Looking Forward to Another World

Early the next morning, the warm sunlight filtered through the forest’s trees and flowers, shining down upon the school buildings of Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School, which carried the air of a shrine.

Inside one of the rooms in the school dormitory, Riezel, who had already awakened, had just put on his uniform and was being bathed directly in the sunlight streaming through the window.

Since the sunlight was not harsh, Riezel paid it no attention as he stood in front of a full-length mirror, examining his current appearance under the sunlight.

Now, his upper body was dressed in a white, wide-sleeved uniform jacket decorated with golden buttons, each of which bore a black swirling pattern representing a jujutsu high school and essentially serving as its school crest, while his lower body was dressed in black Western-style uniform trousers.

”Isn’t this supposed to be all black?”

Looking at his black-and-white outfit, Riezel muttered to himself in confusion.

He remembered that whether it was Yuji, Megumi, Nobara, or even the already-graduated Satoru, the jujutsu high school uniforms they wore were all completely black.

Yet when it came to him, why had his uniform turned white?

”I think there was someone in the original story who was like me, wearing a white uniform right after enrolling, right?”

Riezel suddenly remembered that detail.

Unfortunately, that was a part of the story that Riezel had never paid much attention to, so he could not remember the reason behind it.

”Whatever. It’s not that important anyway.”

Unable to figure it out, Riezel simply gave up thinking about it and took an identification card out of his pocket. It was the student ID that Satoru had picked up for him, containing Riezel’s photograph along with his basic information.

One noteworthy detail was that a ’special’ mark had also been printed in the upper-left corner of Riezel’s photograph.

”Hm, interesting...”

Riezel knew exactly what the ’special’ mark represented.

Of course, this was still just a trivial matter. At least, he did not consider it particularly important, so after taking one look at it, he put the card away.

With this student ID, even though Riezel’s origins remained mysterious and his identity suspicious in the eyes of those who knew the circumstances, to outsiders who knew nothing about him, he was simply a first-year student of Tokyo Jujutsu High, a jujutsu sorcerer who had just stepped into jujutsu society.

Needless to say, this would be his identity in this world, and it could also be considered the first step toward resolving the problem of his identity.

It was also worth mentioning that his education was completely free since the school would cover all of his living expenses as well as his tuition and other school-related costs. If a mission was assigned to him, he could even receive payment after completing it.

Even though he did not really have any use for the money, Riezel also did not want to become someone who had to pull out gold bricks whenever he needed to spend money.

For the time being, this arrangement would do.

*BUZZ—*

At that moment, the cell phone in Riezel’s pocket began to vibrate.

As for why he had a cell phone, it was the cell phone Satoru had conveniently bought for him when he picked up his uniform and student ID, claiming that it would make communication more convenient.

At present, the cell phone only had four numbers saved: Satoru, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara.

”It’s Gojo, right?”

Riezel muttered with complete certainty as he took out his cell phone and checked the SMS he had just received.

[Come to the classroom and meet up—Your beloved teacher, Satoru Gojo.]

Riezel automatically ignored the signature at the end, calmly put away his cell phone, and walked out of the dormitory room.

===

Just like the other buildings, the classrooms at Tokyo Jujutsu High were just as old-fashioned, giving one the feeling of having returned to the 1980s or 1990s and making it difficult to tell whether the people here were simply nostalgic or hopelessly stuck in the past.

Riezel slowly walked down the silent, empty corridor, and three minutes later, he arrived at the first-year classroom and pushed open the door.

Everyone in the first year, aside from Riezel himself, had already arrived.

”Yo, you’re here?”

Yuji was sitting against one of the desks, and when he saw Riezel enter, he immediately raised a hand and greeted him with a smile.

”You’re late, aren’t you?” Nobara said, folding her arms as she looked at him in confusion. ”Is that your uniform? Why is it white?”

Her question slightly caught the attention of the silent Megumi.

”White uniform... just like Senior Okkotsu...”

Megumi muttered to himself.

Perhaps only he knew what that represented.

White jujutsu high uniforms had once been given two different explanations within the school.

One explanation was that they were uniforms reserved for jujutsu sorcerers who had already been classified as special grade upon entering the school, while the other explanation was that they were only worn by problem children, because the white color made them more conspicuous and allowed others to be warned about them more easily.

Megumi wanted to believe the former, but in reality, the latter was the reason the white uniforms existed.

Or perhaps both explanations applied?

Megumi fell into thought without voicing what was on his mind.

”Good morning!”

Almost at the exact moment Riezel entered the classroom, the classroom door was forcefully pushed open again.

Naturally, the person who entered from outside was their beloved teacher, Satoru.

”Morning, students! Everyone’s here, right? You didn’t put an eraser or a bucket of water on the classroom door to prank your teacher, did you?”

Satoru walked into the classroom while talking nonstop.

”Do you think we’re little brats?” Nobara said unhappily. ”And even if we did put an eraser or a bucket there, wouldn’t they just miss you?”

