Maki Zen'in was dispatched to the Star Corridor to bring back Toji Fushiguro and Yuki Tsukumo for a grand meeting. This gathering included the high-ranking officials of Jujutsu High, the Big Three families, Special Grade sorcerers, and influential Grade 1 sorcerers.
Floating beside every sorcerer in attendance was a Chibitz. They had eventually settled on ignoring them after the constructs declared, [IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SHARE INFORMATION FROM OTHER TEAMS WITH THOSE OUTSIDE YOUR TEAM AS IT VIOLATES THE RULES! PLEASE REST ASSURED, AS THIS IS A BINDING VOW ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE CULLING GAME AND THE PLAYERS!] Since the Chibitz remained silent unless spoken to, they weren't much of a nuisance.
The agenda for the meeting was current information sharing. In particular, the Ten Basic Rules of the Culling Game, which had been extracted by interrogating the Chibitz, were the most critical items for discussion.
The breakdown was as follows:
1. Following the start of the Culling Game, every living being within the Japanese archipelago who possesses the talent for jujutsu is registered as a player. This effect remains permanent until the conclusion of the Culling Game.
2. A seven-day grace period is established from the start of the Culling Game. During this time, combat between players is prohibited, whether inside or outside a colony. Violators will be stripped of their cursed technique and all cursed energy.
3. To maintain the Culling Game, eighty percent of a player's maximum cursed energy output is constantly collected from them. However, players currently inside a colony are exempt from this collection.
4. To enter a colony, a player must declare their intent to enter within one hundred meters of the colony's outer edge. Upon doing so, they may choose to enter any active colony. Furthermore, any living beings present within a colony at the start of the Culling Game will be teleported outside; they must participate in the Culling Game to re-enter.
5. Movement from inside a colony to the outside is impossible. Anyone attempting to move from the interior to the exterior will be blocked by an invisible wall. This restriction applies to physical bullets and energy produced by jujutsu. Conversely, entry into a colony from the outside is generally free. However, any being who enters a colony—regardless of jujutsu talent—is automatically registered as a player.
6. Once the number of factions within a colony reaches one or fewer after the seventh day, or once forty-nine days have passed since the start of the Culling Game, the colony's outer shell will be completely sealed, and Ryomen Sukuna will manifest within. After that point, the colony will cease operations once the number of internal factions reaches one or fewer.
7. The Culling Game itself will only conclude once all colonies have ceased operations.
8. Players prepared by the Culling Game, specifically Incarnated Sorcerers and Contracted Cursed Spirits, will be teleported to any region within Japan according to their own preference at the start of the game.
9. Players earn points by killing humans or cursed spirits. A kill is worth five points if the target has jujutsu talent, and one point otherwise. By consuming one hundred points, a player may add a new rule to the Culling Game. However, added rules must not contradict the ten basic rules.
10. Chibitz, the administrative terminals of the Culling Game, cannot perform actions that favor specific players or act in bad faith toward players. However, if a rule added by a player creates conditions favorable to only a specific player, that rule takes priority.
As these conditions were clearly defined and displayed via projector, Satoru Gojo was the first to speak. He sat with his hands behind his head, rocking his chair back and forth with poor manners.
"This is basically that, isn't it? Team battles might be possible, but won't it just be a disadvantage if you're not part of a small elite group? The weak will just become point fodder."
"That's a harsh way of putting it, Satoru. But it's true that deploying unnecessary personnel would likely just present points to the Incarnated Sorcerers and Contracted Cursed Spirits. It would be wise to form our teams carefully in advance."
"Even so, there's hardly anyone who can actually do teamwork or coordination."
"Jujutsu sorcerers are egoists at heart. Well, Suguru, Naoya, and I are fine on our own. We're the types whose allies just get in the way when we get serious anyway."
Satoru spoke airily about facing the players alone, and both Suguru Geto and Naoya Zen'in sighed but did not deny his statement. Masamichi Yaga couldn't honestly say he didn't have concerns about their attitude, but from his position as Principal, he had no choice but to accept their views.
After all, if the details of this ritual were entirely true, it meant they would be allowing the full manifestation of Ryomen Sukuna in ten locations across the country.
"...Since all the fingers in our possession—including those Sukuna fingers stored in the Jujutsu High warehouse—have disappeared, we have no choice but to operate on the assumption that Sukuna's manifestation is a reality. As Satoru says, we will need our Special Grade sorcerers to exercise their full power. ...Still, to think someone would apply the sure-hit effect of a domain to theft."
