Yuan Shanxiao only knew that his name was Yuan Shanxiao. Everything else, Gojo Satoru had to investigate for him.

But Yuan Shanxiao was pretty laid-back about not knowing his past.

On one hand, he thought, “As a transmigrator, it’s normal not to know anything about this world, right?”

On the other hand, he figured, “I’ll die and return to my safe world sooner or later, no need to worry about mundane things.”

Gojo Satoru, hearing the boy’s reasoning, Isn’t this kid just mentally unhinged? Gojo thought to himself, but he’s manageable.

————

Yuan Shanxiao orphaned at a young age had been living with his uncle’s family. However, his uncle’s family had passed away too. So the boy dropped out of school and lived off the inheritance from his elders. Now, Gojo had already obtained his school records to enroll him and had thrown the information he found about the boy’s background to him—who was still earnestly researching how to “die and return.”

Yuan Shanxiao stared wide-eyed at his file.

Turns out I’m the “lone star of misfortune.” Looking at the long list of deceased in the “relations” column, Yuan Shanxiao thought deeply.

An orphan at the start, classic transmigrator setup.

He hadn’t expected to be illiterate, though.

Yuan Shanxiao cheerfully read through his file as if it were someone else’s story. He even managed to think, “I didn’t even finish compulsory education, but I’m jumping straight to vocational school. Luckily, I don’t have parents, otherwise they’d break my legs.”

But soon, the smile on Yuan Shanxiao’s face slowly faded.

If he didn’t go to this school, the white-haired teacher who picked him up would break his legs.

————

Yuan Shanxiao thought his new teacher was a bit short-tempered.

But he didn’t dare say it.

Still, he was good at comforting himself.

At least his teacher wasn’t a cockroach, a spider, or a ghost from The Shining, nor was he the slimey cursed spirit hanging from the ceiling.

At least he was human.

Yuan Shanxiao thought that was probably the most comforting thing in this terrifying world.

————

In fact, Gojo’s short temper was partly due to this boy he had just picked up.

The boy was underage without a guardian. So to enroll him, Gojo had to register him as his own foster child.

Gojo who was already familiar with this process from fostering the Fushiguro siblings, knew the drill.

Although the boy had his uncle’s house left to him, he refused to return.

Because a cursed spirit had once hung from the ceiling there.

When the boy brought this up, he was practically in tears. Gripping Gojo’s pants leg, about to kneel again. “I can’t go back—! If you see one cockroach in a room, that means there’s a million of them inside!!”

Gojo couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose as he watched the usually quiet and composed boy drop to his knees at the slightest mention of something scary.

No matter how much Gojo explained that the cursed spirits had been cleared from the room, the boy still wouldn’t go back.

Clinging tightly to Gojo’s pants leg, sometimes Gojo even wondered if his reflexes had slowed down, because every time his Infinity didn’t seem to repel the boy’s hand from grabbing his leg.

It wasn’t until much later that Gojo realized the boy subconsciously and naturally used his technique to conceptually “pass through” Gojo’s Infinity and successfully grabbed his pants leg, wiping his snot and tears on them.

Gojo tried to be a good teacher, tilting his head back in satisfaction as he was being clung to, See, he knew this new student had a powerful technique.

But in reality, it was hard to stay that calm.

“So stop using your technique to grab my leg, you little brat!!!”

There was more back-and-forth after that. Gojo fired up, insisted on taking the boy back to his house to see for himself that the cursed spirits were really gone. But the moment Gojo mentioned going back to the house where the cursed spirit had appeared, the boy immediately dropped to his knees again. After a moment, the boy looked up. His eyes filled with a determined resolve that made Gojo raise an eyebrow, and then he grabbed a knife—wait, where did he get that knife—and pressed it to his own neck.

“Teacher, please don’t force me to my death.”

Gojo: ……

Gojo thought, I’m just asking you to go home, not to cross the river to the afterlife.

After this series of events, Gojo could no longer look at the pale and quiet boy normally. Every time he saw him, his legs tensed.

Gojo thought deeply. It was about time for him to level up.

