Transmigrated as Sukuna, but the Host is Yukinoshita?

Chapter 225: Chapter Thirty-Four Statue

“Explain the situation, Ijichi.”

The usually carefree voice of Satoru Gojo became unusually serious as he met with Ijichi Kiyotaka and Yukinoshita Yukino upon returning to the college.

“Yes,” replied Ijichi Kiyotaka while driving the car, “Hachiman Hikigaya’s and Junpei Yoshino’s mission was rated at Grade 3. Despite predicting that the rating might be incorrect, however…”

After pausing for a moment, he continued, “Once Hachiman Hikigaya and Junpei Yoshino entered behind the curtain, they haven’t returned since and have remained missing for thirty-five hours until the curtain finally disappeared, but they were also unreachable.”

Yukinoshita Yukino in the backseat silently pursed her lips, her brows filled with concern.

In a mission to exorcise a cursed spirit, being out of contact for thirty-five hours is nearly equivalent to death, just wrapped in a more hopeful term.

Their bodies might even have been completely gnawed by the cursed spirits, making it impossible to find remains either alive or dead.

But simply giving up on rescue efforts is clearly not an option either.

They would have to at least investigate first.

“Don’t worry,” said Satoru Gojo supporting his elbow on the car window, cheek resting on his hand, smiling, “Even if they’ve been out of contact for 35 hours, it doesn’t mean they are dead. After all, this was just a preliminary rating of Grade 3, even if the assessment was wrong, it wouldn’t reach the level of a Grade 1 cursed spirit.”

“They will be fine.”

Yukinoshita Yukino nodded softly, murmuring, “I hope so.”

The black sedan raced down the rural highway towards the dilapidated shrine.

…

“Where are we…?”

Groggily opening his eyes, Hachiman Hikigaya felt the hard surface under his back and blinked.

He appeared to be trapped in a barrier during the task and in the process of waiting for rescue, he saw Junpei Yoshino pull a rope from the coin box and disappear…

As he gradually became more aware, Hachiman Hikigaya realized he and Junpei Yoshino were still in danger. He sat straight up and looked around before slowly exhaling a sigh of relief. There were no signs of a cursed spirit nearby; Junpei Yoshino lay just a short distance away, seemingly asleep based on his peaceful breathing.

“Junpei, wake up! Come on, wake up!” He got up from the ground and woke the unconscious Junpei Yoshino.

“… Hachiman?” Junpei Yoshino looked dazed as he half-opened his eyes, “What are you doing here?”

Sighing in frustration, Hachiman Hikigaya explained, “You pulled that rope and disappeared. Do you remember?”

“The rope? Right! The mission!” Junpei Yoshino finally came to his senses, jumped up from the floor, simultaneously summoning his jellyfish-style familiar, and nervously surveyed his surroundings.

“We’re temporarily safe. We must have been teleported somewhere else.” Hachiman Hikigaya guessed, though the surroundings felt somewhat familiar.

Junpei Yoshino suddenly pointed at something, “Isn’t that the staircase we climbed when coming up the mountain?”

A clear blue stone staircase laid nearby, silently inviting them forward.

Only then did Hachiman Hikigaya notice that they stood at the foot of a shrine, different from the road on their way there.

“Do we go up and check?” asked Junpei Yoshino uncertainly.

“This seems to be the only path,” the boy with dead fish eyes replied, shaking his head at the idea of a bell rousing the cursed spirits to let them go and concluding that they were still within the barrier.

It was evident from their location at the bottom of a street surrounded by trees with no obvious escape route.

“Let’s go,” sighed Hachiman Hikigaya in resignation, stepping forward first.

Junpei Yoshino hurried along behind him.

They followed a well-maintained blue stone staircase upward, quickly arriving at the torii gate they previously saw.

“Hold on, something’s amiss.”

Just as Junpei Yoshino attempted to step through the torii gate, Hachiman Hikigaya yanked him back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” he asked in confusion.

“Don’t you see? The torii gate looks different from before,” Hachiman Hikigaya stared intently at the overhead torii gate.

Unlike the dark reddish-brown torii they had seen, the one before them was bright red and not neglected for long, as though newly built.

Same as the surrounding bluish-green stone steps, which displayed no cracks or overgrown moss, showing a clean, freshly swept appearance.

“Look,” Hachiman Hikigaya pointed toward the clear blue sky, “the curtain has vanished.”

“I… what…?”

Upon this realization, Junpei Yoshino suddenly became aware of the overlooked details around them and experienced a rush of fear, “Could we have been brought here when the shrine was operational?”

“It’s unlikely. Remember, this was just a Grade 3 mission.” Hachiman Hikigaya shook his head, “Even a ratings error wouldn’t produce something capable of transporting us across time.”

The cursed spirit responsible for this barrier was probably a special type of cursed spirit. If his guess was correct, its real power should not be strong, limited to a Grade 2 cursed spirit at most.

Probably…

“Should we keep moving forward?” asked Junpei Yoshino. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up as he thought of his familiar, “Wait, I can send out my familiar to scout ahead.”

“Come forth, Suiryu.”

With a faint glow, a cyan water jellyfish summoned by his owner appeared in mid-air, passed through the torii gate, and drifted toward the shrine.

“Seems nothing’s happened.”

After confirming there was no immediate danger, Junpei Yoshino summoned his familiar back to his side. Together, Hachiman Hikigaya and he crossed through the torii gate and walked into the shrine.

Though the building was small, the surroundings were markedly different, presenting a serene, vibrant scene. The sun shone brightly on the eaves; a gentle breeze swayed the silver wind chimes, and the atmosphere was tranquil and harmonious.

The desecration caused by the cursed spirit stood out starkly in this beautiful environment.

Upon their entry into the shrine, at the altar inside the haiden, a grotesque statue suddenly began to tremble minutely, its strange eyes starting to open all over its body.

At this instant, the aura of the cursed spirit peaked.

—

That noisy summer.