"Well, most people wouldn't even think of doing that. Anyway, about Ryomen Sukuna... Hey, Chibitz, are there any raid boss gimmicks? You know, like in a game?"
[YES, I WILL ANSWER THE PLAYER'S QUESTION! RYOMEN SUKUNA IN THE CULLING GAME WILL MANIFEST AS TEN SEPARATE ENTITIES TOTALING THE STRENGTH OF TWENTY SUKUNA FINGERS! HOWEVER, THIS CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION REMAINS VALID AS LONG AS AT LEAST ONE RYOMEN SUKUNA SURVIVES, SO THE REMAINING SUKUNAS WILL GROW STRONGER AS THE NUMBER OF DEFEATED SUKUNAS INCREASES! FOR EXAMPLE, EACH ENTITY STARTS AT THE STRENGTH OF TWO FINGERS, BUT WHEN ONLY FIVE REMAIN, THEY STRENGTHEN TO THE EQUIVALENT OF FOUR FINGERS! ADDITIONALLY, WHEN ONE INDIVIDUAL SUKUNA DIES, ITS EXPERIENCE AND CURSED ENERGY ARE SHARED AMONG ALL SURVIVING INDIVIDUALS!]
"Yep, total trash boss. Is he basically the Four Kings? Well, the mechanics are strictly different, but still!"
"Satoru, the two Principals won't get your Dark Souls references, so you should probably stop. Be kind to the elderly. Still, from what we're hearing, he sounds formidable. He starts at his weakest and the difficulty gradually ramps up. As far as casting a 'boss' goes, I suppose that's appropriate, but the fact that the status of other isolated colonies affects things makes it impossible to read."
"If that's the case, who's going to take on the strongest, final Sukuna? Regardless, I'll be the vanguard. I'll need someone to back me up, though."
"Why is it already decided that Naoya is taking on the final Sukuna? ...No, wait. ...Naoya, are you going to be okay?"
"Honestly, the situation is pretty brutal. Unfortunately, the moment I heard the rules, I didn't have any other choice."
"...If we don't decide to preserve Naoya in perfect condition to put him against the strongest Sukuna, what happens to him?"
"The colony mechanics themselves aren't suited for me. I'd probably be the first to die."
"Right, you can't fight without constantly judging whether you're violating a Binding Vow. You're better off in a one-on-one or a situation where everyone is an enemy. ...In that case, we save Naoya. Well, we're the strongest, right? Suguru and I will just slaughter nine Sukunas, and Naoya can take the credit at the end."
When Satoru casually made that suggestion, it was Principal Masamichi Yaga who shot the plan down with a sigh.
"Satoru. Behaving flippantly when you're irritated is a bad habit of yours. ...Considering the danger posed by the unknown players, we should aim for a simultaneous conquest of all colonies except the final one. We can't rule out the existence of someone whose goal is to unleash Ryomen Sukuna, and quite simply, if the quality of the players is low, there's a risk Ryomen Sukuna will slaughter everyone and be released outside the colony. More importantly, in the worst-case scenario, we could end up with an empty colony by the seventh day."
"Ah, right. Since participation in a colony is voluntary, anyone looking for a fight would head for Tokyo or Kyoto where the player count is likely higher..."
"The empty colony issue is undoubtedly our biggest problem. And even if only Jujutsu High forces enter, Ryomen Sukuna will manifest in that colony immediately on the seventh day."
"Ten colonies, and seven Special Grades. Naturally, that leaves three colonies left over. What do we do?"
"As with suppressing terrorism, we'll likely have to dispatch multiple Grade 1 sorcerers who possess combat power equivalent to a Special Grade."
"...Hey, Old Man Yaga. Is it alright if the final colony Naoya invades is Kagoshima?"
"...Your reasoning?"
"We'll throw some random curse users and cursed spirits into the Kagoshima colony to buy time, and then before Naoya moves in, we'll have a nuclear missile from North Korea slammed into it. We should be allowed that much preparation. Also, if we prepare a transport bus full of death row inmates and they cross the outer shell of the colony, we've secured a massive amount of points right there, haven't we?"
"...Very well. I will arrange to deploy curse users sentenced to life imprisonment, death row inmates, and the cursed spirits we've tamed at the High into the Kagoshima colony. However, the engineering for a missile—"
"Leave that to me. I have connections in the underworld. You know how dirt-poor that country is, right?"
Amidst the diverse opinions being voiced, the response to the Culling Game was gradually taking shape. Their discussion, fueled by the need to prevent the total manifestation of Ryomen Sukuna and save the world, continued late into the night.
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