Summary:
Yuji and his allies explore the complex rules of the Culling Game and formulate a plan to navigate the dangerous battle royale. Each is given a role to perform and moves out to stop the ritual. However, the games have already begun and normal people have awakened new abilities, people like a comedian named Fumihiko Takaba.
Plot:
Megumi is surprised to hear that Hana Kurusu is able to extinguish cursed techniques. Tengen reiterates that angelic technology will be necessary to open the back of the Prison Realm. Megumi asks where the angel is, and Tengen only knows that he is in a colony on the east side of Tokyo. There are ten colonies that are connected by barriers that form a line across Japan. This series of barriers will connect everyone in Japan to Tengen and “transport them to the other side”. Hokkaido is not included because it has been established as a sacred area.
The idea of humanity evolving by merging them with the current state of Tengen is complex and sounds over the top. However, as proof of how serious this situation is, Tengen uncovers a curse that has afflicted every person in Japan in preparation for the merger. He believes that the ritual will take only two months to complete.
The group goes through the rules of the Culling Game. The first rule states that the player must announce his participation within 19 days. It is currently 9 o’clock in the morning. November 9th and all players woke up around midnight on October 31st. This gives Tsumiki ten days and fifteen hours to participate in the game. The second rule states that anyone who violates the first rule will be subject to the removal of the cursed technique.
Maki talked to Shoko Ieiri about this rule of the game beforehand. Shoko believes that the removal of the cursed technique means that it is not through Idle Transfiguration or a binding vow. They think that something must happen to the user’s brain to kill them. Otherwise, all players could simply refuse to declare participation. Tengen confirms Shoko’s theory, meaning that Maki and people who don’t have cursed techniques are not at risk.
Rule number three states that anyone who enters the colony after the games have started will be considered an official participant. Civilians inside the barrier get one chance to leave the colonies, and there are no rules for entering or leaving the colonies. At the start of the Culling Game, players aim to leave the colony barriers. This serves as an effective way to stimulate participation and get players moving. In order to effectively limit players, they must believe that they entered the game of their own free will. It works in accordance with a binding promise that increases the strength of the barrier.
The fourth rule is the one that says players get points by killing each other. The fifth specifies that each player’s point value is determined by the game master. In general, wizards are worth five points and non-wizards one. Megumi asks about the game master and Tengen explains that each player is given a shikigami known as a Kogane. Kogane serves as the game’s interface, while the main game serves as the program that supports it. This concept somewhat confuses Yuji, leaving him in a comically lost state.
Rule six states that players can spend one hundred of their earned points to negotiate a new rule for the game. The rules cannot be read, but Megumi thinks they might be able to create additional conditions as a roundabout to counter them. Consistent with rule six, rule seven states that the game master must accept any new rule unless it has a long-term effect on the game. The group questions if the rules are fair, but Tengen assures them that Kenjaku is not biased and they can expect to be treated fairly.
The eighth and final rule states that if his score does not change for 19 days, the player will be subject to the removal of the cursed technique. Yuji is worried about having to kill the others again, but Megumi has some ideas. After a thorough assessment of all the information, Maki assumes everyone’s role for the future.
Yuki and Choso stay at the Star Tombs to watch over Master Tengen. Maki returns to the Zenin Clan to collect cursed tools for the upcoming battles. Soon after Satoru Gojo was sealed away, the Zenin and Kamo clans took all the cursed tools from the cursed Jujutsu High warehouse. Now that Megumi is the leader of the Zenin clan, Maki will be able to get them. This revelation comes as a surprise to Yuji, but Megumi says she will explain it another time. Maki asks about the location of Juzo Kumiya’s workshop, where she will go before recruiting Panda.
Yuta immediately participates in the Culling Game to gather information long before Tsumiki and the others do. He’ll be alone again, but Yuta will be avoiding nearby colonies to prevent security, and could be out of range as the barriers likely block cell phone reception. He quickly realizes that this poses a problem as senpai told Yuji that he will kill him if Sukuna shows up again. The two think of the best solution, but Megumi makes Yuji stop. Megumi says that Yuta can kill Yuji if he dies, but Yuji wants to prevent that in the first place.
Maki tells Yuji and Megumi that their job is to find Kinji Hakari and recruit him. Hakari is a suspended third year student who is moody, but their group is shorthand. Despite his attitude, Hakari is apparently extremely tough. Yuta goes so far as to say that when he is angry, Hakari surpasses him in strength, but Maki completely disagrees with this statement. They all move out, but not before thanking Yuji Choso for everything. Choso tells Yuji not to die, and as his little brother leaves, Yuki notices Choso trying to hide some tears.
Meanwhile, at a comedy club called the Public Stand, the crowd is bored by a comedy act that completely bombed. Fumihiko Takaba is a failed comedian who never gets a laugh from his stupid jokes. His co-worker tells the 35-year-old to cut it because he’s just not funny. With the way Tokyo is right now, the man advises Takaba to find something to be better at.
Another of Takaba’s companions named Ken says that he doesn’t mind his stupid jokes. Ken believes that two types of comedians will always be in demand: comedians who are funny and comedians who believe in their funnyness wholeheartedly. Ken asks Takaba which of the two he believes he is. Takaba says it’s 50/50 at first before he gets a special impulse. He then decides to change his answer to “seventy thirty”. Fumihiko Takaba is not only one of these two types of comedians, he is also a Culling Game player.