"A girl who only appears at dusk... It seems he's run into the real deal this time."
Back in Tokyo, Nanami Kento, having hung up the phone, lamented to himself that a moment of soft-heartedness on his part had now resulted in a long-term overtime job for himself.
But to say that Miyauchi Hikage's videos were useless wouldn't be accurate.
After all, the development of the Jujutsu world was actually somewhat less than optimistic.
Although it was a supernatural profession that specialized in dealing with Cursed Spirits, talent was being severely divided up by other factions.
Even with the appearance of a once-in-a-millennium strongest jujutsu sorcerer like Gojo Satoru, it couldn't significantly improve the Jujutsu world's intelligence channels.
They imitated the Shinto model, where jujutsu sorcerers stationed locally with certain sensory abilities would discover traces of Cursed Spirits, but there weren't enough people, so they could only station one or two sorcerers in each prefecture.
Besides that, the Jujutsu higher-ups would directly receive missions from the government agency specifically responsible for dealing with the inner world.
But these official missions always had a delay. By the time these missions were assigned to the Jujutsu world, most of them were already tough nuts to crack—
Just as jujutsu sorcerers could moonlight as exorcists to deal with vengeful spirits, the mid-to-low-grade Cursed Spirits were mostly snapped up by major powers like Shintoism and Buddhism.
Although the rewards for these low-level missions weren't high, rookie low-grade jujutsu sorcerers needed a large number of mid-to-low-grade vengeful spirits and Cursed Spirits to practice on and gain experience.
Miyauchi Hikage, as the first video blogger to film these kinds of haunted house explorations and achieve considerable success online, had a comment section filled with cries for help and invitations for him to film at their local "supernatural hotspots."
Although most of these had nothing to do with supernatural powers, after replying to those comments and conducting simple searches, they could indeed discover many newly gestated Cursed Spirits and vengeful spirits.
They could even find some promising individuals with certain potential who seemed likely to awaken their powers at any moment.
The Jujutsu High placed great importance on this situation.
Perhaps in this information age of accelerated spiritual resurgence and rapid technological development, leveraging the power of the internet could inject some vitality into the decaying Jujutsu world.
Of course, this was a new frontier in the inner world that hadn't yet been noticed by other factions or the conservative Jujutsu higher-ups. The Jujutsu High naturally couldn't promote it openly and could only explore it in private.
Fortunately, he heard that two talented girls had recently enrolled at the Jujutsu High. One of them was the eldest daughter of the top Japanese conglomerate, the Shinomiya Zaibatsu. She possessed excellent physical fitness and spiritual power. Although she hadn't officially enrolled yet, the conglomerate seemed to have already established a more stable cooperative relationship with the Jujutsu High.
Through this connection, the Tokyo Jujutsu High had also recruited many people and formed an online monitoring department that had yet to be made official.
Its main task now was to monitor Miyauchi Hikage's videos and his comment section, as well as some of the more famous supernatural forums on the internet.
They would also keep an eye on any other video bloggers who appeared on the market trying to copy Miyauchi Hikage.
However, the technical skills of those copycat video bloggers were mostly mediocre, and without the boost from Miyauchi Hikage's luck, success in the niche genre of suspense and horror was not so easily achieved.
The content on supernatural forums was even more fictitious. If the requests for help and invitations in Miyauchi Hikage's comment section had about a 5-10% chance of being real, then more than ninety-nine percent of the content on these forums where paranormal enthusiasts gathered was just nonsense.
In comparison, the substance of Miyauchi Hikage's comment section seemed almost too high-quality, as if his videos automatically attracted viewers who had recently encountered similar incidents and needed a place to vent their emotions.
This led Nanami Kento to meet with Miyauchi Hikage several more times these past few days, trying to confirm whether he had awakened some supernatural ability related to the "internet," "videos," or even "socializing."
Then he was forcefully stuffed with several red envelopes by Miyauchi Hikage, who also showered him with a heap of compliments, making Nanami Kento, who looked mature but was actually not yet 30, feel a bit overwhelmed.
Originally, Nanami Kento had thought about telling him some of the truth, and even intended to help him awaken so that Miyauchi Hikage could directly cooperate with the Jujutsu High.
But every time Nanami Kento tried to probe, he would be met with Miyauchi Hikage's earnest expression, stating that he was very satisfied with his current life, had no special ambitions, and just wanted to earn a bit more money to better develop his hometown so he could live the rest of his life comfortably as a rich man.
