Chapter 20 Gwen?

Gwen is on the verge of losing her leg when, out of nowhere, a man pulls her away just before the gaping mouth in the ground can injure her.

She finds herself in the arms of this stranger, who looks down at her with a warm smile and speaks in a calm voice.

???: Don't worry, kid. I'm here.

The man gently sets Gwen down before pulling what appears to be an ordinary metal pipe from his back. Resting it on his shoulder, he eyes the curse and speaks again.

???: Hey there, ugly. You in the mood to meet my love?

The curse, momentarily confused by the sudden arrival of the man, quickly dismisses him and charges forward.

But before it can even take another step, the man vanishes from sight, reappearing behind the creature. In one swift motion, he swings the pipe like a baseball bat.

The curse's head bursts instantly, exploding like a watermelon.

Gwen remains frozen, a mix of fear and awe gripping her as she watches the stranger. Now that she has a moment to observe him properly, she takes in his appearance.

The man looks to be around twenty-one, with an unshaven face, long but messy black hair, and a pair of sunglasses. His clothes are extremely loose-fitting, and he wears mismatched flip-flops, making it clear that he is, without a doubt, a vagrant.

Realizing this, Gwen briefly considers calling the police, but she quickly remembers—if this homeless man could do that to a curse, he must be a Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Without hesitation, she bows in gratitude.

Gwen: Thank you so much, sir Sorcerer.

The man, who had been standing in a heroic pose, suddenly freezes in place. Normally, when he saved someone from these invisible monsters, he was called a lunatic or an idiot. No one else could see them but him.

Seeing his reaction, Gwen reaches into her bag, pulls out ten dollars, and hands it to him before preparing to leave.

Just as she turns away, the man shouts after her.

???: Wait—YOU can see these monsters too!?

Gwen was about to answer but hesitates. How can I see Cursed Energy?

She distinctly remembers not being able to see any of this—until she tried on Neo's glasses.

Gwen stops abruptly and looks at the homeless man.

Gwen: I-I don't know... I wasn't supposed to be able to see them.

The man is stunned. This girl seems to know more than he does about the monsters he's been seeing all month. He opens his mouth to ask a question—

???: Gir—

The school bell rings, snapping Gwen back to reality. She's late. Without wasting a second, she hurriedly hands the man a phone number.

Gwen: I don't have time now, sir. Call this number at 3:30 PM, and we'll talk.

She takes off running toward the school, leaving the man standing in the alley, completely baffled. He watches her go, then mutters under his breath.

Adam: My name's Adam…

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In class, everyone is already seated as the teacher takes attendance. That's when Gwen bursts through the door, panting like she just sprinted across an entire stadium in seconds.

The teacher eyes her with mild irritation but takes a deep breath when he realizes who it is. It's the school's number-one student. With a sigh, he says:

Teacher: Miss Stacy, normally I'd scold you, but since this is your first time—and you've never scored below a B-minus—I'll let it slide. Take your seat.

Embarrassed, Gwen doesn't say a word and simply heads toward her desk.

Halfway there, however, every hair on her body stands on end. A wave of cold sweat washes over her, and her entire body starts trembling uncontrollably.

She doesn't know why she feels this way, but deep in her soul, an instinct is screaming—a primal warning in the presence of something overwhelmingly powerful. A predator.

Gwen isn't sure if it's a threat, but the sheer volume of Cursed Energy emanating from it is suffocating. The way this energy feels—it's absolutely terrifying.

And she knows, instinctively, who the monster is.

Turning her head slowly, she spots Neo, fast asleep at his desk, leaking Cursed Energy.

Before she can do anything, the teacher speaks up, oblivious to her distress.

Teacher: Miss Stacy, please take your seat.

Snapping out of her daze, Gwen quickly nods and makes her way to her desk, still trembling from Neo's overwhelming presence.

Then, an idea strikes her. She picks up an eraser and throws it at Neo.

Her aim is terrible.

The eraser completely misses and smacks Peter, who's sitting right next to Neo, right in the face.

Peter, confused, looks around to see who threw it. His eyes land on Gwen, who is now trying (and failing) to act innocent.

Realizing it was her, Peter grabs a piece of paper, scribbles, "Why did you throw that at me?" and tosses it back at Gwen while the teacher isn't looking.

Gwen reads the note and quickly writes back: "Wake Neo up and tell him to stop leaking Cursed Energy! I'm dying over here!"

She throws the note at Peter.

It lands directly on his head.

Peter reads it, then stares at Gwen, confused. Leaking? He looks at Neo, still sleeping, then back at Gwen. She desperately nods, urging him to wake Neo up.

But before Peter can do anything—

Teacher: PARKER! STACY! WOULD YOU CARE TO EXPLAIN WHY YOU'RE PASSING NOTES IN MY CLASS?!

Both of them jump at the teacher's sudden outburst.

They turn to see their teacher glaring at them, waiting for an explanation.

Gwen, guilty, quickly responds.

Gwen: Sorry, sir. I was just asking about what I missed since I was late.

