As if startled awake by a sudden cold gust, I shuddered, becoming aware that I had survived. The abrupt return to reality left me bewildered.

I am alive.

The system hadn't lied. I indeed had three attempts, and now only two remained.

Surveying the unfamiliar surroundings, I noticed only a strange room filled with a large bed, a dresser, and a wardrobe. And in the corner, seated on the couch, was Gojo Satoru.

It was as if he had been resting there, arms and legs crossed. His attire was no longer the familiar uniform I had grown accustomed to. Clad in a tight white shirt and loose black trousers, the shaman appeared different. The white blindfold remained in place. I still couldn't fathom whether he was sleeping or merely keeping watch.

Events, like fragments of time, slowly resurfaced in my memory. The last thing I remembered was the Territory Expansion, the reason I lost my life.

That lunatic did manage to kill me without batting an eye.

As if sensing that I was about to start a scene, a window appeared before me.

[Welcome to the Jujutsu Kaisen! Attempts to survive: 2. Current level 20/100.]

This time the game didn't skimp; it did grant me 15 points for the pact. Lost in thought, I didn't notice the blue-eyed man rise from his place and pour water from a pitcher.

The window vanished, the bed creaked under an unexpected weight, and he handed me a glass of water.

One moment he's trying to kill me, the next he's being kind.

Suspiciously, I shifted my gaze between the water and him.

"Drink."

I shook my head in refusal. Who knows what might be in that drink? Perhaps Satoru had decided to take another shot at killing me?

Gripping my face sharply, his hand grasped my chin, and he leaned in, murmuring softly, "Drink. You're dehydrated."

I tried to say something, to express my disbelief, to declare that I didn't trust him and wasn't going to take anything. But something stuck in my throat. I only managed an incoherent murmur.

Satoru tightened his grip on my chin, taking advantage of my open mouth, and poured the liquid inside.

Swallowing the water once, almost inadvertently, I emptied the glass. He withdrew his hands and placed the vessel on the floor but remained on the bed, observing me closely.

Above his head, a message from the system appeared in modest gray.

[Gojo Satoru: 5%]

Now down to four percent. Perhaps if I die again, it'll sum up to nine percent? System, your logic is rather peculiar. In the real world, such a game would be deemed a failure.

Summoning courage, I intended to ask him where I was and why he was so calm, but he beat me to it.

"You're quite lucky. You're the first one to survive my technique," he smiled, turning his head. "No, you definitely died, but then resurrected a second later."

Taking a deep breath, I ran my hand through my hair. I wasn't wearing any clothes. He must have disposed of them. Peeking from behind the sheet, I glanced at him and asked calmly,

"Why didn't you kill me again?"

"Simply didn't want to."

Weary, the blue-eyed man reclined on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Luckily, there was a decent distance between us.

"Playing the noble knight, are we?"

"The only knight here is you," his laughter echoed. "Do you possess reverse technique? Otherwise, I can't explain to myself why you resurrected. Or perhaps you're a vessel for creatures like two-faced demon."

Raising my hands, I explained that I wasn't a vessel and couldn't comprehend how I survived, especially after his technique. Satoru didn't believe me. His interest decreased by one percent.

Gathering courage, I asked for something I needed most at that moment.

"I need to use the restroom."

"I expected anything but that," he laughed, running his hand through his hair. I wondered if he styled it with gel or if it automatically spiked up in different directions. "I'll give you what you need," he continued, heading to the dresser. "But you'll do it in my presence. I trust you as much as you trust me."

Seriously? He intended to watch me do my business? I knew the shaman was offbeat, but not to this extent.

Standing before me was this suddenly friendly and smiling Gojo Satoru, and I didn't like it. One wrong move, and my head could be separated from my shoulders.

It was better for him to remain indifferent, because I felt extremely uncomfortable with this current version of him.

Swiftly discarding the T-shirt he tossed my way, I wrapped myself tighter in the sheet and put my feet on the floor.

"As you wish."

And he had been there all along. He stood by the door, making ridiculous jokes about how I should have taken his T-shirt and "oh, what I've missed there."

Now I understood Nanami Kento's frustration.

I wanted to throw a sword at him just to make him shut up and stop annoying me.

I diverted my attention from his rambling. Splashed myself a few times with cold water. Looked into the mirror and hardly recognized myself: a tired and worn-out face.

Large eyes gleamed in the reflection like genuine emeralds. Truly, emerald-like.

My hair, as if it hadn't touched the ground, lay perfectly on my back. In another reality, after a long sleep, it might have been a clumsy, tangled mess.

