Looking Forward to Another World

By this point, night had already fallen, and the city’s nightlife was officially beginning.

On the crowded streets, Riezel stood in the middle of an intersection, looking at everything around him with a somewhat nostalgic expression.

”It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything like this...”

Before his eyes, the streetlights and advertising signs along the roads lit up one by one as night descended. Colorful lights intertwined with the glow of electronic screens along the streets, casting a brownish-yellow glow over the roads.

Neon signs could be seen everywhere, while people wore all kinds of different clothes. Pleasant music drifted faintly from the clothing stores and restaurants lining the streets.

Seeing these familiar sights caused Riezel, who stood in the middle of the crowded intersection, to remain motionless for a long while.

”...Has he seriously never seen a big city’s nightlife before?”

”He kinda looks like some country bumpkin who just came into the city. Heh, that’s hilarious.”

”You weren’t any better when you first came here, Kugisaki.”

”What?! I-I was nothing like that! Quit joking around!”

”You guys, could you keep it down?! Can’t you see the pedestrians are all looking over here?!”

Just as Riezel became completely immersed in his nostalgia, the conversations—or rather, the noisy chatter—coming from behind him brought him back to his senses, leaving him with an awkward expression.

”Didn’t I tell you guys not to look at me like that?”

Riezel turned around and looked helplessly at the trio who had been following him all this time.

”Gotta admit, I got a little distracted. It’s just been a really long time since I’ve been back in a modern city.”

He did not deny it.

Up until now, he had already visited quite a few worlds, but every one of them had been vastly different from the world he had lived in during his previous life.

The Akasha Continent went without saying—it was a medieval fantasy world of swords and magic.

The world of Danmachi and the world of Overlord were much the same, with virtually no signs of modern civilization.

The world of Demon Slayer was set during the Taisho period, an era from roughly a century ago. Rather than returning to a familiar world, it felt more like he had traveled into a strange and distorted version of the past.

The Faerie Britain Lostbelt was even more different. It was already a fantasy world ruled by fairies. If he had not known the original story, it would have been a completely unfamiliar and alien world to him.

When he added everything together, Riezel had not returned to the modern world even once since his transmigration. He had not returned to the world where his previous life had existed, nor had he visited even a single modern-era world with a background similar to it.

Under such circumstances, everything around him naturally appeared exceptionally familiar and comforting. An indescribable sense of familiarity washed over him, inevitably causing his emotions to stir.

Being treated as some country bumpkin who had just entered the city by Yuji and the others, however, was not something he wanted to experience.

”By the way, are you guys planning to keep following me around like this?” Riezel folded his arms and looked at Yuji and the other two. ”I exorcised that annoying cursed spirit right in front of you. Are you still trying to suspect me of being a curse user?”

Upon hearing that, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara exchanged glances before walking together to stand in front of Riezel.

”Sorry, but even if you’re not a curse user, we still can’t just sit back and let you wander around freely for now.” Megumi stared intently at Riezel. ”We still haven’t figured out who you are or where you came from, and yet your strength is terrifyingly high. If we let you run wild throughout the country, something even worse than a special grade cursed spirit showing up could happen.”

”Basically, you’re still really suspicious. Like, really, really suspicious.” Nobara chimed in, sounding extremely straightforward. ”Why don’t you just explain who you are and where you came from? Then we won’t have to keep following you around. I wanna go shopping at the night market, and I definitely don’t wanna wander around behind some country bumpkin. People are gonna start questioning my taste.”

”That’s pretty harsh, Kugisaki,” Yuji complained. ”You’re from the countryside too, y’know. Yet you’re calling someone else a country bumpkin.”

”None of your business!” Nobara glared fiercely at him. ”I’ve already left the countryside, and I’m never going back there again. I’m a city girl now, so don’t you dare say I’m from the countryside again!”

”But you keep carrying a hammer and nails around.” Yuji grinned. ”You look exactly like some country girl who came to the city to work as a repairman.”

”Those are my cursed tools, you idiot!” Nobara exploded, shouting angrily. ”How dare you call the future superstar Nobara Kugisaki a country girl... You’re dead, Itadori! When we get back, I’m gonna nail you to a straw doll! I’ll curse you in your room!”

