Half a month had already passed since the unknown barrier unfolded over the skies of Japan.
At first, during the initial week, because ordinary people could neither see nor sense the barrier's existence, the entire country remained calm on the surface. Aside from the jujutsu sorcerers dispatched by the jujutsu world to continuously monitor and study the barrier's effects, there were no changes at all in the daily lives of ordinary people.
Moreover, when the barrier was first established, Kenjaku had incorporated a large number of binding vow techniques into it. By paying the price of making the barrier completely ineffective against sorcerers, while also delaying its effects on ordinary people by seven days, the barrier became impossible for anyone other than Kenjaku himself to influence or interfere with. As a result, the sorcerers could do nothing but watch as the barrier hovered over Japan, utterly powerless.
Everything seemed no different from before—until one week later, when news articles and online posts about ordinary people witnessing ghosts and monsters began to appear in large numbers.
At first, this phenomenon failed to draw much attention. However, as the trend intensified, it spread across the entire country at a speed no one could react to in time.
"Help! There really are ghosts in this world!"
"It's real. I saw a gigantic octopus covered in eyes in the lake behind our village. At first, no one else in the village could see it—but later, somehow, everyone could."
"Before, when I watched supernatural videos posted by others online, I couldn't see anything unusual. But a week ago, when I watched the same video again, I suddenly could see the ghost in it!"
"The elders at home weren't lying. There really are man-eating monsters in the western mountains."
Large numbers of ordinary people gained spiritual sight, and the number continued to grow. In a short period of time, Japan's entire online environment descended into chaos.
Countless people emphatically claimed online that they had seen ghosts, monsters, and other supernatural entities. Some even went so far as to dig up news articles from many years ago, only to discover that in photos taken at murder scenes or accident sites, cursed spirits that had gone unnoticed at the time were now clearly visible.
Faced with this situation, even the Japanese government was unable to suppress it—or rather, because government officials themselves had also gained the ability to see cursed spirits, they too were plunged into chaos.
"This is the current situation. Due to the unknown barrier, the number of ordinary people who have gained spiritual sight is simply too great. Combined with the lack of prior preparation for anything like this, the existence of curses has now become widely known and is spreading uncontrollably."
"The impact of this incident is far too severe. At present, large-scale public demonstrations have erupted in many cities across Japan, demanding that the government reveal the truth."
"Makima-sama has already made contact with senior officials on the government's side in her capacity as a member of the jujutsu world's upper echelon, attempting to negotiate how to suppress this wave of unrest and prevent it from spreading further—but the results have not been optimistic."
Inside the Headquarters' high-level conference room, a group of elders participating remotely via shikigami listened to the staff member standing at the center of the room deliver the report. In addition, most of the jujutsu world's Grade 1 sorcerers, along with Gojo Satoru, Yaga Masamichi, Gakuganji Yoshinobu, and other personnel from the jujutsu schools, were present.
It could be said that the impact of this barrier incident was so vast that no sorcerer in the entire jujutsu world could remain uninvolved. Even the two special-grade sorcerers currently overseas—Yuki Tsukumo and Okkotsu Yuta—were already on their way back to Japan.
"There are currently two proposed methods for handling this incident. The first is to work jointly with government personnel, hiring large numbers of experts from human society to conduct large-scale public guidance. The goal would be to prevent curses from further entering the public's field of vision, then destroy the barrier covering Japan as quickly as possible, and gradually suppress this incident over time."
"The second method is to accept that the situation has already spiraled out of control. In that case, we should simply make the truth public, cooperating with the government to educate the public about curses, thereby minimizing the spread of negative emotions and preventing the birth of even more cursed spirits."
At this point, Gojo Satoru—sitting in his chair with one leg crossed over the other—spoke bluntly.
"The first method can't even be considered a real solution anymore, can it? We still have absolutely no way to affect that damned barrier. Unless we can find and kill the person who activated it, trying to keep ordinary people from coming into contact with curses under these circumstances is nothing but wishful thinking—idiotic to the extreme."
Compared to the massive population of ordinary people, the number of cursed spirits born from negative emotions might not seem large—but it was by no means small either. In the past, the reason everything could be concealed was simply because ordinary people were incapable of perceiving cursed spirits at all. Once they could perceive them, it usually meant they had already come into close contact with curses—and without rescue, death was not far off.
Now, in an age of advanced internet connectivity, with large numbers of ordinary people suddenly gaining spiritual sight, even if only a small portion could directly see curses, spreading knowledge of their existence was far easier than before.
Just the stark contrast between perspectives before and after gaining spiritual sight was enough to make people clearly realize that the world had changed, shattering their previous worldview.
Although two solutions were presented, given the current circumstances, there was in reality only one viable option.
Cooperate with the Japanese government, publicly disclose the existence of curses, and educate the general public about them, thereby preventing fear from escalating further.
Compared to complete ignorance, understanding the existence of curses and the principles behind their birth could actually curb some of the fear. After all, people are always most afraid of things they do not understand at all. Once there is at least some understanding, fear can be reduced to a certain extent.
This reasoning was not only clear to Gojo Satoru—most of the sorcerers and elders present, so long as they were of sound mind, could also grasp it. As a result, the decision on which solution to adopt was reached very quickly.
"Publicly disclose the existence of curses, bring information related to curses into the public eye, and cooperate with the Japanese government to explore further methods of suppressing negative social emotions."
"The above plan will be implemented under the leadership of Makima-sama, Tokyo's chief jujutsu sorcerer and a senior member of the Headquarters."
"All other sorcerers will remain on standby within their assigned regions, preparing in advance for the large number of cursed spirits that may soon be born."
With the announcement of the concrete plan, the meeting finally drew to a temporary close.
However, as the sorcerers exited the Headquarters, most of them wore complex expressions.
The world was changing far too quickly. Curses—once unknown to the public—were about to step fully into the public eye. The jujutsu world, long hidden in the shadows, was now being forced into contact and cooperation with human society's official institutions.
No one knew what kind of impact this would have in the future, nor whether the very form of the jujutsu world's existence would be fundamentally altered as a result.
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