Jujutsu Kaisen — Chapter 112 - Hell Difficulty Unlocked

Yuji Itadori stepped half a pace forward.

His right hand formed a claw, locking precisely onto the thug's knife-wielding wrist.

CRACK. The crisp pop of dislocating bone vanished under the surrounding screams.

"AHHH—!" The thug howled and the switchblade dropped, clattering against the floor.

Yuji didn't even glance at him.

He drove a backhand elbow into the man's chest.

The thug flew backward 3 meters and crashed into two men who'd been trying to rob someone.

These people have truly lost their minds.

Yuji shook out his wrist.

One broadcast announcement, and they'd drawn blades on their own kind without a second's hesitation. To stay alive, they'd thrown away whatever shred of decency they had left.

He raised his head, gaze locking onto the largest LCD screen overhead.

"Hey! You with the scrap-metal head!"

Yuji jabbed a finger at the screen. His voice cut clean through the noise of the hall.

"You're just going to sit there and watch them tear each other apart?"

The hall went quiet for one beat.

Hundreds of eyes swiveled toward the pink-haired kid who'd just called out the house.

On the screen, the gear-headed Cursed Spirit tilted its head.

That grating metallic laughter scraped out again.

"My, my. Such a self-righteous little brat. What nonsense are you spouting?"

The host's tone was exaggerated, theatrical.

"When I sent the invitations, I wrote it out on every card, plain as day."

"Paradise Game. High risk, high reward."

"They had nowhere left to go. They walked into this slaughterhouse of their own free will."

"Free will?"

Yuji gritted his teeth. He pointed at Junpei, trembling in the corner.

"They were desperate. That doesn't mean they came here to die!"

"What's the difference?"

The host spread its hands.

"Everyone in this hall is a debt-soaked gambler, a swindler, irredeemable trash. Outside, they already lived like maggots. Dying here is a service to society."

"I'm simply carrying out heaven's will."

Screw your heaven's will.

Yuji's throat tightened.

Dressing up murder in language this clean, this really was a Cursed Spirit rotten all the way through.

"No matter what kind of people they are. Good or bad."

Yuji dropped his stance. The muscles in his calves coiled tight.

The hard cement floor cracked beneath his feet, fissures spidering outward.

"It's not your place, you monster, to judge them!"

BOOM!

The ground under Yuji exploded outward in a ring of pressure.

He launched skyward.

Straight at the host floating in midair.

"Yuji! Don't do anything reckless!" Kento Nanami barked.

Too late.

Yuji's fist tore through the air with a piercing shriek and slammed into that gear-shaped head.

No sound of impact.

His fist passed clean through and punched into the grayish-white concrete wall behind it.

BOOM,

Half a meter of solid wall caved into a massive crater. Rubble blasted in every direction.

Just a projection.

Yuji hung in the air, then dropped with the recoil.

"Oh my. What terrifying power."

The host's voice poured from every speaker at once, dripping with undisguised mockery.

"To jump that high without a trace of Cursed Energy, have the monkeys really evolved this far?"

"Such a pity, though. Resorting to violence is a violation of basic etiquette."

"Since this is your first offense, I'll let you off with a small warning."

[System Panel]

Player: Yuji Itadori

Violation: Attacking game facilities / host

Penalty: Deduction of 50 chips

Current Balance: 50 chips

Yuji landed. His knees bent slightly, absorbing the drop.

A faint scorched smell rose from his pocket.

He pulled out the chips and looked. The number that had read "100" now burned a glaring red: "50."

"The penalty has been applied." The host's voice oozed satisfaction. "Try anything like that again and next time I'll blow your head clean off."

The hall sat in brief silence.

Then the rioting spiked harder than before.

The house wasn't going to intervene. That was all the desperadoes who'd been holding back needed to see. Every last mask came off.

Several burly men with iron bars had already fixed their eyes on the single 50-chip piece left in Yuji's pocket.

"That brat just got docked — no way he's got enough for tomorrow's entry fee!"

"Kill him!" someone shouted.

Yuji shoved the chip back into his pocket.

No chips means death? Step out of line and get erased?

"So there are no rules."

He murmured it quietly. His fingers curled tighter, one by one.

Master always said it.

When you run into rules that make no sense, use your fists to smash the table.

"Eight Gates —"

Yuji closed his eyes.

"First Gate: Gate of Opening!"

His eyes snapped open. Both of them were flooded red.

"Open!"

BOOM,

A visible wave of white energy erupted from Yuji's body. Every puddle within 3 meters flash-evaporated in an instant.

No Cursed Energy.

But that pressure, pure physical force stripped down to its absolute core, bore down on the spines of every one of the 2,000 people in that hall.

The 3 burly men charging at the front never had time to react.

Yuji was gone.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

3 heavy impacts hit in near-perfect overlap.