Next time the boy lunged to grab his pants, he should be able to kick him away!

————

In the end, despite all the fuss. Both Yuan Shanxiao and Gojo got what they wanted.

Living in Gojo’s apartment, under the protection of the strongest—though Yuan Shanxiao wasn’t sure if Gojo had self-proclaimed this—he hadn’t encountered a single cursed spirit in days. He slept peacefully every night and spent his days researching Antarctic tours.

As for Gojo, even though he was mentally and physically exhausted from these past few days, he had at least finished running around to complete the boy’s enrollment. Finally, he could kick this kid into Tokyo Jujutsu High.

Gojo: Was it this exhausting when he brought in Megumi?

————

Yuan Shanxiao spent the entire trip asking question after question.

“Are there cursed spirits at Jujutsu High?”

“Since Jujutsu High is in the mountains, are there a lot of bugs?”

“Do I have to fight cursed spirits too? No way, right?”

“Do jujutsu sorcerers kill insects? I’ll die if I see a spider or a cockroach.”

“Do the dorms have mosquito nets? They should, right? Can we use insecticide there? Or are jujutsu sorcerers the type who don’t kill living things, not even bugs?”

The boy was being dragged by the collar by the cool-looking, white-haired young man in sunglasses. Yuan Shanxiao’s feet dragged along the ground as he counted on his fingers and rattled off his questions non-stop.

The reason he was being dragged was because he had spotted some cursed corpses near the entrance of the school building earlier, leaving him too weak to stand.

When they finally reached the classroom door, Gojo stopped. Expertly lifted the limp boy by the collar to stand him upright, and removed the cotton from his ears.

“Hmm? What did you just say?”

Yuan Shanxiao: ……

“Oh—nothing, then. Alright, get ready with a few lines for your introduction, and let’s meet your future classmates—”

Huh??

An introduction??

What introduction???

The image of a classroom full of students sitting quietly, waiting for him to enter and then all their gazes immediately locking onto him flashed in Yuan Shanxiao’s mind.

No, you still want me to introduce myself in a situation like this??

This is super—

“Scary…”

Gojo was pushing the boy through the door, but Yuan Shanxiao was digging his heels into the ground, clinging to the door frame with all his might refusing to go in.

“……I’m really curious, is there anything you’re not afraid of?”

Hearing this, the boy snuck a glance at Gojo, then dropped his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

Gojo raised an eyebrow. Does that mean the only thing he’s not afraid of is me?

The boy looked down awkwardly. “Actually, I’m super scared of you too, teacher.”

Gojo: There’s no hope!

Gojo finally gave up resisting the throbbing vein on his forehead and yanked hard.

“Bang—”

The boy went flying through the door.

He left two deep grooves in the dirt where he had been dragged, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

“Hi, hi…”

Yuan Shanxiao tried to open his eyes and raise his hand to greet everyone. “Everyone—”

But before he could finish saying “good,” a shadow suddenly loomed over him.

Yuan Shanxiao shuddered, instantly fleeing.

This isn’t good either!!!

————

“Huh?”

When Zen’in Maki missed her strike, she glanced at the cursed tool spear in her hand puzzled.

But she quickly spun it around and aimed it at the pale boy who had somehow dodged to the side.

Yesterday, when Gojo-sensei announced they’d be getting a new classmate, he mentioned that the new student was really strong. He told them to give him a proper “welcome” and to use the opportunity to see if their recent training had paid off.

Zen’in Maki didn’t quite understand why her white-haired, grinning teacher had seemed both irritated and smiling when he said this. She only remembered the word “strong.”

The last time Gojo had said that, it was about Yuta Okkotsu, who soon became a Special Grade jujutsu sorcerer.

Was this boy the same?

Zen’in Maki narrowed her eyes, looking closely, and then—

Uh, was he shaking?

Seriously, his lips had gone pale with fear.

Even Yuta wasn’t this timid when he first joined…

Zen’in Maki noticed the boy’s pale green eyes, slightly unfocused, staring at her cursed tool.

“What… is that?”

