My suggestion is to split the troops into two groups. One group stays and waits for the sound of drums and bells, and the other group leaves along Miss Renshi's route to see if they can run into that man. I..."
Gojo Satoru said first, "That's fine. I can do it alone. Jay, Al, you go find Renshi, and I'll stay here to see what the festival is like."
Xia Yujie frowned and said, "No, Wu. The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light. It is better not to be alone in the current situation. My suggestion is that you two form a group and I form a group. Anyway, I have a lot of cursed spirits here to serve as my teammates."
Al objected, "No, I don't trust any of you to act alone."
Gojo Satoru and Kagome Gyou were both stunned, and then they heard Al calmly say, "You two form a team and stay here to wait for the bells and drums. I'll go out and take a look."
Gojo Satoru said in dissatisfaction: "What do you mean? Do you think I am weaker than you?"
The blond-haired, blue-eyed boy shook his head.
"It's not a question of who is stronger or weaker. I am a Heroic Spirit, and you are humans. I can go to places you can't go to, and touch things you can't touch, so I am enough."
Without waiting for them to refute, he said, "Besides, we still have the team channel to exchange information. In the worst case scenario, Jake can use the Command Spell to force me to be with you. Right?"
“…”
In the end, Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru also agreed to this grouping.
Al walked out of the station along Lianshi's route. After the remaining street lights disappeared, only the bright moon in the sky illuminated the road beneath his feet.
The railway seems to never end, stretching away into the distance.
Al walked alone for more than an hour, during which time, Geto Suguru told him through the team channel: "The festival has appeared."
"receive."
There was no further news after that.
Al walked for a while and suddenly saw a car parked in front of him.
An orange-haired boy wearing a black windbreaker and a black hat was leaning against the car door, seemingly having been waiting for him for a long time.
Al paused for a long time before he asked doubtfully, "...Hit?"
The orange-haired boy turned to look at him with a dull expression. A familiar clear voice rang in his ears: "How many times have I told you not to come to Yokohama to find me? Did you not listen to me once?"
Al opened his mouth, but no words came out.
The young man frowned and said, "What kind of outfit are you wearing? Are you cosplaying some new character? I've told you not to use your special abilities in Yokohama, eh? Forget it, you won't listen anyway... Get in the car, I'll take you home."
“…”
The orange-haired boy opened the driver's seat and got in, saying unhappily, "Don't come here again. This is not the world you should enter."
Al remained standing.
The orange-haired boy waited patiently for a few seconds before he said, "Get in the car, hurry up!"
Al: “…”
It tastes just right.