Chapter 77 Verse 66 Ink-dyed Chapter Three
“Ooka, do you believe in the existence of souls?”
In Ooka’s room, Mahito gently placed his hands on top of Ooka’s head as if he was doing a head massage, his voice soft.
The doors and windows were tightly shut, and the curtains drawn closed, enveloping the room in darkness.
“Soul? Does such a thing really exist?” Ooka asked puzzled.
“My techniques allow me to change the shape of souls by touching them,” Mahito said with a smile.
However, injecting techniques into ordinary humans was his first attempt, and he was curious to see what kind of results it would produce.
Compared to violently transforming human souls into cursed spirits, this delicate method of altering someone’s soul to grant them curse energy and techniques was far more precise.
Yet he maintained his carefree attitude all the same.
It was just an insignificant experiment, and if it failed, he could always find another subject; after all, human beings were readily available.
“Oh, looks like I went a bit overboard.” Mahito winked playfully. “Well, that’s fine.”
“Eh? Overboard…AAAH!!!” Before Ooka could finish speaking, intense pain shot through his head as though a thousand needles were piercing his brain, “Mr. Mahito, my head hurts!”
“It’s alright, it’s the price for gaining power.” Mahito patted his head soothingly, “Now, you can do anything you want.”
His words echoed in Ooka’s hazy consciousness, as if they came from the mouth of a demonic being from Hell, seducing and tricking people into surrendering their souls.
“Anything… I want to do…?”
“Yes, anything.” Mahito described his version of a “bright future” warmly, “If you want something, take it; if you want to kill someone, kill them; you have transcended humanity and entered the realm of the sorcerer now.”
“Kill… whoever…”
The pain subsiding in his head was replaced by an evil and fierce malice surging from the depths of his soul, spreading outward. Gazing blankly, Ooka muttered these words.
Meanwhile, in places unseen, strange eyes had sprouted on the back of his neck, spreading to cover a large portion of his back under his shirt.
“Use this power well.”
With those words left behind, Mahito abandoned this pitiful subject and calmly left.
To him, Ooka was a failure—his soul might not last more than a few days under the strain of that distortion.
In the following days, Ooka stayed locked away in his room, refusing to even come out when his family offered him food.
He only ventured out at night to scavenge the refrigerator for sustenance.
Ooka’s parents could do nothing but wrap his meals in cling film and leave them in the fridge for him to eat late at night.
Hayama Hayato visited several times, accompanied by Kamuragi Yamato and Miura Yumiko, who were all invited into Ooka’s home. Yet, no matter how many efforts they made, they couldn’t draw Ooka out of his room.
As soon as Hayato came, Ooka would yell at him to go away.
Once, even Shizuka Hiratsuka came to check up on him. Given his absence from school, she, as a student advisor, felt she should look into the matter.
Typically known for her straightforward approach and being called “Iron Fist Teacher” by the students, her dedication towards her students was evident to all.
Even so, despite his mental state becoming increasingly unclear, when Shizuka knocked on his door, he still responded kindly, “Teacher Shizuka, please leave.”
Unable to persuade him otherwise, Shizuka sighed and returned to the school.
Immediately upon returning to Sōbu High, she sought out Hayato to inquire about the situation.
Realizing he could no longer hide it, he gave a reluctant smile before honestly recounting the events to Shizuka.
“Ah…such a thing has happened.” Shizuka grimaced and took a drag on her cigarette, at a loss for words.
Could she really blame Yukinoshita Yukino for being too harsh?
That would be unreasonable.
“Does Yukinoshita know about this?”
After some thoughtful silence, Shizuka turned to Hayato.
“I think she probably does?” Hayato hesitated before replying. Since Yui and Hachiman were both in second year F class, they would have reported the issue to Yukinoshita Yukino.
But the fact was, Yui and Hachiman kept the matter secret and did not inform Yukinoshita of Ooka’s condition.
Hearing this, Shizuka’s frown deepened and her cigarette glowed hotter. The thick smoke escaped as she exhaled, causing Hayato to cough reflexively.
Seeing this, she extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray and waved him off, “Alright, go back. Leave it to me.”
“Considering Yukinoshita’s disposition, she might very well brood on this…”
After Hayato left, Shizuka lit another cigarette but kept smoking until it was nearly burnt out, without any better solutions coming to mind.
Direct intervention seemed inappropriate.
Shizuka decided to call her former student, current friend, Yukinoshita Yono, for advice, but was told not to worry.
“Shizuka, Yukino has changed and no longer needs our concern.”
On the phone, Yukinoshita Yono reassured Shizuka.
If anything serious happened, Rin Qi would likely handle it.
“Is that true?”
Doubtfully placing down her phone, Shizuka wondered if she still knew the Yukinoshita Yono she once knew, given that Yono seemed to dismiss her sister’s predicament.
Just as she pondered visiting the Service Club to investigate,
The next day, Ooka returned to school.
…
Late at night, under the cover of darkness, Ooka, stripped to the waist, knelt on his bed. His back was covered with various eyes, bulging grotesquely, as if a living creature were gestating beneath the skin, wriggling as if about to burst through at any moment.
Torn sheets lay around him, his throat emitting hoarse sounds. His bloodshot eyes looked ready to burst, a constant buzzing in his ears as if another self was whispering incessantly.
Moonlight pierced through gaps in the curtains, casting a sinister shadow on the wall.
This shadow resembled an infinitely extending hand, clutching Ooka within its grasp. Instinctively, he wanted to struggle, yet the thought was quickly stifled by the overwhelming tightness.
…
After school, he became a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
