Chapter 146

About the Culling Game (について) is the one hundred and forty-sixth chapter of Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen.

Summary
Yuji and his allies review the complex rules of the Culling Game and formulate a plan to navigate the dangerous battle royal. Everyone is given a role to execute and they move out to stop the ritual. However, the games have already begun and normal people have awakened new abilities, people like the comedian named Fumihiko Takaba.

Plot Details
Megumi is surprised to hear that Hana Kurusu is capable of extinguishing cursed techniques. Tengen repeats that the Angel's technique will be necessary to open the back of Prison Realm. Megumi asks where the Angel is and Tengen only knows that she's in the colony on the east side of Tokyo. There are ten colonies that are connected by barriers that form a line down Japan. This line of barriers will merge everyone in Japan with Tengen and "convey them to the other side". Hokkaido isn't included because it's been established as a sacred area.

The idea of evolving humanity by merging them with Tengen's current state is a complex one to grasp and sounds exaggerated. However, as a testament to how serious this situation is, Tengen reveals a curse that befell every single person in Japan in preparation for the merger. They believe it will only take about two months to complete the ritual.

The group goes over the rules of the Culling Game. The first rule states a player must declare their participation in 19 days. It's currently 9 A.M. on November 9th and all the players awakened around midnight on October 31st. This gives Tsumiki ten days and fifteen hours to participate in the game. The second rule states that anyone who breaks the first rule will be subject to cursed technique removal.

Maki talked with Shoko Ieiri about this rule of the game beforehand. Shoko believes that cursed technique removal implies that it's not through Idle Transfiguration or a binding vow. She thinks that something must happen to the user's brain, which would kill them. Otherwise, all the players could simply refuse to declare participation. Tengen confirms Shoko's theory, meaning Maki and people who don't have cursed techniques aren't at risk.

Rule number three dictates that anyone who enters a colony after the games have begun will be considered an official participant. Civilians inside the barrier will be given one chance to exit and there are no rules about entering or exiting colonies. At the start of the Culling Game, players are given the goal of exiting the colony's barriers. This serves as an effective way to stimulate participation and get players moving. In order to confine the players effectively, they must believe that entered the games of their own free will. This works in accordance with a binding vow that increases the barrier's power.

The fourth rule is the one that states players score points by killing one another. The fifth one specifies that each player's point value is determined by the game master. As a general rule, sorcerers are worth five points and non-sorcerers are worth one. Megumi asks about the game master and Tengen explains that each player receives a shikigami known as a Kogane. A Kogane serves as the game's interface while the game's master serves as the program that backs it. This concept somewhat confuses Yuji, leaving him in a comically lost state.

Rule six states that players can spend one hundred of their own scored points to negotiate a new rule into the game. Rules can't be subtracted, but Megumi thinks they might be able to create other stipulations as roundabout ways to counter them. In accordance with rule six, rule seven states that the game master must accept any new rule as long as it doesn't have a long-lasting effect on the game. The group wonders if the rules are fair but Tengen assures them that Kenjaku receives no bias and they can expect to be treated fairly.

The eighth and final rule states a player will be subject to cursed technique removal if their score doesn't change for 19 days. Yuji is worried he'll have to kill others again but Megumi has a few ideas. With all the information thoroughly reviewed, Maki goes over everyone's role for the future.

Yuki and Choso will remain at the Tombs of the Star to guard Master Tengen. Maki will return to the Zenin clan to collect cursed tools for the coming battles. Soon after Satoru Gojo was sealed, the Zenin and Kamo clans took all the cursed tools from Jujutsu High's cursed warehouse. Now that Megumi is the Zenin clan's leader, Maki will be able to get them. This revelation comes as a surprise to Yuji but Megumi says he'll explain another time. Maki inquires about the location of Juzo Kumiya's workshop which she will go to before recruiting Panda.

Yuta will take part in the Culling Game right away to gather information long before Tsumiki and others participate. He'll be on his own again, but Yuta will avoid nearby colonies to prevent collateral and he might be out of touch since the barriers likely block cellphone reception. He quickly realizes this presents an issue because the senpai told Yuji he would kill him should Sukuna appear again. They both think about the best solution but Megumi makes Yuji stop. Megumi says that Yuta can just kill Yuji if he dies but Yuji wants to prevent that in the first place.

Maki tells Yuji and Megumi their role is to find Kinji Hakari and recruit him. Hakari is a suspended third-year student who's moody but their group is shorthanded. Despite his attitude, Hakari is apparently extremely tough. Yuta goes as far as to say that when riled up, Hakari surpasses him in strength, but Maki doesn't exactly agree with this statement. Everyone moves out, but not before Yuji thanks Choso for everything. Choso tells Yuji not to die and as his little brother leaves, Yuki notices Choso trying to hide some tears.

Meanwhile, at a comedy club called the Public Stand, a crowd of people are bored with a comedy act that completely bombed. Fumihiko Takaba is a failing comedian who never gets any laughs from his dumb jokes. His associate tells the thirty-five-year-old to quit because he's simply not funny. With the way Tokyo is right now, the man advises Takaba to find something he's better cut out for.

Another associate of Takaba's named Ken says he doesn't mind his dumb jokes. Ken thinks two types of comedians will always be in demand: comics who are funny and comics who wholeheartedly believe their funny. Ken asks Takaba which of the two he believes he is. Takaba says it's fifty-fifty at first, before receiving a strange impulse. Then he decides to change his answer to "seventy-thirty". Fumihiko Takaba is not only one of these two types of comedians, he is also a player in the Culling Game.

Locations

 * Tokyo Jujutsu High
 * Tombs of the Star Corridor
 * The Public Stand Comedy Club

Jujutsu
Cursed Objects
 * Prison Realm

Shikigami
 * Kogane