You Made Me Laugh for No Reason

A Cursed Spirit? He’s talking about me?

Lin Ge blinked hard.

Hey, that’s rude!

How am I anything like those ugly freaks!

No extra arms or legs sprouting here, and just the one pair of eyes, thank you very much.

“What… kind of curse are you?” Seeing Lin Ge stay quiet, the guy didn’t seem bothered. Instead, he rambled on, eyes glinting with curiosity. “That golden beam just now—was that your birth effect? So cool! Why didn’t I get anything like that when I was ‘born’?”

He fired off questions one after another, nibbling his finger, looking both jealous and annoyed.

Cursed Spirit. Birth. Me.

Lin Ge zeroed in on the keywords.

—Blueberry yam’s a Cursed Spirit?!

The penny dropped, and Lin Ge clenched his fist, then forced himself to relax. “!”

Pupils shaking!

Strawberry Shortcake had said the higher a Cursed Spirit’s rank, the more human they looked.

So, this blueberry yam dude was at least a Special Grade?

Calming down quick, Lin Ge plastered on a fake smile, all teeth and no heart. “Guess so.”

Special Grade, huh.

No way I can eat that, right?

A wise guy knows when to play it cool…

Let’s scope things out first.

At that, the guy visibly perked up. He grabbed Lin Ge’s hand, practically vibrating with enthusiasm. “I’m Mahito! What about you? Got a name?”

His skin was cold and slick.

Being grabbed felt like some slimy, gross slug had latched on, making Lin Ge squirm.

Lin Ge smoothly pulled his hand free, shoving both into his pockets to dodge another grab, and said without missing a beat, “Nidie!”

“Nidie?” Mahito rolled the word around in his mouth, sensing something off.

Couldn’t quite pin what was weird about it.

He didn’t dwell, pausing before asking, “You didn’t answer earlier—what kind of curse are you?”

Human emotions—intense ones—and fear of the unknown could spawn curses.

Mahito himself was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit born from humanity’s hatred and fear of each other.

Lin Ge thought fast, spinning a mix of truth and lies. “The craving for money!”

I love cash, and cash loves me!

Mahito: “Huh?”

He froze, thrown off.

His buddies all had grand origins—forests, earth, oceans… Even he was forged from some deep, conceptual resentment.

Craving for money… what’s that?

Could something so basic really birth a Special Grade?

Then he remembered that flashy golden beam, and suddenly he wasn’t so sure.

Basic or not… that was crazy cool!

Is that the glow of money?

“Alright,” Mahito said, tone unchanged. “So why’d you pop up right in Dagon’s domain?”

That beam was too loud, and Dagon had sensed an intruder in his domain.

Hanami and Jogo were sipping flower tea—Mahito wasn’t into that stuff—so he’d volunteered to check it out, only to find a brand-new Special Grade.

Lin Ge had no clue what a domain was or who Dagon was, but he kept a straight face, answering smoothly, “Must be fate guiding me!”

Or maybe I’m just that unlucky.

Haha.

Mahito’s eyes lit up at that.

Fate guiding?

That’s straight out of the book I read last night!

Wow.

This new Special Grade’s so cultured!

If Lin Ge could see favorability meters, he’d spot Mahito’s jumping +20 right now.

Mahito reined in his excitement. “Wanna come with me? I can introduce you to the others.”

Other buddies?

More Cursed Spirits?

Lin Ge hesitated for two seconds. “…Sure.”

For Strawberry Shortcake, I’m going all in!

This has gotta be worth a first-class merit!

All he could think about was Gojo Satoru being blown away by his heroics, wiping out that “glutton” first impression.

No idea why he was being pegged as a Cursed Spirit, but even if they caught on, he had his life-saving talisman!

—

They walked, Mahito in front, Lin Ge trailing behind.

From this self-proclaimed Mahito Cursed Spirit, Lin Ge learned they’d formed a little Special Grade Cursed Spirit squad.

And his teleport had plopped him right into the domain of one of them—Dagon.

The team had four members, including Mahito. One was off meeting a Curse User to talk potential teamwork.

“I think humans are all the same, doesn’t matter who,” Mahito said, hopping along, occasionally kicking a branch. “But Jogo and the others say we gotta shop around for partners. He gets all serious about the weirdest stuff…”

Hands behind his back, Mahito bounced like a kid.

“I’ve been into reading lately,” Mahito went on. “Jogo and them say even dogs wouldn’t touch that stuff, but I kinda like it.”

He talked nonstop, like he’d never run out of steam. Worried about being found out, Lin Ge played along, tossing out a half-hearted, “Oh yeah? I think that’s a pretty cool hobby.”

“You really think so?”

“For real.”

Mahito went quiet for a bit.

Then, he stopped dead.

Lin Ge nearly bumped into him but stayed alert, catching himself just in time.

“Why didn’t you ask what books I’m reading?” Mahito turned, looking genuinely upset.

Lin Ge: “…”

“Haha.”

Man, that’s so random, you made me laugh for no reason.

He took a deep breath. “What books you reading?”

