Cursed Terms & Conditions – Chapter 50

Ren smiled. That same polite, soft, calculated smile.

In his head, though, it was chaos.

Phew… he gave up. Thank God.

If that question game had gone on a few more minutes, Ren didn't know how much longer he could've kept up the balancing act. One wrong sentence, one casual detail, and the entire deck of cards he'd built could've collapsed.

But instead, Gojo had asked for something much simpler: "Tell me your story."

Ren leaned back against the wall, stretching his arms once before resting them lazily in his lap.

"I was just a regular kid until I turned seven," Ren began, his voice calm, casual. "That's when I had a crush on a girl. She died. Right in front of me."

Gojo didn't move.

Ren continued, "Since then, Rika's been with me. My life? It's been hard. No family. Just me. A month ago, I started seeing energy. Around objects, people… life."

He glanced toward the window.

"It happened at the shrine. My safe place. Rika showed me something. A spark. A flow. That's when I realized cursed energy existed. I didn't know the name. Still don't know everything. But I trained. I reverse-engineered the patterns and watched how energy behaved."

Ren looked Gojo in the face.

"One morning, I woke up and realized I had a cursed technique. Just... like that. The information just came to me. Top ten freakiest moments of my life, honestly."

Gojo blinked once.

Ren went on, "Then I saw Utahime. I sensed the same weird energy around her. I followed her. Didn't mean for a fight to happen, but it did. So I summoned Rika. Blew the curse up. End of story."

A pause.

"And then today, I woke up and saw you."

Silence.

Gojo didn't speak.

Didn't smile.

Didn't laugh.

He just stared at Ren.

For ten full seconds.

Not because he didn't believe him.

No, that was the problem.

He did.

Ren's story—short, sharp, eerily clean—actually lined up. Mostly. Jujutsu High's background check had already pulled some basic data.

Ren had stopped going to college a month ago. His academic records froze. His attendance vanished.

Right when he claimed to have seen cursed energy.

Gojo didn't like things that fit together this well.

Because it meant one of two things.

Either Ren was telling the truth.

Or Ren was a terrifyingly good liar.

He couldn't tell which one scared him more.

"Well," Gojo said at last, letting out a small breath, "life's unfair, huh?"

Ren nodded slowly.

"Anyway," Gojo continued, straightening up, "now—where's the finger?"

Ren raised an eyebrow, then said, with casual sharpness, "Rika."

A ripple passed through the room.

A patch of shadow behind Ren twitched.

Then, from the air itself, something black slithered into existence.

An arm.

Pale. Twisted. Almost human.

It pushed forward into reality and, with two fingers, dropped a wrapped, jagged object onto the table between them.

A cursed object.

Sukuna's finger.

Before Gojo could even lift a finger, Ren snatched it back.

Holding it casually, he rolled it once between his fingers.

"Hmm," Ren said in an amused tone. "You want this?"

Gojo's eyes shifted.

"Yes," he said plainly.

Ren leaned forward.

"Why?"

Gojo's smile twitched.

"That's not part of the game anymore."

Ren leaned back again.

"Well, I earned this fair and square. So… what are you willing to give me for it?"

Gojo blinked.

This brat.

He's negotiating? With me?

Gojo tried not to react as Ren placed the finger on the desk between them and leaned forward like a loan shark.

He smiled.

A scammer's smile.

One Gojo had seen in the mirror.

The same cocky little grin.

Gojo's attention flicked back to the space where Rika's arm had emerged.

That… thing.

It wasn't normal.

Gojo had seen curses, cursed tools, shikigami, and tamed spirits.

Rika was none of those.

She was something else.

And she listened to Ren.

"What do you want?" Gojo asked slowly.

Ren tilted his head.

"I want access," he said. "To your knowledge. Everything you know about cursed energy. Books. Scrolls. Techniques. Concepts."

Gojo blinked.

Then again.

Then his fingers twitched.

He almost broke the damn table.

This kid is impossible.

He's calling me a scammer, and now he wants all my knowledge?

Gojo took a slow, deep breath.

He had to keep it together.

Because this kid—this smart, sharp, freakishly composed kid—was everything the higher-ups didn't want.

Independent.

Resourceful.

Self-taught.

And powerful.

But also smart enough to be dangerous.

Gojo's mind raced.

He wanted Ren in Jujutsu High. No question.

But he also couldn't just hand over a Sukuna Finger like a business transaction.

Then again, Ren had saved Utahime.

And so far? He had kept Rika under control.

Gojo thought for five seconds.

Then smiled.

"Fine," he said. "But I have a counteroffer."

Ren raised an eyebrow.

Gojo leaned in.

"There's a school. For people like you. Who wants to learn more? About cursed energy. Cursed techniques. Cursed spirits. Everything."

He gestured broadly.

"You'll get books. Training. Maybe even a better apartment."

He grinned.

"I'll teach you personally."

He thought it was a trap.

A well-laid, generous, delicious trap.

Ren heard it.

And smiled.

Heh… You think that's bait?

Cute.