This made Nanami Kento swallow his words every time, not wanting to shatter the other's peaceful mindset.
"Anyway, if he stays in this field long enough, he's bound to see those 'dirty things' with his own eyes sooner or later. It's better to let him discover it himself and then make his own decision," after several interactions with Miyauchi Hikage, this was Nanami Kento's current thinking.
But Nanami Kento didn't expect this day to come so quickly.
Because Miyauchi Hikage and his friend might have already been targeted by that vengeful spirit, Nanami Kento's work efficiency was very high.
Based on the information provided, he contacted the person in charge of intelligence at the Jujutsu High.
In just about ten minutes, they gave a reply, and the content was very detailed.
It was clear that the Jujutsu world had records of these vengeful spirits that had existed for many years, had a certain degree of local renown, and had not been exorcised.
"A family of priests from the Sakitama Shrine..."
Sakitama is a god that brings good fortune and has a very ancient history. It is one of the origins of the name of Saitama Prefecture.
However, this ancient deity fell into complete decline after the waning of the supernatural.
Even the Kanoe family, a line of priests with faint divine power flowing in their veins, abandoned the shrine they once protected a hundred years ago and built the current "Seikyou Academy" on its ruins.
"Sixty years ago, Kanoe Yuuko, a descendant of the priests, was chosen as a sacrifice by the villagers due to a plague. After dying on the former shrine grounds, the residual divine power in her body turned her into an 'evil spirit' (estimated to be between Grade 2 and Grade 1 in strength)."
"'Kanoe Yuuko' is responsible for 80% of the various ghost stories circulating in the local area."
"However, due to her personality in life and the influence of the divine power, she became an earth-bound spirit upon her birth as a spirit. Her range of activity is locked to Seikyou Academy, and she has not harmed a single ordinary person over the years, instead preferring pranks. Therefore, she has been judged as 'harmless' by nearby exorcists and is currently treated as a Cursed Object suppressing the area around Seikyou Academy."
After reading these records from ten years ago, Nanami Kento relaxed a little.
Although it was a vengeful spirit, it was not a high-risk enemy.
An earth-bound spirit... to be precise, it was more like a guardian spirit.
To be able to suppress the desire for revenge in her heart after being killed and becoming a vengeful spirit?
Looking at the matters recorded in the file, Nanami Kento couldn't help but sigh softly again.
"So, for an earth-bound spirit like this who could achieve nirvana and be reincarnated, or even has the qualification to become a new deity, they just leave her be because her existence saves them from using a Cursed Object?"
After cursing under his breath, Nanami Kento thought for a moment.
Even from his perspective, Kanoe Yuuko was undoubtedly a tragic girl.
If her story could be completely filmed by Miyauchi Hikage, it would probably have a considerable impact.
Perhaps Miyauchi Hikage could even help her become a new local deity?
Most curses, when they are worshipped as gods, absorb the fearful emotions of people, and most people don't worship them sincerely.
So they cannot become true gods. No matter how long they are worshipped, they can only become more powerful spirits.
But an earth-bound spirit like Kanoe Yuuko, who has never harmed anyone, is also quite well-known locally.
If she correctly accepted the incense and offerings from others, it was indeed possible for her to evolve into a deity.
After all, a god of mischief is still a god.
After the spiritual resurgence, although the Shinto clergy could no longer contact the gods of the past, they had artificially created many new gods through similar methods.
However, in the Jujutsu world, the sorcerers who didn't need any gods naturally had never used this method.
Thinking of this, Nanami Kento shook his head again.
Turning an earth-bound spirit into a god, leaving such a thing to a layman like Miyauchi Hikage was probably asking too much.
"Let him film it himself. Kanoe Yuuko is quite suitable as an entity for a newcomer to encounter," with this thought, Nanami Kento decided to tell Miyauchi Hikage about the approval for filming the next day.
Of course, regarding Kanoe Yuuko's life story, he would only give a few small hints.
As for the complete story, it was better to let Miyauchi Hikage dig it up himself.
Only in this way, when Miyauchi Hikage uncovered the truth, could he produce a more outstanding work.
In comparison, the news about what had recently appeared in the deep mountains of Saitama Prefecture worried him more.
"They say they felt a powerful demonic aura in the mountains and could hear the howls of some beast. It's suspected that some powerful youkai has broken its seal. But several groups have already been sent, and apart from finding residual demonic aura, they haven't found any place that looks like a seal. However, they did feel spatial fluctuations in one area."
