A Bizarre Adventure That Begins in Jujutsu Kaisen

"Stillness can never bring true happiness or progress."

Yuki Tsukumo repeated the sentence in the tone of Theo's speech at the convention, then chuckled and waved.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to act like you're giving a speech to thousands of people when you talk to me."

I understand the logic, but sometimes... I need a little time to process the actual weight of this 'necessary cost.'

Hearing Yuki perfectly retell his speech lines, Theo laughed. Just as he was about to say something, his phone vibrated in his pocket at an inopportune moment.

He glanced at the caller ID and explained, "It's Wu."

As soon as the call connected, Gojo Satoru's drawn-out, clearly teasing voice came through, with the faint sound of papers turning in the background.

"Hey—Director, where have you 'disappeared' to 'observe the people's conditions' again?"

"Over here in the office, there's a huge stack of new documents piled up on the desk, eagerly waiting for you to come back and sign them."

"Satoru, I'm enjoying the view from the top of the Skytree," Theo said frankly, glancing at Yuki beside him with a smile, and added, "Yeah, with Yuki."

"Tsk tsk... I knew it."

On the other end of the phone, Gojo Satoru pursed his lips unsurprisingly, his tone turning serious as he urged him on.

"Let's put that aside for now. Those 'big promises' you made at the plenary session, we need to start pushing them forward and putting them into practice, right?"

Otherwise, over time, people will realize that the 'program' is nothing but a castle in the air, impossible to achieve...

The consequences would be far worse and more embarrassing than having no program at all from the start.

He cut to a specific question: "For example, expanding the size of the sorcerer community is a slogan that is widely proclaimed. How do you plan to implement it?"

Historically, we have never had a convenient, quick, and universally applicable method for large-scale screening of potential practitioners' qualifications.

Surely we can't rely entirely on chance encounters and family tradition?

"Don't worry, I already have an idea."

Theo spoke calmly.

"As we all know, ordinary cameras cannot capture the phenomenon of curses."

Although the phenomena caused by the curse do indeed affect the visible light wavelength range, their final form is a "virtual entity" that the human brain cannot directly recognize and that conventional optical equipment cannot record.

Conversely, theoretically, as long as an individual possesses the potential to perceive magical power, they can "see" magical phenomena and magical spirits.

"So?" Gojo Satoru seemed to have guessed something.

"So, as long as we let the cursed spirits distribute flyers," Theo said, revealing an idea that sounded somewhat far-fetched but was logically consistent, "then the people who can see and receive the flyers will naturally be the target group with the potential to sense cursed power."

"Wow—a genius idea!"

Gojo Satoru praised her on the other end of the phone in an exaggerated, monotone tone.

"So it turns out that only someone with the convenient ability of 'Spirit Manipulation Technique' could come up with such a solution."

The actual execution is quite simple: just hang a stack of leaflets on each of your and Jay's army of cursed spirits.

Print your and Yuki's "shining image" as a couple on the front for recruitment purposes, and print a photo of me and Jay as a "top idol group" on the back to increase persuasiveness and appeal...

Then scatter it all over the country, in major cities, towns, and even remote mountain villages~

"How many people do you think we can 'net' this way?" Theo asked casually. "My requirements aren't high. Two thousand should be enough to filter them out, right?"

Japan has a population of over 100 million, so gathering enough students for a normal high school shouldn't be too difficult, right?

"Isn't that a high demand?"

Gojo Satoru chuckled, his voice full of teasing, "You really dare to think that way."

"As you know, there are currently fewer than six thousand officially registered sorcerers in all of Japan under the Sorcery Directorate."

Even if you include the private soldiers hidden away by various sorcery families who haven't reported their activities, as well as those "half-baked" soldiers who are only good enough to be assistant supervisors or clerical workers, the total number would be at most 10,000.

"You're asking for one-fifth more than what's already there? Isn't that a bit too much of an appetite?"

"Huh... is it really that little?" Theo raised an eyebrow slightly, genuinely surprised.

Although he knew that sorcerers were rare, their actual numbers were even scarcer than he had anticipated.

"So 'one in a million' isn't a rhetorical device, but an objective statement."

I thought that those who attended the last plenary session were mainly from the official system and those closely associated with it; there must be quite a few 'wild' sorcerers scattered among the general public who haven't been counted.

"There are indeed many unsung sorcerers in the folk."

However, as long as they do not use magic to commit heinous crimes or violate moral boundaries, according to past practice, they are generally allowed to live their own lives and will not be forcibly conscripted.

After all, forced military force may not be reliable, could create hidden dangers, and has high management costs.

Just then, a slight static came from the other end of the phone, as if the phone had been handed over.

Immediately afterwards, Xia Youjie's calm voice came:

"Theo, regarding the specific operational standards for using cursed spirits to screen potential individuals, the subsequent qualification assessment process, and the matching training system architecture..."

All of these require a detailed, feasible, and flexible plan to be developed as soon as possible.

This is no small matter; it concerns the foundation for the next ten or even several decades.

He paused, then added another key point:

"Furthermore, the design of the content of the flyers themselves, the selection of patterns and text, the choice of distribution areas and the control of density must also be extremely careful."

We need to deliver accurate information to attract potential talent, but at the same time we must do our best to avoid causing unnecessary misunderstandings, suspicions, or even panic among the general public.

This balance needs to be carefully managed.

Since there are only two of us implementing this plan, if possible, let's finalize the details now and try to start a pilot program tomorrow.

The call continued, discussing specific execution details.

As Theo responded, he subconsciously looked up at the sky.

Unbeknownst to us, the once gentle breeze and bright sunlight had quietly changed.

The wind picked up, making the glass of the observation deck hum slightly.

When the blazing sun is suddenly obscured, and the passing clouds cause the sunlight to disappear, the once bright surroundings suddenly turn dark.

As dusk settled, the air around me somehow carried the chill of a late autumn night.

However, this disappearance of light did not last long.

The clouds drifted away like fleeting visitors, and the blazing sun shone brightly on the earth once more.

But at this moment, the way Dio gazed at the sunlight had subtly changed from before.

Even the most brilliant sun can disappear in an instant.

He suddenly had a premonition that at some future point in time, completely different from this moment—perhaps also in autumn, perhaps standing at a high place—he might once again gaze at a similar urban landscape, and listen to a similar sound of wind and the undercurrent of crowds.

The future is unknown, but some moments, once they happen, are destined to be looked back upon and remembered forever.