[What followed unfolded just as it had in the previous simulation.]
[Masamichi Yaga summoned Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, assigning them to the mission to protect the Star Plasma Vessel.]
[Given the danger involved, Yaga determined that no ordinary manager could accompany them. He designated you specifically to go along.]
[But before he could finish explaining, you were already out of your seat.]
[Yaga blinked at you.]
["What's wrong?"]
["This mission's a big deal, isn't it? You could argue it's already started. Shouldn't we get to the Star Plasma Vessel as early as possible?"]
[You paused, then added:]
["The Q organization and the Star Religious Group have no reason to sit around waiting for us to start a three-day countdown."]
["Well, you're not wrong..."]
[Yaga crossed his arms, considered it for a moment, and conceded the point.]
["If there's anything else, just tell us over the phone."]
[You grabbed Gojo and Geto by the arms and hauled them toward the door.]
["Oi, Hayase, why the hell are you so eager to play babysitter?"]
[Gojo's face soured with every step.]
[Your early departure meant you reached the hotel a full thirty minutes ahead of the last simulation's timeline.]
[After the frantic rush, the hotel sat quiet and undisturbed. Gojo glanced up at the high-floor room, waved Geto off, and turned away.]
["All you're doing is picking up some Star Plasma brat. You two handle it. Don't bother me with errands."]
[He yawned, already drifting toward the vending machine in the lobby corner.]
[Watching that utterly relaxed silhouette walk away, Geto shook his head.]
["Hopeless... Forget it. Let's go, Hayase."]
[You and Geto took the elevator up to Riko Amanai's floor.]
[As Geto confirmed the room number and reached for the door, a woman's voice called out from inside.]
["Coming."]
[You recognized it. Misato Kuroi.]
[Then a wave of Cursed Energy, lethally dense, erupted from behind the sealed door.]
["Watch out!"]
[Geto's instincts kicked in. He summoned a spherical Cursed Spirit, defensive-class, and moved to wrap it around the both of you.]
["Relax, Geto."]
[Your voice was terrifyingly calm. You'd rehearsed this moment more times than you could count.]
[Knowing exactly what was coming, you activated your technique a beat ahead of it.]
["Directional Explosive Boundary."]
[The chain of explosions that should have torn apart the hallway and the entryway never arrived.]
[A massive detonation roared, but the sound was muffled.]
[Geto stared in disbelief as the blast that should have consumed them warped mid-air, bending away from its intended path.]
[A fireball materialized outside the building, suspended in open sky. Reinforced glass hummed and rattled from the shockwave. The explosion bloomed uselessly in the afternoon air like a stray firework.]
["What...?"]
[Geto stood frozen.]
["The trap inside is dealt with."]
[You said it like you were mentioning the weather, your gaze already locked past Geto onto the figure emerging from the shadows at the far end of the corridor.]
["Go check on the Star Plasma Vessel. Leave the rat with the explosives to me."]
[Geto studied your back for a long moment.]
[A dozen questions crowded his mind. How had you analyzed the enemy's technique and redirected the blast in the span of a heartbeat? But this wasn't the time.]
["It's yours."]
[He made the call without hesitation and kicked in Riko Amanai's door.]
[Before Kokun could get a word out, a girl's shriek ripped through the air alongside the splintered door panel.]
["AHHH! You! Weird bangs! Are you the one trying to kill me?!"]
[A heavy impact. Something solid connecting with a face.]
["Ow... wait, I'm from Jujutsu High..."]
["Die, you coward!"]
[Judging by the chaos pouring out of that room, the spirited young lady was perfectly unharmed.]
[You pulled your attention back to the corridor ahead.]
[A man in a white military uniform stood at the far end. Kokun, one of Q's top combatants, and someone you'd already dealt with once before in the last simulation.]
[He'd set up a flawless chain of explosions. The second anyone from Jujutsu High opened that door, or the Star Plasma Vessel tried to flee, that room was supposed to become a furnace.]
[And yet the blast had just... left. Through the window. Into nothing.]
["That uniform... you're a Jujutsu High sorcerer?"]
[The plan had gone sideways, but Kokun's pride as a Curse User kept his feet planted. His eyes swept over you, a flicker of contempt passing through them.]
["Quick reflexes, I'll give you that. But it's too late. If you want someone to blame, blame Tengen..."]
[While he spoke, his hand crept toward the detonator on his belt.]
[A voice from the room cut him off mid-sentence.]
["As if I'd die! You insolent wretches!"]
[Kokun's exposed eyes went wide, as though he'd just heard the dead speak.]
["She's alive?! That's impossible... after a direct explosive..."]
[His gaze snapped to you. A thought he couldn't accept flickered through his mind.]
[Did this kid redirect the blast?]
[He dismissed it almost immediately. Directional Explosive Boundary was his Innate Technique, requiring intricate Cursed Energy markers and coordinate mapping. No brat he'd met ten seconds ago could crack it.]
["Eyes up here."]
[Your voice materialized right beside his ear.]
[Kokun's blood went cold. The boy who'd been standing over a dozen meters away had closed the gap in the seconds he'd been distracted.]
[Fast!]
[But also an opening!]
[Viciousness flashed through Kokun's eyes. If you wanted to deliver yourself to his doorstep, he'd oblige.]
["Die!"]
[Without a shred of hesitation, his thumb raked across the flint wheel of the lighter-shaped cursed tool in his hand.]
[The click of the flint wheel echoed down the corridor. A grin split Kokun's face. In his mind, he was already watching you come apart.]
[One second passed.]
[The explosion aimed at your face never came.]
[You stood exactly where you were. Behind your glasses, your eyes held something almost like pity.]
[Then a muffled detonation tore through the silence.]
[Not from you. From Kokun's own right hand, the one raised high, still gripping the detonator.]
[The moment you'd closed the distance, you'd already activated Directional Explosive Boundary again, the technique you'd mastered across countless simulation runs.]
[You hadn't stopped the explosion. You'd rewritten the coordinates, shifting the blast point from one meter ahead to zero distance. To the center of Kokun's palm.]
["Uh... huh?"]
[Kokun stared at his right hand. It wasn't a hand anymore. It was a blackened, twisted ruin, flash-cooked by the heat and concussive force into something barely recognizable as flesh.]
[Two severed fingers dropped onto the carpet with a dull, wet sound.]
[Then the pain arrived.]
["AAAAAAAAAGH!"]
[The scream ripped through the entire floor. Blood sprayed in arcs, and the corridor filled with the thick, nauseating stench of charred meat.]
["Those who play with fire get burned."]