The abandoned school stood in silence beneath a gray sky.
Tall fences surrounded the building, their metal wires twisted and broken in several places. The playground was empty, covered in cracked asphalt and scattered leaves.
But the air around the school felt wrong.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
Akira Kurose felt it the moment he stepped past the front gate.
His Echo reacted instantly.
A cold pulse spread through his chest.
Megumi stopped beside him, his eyes scanning the windows of the old classrooms.
"This place is filled with cursed energy."
Nobara kicked a loose stone across the ground.
"No kidding."
The building looked like it had been abandoned for years. The windows were shattered, desks visible through the broken glass.
But something moved in the darkness inside.
Megumi spoke quietly.
"This mission came directly from the higher-ups. Several sorcerer students were sent here earlier today."
Akira frowned.
"And?"
Megumi's expression hardened.
"They never came back."
The wind moved through the empty schoolyard.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Nobara sighed.
"Well, that means we're going in."
They walked toward the main entrance.
The door creaked loudly as Megumi pushed it open.
The hallway inside smelled like dust and old paper.
School lockers lined the walls.
Many of them were bent or broken.
Akira stepped forward carefully.
Every step echoed through the building.
Then—
A sound.
Footsteps.
Someone was running upstairs.
Megumi raised his hand.
"Wait."
Another sound followed.
A voice.
Panicked.
"Help!"
The three rushed toward the staircase.
Akira's heart began beating faster.
His Echo pulsed again.
But this time the energy felt different.
Chaotic.
Unstable.
When they reached the second floor, they found a young sorcerer student leaning against the wall.
He was injured.
Blood covered his sleeve.
When he saw them, relief flooded his face.
"You came…"
Megumi knelt beside him.
"What happened here?"
The student's hands trembled.
"It… it trapped us."
Akira felt the air shift.
Something was listening.
"What trapped you?" Nobara asked.
The student pointed toward the end of the hallway.
"The exam…"
Silence followed.
Then laughter echoed softly through the corridor.
The lights above flickered violently.
Dark cursed energy began pouring out of every classroom door.
Akira's Echo flared.
A shape appeared at the end of the hallway.
At first it looked like a teacher.
Tall.
Thin.
Wearing a long coat.
But its face was wrong.
A cracked porcelain mask covered it.
And dozens of eyes were carved across the surface.
The creature slowly raised a long black pointer stick.
Then it spoke.
"The exam… has begun."
The hallway twisted suddenly.
The walls stretched outward.
The ceiling rose higher.
The entire building warped under cursed energy.
Megumi's eyes widened.
"A domain—"
The curse slammed its pointer into the floor.
"Domain Expansion: Endless Examination."
The world changed instantly.
The hallway disappeared.
Akira found himself standing inside a massive classroom.
Hundreds of empty desks filled the room.
Each desk had a paper on it.
A test.
Nobara stood nearby, looking confused.
Megumi was several rows away.
At the front of the classroom stood the curse.
Now larger.
More distorted.
"Students," the creature said.
"I will now begin the examination."
The doors slammed shut.
Dark chains of cursed energy spread across the walls.
The curse pointed toward Akira.
"Question one."
Suddenly the desks began moving.
They slid across the floor like living creatures.
Papers flew through the air like blades.
Akira dodged the first attack.
His Echo activated automatically.
He copied the movement of the flying papers.
Redirecting them away from himself.
Megumi summoned his shadow wolves.
They leaped across the desks.
But the desks multiplied endlessly.
More.
And more.
The classroom was turning into a maze.
Nobara slammed her hammer down.
"Straw Doll Technique!"
Her nails pierced several desks, exploding them into splinters.
But new desks formed instantly.
Megumi realized the problem.
"This domain keeps generating cursed constructs!"
The curse laughed.
"No one leaves the exam."
Akira clenched his fists.
His Echo was reacting to the structure of the domain.
The pattern.
The rhythm of cursed energy.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he saw it.
The center.
The source of the domain's power.
The teacher's desk.
Akira opened his eyes.
"There."
Megumi followed his gaze.
The teacher's desk at the front of the classroom was glowing faintly.
Megumi nodded.
"Destroy it!"
The three moved at the same time.
Desks slammed into their path.
Papers sliced through the air.
But Akira pushed forward.
Echo surged.
He copied the movement pattern of the domain itself.
Sliding through gaps between attacks.
Nobara cleared a path with explosive nails.
Megumi's Nue crashed through rows of desks with lightning.
Akira reached the front.
The curse raised its pointer.
"You failed the exam."
Akira didn't stop.
Echo pushed his body beyond its limits.
He punched directly into the teacher's desk.
The moment it shattered—
The domain collapsed.
The massive classroom vanished.
They were back in the hallway.
The curse screamed.
Cracks spread across its porcelain mask.
Megumi's shadow wolves lunged forward.
Nobara drove a nail through the creature's chest.
"Resonance!"
The curse exploded into black mist.
Silence returned to the school.
The injured student stared in shock.
"You… broke the domain."
Akira leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
Echo slowly faded.
But something felt strange.
Megumi looked down the hallway.
"There's still cursed energy here."
Akira felt it too.
Stronger.
Deeper.
Then—
A quiet voice echoed through the building.
Not the exam curse.
A different voice.
Cold.
Familiar.
Sukuna.
"Interesting…"
Akira froze.
The voice continued softly.
"Four fingers now."
The air grew heavier.
And somewhere deep beneath the school…
Something powerful awakened.