In the end, it was determined that the youkai that broke the seal might possess spatial abilities and has now left the mountains of Saitama Prefecture, its whereabouts unknown.
"A great youkai with suspected spatial abilities has reappeared in the world... I hope it doesn't cause too much trouble," Nanami Kento shook his head, no longer thinking about these things.
Such matters were better left for the onmyoji and exorcists to worry about.
And those youkai who were pacified a hundred years ago due to the waning of the supernatural, and were now being watched with caution due to the spiritual resurgence.
They were the ones who needed to consider these things.
...
[Today, while running around the country visiting ruins, I happened to visit an art exhibition held by a certain famous painter.
Actually, I'm not interested in these art exhibitions at all. After all, I'm just an ordinary person with no artistic taste, unable to understand the art of those masters.
But this painter is different. His exhibition is very singular. Apart from a few landscape paintings, almost all the rest are portraits of a single woman in different poses.
Of course, I wasn't there to look at women, but because of his identity. He is actually a 'demon' who has lived for several hundred years.
And he's the kind of 'perfect demon' that has overcome all weaknesses, can live freely under the sun, and looks no different from an ordinary person.
Of course, I'm quite at ease with this demon. He definitely won't do anything bad, and he probably maintains a good relationship with the authorities.
After all, a hundred years ago, he, along with the Demon Slayer Corps of that time, personally put an end to the demon king who had eked out an existence for a thousand years, Kibutsuji Muzan.
He is also the 'last demon' still alive in this world today.
Probably his only lingering obsession is that he couldn't end up with the person he loved back then, so now he stays at home every day painting her pictures. He can be considered a devoted demon.
Ah, the 'demon' here refers to the subordinates or kin extended from Kibutsuji Muzan.
Rather than being the 'oni' that is synonymous with youkai here in Japan, it's closer to a Western vampire.
After all, it has been mentioned before that the Breathing Styles of the Demon Slayer Corps can be said to be a new power created by borrowing from the concept of Hamon.
The enemies of Hamon users are the Pillar Men from ancient times who had almost no natural enemies and only feared sunlight and Hamon, as well as the vampires who were the Pillar Men's food.
And the enemy of the Demon Slayer Corps is this being who, due to an accident a thousand years ago, became something similar to a vampire.
They gain power by drinking fresh blood and eating human flesh, and they can also possess various supernatural abilities called Blood Demon Arts.
Their only weakness is sunlight.
Therefore, Kibutsuji Muzan had been hiding himself for a thousand years, silently developing his subordinates, trying to find a way to overcome his weakness and become a perfect demon.
His strength in his prime should have been quite formidable. Although I don't know if he reached the level of a special-grade, his ability to survive definitely was.
Although he was almost instantly killed by the founder of the Breathing Styles back in his prime, that was a case of attribute counters plus the will of the world.
When a powerful force appears on the side of evil, an even more powerful existence will naturally emerge on the side of justice to crush that evil, and vice versa.
That Tsugikuni Yoriichi was such an existence, born with the Transparent World and the Mark, able to unlock the Crimson Blade the first time he held a Nichirin Blade, perfecting his swordsmanship the moment he saw Muzan, capable of delivering 1500 slashes in under a second, and giving Muzan PTSD that lasted for hundreds of years after a single encounter.
Even though Muzan outlived him and eliminated all of his successors, in the end, he still managed to pass down his legacy, which was mastered by the protagonist a hundred years ago, ultimately leading to the complete annihilation of Muzan.
This point is also applicable to the Jujutsu world or other supernatural factions.
After the appearance of the 'Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one' modern strongest jujutsu sorcerer in the Jujutsu world, it would naturally cause the strongest King of Curses from a thousand years ago to emerge and challenge him.
From a manga creation perspective, it's like, the protagonist's side has already become so strong, but the story can't end yet. To continue drawing, you need a gimmick, so you can only strengthen the enemies that appear later.
However, I'm not so sure about the situation over at Detective Conan. From the mid-point onwards, they kept strengthening the protagonist team and weakening the villain faction, to the point where besides a few who actually do the work, the rest of the villains are either undercover agents or clowns.
You could say that in the original manga, the Distillery had completely lost its intimidating presence in the later stages.
It's even more absurd in this world. They even stuffed a diary into the hands of a certain protagonist team member who almost got shrunk. In this era of gods and demons dancing wildly, I really don't know how much longer that Distillery can last in this world.]