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CHAPTER START---
"Doman Expansion: Idle Death Gamble!"
The world around Taiyo and Hakari instantly changes, too quickly for their minds to process how they were now standing in a pristine subway station, as if they were teleported to the Tokyo subway.
Taiyo then grits his teeth as an immense surge of information flows into his mind. "That's annoying."
Hakari chuckles, standing across from him, hands in his pockets.
"So this entire thing is based on a casino game, that's actually based on a romance anime…no wonder the higher-ups hate you."
Hakari smiles as both trains arrive and people rush out, the crowds rush toward them and phase through them as holograms. Each person was distinct and perfectly lifelike until you made physical contact. Even the sounds and scents within the subway were accurate.
Taiyo could smell stale air and smoke as a few people with cigarettes walked past, and perfume as some women passed through him to board the next train or reach the stairs.
'His Domain Expansion is fast. A lot faster than mine and Gojo's,' Taiyo thinks as Hakari rushes in.
He glances at the subway car, seeing the doors are green.
'Green doors. That means in his head is a slot machine spinning. Green is regular, but golden doors have a higher chance of the Jackpot. The initial chance is 1:239, but each spin raises the chance and applies bonuses to him.'
Hakari rushes in, and Taiyo casually uses All Combat to parry and avoid each strike while observing the Domain Expansion.
'His Domain Expansion's sure-hit effect is the rules of the game. That way, the game can start, but because of that, it comes with massive trade-offs. The Sure Hit doesn't do any damage, and if anything, puts him at a disadvantage.
In exchange, his Barrier forms damn near instantly and likely won't lose in a clash to anyone, even Satoru Gojo. But the refinement isn't good in all aspects, since Gojo's Domain Expansion disables Innate Techniques within, but this one doesn't.'
Taiyo sidesteps a kick and pouches Hakari on the shoulder, using Immolation to leave a burn on his flesh and ignite his jacket.
Hakari tumbles away, tossing aside the burning jacket as he rises to his feet. "I hope you're buying me new clothes after this."
"Better clothes too…"
Hakari narrows his eyes at Taiyo, but they both pause when train arrival alarms blare in the station.
Hakari prepares to fight, but Taiyo looks around curiously, spotting a young boy rushing to the train from upstairs, desperately clinging to a briefcase in his arms.
"That guy," Taiyo says. "If I understand properly, he's the main character of the game this Domain Expansion is based on. If he doesn't make it to the train, you get the Jackpot instantly, right?"
Hakari nods, realizing Taiyo actually wanted him to hit the Jackpot. "Yeah. Eight characters, lots of scenarios. But since the last round was green, it's unlikely to get it so soon."
The hologram easily steps onto the train, breathing a sigh of relief as he gets seated in the train car.
Taiyo frowns, then feels a surge of Cursed Energy flowing from Hakari.
"Bonus!" Hakari rushes forward as a film of automatic Cursed Energy cloaks his body, then shatters like glass. It reverts all the damage taken during the last round as he rushes into battle with Taiyo. "Even if I don't hit Jackpot, there are lots of other bonuses. This one gives me 3 activations to reset all the damage I took between the last spin and where I am now."
"So the last spin is a checkpoint," Taiyo says while parrying much heavier strikes. "Is it automatic?"
"Completely! If I take too much damage at once, it'll automatically trigger and reset me, but I can do it manually and get an increase in Cursed Energy output. Awesome, right! The fever is unmatched!"
"That's ridiculous. It's no wonder you fight like you have extra lives," Taiyo slices Hakari's right hand off with a mixture of speed and Immolation, using his hand like a hot blade. "But the risks—"
Hakari instantly activates the bonus, and his hand reappears in time to strike at Taiyo's face. "—That's the fever!"
Taiyo avoids the hit, and they trade a few blows, with rolls constantly happening in the background.
Throughout the round, Hakari gains another bonus that amplifies his innate Cursed Energy Trait, making it even sharper, as if each gentle touch was equivalent to shoving your hand into a wood chipper.
Hakari then lands another background roll before the round ends, and uses two of his new extra lives at once, leaving him with two remaining, but suddenly increasing his speed and power enough to surprise Taiyo.
Taiyo turns his head fast enough to avoid the direct hit, only getting a cut on his cheek because of the amplified Cursed Energy Trait.
'What a miserable experience fighting him is,' he punches Hakari in the gut, sending him tumbling back as both train carts arrive. "Get the jackpot already."
Hakari instantly undoes all the and rises to his feet, seeing the golden train cart doors. "High Probability round."
"I'll wait," and they do exactly that, as one of the other characters appears and plays out one of the non-Jackpot scenarios.
Taiyo keeps his relaxed posture as Hakari's Cursed Energy surges once more, receiving yet another bonus. This time, he could tell that Hakari's reinforcement increased, bolstering his defenses.
"This Domain Expansion really is a pain in the ass. How do you feel about Jujutsu Society anyway, and all the politics crap?"
Hakari shrugs, waiting for the next round to begin. "I still don't really get it. I get paid and have superpowers, so that's great. Not sure why they wanted to kill me for having an Innate Technique that blends with technology…old people are so miserable sometimes."
"Oh yeah, and Jujutsu Society has some of the worst ones. But how do you feel about it all being so hush-hush?"
Hakari sighs. "I get why. Keep the secret to limit Cursed Spirits and all that, but it really is so stifling. The fever is why people live, and they won't let me really get a good roll going."
"You mentioned that before. What is this 'Fever'?"
"It's why we exist and live. The chance at making it big at the risk of losing everything. Walking into the unknown without fear, but that feeling in your gut when you put everyone on red and the ball just rolls forever. Then when it hits and you feel like you're king of the damned world! That's the real fever right there!"
"Uncertainty, chance, and competition."
"Exactly," Hakari laughs. "Finally, someone gets it!"
"I have a similar idea. Competition, risking losing for the chance of winning, that's what life is, and nature would agree. But humans really stifle that, and Jujutsu Tech is even worse about it."
"I'm not quite sure what you're getting at," Hakari says as the next train carts arrive while he rolls another bonus, and Taiyo feels his reinforcement increase once more.
"Finally," Taiyo smiles as he sees the golden train cart, and the main character of the Domain Expansion walks across, clutching his belt. "Hopefully this—"
The main character loses control and soils his pants in the middle of the subway platform, causing the entire crowd to stop and stare in disgust.
"Jackpot!" Hakari yells as a surge of Cursed Energy, like nothing Taiyo's has ever felt before, floods the Domain Expansion.
At this moment, Hakari's Cursed Energy output, be it for reinforcement or enhancement, is the pinnacle of all Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers. His energy pours out into the environment, and to Taiyo's bewilderment, constantly refills.
Hakari's Cursed Energy then simmers and forms musical notes behind him, creating the music of the Domain Expansion as the Barrier deactivates.
'What?' Taiyo and Hakari are suddenly near a river on campus, close to the training field they started the fight at. 'He can move the coordinates of his Barrier?'
But before he could wrap his mind around this feat, Hakari disappeared from his sight. If not for his experience against Satoru Gojo, Taiyo would have been unable to react to Hakari's sudden increase in speed and power, arriving in front of him and launching a fist at his face.
Raising his arms to block the strike and feeling a litany of razors piercing his flesh thanks to the Cursed Energy Trait, yet again amplified by Jackpot.
Hakari smiles, more excited than ever as he sees Taiyo's manic grin, sensing that they were both already high on the fever.
"Now, let's start the music!" Hakari yells as the Cursed Energy musical notes forming behind him play the music of his Domain Expansion…
END CHAPTER---
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
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