”Not necessarily.” Satoru stood at the podium and spoke casually. ”In a certain famous manga, didn’t the team leader who, like me, liked wearing an eyepatch to cover one of his eyes also get hit by an eraser thrown by the protagonist? And that guy was a jonin!”

”What?” Yuji’s eyes widened in surprise. ”Teacher, you read manga too?”

”Mm, mm, I do,” Satoru replied rather proudly. ”Don’t you think I look a lot like that guy from that famous series?”

”Can you use Chidori, Teacher?!” Yuji asked with shining eyes. ”You’re so strong, and you can use jujutsu. You should be able to use something like Chidori, right?”

”Unfortunately! I can’t!” Satoru said without the slightest shame. ”I can use other things, though. Like Shinra Tensei and stuff.”

”OHHH!!!”

Yuji was thoroughly impressed.

Hearing their conversation, it almost made Riezel wonder whether he had somehow crossed into the wrong world.

Could a conversation like this really happen in reality?

If this world did not actually have jujutsu, this would simply be a gathering of anime fanatics competing over their chuunibyou fantasies.

Riezel was not the only one at a loss for words.

Even Megumi and Nobara looked somewhat speechless.

”Can you not talk about manga in the classroom?” Nobara clicked her tongue without holding back. ”Why can guys just openly talk about manga in the classroom? I don’t wanna hear it!”

”No mission today?” Megumi changed the subject too. ”Are you planning to start teaching Itadori and Brynhart how to use cursed energy today, Teacher?”

”Well, more or less—there are no missions today.” Satoru didn’t deny it and smiled. ”Especially for Megumi and Nobara, you can either stay at school or go downtown and hang out on your own.”

Truth be told, this was the daily routine at Tokyo Jujutsu High.

If there was a mission, the students assigned to it would have to leave the school and carry it out.

If there was no mission, then everything depended on the homeroom teacher’s plans.

If the homeroom teacher had training or lessons that the students needed to complete, then the students simply followed those instructions.

If there was nothing scheduled, they were free to act on their own.

Unlike an ordinary school, they did not need to spend half a day sitting in a classroom with their heads buried in textbooks.

It was also worth mentioning that this year’s first-year students seemed to consist of only Riezel, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara.

Few, right?

Of course there were few.

In all fairness, there were only four students in an entire year, which seemed almost like a joke.

Yet this was the normal state of jujutsu high schools because there were simply very few people with the natural talent to become jujutsu sorcerers, and having three or four new students enroll each year was already considered quite good.

In bad years, there might not even be a single new student, leaving the entire year almost completely empty.

Of course, the same was true not only for the first year, as the second-, third-, and fourth-year classes generally had around three or four students as well, and in some cases, there were only one or two.

Under those circumstances, combined with the fact that their homeroom teacher was such a carefree person, Megumi and Nobara had effectively been given free time for the day.

”Yes!” Nobara clenched her fist and cheered. ”I’m going to Shibuya! I’m going shopping!”

Megumi said nothing, clearly having no intention of going out, and would probably return to the dormitory or quietly find somewhere to pass the time.

As for Riezel and Yuji...

”Riezel, Yuji, come with me.” Satoru grinned at the two of them. ”Your lessons officially start today.”

Riezel and Yuji reacted completely differently to this.

Riezel merely smiled, a hint of anticipation appearing in his eyes.

Yuji, meanwhile, enthusiastically struck his fist against his palm, looking as though he could hardly wait.

===

Under Satoru’s guidance, Riezel and Yuji arrived at the forest on the outskirts of Tokyo Jujutsu High and came to an open area in the middle of the woods.

”I don’t think I need to explain what cursed energy is again, right?”

Standing in front of Riezel and Yuji, Satoru folded his arms, his eyes hidden behind his eyepatch, nevertheless clearly directed toward the two of them.

”Cursed energy is the crystallization of negative emotions. You already know that, so there’s no need to go over it again.”

”Now, I’m gonna explain the basics behind jujutsu.”

”So, what exactly is jujutsu?”

Riezel could answer that question, but Yuji clearly could not.

Satoru had no intention of asking him to answer, however, and continued explaining.

”Simply put, jujutsu, or jujutsu sorcery, is basically an umbrella term for all kinds of sorcery-related abilities that jujutsu sorcerers can use with cursed energy. In short, it’s the main way jujutsu sorcerers fight.”

”In this world, there are all kinds of jujutsu, such as commonly used cursed techniques, the use of shikigami, or cursed objects. In short, they all have different effects and uses.”

”Learning jujutsu is simple in one way, but pretty damn hard in another.”

”Do you know why, Yuji?”

Satoru suddenly turned toward Yuji and asked out of nowhere.

”Uhh...” Yuji blinked, then gave his answer with obvious uncertainty. ”Because nobody teaches you?”

”Wrong.”

Satoru shook his head and gave him a cruel answer.

”It’s because being able to use jujutsu is something you’re born with. Basically, whether you can use it or not is already decided at birth.”

===

[A bonus Chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]

[Support and get early access to upcoming Chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]