Yuji shuddered at those words, his face turning pale with fright.

It was not that he was a coward. Rather, he knew very well that in addition to the hammer and nails she carried around, this woman really did have a straw doll with her.

Considering Nobara’s cursed technique, her threat was definitely not an empty one!

”Enough, you two.”

Megumi had finally had enough, and his normally serious expression collapsed as he rubbed his forehead.

”We’re handling official business right now. This is part of the mission, so try to have at least a little sense of urgency.”

”And since we’re jujutsu sorcerers, stop casually joking about curses.”

”Also, you’re drawing way too much attention. Look around.”

Only after Megumi pointed it out did Yuji and Nobara realize that the pedestrians around them had unknowingly begun stopping to watch.

”What are you staring at? Never seen a beauty before?!”

Nobara put on a fierce expression, immediately scaring away the people around them.

”...Man, that’s even scarier than a curse.”

Yuji could not help but offer that assessment.

”Ugh...”

Megumi let out a long sigh.

Riezel could not help feeling a little sympathetic toward him.

”How should I put this? You’ve really got it rough.”

He offered Megumi a few words of consolation.

”...It’s fine. I’m used to it...” Megumi stared ahead with lifeless eyes. ”Aside from Senior Okkotsu, I don’t expect anything from anyone anyway.”

”Hm, that somehow makes me feel even more sorry for you.” Riezel spread his hands. ”Anyway, let’s find somewhere to sit down first. I wanna order something to eat. I’m so hungry.”

He really was hungry, but what he looked forward to even more was getting to enjoy the food of a modern city.

During the more than a year he had spent wandering through various other worlds, he had tasted all kinds of delicious food, but fried chicken and hamburgers were things he had absolutely never encountered.

Now that he had finally arrived in a world with a modern city, there was no way he could pass up the chance to savor the taste of fried chicken and hamburgers again.

”I’m hungry too!”

As soon as he heard that they were getting food, Yuji immediately raised his hand.

As someone who relied entirely on hand-to-hand combat, his physical activity was considerable. He had been starving for a while and was practically dying to eat five big hamburgers.

”By the way, do you even have any money?” Nobara put her hands on her hips as she spoke to Riezel. ”Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Things are pretty expensive in a big city like this.”

Her revolting behavior really did make her look like someone from a big city smugly lecturing a person from the countryside.

”I’ll pay.” Megumi glanced at Riezel. ”If it’s just a burger place, I can afford to treat you.”

If spending a little money could make this mysterious boy, who had been labeled a special grade curse user by the higher-ups, stay in one place and behave himself, then it would unquestionably be a good thing.

Forget a hamburger place—even if Riezel wanted to enjoy a meal at a five-star restaurant, Megumi would have applied to the higher-ups for the necessary expenses and made sure he got what he wanted.

Of course, Riezel certainly did not need that.

”I don’t have any money, but I did bring a pretty good amount of gold.”

As he spoke, Riezel flipped his hand over and actually pulled out a gold bar nearly the size of his palm.

The brilliant golden sheen nearly blinded Yuji and the surrounding pedestrians.

”Gold! Someone actually carries gold around with him!”

Yuji shouted.

”Not fair!”

Nobara exploded again, sounding as though she was deeply offended by the fact that they were all country people, so why was Riezel the one who happened to be so rich?

”Fool! Don’t pull out such a huge piece of gold in the middle of the street!”

Megumi was stunned as well, but once he recovered, he twitched at the corner of his mouth and immediately pushed the gold bar back down.

By then, however, Riezel’s actions had already made their group the center of attention. Countless people had begun pointing at them and whispering among themselves.

”Let’s go! I’m paying this time! We’re going to a burger place right now!”

Megumi felt a headache coming on as he raised his voice and shouted in exasperation, and his words caused the gazes of the surrounding people to become even stranger.

It couldn’t be helped.

One of them had pulled out such a huge chunk of gold right in front of all these people, only to say that they were going to a hamburger place?

Were they deliberately showing off their wealth?

===

In the end, the four of them still went to a hamburger place, finally allowing Riezel to taste fried chicken and hamburgers again.

After finishing this rather unusual dinner, the four of them went to a karaoke box.

Yes, a karaoke box.

”Why are we going to a karaoke box? Are we gonna sing?”

