00:00The world dissolved into a murky, primordial suit.
00:03Fushiguro Megumi's consciousness, usually a sharp and focused blade,
00:07was now a dull weight sinking through dark water.
00:09One moment, he was deflecting a physical attack.
00:12The next, the searing pain of a psychic blow had wrenched him from reality
00:15and plunged him into the depths of his own soul.
00:18He hadn't meant to fall this far.
00:20The fight, a desperate scramble against an item-based sorcerer
00:23and his bomb-wielding ally, had forced his hand.
00:25Cornered, he'd reached for his ultimate technique,
00:27but all he could grasp was an incomplete domain expansion of law,
00:31unstable bubble of ego that had spat him out here,
00:34in the liminal space of his inner domain.
00:36The plan had been sound, a necessary evil,
00:38with Kenjaku's threat of annihilation looming over the colony like a guillotine blade.
00:43Accumulating points was the only insurance policy.
00:45Regi, the man with the power to manifest receipts,
00:48had been playing the same game,
00:50summoning powerful shikigami-like objects within the barrier,
00:53stockpiling points as a failsafe.
00:55His weakling companion, Remy, was nothing more than a prop,
00:58a pathetic distraction designed to lower everyone's guard.
01:01And it was working.
01:02Fushiguro had poked and prodded at their dynamic,
01:04suggesting they kill Remy for easy points.
01:07He'd watch the boy's face, searching for a flicker of understanding.
01:10Instead, Remy's eyes had filled with a nauseating devotion.
01:13Regi is my true guardian knight.
01:15He'd declare, his voice trembling with conviction.
01:18As long as I devote myself fully, nothing will happen to me.
01:21It was a delusion wrapped in desperation, and it made Fushiguro's stomach turn.
01:25The pretense shattered when Regi, with a smug smile,
01:27confirmed they had surpassed the 100-point threshold.
01:30Fushiguro's expression hardened.
01:32The charade was over.
01:33Then, I'll just have to add a new rule later, he stated.
01:36His voice flat and dangerous.
01:38One that forces you to hand over every single point.
01:41The air crackled with tension.
01:42Before anyone could move, a presence flickered into existence behind Fushiguro.
01:46In a single, fluid motion, he sidesteped, seized the assailant by the arm,
01:50and hurled them through a window.
01:52A short, sharp scream was cut short by a distant, wet thud.
01:55The brief victory was stolen by a pained yell from below.
01:58He looked down to see his divine dogs, his most trusted shikigami, writhing on the ground.
02:02Their ethereal forms, shredded by a blast from Remy's latest manifested weapon.
02:07Going for points instead of the kill, Regi chided, his voice dripping with condescension.
02:11That's a good way to get yourself killed.
02:13A colossal explosion ripped through a building across the street.
02:16A fireball blooming against the night sky.
02:19In the ensuing chaos and smoke, Fushiguro vanished, melting into the haze.
02:23But Remy, emboldened by his delusion, gave chase, his footsteps, a clumsy beacon in the smoke-filled corridor.
02:29Regi used the boy as a targeting laser, launching an attack.
02:32Receipts fluttered through the air, transforming mid-flight into shimmering,
02:36transparent liquid barriers that sealed off escape routes.
02:38Then, Bomb Guy was there, spitting teeth that detonated on impact.
02:41Fushiguro took cover, watching in grim fascination as the bomber's missing fingers and chunks of flesh regenerated before his eyes.
02:49Ducking into an empty room, Fushiguro finally cornered Remy.
02:52He dropped all pretense of politeness.
02:54Open your eyes, he hissed, his voice laced with exasperation.
02:58They are using you.
02:58Regi doesn't see you as an ally.
03:00You're a tool, a shield, a walking point dispenser.
03:03Get out while you still can.
03:04He'd met people like Remy before empty vessels so.
03:07Desperate for validation, they'd latch onto the first person who offered them a purpose, no matter how vile.
03:13Reasoning with them was like trying to catch smoke, but before Remy could respond, a shadow fell over them.
03:19Maharaga, Regi's most powerful summoned construct, had tracked them down.
03:22Fushiguro tensed, preparing for a desperate final stand.
03:25Then, the air hummed.
03:26A new rule materialized across the colony, displayed on every phone.
03:30Participants may now transfer any number of their points to another participant.
03:34Freeze, you bastard.
03:35Fushiguro breathed.
03:36A slow, predatory grin spreading across his face.
03:39Maharaga, a creature of pure destructive instinct, actually hesitated, confused by the shift in the boy's demeanor.
03:45The rules had just rewritten the battlefield.
03:47Remy was no longer a variable to be managed.
03:50Fushiguro no longer had to hold back to preserve their points.
03:53The objective was brutally simple now.
03:55Eliminate the threat.
03:56And the points would follow.
03:57The two-on-one odds were unfavorable, but his domain expansion was an option of law.
04:02Desperate one.
04:03It was incomplete.