3 men, each pushing 200 jin, chests caved, eyes bulging. Their bodies skimmed the ground and flew backward, plowing through the dozen people behind them and carving a clearing more than 10 meters long.

Yuji didn't pause.

He moved through the chaos at full speed. Every time he stopped, two or three people screamed and went airborne. Every time his fist swung, the air cracked with a sonic boom.

Yu Haibara stood at the rear, mouth hanging wide open.

"That range of motion..." He rubbed his eyes. "Is this how Master Toji normally beats him up?"

Kento Nanami adjusted his goggles.

The reflection on the lenses hid his eyes.

This wasn't simply speed.

This kid's muscle fibers could absorb instantaneous overload tension, then detonate it in a single release. He was completely ignoring every protective limiter the human body had built in.

That monster with no Cursed Energy had genuinely raised a little monster of his own.

"AHHH—! Stay back!"

The hall turned on a dime.

The thugs who'd been snarling seconds ago, waving knives and clubs, now threw their weapons down and scrambled hard toward the walls.

Yuji grabbed a scar-faced man who was moving in on a woman from behind.

One hand. He hoisted the man's 180-jin body clean over his head.

"What were you about to do just now?" Yuji stared at him.

"I, I was wrong! Please, spare me!"

The scar-faced man lost control of his bladder on the spot. Urine ran down his pant leg and dripped to the floor.

Yuji's face didn't move. He tossed the man sideways into an empty patch of ground.

The whole hall. Over 200 people who had just been trying to kill and rob, every single one of them was on the floor, moaning. Some with broken arms. Some with shattered ribs. Not one still standing.

2 minutes. Start to finish.

Yuji stood in the center of the floor and looked around.

"Anyone who doesn't want to die, shut your mouth and don't move!"

The shout bounced back and forth through the sealed underground space.

Everyone huddled in the corners flinched.

"This is a dogshit survival game. If you want in, then win on your own terms!"

He pointed at the heap of groaning bodies on the ground, eyes hard.

"The next person who touches someone weaker than them, I'll break all four of their limbs first, and they can spend the rest of their life on the floor."

Only ragged breathing left in the hall.

The masked, red-clad guards took two steps back without realizing it. Their palms were soaked around their guns.

Nobody moved to challenge the pink-haired demon who had just gone through 200 people barehanded.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Yu pumped his fist hard from the back.

Kento Nanami said nothing. He watched Yuji's back.

A bit reckless.

But it cleared a lot of problems out of the way.

In front of people this far gone, a demonstration of absolute force would always land harder than any argument.

"Clap. Clap. Clap."

Slow applause crackled through the speakers.

"Magnificent," the host said. "Truly magnificent."

Its tone had shifted. The excitement was genuine now, almost feverish.

"Pure physical violence. Savage. Primal. And yet, beautiful."

"I have to admit, you've caught my attention."

"It seems our pink-haired little hero has done a wonderful job stoking everyone's enthusiasm for the game."

The host spun in a circle and took an exaggerated bow.

"Since you're all so desperate to survive on your own merit, as the house, I'm happy to oblige."

At the far end of the hall, a massive black steel gate groaned upward on heavy machinery, slow and grinding.

Behind it: a dark corridor.

Kento Nanami's frown deepened.

The spatial laws beyond that gate were warped far worse than anything out here.

"Well then, all you lucky ones."

The host's voice spiked suddenly, sharp enough to stab through the eardrums.

"We now open the first Hell-Difficulty mass survival game!"

Game Name: Flesh and Blood Space

Difficulty Level: Hell (Mandatory Participation)

Clear Condition: Survive, and find the sole exit.

Clear Reward: 1,000 chips per person

"3-minute countdown!" The host's laughter turned manic. "Everyone please line up and enter the passageway!"

"I'm feeling generous today, participation is free. Those who refuse will be docked 50 chips. If your balance can't cover it... I'm sure you can figure out what that means."

"I wish you all the best of fortune in battle!"

The screen flickered once.

Then went black.

The crowd in the hall stared for a few seconds.

Then the shouting exploded.

1,000 chips. Survive, and you walk out with a hundred million.

That number was enough to send every gambler in the room over the edge.

"Move! Get in there!"

"All or nothing!"

The crowd surged toward the massive black iron gate, shoving and clawing to get through first.

Junpei pulled himself up off the floor, plastic bag clutched to his chest. He looked at the gate. Then he looked at Yuji.

"We have to go in too." His voice still shook. "I don't have enough left to cover the deduction."

Yuji walked back to Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara.

"Nanami-senpai. Sorry, I couldn't hold back."

He scratched the back of his head, and that slightly goofy grin crept back onto his face. "I made things more complicated."

"Nothing to apologize for." Kento Nanami straightened his tie. "You cleared out the bottom-feeders who were looking to exploit the chaos. If anything, that saves us from a lot of knives in the back going forward."

➤ Next: Staircase of Flesh and Blood