Nothing Happened (Seriously, Nothing Happened)…! (2)

The Blue Jade Forest.

A barrier dungeon that had grown around a mysterious megalith at its heart — a harvesting ground for blue jade, a core material used in the crafting of certain objects.

The raid difficulty was considered low, but in truth, a colossal beast rivaling Godzilla or an Apostle lurked within. It was merely dormant because the Grand Cursed Technique Reaching the Forbidden had yet to activate. The moment that Nephilim opened its eyes, the danger would exceed all imagination.

"If you don't want to lose your lives, you'd better drop the Blue Jade Forest raid."

When I issued the warning in complete seriousness, Gamram Minseong tilted his head. He looked like he had no idea what I was talking about.

Well — at this point in time, the Type V Nephilim was still snoring away.

"You're more of a scaredy-cat than you look. It won't be that dangerous. Our team's pretty strong, you know. Right?"

"Obviously! Do you even know how high-purity I am? Don't tell me you've never heard of the Damcheong clan of Wailing Valley?!"

Damcheong Ruri, arms crossed, was every bit as full of herself. Then again, they were scions of Great Clans with centuries of history behind them, so they'd be above average at the very least. Both of them seemed to take classes in Class A — the excellent track — aside from electives.

For the record, I was in Class C. The weakest.

"Then why hasn't anyone wanted to join your team until now?"

"Our team doubles as a gourmet club, and once people hear what we actually do, they all get grossed out. A swordsman who can also fit the chef concept is two birds with one stone."

A gourmet club……?

My eyes went round. Even in a world where certain cooking methods were treated as a form of jujutsu, I had a bad feeling about this.

"That's right. You should try tasting Nephilim too. I'm telling you, it's fucking incredible! The Blue Jade Forest is packed with rare ingredients — that's why we're going for it!!"

As Ruri's eyes blazed and she launched into her passionate pitch, I immediately turned on my heel.

Sorcerers could eat low-grade Nephilim if they really wanted to, but it was firmly in the realm of grotesque cuisine. Unless you possessed a technique like the Seven Deadly Sins Cult's Gluttony, which made you stronger by eating, it was just poison.

Why did I always end up tangled up with weirdos like this. I'd been hoping some actually decent party members would come along.

"……I heard the first-clear credits for the Blue Jade Forest are a whopping three hundred points. And since our team doubles as a club, there are bonus credits on top of that!"

I'd been walking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away in silence, but Minseong's words made me freeze for a second.

Three hundred points was more than I'd scraped together through three quarters of backbreaking work. The minimum credits required to graduate from Seonggwan Academy were three thousand.

But I could not let myself fall for the temptation.

"The Namgung clan is, to put it crudely, so broke their assholes are splitting—. The Gamram are a farming family, so they might even send over a spare sack of new-crop rice, y'know?"

A farming family being one of the Twelve Great Clans might sound funny. But in the world of Jujutsu Gwi-hwan, living things being eroded by cursed energy and turning into monsters was commonplace, so farming was never easy work.

Ugh. He hit a nerve.

The image of Senior Sister Hanran frowning that pretty face of hers as she did the household accounts flashed through my mind. The Namgung really were the poorest of the Great Clans.

Ruri glared and scolded the boy who was grinning away.

"Augh, don't say such vulgar things. You pervert!"

"Yes. Sorry 'bout that."

"Hey, Kim Beom. Think it over, though. If you join our team, I'll talk to my father and return the Namgung clan's famous sword that the Damcheong family is holding as collateral!! It's not like the Damcheong have any use for it anyway. How about it?"

When Damcheong Ruri said that in an excited rush, I found myself seriously considering it.

The Namgung clan's five legendary swords, sold off to the other Great Clans when Master passed away. The Five Swords Under Heaven, works of the legendary jujutsu smith Ou Yezi. So the Damcheong family had been holding onto one of them.

If I got a Five Swords Under Heaven blade back, Senior Sister Hanran would be over the moon.

If it were Senior Sister Hanran, she'd throw her arms around me with a huge smile lighting up her whole face.

At this rate, I didn't have a choice, did I.

Besides, the barrier dungeon — the Blue Jade Forest raid — might wrap up more easily than expected. There was no guarantee the still-sleeping Type V Nephilim would even stir.

And so, thoroughly talked around, I became a member of Team Manhanjeonseok…….

The next morning.

The three of us gathered in front of the barrier gate leading to the Blue Jade Forest. It just so happened that none of us had class that day.

Strike while the iron is hot — we decided to raid the Blue Jade Forest right away. The objective was the subjugation of Nephilim and a precise rank survey of the barrier dungeon.

"I'm looking forward to this. I skipped two meals to get here."

"Hah—! That's the bare minimum. You packed the tableware, right?!"

"Yes, my lady."

Though the two of them had their interests pointed somewhere else entirely.

Just before the barrier gate opened, something unexpected happened.

Kiiiiiiing—

A monstrous cry echoed from the distant sky, and a dragon that stirred up the wind landed before us.

"You……!"

I was so stunned I couldn't finish the sentence.

Poroe of the Wind. One of the Shikigami that could be summoned through the Guryonggusangbeop — the Nine Dragons Nine Forms. The princess wasn't even riding him. So why was he here?