First-class merit, first-class merit!

All for the first-class merit!

Wish granted, Mahito broke into a huge grin. “I’m reading…”

He named a super famous philosophy novel.

Besides school forcing him to buy classics for book reports as a kid, Lin Ge hadn’t touched that stuff since growing up. He casually asked, “Anything else?”

Mahito listed a few more titles.

Poetry or philosophy, all of it.

Knowing this blueberry yam was a Cursed Spirit, Lin Ge rolled his eyes and, with zero guilt, started laying into Mahito. “You’ve never read Sky-Shatterer or Luo Continent?”

Mahito blinked, clueless. “…What’re those?”

Lin Ge: “What about The CEO’s Billion-Dollar Bride or Runaway Bride 99 Times?”

Mahito shook his head. “Nope.”

Sighing long and dramatic, Lin Ge gave him a you’re hopeless look. “You haven’t read any of those?”

Mahito froze, feeling something was off, then pushed back, “You just got born too, right? Bet you haven’t read them either.”

But Lin Ge was ready, tapping his head. “Creation’s tied to craving money, yeah? The second I was born, every great book in the world got downloaded into my brain.”

Heh.

I’m a guy who sprinkles little lies.

Mahito bought it, all dazed. “Oh.”

“So where do I get those books?”

Lin Ge patted his shoulder, all serious-like. “Chill, good stuff’s coming. I’ll take you book shopping sometime.”

Pausing for two seconds, Mahito smiled.

He nodded. “Nidie, you’re awesome.”

Pulling his hand back, Lin Ge leaned into his charm offensive, full-on KFC style. “This is my first time being this nice to anyone. I’m not like this with other curses… ‘cause you’re kinda slow.”

“But no worries, your reading habit’s pretty decent.”

Mahito: “…”

Mahito favorability +30.

—

After crossing a dense forest, Lin Ge found himself staring at a boundless ocean. The line between sky and sea blurred, water rippling gently, air tinged with a salty dampness.

Mahito pointed at two weird-looking Cursed Spirits sipping tea face-to-face on beach chairs.

One had a mini Mount Fuji for a head, just one red eye on its big noggin, small and shriveled like an old geezer.

The other was huge, with branches sprouting from its eye sockets, giving off major don’t mess with me vibes.

Both fit Lin Ge’s mental image of Cursed Spirits to a T.

“That’s Jogo, that’s Hanami… Oh, and the one blowing bubbles in the sea is Dagon, the domain’s boss.” Mahito’s eyes crinkled. “Pretty cute, right?”

Dagon in the water: “Bloop, bloop, sploosh…”

Lin Ge: “…”

Grilled steak! Flower cakes! Takoyaki!

Oh man, is this paradise?!

—

While Lin Ge was still marveling, Mahito was already scampering over.

He slapped Hanami and Jogo’s tea table, grinning wide, and announced like it was a big deal, “Jogo! Hanami! This is Nidie, born from humanity’s craving for money!”

The table splintered under his smack. Jogo crushed his half-empty teacup, his volcano head nearly erupting.

“…Mahito! How many times have I told you—gentle, be gentle!”

Hanami: “&×%%…”

Mahito, we gotta make a new one.

Lin Ge covered his ears.

So weird—a garbled mess, but I somehow get what it means.

“We’ve got tons of these tables…” Mahito pouted, not backing down.

Humans couldn’t see them anyway—easy to grab from stores.

The two Cursed Spirits were used to Mahito’s rotten attitude. One look at his face, and they knew he wasn’t sorry.

After three seconds of silent fuming, Hanami and Jogo turned their eyes on Lin Ge.

A human-shaped Cursed Spirit, just like Mahito.

—Strong.

That was their first thought.

Just standing there, he radiated unmatched evil—pure, unfiltered malice.

Dark aura swirled, invisible pressure spreading. They could barely make out the new Special Grade’s face.

The feeling passed in a flash. Blinking, he looked harmless again.

Hanami’s teacup trembled as they sipped, a rare thrill stirring.

Jogo felt it too.

Such… such a powerful ally…!

The heavens are with us Cursed Spirits!

Yes, the world’s made its choice.

This world belongs to Cursed Spirits!

Those lousy Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers?

This Nidie could take ten at once!

Punch a wall, and you couldn’t even scrape him off!

Scrape! Him! Off!

Jogo instantly forgave everything.

No blame for Mahito smashing the table—with a teammate this epic, he’d be hyped too.

—

Jogo and Hanami stared at Lin Ge for ages, reluctant to look away.

Dagon in the sea joined in, splashing water like crazy.

Under their scrutiny, Lin Ge swallowed hard, feeling like he’d been X-rayed down to his boxers.

Did these Cursed Spirits figure out I’m not one of them?

One hand in his pocket, Lin Ge stealthily grabbed his return scroll, ready to bolt.

Live to fight another day!

The intel he’d gathered might not snag a first-class merit, but a second-class one for sure.

Then, Jogo cleared his throat. “Nidie, right… What do you think of us?”

Special Grade Cursed Spirit Jogo has sent you a team invite.