Yuan Shanxiao had been scared out of his wits by the sudden attack when he entered the room, but after realizing the one attacking him was human, he calmed down slightly. However, the weapon the girl was holding seemed strange.

It gave him a really bad feeling.

If he had to describe it, it was like the spearhead had been tempered with the liquefied remains of a cockroach cursed spirit.

“Oh, this? It’s a Grade 2 cursed tool borrowed from the warehouse.”

Gojo raised an eyebrow from the doorway. He hadn’t yet explained the concept of cursed tools to Yuan Shanxiao.

To think he could sense it. As expected, the boy was extremely sensitive to anything related to the “fear” of cursed energy.

Yuan Shanxiao didn’t know what a cursed tool was, but with cold sweat running down his face, he tried to negotiate. “Could… could we not fight with that?”

Zen’in Maki smiled. Seeing the glimmer of hope in the boy’s eyes when she smiled, she then, suddenly thrust the spear forward.

“Since you asked, I definitely have to use it now—”

Crap, crap, crap, crap.

Yuan Shanxiao’s eyes were locked onto the spear as it relentlessly thrust toward him.

To him, it really felt like that thing had been tempered with cockroach or cursed spirit juice. It was all the same to him.

He didn’t dare let it touch him. As the cold spearhead grazed past his face, the image of a cockroach’s icy wings brushing his nose flashed through his mind.

Yuan Shanxiao was so scared he couldn’t even make a sound.

……

The boy’s pale green eyes grew more unfocused.

[Fear Value increased by 1%]

Ah!

Huh?

Yuan Shanxiao had just subconsciously teleported to the back of the classroom. As he rubbed his nose from that terrible association, he heard this voice in his head.

Wait!

What’s this??

A system?

Yuan Shanxiao knew that some transmigrators had systems, so it made sense for him to have one too, but—

Why is the first thing it mentions “Fear Value” or whatever?!

He knew he was timid, but there was no need to mock him like this!

Then he saw the spear thrusting through the air toward him again.

Dodge, dodge—

It’s not about being scared, it’s just that this thing, soaked in cockroach or cursed spirit stench, was about to touch his nose, so what was there to be afraid of—what’s so scary about this—

Ahhh it’s going to hit me, I’m going to die, help—

The boy’s pale green eyes briefly lost focus and then, with a sudden unbelievable fluidity, he rotated 180 degrees, seeming to step on something invisible to dodge in an instant.

Yuan Shanxiao subconsciously rubbed the goosebumps on his arm. As the spear narrowly grazed past his face, he had a vague sense of something. His drooping fingers twitched.

The invisible space tightened in an instant, then rapidly flew toward Zen’in Maki.

Zen’in Maki’s pupils contracted, her bangs lifting slightly. The spear she had just thrust forward suddenly twisted and embedded itself in the wall behind her.

“Hmm? Has he already learned to manipulate his own abnormal space without being taught?”

Gojo rubbed his chin, his sunglasses slipping slightly as he watched the scene, intrigued.

Just now the boy had used space to teleport from the front door, where Zen’in Maki had been, to the back of the classroom.

And at this moment, the rectangular space left behind by his teleportation was still present in the classroom.

It could disappear or manifest at the boy’s will. The boy had made it manifest, using it to dodge Zen’in Maki’s spear, then manipulated the space to send the spear flying back into the front wall.

Despite not being taught either physical techniques or jujutsu.

Just acting out of fear and instinct, and he could already achieve this level?

Gojo finally smiled a bit, somewhat relieved at the boy’s potential. And then, “Ah, sorry I’m late. You must be the new classmate?”

With a “bang,” the back door of the classroom was pushed open, and a black-haired boy rushed in. With his black bangs hanging low like Yuan Shanxiao’s, he was wearing the white uniform of Jujutsu High. He looked delicate, gentle, and quiet. Just as Yuan Shanxiao was about to relax at the sight of such a friendly figure and offer a strained smile to greet him.

He saw the boy walk in with a huge monster trailing behind him, completely unobstructed.

“Thud—”

Gojo Satoru: …Don’t kneel!!! Ahhh, you idiot!!!”