Poroe snorted and nuzzled his face against me affectionately.

"Looks like he wants to go into the dungeon with us?"

Ruri watched the fawning Poroe with an unwrinkled gaze and nodded.

"This guy's the Yongso princess's Shikigami. Doesn't a Shikigami sorcerer need to be nearby?"

It was true I'd heard directly from Yongso Yulha that the third son had liked me since way back. I just never expected he'd show up alone without his master.

"Swordsman. Once a Shikigami reaches mythical-beast class, it's got a will of its own!"

As if agreeing with Minseong's words, the wyvern Shikigami flapped its wings.

"But if the credits go to the princess, that's a bit……"

When I trailed off, Poroe shook his neck as if to say that wasn't the case. If that was true, he'd definitely be a help — but still.

After a moment of thought, I stroked Poroe's snout in encouragement.

"Alright then. I'm counting on you, Poroe. Tell Her Highness I'm sorry."

Kiiiiiiiing—

Poroe of the Wind let out a booming cry toward the sky. Almost simultaneously with the roar, the barrier gate's seal came undone, and a rippling space appeared.

When we stepped through, a mysterious forest unfolded before us. Ferns grown closer to trees than to grass stood thick, and here and there bizarre rock formations radiating a blue aura were embedded in the earth.

This was the Rank C-estimated barrier dungeon: the Blue Jade Forest. It was a place so alien it was hard to imagine that, until moments ago, we had been standing in the heart of the City.

If there was one thing that set it apart from an ordinary forest, it was the silence — a stillness as if the woods themselves were dead.

Ssssss—

Faint rustling footsteps mixed into that sinister quiet.

They're already here.

A pack of monsters that looked like crabs smashed flat with a hammer burst from the undergrowth. An individual with one abnormally oversized pincer stood at their center.

You might wonder what a swarm of swimming crabs was doing in a forest, but of course they weren't ordinary animals.

Ssssssss—

Thief crab Class I Nephilim, mutated by cursed energy, came charging in with a Class II Nephilim carrying fiddler crab genes as their leader.

"Ohh. A model crab right from the start — lucky us. I'll add some extra flavor for you."

Even looking at the Nephilim, Minseong put on a shameless act and stuck a slender pipe in his mouth. It looked closer to a long smoking pipe than a regular one.

Then he blew into it, and a technique formula rose from his head as his Innate Cursed Technique activated.

Glowing powder rode Minseong's breath and spread through the air.

The Creation Type Innate Cursed Technique Yaknyeomcheombyeong — Fatal Spice — was the jujutsu-ification of the very concept of seasonings and spices. Seasoning wasn't merely about making food taste good. You threw salt over your shoulder when luck turned sour. You never placed garlic or dishes dusted in red chili powder on an ancestral altar, because those things summoned ghosts. Spices carried a jujutsu meaning as well: the power to drive out the unclean.

Enemies pickled in the "spice" created by Fatal Spice received a debuff.

Ssssss—

The thief crab Nephilim, coated in the pungent black powder, had their movements noticeably slowed. Some of them even frothed at the mouth, as if the powder were agony.

"That's incredible. The effect kicked in right away."

Honestly, I hadn't expected much when I'd only heard about it, but it was an extremely useful technique. Hearing my admiration, Damcheong Ruri answered confidently from beside me.

"Well. My Innate Cursed Technique might even be more amazing than that idiot's. Take a good look at the Damcheong secret art!!"

She frowned slightly, as if miffed, then pulled a matchbox from her pocket. Crunch. She chewed the match head, then snapped her middle finger and thumb together.

Damcheong Ruri's indigo eyes blazed for an instant. At the same time, blue flames rose into the air.

The Activation Type Innate Cursed Technique Guncheongrinhwang — Ultramarine Ignition — conjured will-o'-the-wisps composed of phosphorus. Will-o'-the-wisps had originally been a scientific phenomenon — phosphorus rising from corpses — later endowed with the jujutsu meaning of a fire in which souls resided.

Azure flames exceeding 1,400°C seared into the monsters and roared up with vigorous gusto.

Ssssss——!

A few Nephilim slowly scrambled toward the water, but it was useless. Will-o'-the-wisps had the same properties as white phosphorus munitions, so going into the water only made the water boil — turning them into swimming crab stew, nothing more.

Not quite on her level, but the burst firepower is first-rate.

Well, my childhood friend who casually threw around supernova ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠explosions and black holes was just off the charts. Aside from the tacky incantation of "Ruri Fire," it was peak-tier as far as flame Innate Cursed Techniques went.

Kiiiiiiiing—

Poroe, who'd been trotting along behind us like a puppy, unleashed a sonic boom, and most of the Nephilim were instantly slaughtered. Only the swimming crab Nephilim that appeared to be the pack's leader crawled forward, enduring the seasoning barrage and the blue flames.

"Swordsman. I'll leave the finishing blow to you."

Gamram Minseong called out, taking his mouth off the pipe.

I was going to do it even if he hadn't said anything.

Shiiing.

I drew the Changgun Sword, stamped my foot, and leaped. The thing swung its pincer at me, but I dropped as if collapsing and slipped under it—.

Crack.

The blade punched through the weakened carapace, and black blood welled up. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Moments later, the Class II Nephilim blew bloody foam and died.