The teacher isn't stupid. He knows exactly what they're talking about. He had barely even started class when she arrived.

But he isn't paid enough to deal with this.

Teacher: Next time, I'll kick both of you out of my classroom.

Both Gwen and Peter nod, accepting their scolding, and quietly return their attention to the lesson.

Despite this, Peter still shakes Neo awake.

Bad decision.

The moment Neo stirs, he instinctively slaps Peter across the face.

Peter recoils, rubbing his now sore cheek.

Peter: What the hell?! I was just trying to wake you up!

Neo, looking at him like it's the most obvious thing in the world, simply replies:

Neo: I hit you because you woke me up like an idiot. If you'd done it any other way, I'd have woken up just fine.

Peter wants to say something, but he knows Neo has never been a normal person, so he just sighs and moves on.

Peter: Gwen asked you to stop leaking so much energy. I don't really get what she meant. Do you?

Neo takes a second to process what Peter just said.

Then, his eyes widen.

His gaze snaps toward Gwen, who isn't too far away.

Neo knows what it means for someone to feel that level of pressure and danger.

It means she can sense Cursed Energy.

But that should be theoretically impossible.

She didn't notice the curse behind Harry before. She never reacted to this kind of oppressive aura.

So how the hell can she sense Cursed Energy now?

Neo has no clue how she suddenly awakened this ability.

Normally, sorcerers are born with the ability and awaken their powers by the age of five.

Or, in the case of this world, they should've awakened one month ago.

That's why Neo is so confused—this shouldn't be possible. But the best way to figure out what's going on is by talking to Gwen, who has just become a Jujutsu Sorcerer.

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During lunch break, Neo, Gwen, Peter, Harry, and MJ sat together in a hidden spot Peter had discovered once—a small garden tucked behind the school.

Right now, everyone was seated on the ground, staring at Neo with serious expressions after he had explained that he had no idea what had happened to Gwen.

Gwen, however, was the happiest of them all. Among everyone here, she was the one who had awakened powers. Breaking the silence, she grinned and asked excitedly:

Gwen: So, what's my power?

Hearing this, everyone except for two people got excited—Peter, who felt a sting of jealousy, and Neo, who had a serious look on his face.

Neo locked eyes with Gwen, his expression filled with concern.

Neo: Gwen, I don't think you understand the situation you're in. As a complete novice, you're practically overflowing with Cursed Energy. You're already attracting curses to us.

At that revelation, everyone tensed with fear, but Neo quickly reassured them.

Neo: Don't worry about it. I'm here, so we'll be fine.

His words helped, but then his face hardened.

Neo: But this is a huge problem, Gwen. Right now, you're basically a curse magnet. You're putting everyone around you in danger.

Then, Neo stood up and walked a few steps forward. Without warning, he plunged his hand into the grass and pulled out a massive cockroach, at least a meter (3.28 ft) in size. Without hesitation, he crushed it in his grip. The creature burst into a sickly purple sludge that quickly evaporated into nothing.

Neo: So now, you have to make a choice.

He turned back to face Gwen.

Neo: Do you want to become a sorcerer and deal with curses for the rest of your life, or do you just want to learn enough to live your life as it was before?

The entire group was stunned.

More than that, only Gwen had actually seen what just happened.

To the others, Neo had just grabbed thin air and crushed nothing.

Seeing their confusion, Neo sighed and reached into his bag. He pulled out a pair of glasses and two small boxes of contact lenses, handing them to the three others.

Neo: Unlike Gwen, you guys won't be able to fight back, so I had a friend make these cursed tools for you. They'll let you see curses so you can run if needed.

As Neo was about to pass the glasses to Peter, he suddenly smirked.

Neo: Oh, and Peter? Please don't ask how I know your prescription.

Peter froze, his mind racing with questions, but in the end, he just put on the glasses.

The second he did, his eyes widened in horror.

Neo was covered in disgusting purple sludge, dripping off him in grotesque, slimy globs.

Harry, without hesitation, put in the contacts, squinting as he adjusted to the strange sight of Neo's cursed aura. MJ, on the other hand, simply held onto hers, staring at them in her palm before slipping them into her pocket.

Neo didn't care about her reaction. Instead, he focused back on Gwen.

Neo: And before you start thinking that fighting curses isn't a big deal just because of how I handle them—forget it. The only reason I fight the way I do is because I'm the strongest.

His voice was sharp, his gaze unwavering.

Neo: And I'm still not at full strength. There's so much I don't know yet. But one thing I do know is that if you choose this life, you're going to see hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people die without being able to do a thing about it.

Gwen fell silent.

His words weighed on her.

She took a moment—several, in fact—thinking carefully.

Then, she looked back at Neo with a determined expression.

Gwen: I want to protect people.

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Hey everyone, if you're enjoying my fic, please send some power stones!

I'm feeling a bit better than before, so I'll try to post chapters more frequently. If there's anything you didn't like, if you have any questions, criticisms, or suggestions, just let me know—I always read everything!