Yuji rubbed his stomach, looking both completely satisfied and confused as he asked Megumi.

”Just so we’re clear, if you wanna hear me sing, I’m charging you.”

Nobara really had started thinking of herself as a superstar.

In response, Megumi simply replied expressionlessly.

”I’m not the one who wanted to go. Teacher Gojo called and told us to come over.”

Hearing that, Riezel, who had been casually walking beside Yuji and the others, unconsciously came to a slight stop.

”He’s back?”

Yuji looked pleasantly surprised.

”Tch. He only comes back now...”

Nobara, on the other hand, sounded somewhat dissatisfied.

They had been sent out to deal with an incident caused by a special grade cursed spirit, a dangerous mission that was simply not something they were capable of handling.

If anything had gone wrong, everyone here could have been wiped out. Not a single one of them might have survived.

If that irresponsible teacher had been there, then naturally, everything would have been fine.

Unfortunately, that man had chosen this exact moment to leave on another mission, and he had even gone far away. If they had not encountered Riezel, a mysterious special grade curse user, inside that incomplete domain, and if he had not cut down the special grade cursed spirit with a single slash, they might never have made it back.

Such a fact left Nobara somewhat dissatisfied, though it was simply unclear whether she was dissatisfied with their teacher or someone else.

”...”

Megumi did not answer Nobara and merely lowered his head in silence.

Clearly, the cold-faced boy had already sensed that something was unusual about this mission.

A mission where a special grade cursed spirit might appear, even if it was only suspected, should not have been assigned to three first-year students who were still attending a jujutsu high school.

It was an extremely dangerous mission for which even dispatching a grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer would not have been excessive.

Under normal circumstances, no matter how he looked at it, there was no reason for them to be assigned this mission. And yet, it had happened, and it had happened precisely while their teacher was away.

A coincidence?

Probably not.

’Was it because of Itadori?’

Megumi cast an almost imperceptible glance at Yuji beside him.

Yuji, completely unaware that Megumi was watching him, was cheerfully chatting with Nobara.

”Did the teacher bring back any souvenirs? Local specialties? He should’ve brought back some souvenirs, right?”

It was then that Riezel suddenly spoke up.

”Hey, the teacher you’re talking about is Satoru Gojo, right?”

Riezel’s words made everyone turn their attention toward him.

”You know the teacher too?”

Yuji sounded surprised.

Riezel, however, suddenly smiled and spoke calmly.

”Of course I know him.”

”Satoru Gojo, one of only four special grade jujutsu sorcerers in the jujutsu world, known as the strongest sorcerer of the modern era. He’s currently the homeroom teacher for the first-year class at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School, which means he’s your homeroom teacher.”

”I’m right, aren’t I?”

Riezel remembered that particular person extremely well, not for any other reason, but because of one thing: he was incredibly strong.

In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, that man was practically the embodiment of the word ’strong.’ He was a character who was nearly unmatched in popularity, charisma, and strength.

Needless to say, the fact that Riezel could still remember someone like him despite being unable to recall much of the original story was enough to explain just how significant he was.

”Oh?”

Riezel raised his head and looked toward the sky, the corners of his mouth suddenly curling upward.

”Looks like he’s pretty eager to come over too.”

Hearing his words, Yuji and the others froze for a moment before they all looked toward the sky.

They failed to notice that the moment they looked up, Riezel had already shifted his gaze away.

Why?

Because the figure that had originally appeared in the sky had suddenly disappeared.

In the next second...

”Oh my, looks like I’m pretty famous. Even a special grade curse user knows about me. Honestly, that’s kinda embarrassing.”

Beside Riezel, a voice suddenly resounded.

Somehow, the figure that had been in the sky just moments ago had appeared beside Riezel without anyone noticing and had even draped an arm around his shoulders.

”Well then, nice to meet ya. I’m the modern era’s strongest jujutsu sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, the guy you just mentioned. Looking forward to working with you.”

A white-haired man wearing a black eyepatch wrapped an arm around Riezel’s shoulder and smiled at him without a hint of caution.

Riezel unhurriedly turned his head, meeting the gaze that pierced through the eyepatch.

In an instant, the atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

===

[A bonus Chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]

[Support and get early access to upcoming Chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]