04:04Unable to trap them inside.
04:05If they fled the barrier's edge, all that cursed energy would be for nothing.
04:09Bomb guy, having followed Maharaga, opened his mouth.
04:12A fresh volley of jagged, explosive teeth forming on his tongue.
04:15Boom.
04:16The explosion was point-blank.
04:17But when the smoke cleared, a man in a pristine old-fashioned suit stood between Fushiguro and the blast.
04:23Having taken the full force of the detonation, without a flinch, he adjusted his tie.
04:27Seemingly unharmed.
04:28A two-on-one fight is the height of cowardice.
04:30The man announced.
04:31His voice calm and theatrical.
04:33And such cowardly attacks are useless against me.
04:36He turned.
04:36And Fushiguro found himself looking into the earnest face of Higurama Hiromi.
04:40I'm a jujutsu sorcerer, he said.
04:42And an aspiring comedian.
04:43And I can tell just by looking at your face.
04:46Young man.
04:46That you aren't a bad person.
04:48Fushiguro, despite every instinct screaming at him to trust no one, decided to accept the bizarre lifeline.
04:53Bomb guy, however, was utterly bewildered.
04:56Whose side are you even on?
04:57He sputtered, staring at the man's unachronistic outfit.
05:00What era are you from?
05:01Higurama ignored the question.
05:03Fully committed to his persona.
05:05This suit, he explained, is modeled after the hero who first showed me the true meaning of comedy.
05:10He looked at their blank, uncomprehending faces, and sighed dramatically.
05:13Born without a funny bone, I see.
05:15But a true comedian, never gives up on.
05:17His audience.
05:18Before bomb guy could process the non-sequitur, Higurama moved.
05:22A single, powerful kick sent the bomber crashing through a wall.
05:25Rigi's smug expression vanished, replaced by sharp focus.
05:28He could sense it now the man's cursed energy output was erratic.
05:31Spiking and dipping, but his potential was immense.
05:34He was strong.
05:35I'm a violent style comedian, Higurama said.
05:37Turning back to Fushiguro.
05:38How do you want me to handle this?
05:40Fushiguro's mind was already racing.
05:42Analyzing.
05:43Separate them.
05:44Bomb guy's technique turns his body parts into explosives.
05:47Take his points before you finish him.
05:49He looked at Regi.
05:49Withdraw.
05:50And this ends.
05:51Rigi's silence was his answer.
05:53Fine.
05:53Fushiguro said.
05:54Higurama, he's yours.
05:56As Higurama cornered the regenerating bomber, Fushiguro felt a sliver of relief that this
06:00bizarre, powerful man was on his side.
06:02Regi sneered.
06:03He's doomed.
06:04You know.
06:04He has no idea what he's up against.
06:06Worrying about yourself.
06:07Fushiguro shot back.
06:09His focus narrowing.
06:10The barrier's purpose was clear.
06:11Now a cage to harvest points.
06:13He could stop thinking about the game and just fight.
06:15He'd been watching.
06:16Cataloging.
06:17Regi's technique allowed him to manifest the effects of receipts he possessed.
06:21The fact that he was fighting with a relaxed confidence of someone on vacation meant he
06:25was currently using a receipt.
06:26For a luxury three-day, tonight's spa package, he was fully rested, fully healed.
06:31Fushiguro, in contrast, was wounded, exhausted from summoning multiple Shikigami, including
06:36the colossal Naharaga and running on fumes.
06:39His versatile divine dogs were down, forcing him into a battle of attrition against a fresh
06:43opponent with no decisive finishing moves.
06:46He ran.
06:47It was a strategic retreat, not a route.
06:49Regi predictably gave chase, deploying a materialized drone and hopping on a manifest motorcycle,
06:54tracking Fushiguro to the colony's large gymnasium.
06:57Seconds later, two massive delivery trucks materialized from thin air, slamming into the
07:02gymnasium walls and warping the space.
07:04Boxing Fushiguro in, Regi, watching through his phone screen, called out, his voice echoing
07:09from a speaker on the drone.
07:10Last chance, Fushiguro, hand over your points.
07:13I'll make it quick.
07:14Fushiguro didn't answer.
07:15He was muttering to himself, a litany of frustration.
07:17Barrier techniques were infuriatingly difficult.
07:20He'd practiced until his brain ate, but he still couldn't grasp the fundamental secret
07:24the art of, overlaying an imaginary, self-contained world onto existing reality.
07:29It was like trying to paint a masterpiece on a wall already covered in murals.
07:33He looked around at the gymnasium, at the basketball courts and bleachers, now hemmed
07:37in by phantom trucks.
07:39Fine.
07:39If he couldn't overlay a perfect, finished world, he would just have to force his own
07:43upon this one.
07:44Imperfections and all.
07:45He clapped his hands together.
07:46The world went dark.
07:48Domain expansion.
07:49The incomplete space shimmered into existence.
07:51A dark, formless realm populated by the silhouettes.
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