Splosh...
In front of the mirror, the boy cupped his hands under the faucet, rubbed the water vigorously over his face, and wiped it dry with a towel. A simple morning wash was complete.
The ice-cold tap water running through the pipes in the early morning was the cheapest and fastest way to invigorate one's spirit.
"That feels better."
He wasn't sure if it was psychological, but no matter how much he brushed his teeth, there was always a lingering strange taste in his mouth. After all, the feeling of being a "dog" wasn't pleasant, let alone having bitten so many disgusting things; there was bound to be a bit of lingering unease in his heart.
Kenmyo Isayama was the name of the boy in the mirror who possessed a gentle smile.
Age: If anyone asks, eighteen.
He was the one who had controlled that strange Flesh Hound that had turned on its own kind in the Warhammer world. Otherwise, those creatures—renowned as the most loyal servants surrounding the Warp's dark god Khorne—would never commit such a treacherous act as raising a flag of rebellion.
Being naturally cautious, Kenmyo had only engaged in small-scale kills, ensuring he didn't attract the attention of the larger Khornate daemon host.
The warm-toned bathroom light chased away the chill, offering a sense of warmth. Everything that had just happened felt like a lifetime ago. Here, there were no bolt shells exploding in his ears, no pungent smell of blood, and no endless slaughter. Compared to that dark and cruel world, this world held only peace and tranquility.
But well, it was also a little bit similar.
"Hm?"
Kenmyo noticed a small figure, less than three centimeters tall, appearing on the white washbasin. It was emitting black smoke and looked extremely ominous. Its blood-red, cruel eyes were wide open, and it was baring its teeth in a snarl.
This thing was a Cursed Womb—something that didn't even qualify as a low-level Cursed Spirit. It was a "local specialty" unique to Kenmyo's world.
They were incredibly common. He snatched the little figure up with his bare hands, ignoring how its sharp teeth bit into his finger, and heartlessly tossed it into the toilet. He didn't forget to close the lid before pressing the flush button.
Accompanied by the little creature's shrill scream of "Wahhh!", it was flushed away into the sewers.
[Points +0.0001]
Ignoring the system's fleeting electronic notification, Kenmyo wasn't affected by the interlude with the black "little person." He washed his hands again, pushed open the bathroom door, and stepped out.
Clap, clap, clap.
Kenmyo bowed three times respectfully before three neatly framed black-and-white photographs. Now, except for him, the whole family was lined up right here.
He had been in this world for 18 years. Kenmyo Isayama wasn't originally from here; he came from a place far more peaceful, where even Cursed Spirits didn't exist. He had been an ordinary university student. After graduation, because his boss said his "internship attitude was good and he could become a full-time employee," he worked too much overtime and died suddenly. For some reason, he had been reborn as an infant, and just like that, many years had passed.
Kenmyo respectfully placed three incense sticks, trailing thin wisps of blue smoke, into the incense burner before finishing his morning routine. This was something he did every day. Once, there were two people mourning two people; now, there was only Kenmyo Isayama alone.
The black-and-white photos were arranged in order: Kenmyo's older sister, "Sakura Isayama," his father, Norimasa Kamo, and his mother, Hatsuno Kamo.
Kenmyo had yet to uncover the cause of his sister's death, but both his father and mother had died at the hands of the supernatural.
Humanity's negative emotions—such as anger, sadness, lust, and greed—become a breeding ground for monsters. These terrifying creatures born from human desires are collectively known as "Cursed Spirits."
The little figure from earlier was a low-level Cursed Spirit, but powerful ones could cause severe social harm and large-scale human casualties. Usually, news reports on TV and in newspapers about gas pipe explosions causing massive casualties are actually the work of powerful Cursed Spirits.
Humans are not lambs waiting for the slaughter, either. Those who use a power called "Cursed Energy" to exorcise Cursed Spirits are known as "Jujutsu Sorcerers." Human authorities hide the existence of Cursed Spirits from the general public, and fortunately, ordinary people generally cannot see them.
If you can't see them, there is no danger. At most, you might feel a stiff neck or general physical discomfort. This is one of the rules of Cursed Spirits. It is also the reason why such frequent Cursed Spirit attacks occur without triggering mass panic among the populace. However, this only applies to ordinary, low-level Cursed Spirits; powerful ones can forcibly interfere with reality and ignore this rule.
If any of these secrets were exposed, it would trigger massive social panic. So why did an ordinary high schooler like Kenmyo Isayama know all this?
Everyone's birth is a matter of destiny that cannot be chosen. Both of Kenmyo's parents carried the surname Kamo. That was one of the top families in the Jujutsu world—the prestigious Kamo clan, one of the "Big Three" sorcerer families with a lineage spanning over a thousand years.
However, both Kenmyo and his sister were tested when they were young and found to lack the qualifications to become sorcerers. Specifically, they had zero talent for the Kamo family's secret "Blood Manipulation" technique. Furthermore, Kenmyo's parents—two powerful Grade 1 sorcerers—had sacrificed themselves during an exorcism mission against a terrifying "Special Grade Cursed Spirit."
With no backing and no aptitude as sorcerers, they were merely useless burdens. The two young children were abandoned by the Kamo family, and even their surname was taken back.
Kenmyo kept these things etched in his heart.
The surname "Isayama" followed their mother's family name, which was also an ancient sorcerer clan. However, that clan's lineage was sparse, and the direct bloodline was nearly extinct, so they were likewise unable to help.
This traditional Japanese "single-family home" had been purchased by Kenmyo's mother in her early years. Combined with the monthly "pension" from the government and occasional help from his mother's clan, the two children had successfully supported each other as they grew up. Once he got older, Kenmyo could go out to work to supplement the household income.
Kenmyo looked at the beautiful girl with bright eyes and white teeth in the black-and-white memorial photo, a thick sense of sorrow flowing in his eyes. Compared to his parents, who died in the line of duty when he was young and whose faces were blurred in his memory, Kenmyo's bond with Sakura Isayama was much deeper.
To Kenmyo, his sister Sakura was both a sibling and a mother figure. The bond between them was excellent; she had practically raised him. While other children were picked up by their parents, Kenmyo was picked up by Sakura. Buying snacks on the way home from school with his sister was his most precious memory.
As Kenmyo grew older and taller than his sister, her health began to decline. From time to time, she would cough up blood, and she began to eat less and less. Kenmyo took Sakura to see famous doctors everywhere, but they were all powerless.
For this reason, caught between his sister's life and his own dignity, Kenmyo chose her life, which finally secured a visit from a Jujutsu doctor enshrined by the Kamo family.
It was from the mouth of that old man—who was old enough to be Kenmyo's great-grandfather—that he learned the truth. The illness Sakura suffered from was less a disease and more a specific "Curse." It could not be cured through the system of modern medicine, and the same was true for Jujutsu.
The level of this "Curse" was exceptionally high; even with the old man's level of sorcery, it could not be exorcised. It seemed to have been carried in the womb before Sakura was even born. For some reason, it didn't manifest when she was young, but by the time the curse broke out as she grew up, it was already too late to save her.
With both medicine and sorcery powerless against Sakura's condition, Kenmyo felt as if the sky were falling.
Sakura was truly optimistic. She knew she was terminally ill and had become indifferent to life and death. Instead of wasting time lying in a hospital bed, she preferred to go out and have fun. Because the curse grew in her pancreas, she developed a strange obsession with the organ.
"After I die, you can eat my pancreas..." were words Sakura often said.
"I heard that if you let someone eat your pancreas, your soul will live on forever in that person's body."
"I want to live on. I want to live on inside the body of the person I cherish."
However, his sister did not die from the outbreak of the curse.