Ultimate Man [JJK X SOL]: Loading Golden Entries at The Start

"Dark red! It looks dangerous, and in the domain space, it seems like Ryuji is using some kind of slashing technique!"

"Slashing technique?"

Nanami said nothing, simply shaking his head.

Clearly, the domain he was seeing was completely different from what others were describing. If this wasn't some kind of illusion, then there was only one explanation.

No one believed Nanami or anyone else would joke about something this serious.

"This is impossible!"

For thousands of years, there had never been a sorcerer who could open two domains.

"Hahahaha!"

Instead of concern, Gojo burst into laughter.

"Interesting! Really, really interesting!"

Upon realizing that Ryuji might be capable of wielding two domain techniques, Gojo's first reaction wasn't panic, but sheer excitement. With his overwhelming confidence in his own abilities, he wasn't one to feel threatened easily.

"I originally thought Ryuji's technique was similar to Yuta's imitation technique, but it seems to be something even more advanced!"

An imitation technique couldn't copy domains, nor could it combine multiple abilities simultaneously. But Ryuji seemed to have no such limitations.

After a moment of silence, Gakuganji finally spoke up in the conference room.

"So… is there any chance we could recruit him?"

Before, they hadn't thought too much about it. But now, if there was even a sliver of a chance, Gakuganji wanted Ryuji on their side.

Unfortunately, when Gakuganji looked around, both Nanami and Gojo were shaking their heads.

"That kind of guy won't sell his freedom for a few perks," Gojo said with a grin.

The most intriguing thought, however, was Gojo's own curiosity. "I wonder… would he be able to use my techniques one day? My Limitless technique? Or maybe even my domain, Infinite Void?"

The Limitless technique required specific principles to reach its full potential. But if it came to Infinite Void, it was a different story.

"…"

No one responded to Gojo's musings. They lacked his strength, and more importantly, his unwavering confidence.

Late at night, as quiet settled over the city…

In her room, Utaha sat alone, staring at her laptop with a helpless expression.

"Is it really impossible for me to awaken a technique?" she muttered to herself.

Despite knowing that Ryuji wouldn't treat her poorly even if she couldn't awaken a cursed technique, there was a pang of envy in her heart. Especially when she thought of her friends Miko, Hana, and Mai all possessing unique abilities within their group. Even Yukino and Yumiko had awakened their own techniques.

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair, staring blankly at the laptop screen. Though she had become a sorcerer, Utaha hadn't forgotten her original passion: writing light novels.

She wasn't doing it for the money; it was something she truly loved. And even with her new life as a sorcerer, she continued her work, though it was getting harder to balance everything.

"I feel like my time is running out," she muttered, staring at the empty document on her screen.

Should she give up?

As she typed away aimlessly, her mind drifted. After a long stretch of silence, she let out another heavy sigh.

"If only my cursed power could just… suddenly increase on its own," she typed, her fingers moving almost without thinking.

After a moment, she looked back at her screen. She had typed the thought aloud, though it had no bearing on her story. She was about to delete it when—

"Huh?"

Utaha froze. She suddenly felt a strange surge inside her, as if her cursed energy had inexplicably increased. Given that she had only a minimal amount to start with, this sudden boost was startlingly noticeable—nearly doubling her initial reserves.

"How… how is that possible?" she whispered.

She looked down at the line she'd typed. Her eyes brightened with a realization.

"No way…"

Heart pounding, she deleted the sentence, but her cursed energy remained stable. Pausing only a moment, she tried typing something new.

"It's going to be windy outside."

Nothing happened.

Had she just imagined it? Or was it just a random fluke?

Determined to try again, Utaha revised the sentence. "Outside the house, a strong wind will blow!"

Still, no response.

She rewrote it one more time, more specific this time: "In ten seconds, a strong wind will blow outside my house."

Ten seconds passed.

Then—

Whoosh!

A sudden gust whipped up outside her window.

"That's it!" Utaha's eyes lit up. She had actually done it. She had awakened a technique!

Excitement flooded her, until she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She began coughing, crimson droplets staining her hands, and her fingers cramped painfully.

"Backlash…" she realized.

Ryuji had once told her that certain powerful techniques came with a risk of backlash. The stronger the technique, the harsher the consequences, with some potentially costing the user their life.

But Utaha was overjoyed, not afraid.

The backlash only confirmed that she had, indeed, awakened a cursed technique. If she hadn't used a technique, there would be no backlash.

"Haha… Hahahaha!"

Laughing despite the pain, Utaha wiped the blood from her lips. Her first thought was to rush and tell Ryuji. She quickly gathered her things, shoving a tablet into her bag instead of a laptop, it would be enough for her writing.

Even though it was dark, she didn't care. She wanted to show Ryuji her newfound power. She could only imagine the look on his face when he realized she'd finally awakened her technique.

Elsewhere, another person was wrestling with similar thoughts, Eriri, sitting in her room, sighing as she stared at her sketchpad.

"If only I could awaken a technique too…"

Yukino's ice powers, Yumiko's fire abilities… Eriri envied them both.

If only she could awaken a technique as well.

But unlike Utaha, Eriri didn't have an all-consuming obsession. She wanted a technique, yes, but she wouldn't let it haunt her. If it happened, it happened. If not, oh well.

"Anyway, that pretentious writer didn't awaken a technique either!" she muttered smugly, thinking of Utaha. As long as she wasn't the only one without powers, she could make her peace with it.

Little did she know, her rival's situation had changed drastically.

Humming, she picked up her brush, gazing blankly at her empty sketchpad.

"Ugh, the deadline's looming…"

As an artist known for her suggestive art style, Sawamura had a submission deadline coming up fast. But with everything happening recently, she'd been unable to draw anything.

"Really, I have zero inspiration right now!"

Holding the brush in her hand, she absentmindedly started drawing a large, cartoonish cat on her blank page.

"Maybe it doesn't even matter anymore," she mused aloud. "With the world going crazy, who cares about deadlines?"

Before she knew it, she had drawn a large cat on the page. It was simple, almost childlike in its cartoonish proportions.

Poof!

To her shock, the cat moved, as if brought to life. It began swimming across the page and then jumped out of the sketchpad entirely.

"Wha—?!"

Eriri stumbled back, shocked. She wasn't sure if she was seeing things.

As the cat leapt off the page, she tentatively waved at it, and the cat responded, coming closer to her.

"Did… did I do that?" She could hardly believe it.

She hadn't been trying to summon anything special, but there it was a large cartoonish cat, fully alive and responding to her.

"This… this has to be my technique!"

Eriri felt a rush of excitement. Ordinary art didn't just come to life like this. She must have awakened a technique, and it seemed linked to her drawings.

In her joy, she began to laugh. The cat, as if understanding her excitement, began to prance around her, mirroring her mood.

However, just as she was about to celebrate fully, she felt an intense wave of exhaustion. Her cursed energy reserves were drained, and she collapsed to the floor.

"Wha… I'm so… tired…"

Without enough cursed energy to sustain the cat, it started to fade, retreating back into the drawing as she lay there, too weak to move.

"Man… I'm just… so sleepy…" she murmured as she drifted off into an exhausted sleep, a faint smile still on her face.

***

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