"Where am I?" I asked as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, completing all necessary procedures.

"Answer my questions, and you'll get answers to yours, Emerald," he replied. "But first, you need to eat."

Approaching the bed, he threw the T-shirt in my direction again.

"I doubt you'll be comfortable eating in that cocoon. You already ascertained that in the bathroom."

The real Gojo was back, and no matter how stupid I might sound, I felt more at ease with this side of him.

The apartment where we were located was modern and vast. The kitchen seemed as if it had never been used. Containers of food sat on the table. Well, I wasn't expecting him to prepare anything for me.

Gojo threw the cutlery on the table and gestured to the chair, indicating that I should sit and eat. Hunger was so acute, and I realized I hadn't eaten in three days.

Sandwiches and noodle soup.

Three days without food had taken their toll. I devoured everything before me, astonished by my capability, for in my reality, I couldn't even finish one portion, feeling full faster than time passed.

There remained one last sandwich that I intended to grab, but before I could, Gojo, standing nearby, snatched it away and tossed it into the trash.

"Are you normal? What did food do wrong?"

"Not the food. You ate enough," he replied, sitting opposite me. He removed the blindfold from his face and gave me a stern look. His eyes were unusual. Under different circumstances, I might have been charmed by their beauty and peculiarity. But not now. Not when I saw concealed irritation, anger, and unstable energy in them.

"Speak."

"What?"

Yes, well done, Miyeon. Pretend to be clueless.

"Don't test my patience. I've been patient enough to not snap your neck." Leaning over the table in seconds, he grabbed my neck.

It was painful. Damn pain and fear gripped me. I couldn't show him I was afraid. I didn't want him to see my legs trembling or the food I'd eaten ready to spill from my stomach.

"Let go, I'll tell you everything."

And he complied. He released me and spoke with a satisfied tone, "Good girl."

He sat back in his place again, waiting. A swarm of thoughts buzzed inside me. I remembered the rules of the system and tried to choose my words carefully to convince him of the truth. Revealing the truth about myself would mean losing all the points earned and starting over. I didn't want to take that risk.

"As I said, my name is Park Miyeon. I... saw the future. Once, I found myself in a dark forest. What I mentioned in Masamiti Yaga's office was true. The sword I had, I thought I would die from a monster, and perhaps, out of fear, the sword appeared. I used it for the first time, but it felt like my body remembered. Maybe it's amnesia?"

His brows furrowed, and he continued to scrutinize me carefully, but the interest above his head remained the same.

"Let's assume. How did you disappear? Why did you ask about the dragon, and later, found yourself with it?"

"I've mentioned before that I saw the future. The vision was at that moment in Yaga's office. The dragon was waiting for me, and then he explained that he transported me to himself. He said everything was related to my sword."

I hoped he wouldn't be overly attentive, and the dragon with whom I made the pact would protect me now.

"What did you mean when you said Yaga was a suicidal maniac and I was dead? Don't try to dismiss all those words as anger or the ramblings of a madwoman. I felt you were telling the truth."

He smirked. Damn it.

"A vision. Remember at the infirmary, I stared at you and laughed?" I sensed the dangerous aura again. "I saw the future, but it's always changeable! Yesterday, I could have died not from your hands but from the dragon. I altered events."

The story wove through heavy silences, tension that hung in the air.

"But you still didn't avoid death. You still died."

He noticed.

Silence enveloped us. I didn't know whether to continue or remain silent. I couldn't tell if he believed me or if he was just testing before killing me.

"Everyone thinks you're dead. No one survives my technique. I have no answer on what to do with you. Leaving you is dangerous; killing you— you'll resurrect again. You're like a parasite," he spoke with a sense of exhaustion.

The game, because of you, labeled me a parasite. If not for your damn rules, I would have told him everything long ago.

"Tell me about all your visions. Don't hide anything. If you do, I'll kill you again and again, drive you insane, so you beg for death later," he calmly spoke with a smiling face, although it was no laughing matter to me. He was serious.

I didn't know what to say. Suddenly, his phone vibrated, lying on the table. I thought he'd ignore it and continue the interrogation. However, he picked up the phone and remained silent, still staring at me.

[Gojo Satoru: 7%]

A window appeared.

[Utilize the vast power of the dragon and save Itadori Yuji. Current level 20/100.]

Ha. So, we're not far from the Shibuya arc.

Glancing at the still silent Satoru, I realized who had called him and what was about to happen.

The Hunger Games had only just begun.