Here's the third day of the Deadly Sin Week, this time for the Sin of Greed (I got you Training_Highway570). Enjoy the read, y'all!

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INNATE TECHNIQUE: USURY – 高利貸し (Kōrishigashi)

USER: JIN KOGAN

Usury is defined as "the practice of lending money at an illegally high, exorbitant, or morally objectionable rate of interest.” Greed itself (also known as avarice or covetousness) is defined as “the immoderate and excessive love or desire for wealth, material possessions, power, fame, or anything else that feeds one's selfishness at the expense of others.”

Usury grants the user the ability to enforce economic extortion as physical law, transforming reality into a predatory market where concepts and physical traits are treated as commodities. The user’s insatiable greed allows them to forcibly "lend" or "borrow" physical properties, imposing exorbitant, rigged interest rates that systematically bankrupt their opponent's physical and metaphysical state. This absolute financial dominion creates an autonomous zone where any action taken by the enemy incurs an immediate tax or debt, though this flawless system instantly collapses if the user fails to collect on a debt or if an opponent manages to completely balance the "ledger," which can be seen through:

* The ability to manifest bubbles made of cursed energy that act as physical contracts; upon contact, they don't cause explosive damage but instead forcibly "lend" a negative trait (like extreme weight or frictionlessness) while seizing a positive property as collateral.

* The capability to make stolen physical properties or cursed energy scale aggressively over time; the longer an opponent owes a "debt" (such as having their momentum or heat stolen), the more their remaining traits decay to pay the compounding interest.

* The capacity to instantly convert stolen concepts (like the hardness of a diamond or the velocity of a bullet) and inject them into mundane objects or the user's own body, upgrading their physical traits far beyond their natural limits.

* The power to trigger an automatic death or neutralization clause if an opponent's "debt" becomes too high; when the opponent is completely bankrupted of a vital physical property (like all bodily friction, heat, or the inertia of their own cursed energy), reality itself forecloses on them, leaving them entirely paralyzed or shattered.

The list goes on and on for possible and completed feats.

Fundamental Capabilities

Usury manifests through the user's insatiable avarice and complete lack of altruism, taking the form of a predatory financial system enforced upon the physical universe. While the cursed technique's base form is that of conceptual wealth enforcement and rigged property trading generally, Jin Kogan has refined several complex applications that basically turn him into a terrifying counter to most sorcerers and cursed spirits alike:

* The base mechanism of the technique lies in the user’s bubble-shaped Cursed Energy trait, which acts as a gateway to an autonomous, contractual law. When launching these bubbles, Jin can establish an inescapable ledger of "asymmetrical lending" upon anything they touch. Upon contact with a target, a bubble doesn't cause explosive damage; instead, it enforces an unbidden contractual agreement that strips away a specific physical attribute (such as weight, friction, or kinetic momentum) and locks it within the bubble as collateral. Anything pulled into this "zone of extortion" is immediately forced to operate on a deficit. This spatial and conceptual manipulation effectively gives Jin a monopoly over the target's physical capabilities. It allows him to bypass traditional combat limits; he is not just fighting an opponent's physical body, but forcing the actual properties of their biology or weapons to be leased out under his own strict terms.

* Once a debt is established, the target's stolen traits enter a state of compound interest scaling. The physical properties trapped inside Jin's bubbles do not remain static; they decay from the victim while generating exorbitant interest for the user. The longer an opponent owes a "debt"—meaning the longer they fail to pop the bubble or balance the terms—the more aggressively their remaining bodily traits or cursed energy reserves are systematically drained to pay the mounting interest. This process strips away the opponent's combat efficiency over time, acting as a slow-acting, inevitable filter. Even highly volatile cursed techniques or overwhelming physical powerhouses begin to sluggishly slow down, cool down, or weaken as the universe itself continuously repossesses their fundamental properties to satisfy Jin’s unyielding interest rates.

* Enforced debt is instantly metabolized into asset liquidation if Jin doesn't choose to let the interest compound indefinitely. Jin does not just weaken his threats; he absorbs their value. By bursting his own bubbles against his own body or his weapons, he can instantly inject the hoarded physical concepts into himself. If he steals the immense hardness of a diamond wall, he can liquidate it into his skin to achieve temporary invulnerability. If he intercepts a high-speed projectile, he can lease its velocity to his next strike, allowing his fists to break the sound barrier. The more potent and high-quality the property he steals, the more staggering his subsequent physical and tactical upgrades become, permanently keeping his combat output funded by the very opponent he is fighting.

* The user can halt the collection process at any time to trigger a state of default foreclosure. If an opponent is completely bankrupted of a vital physical property—such as losing 100% of their friction, body heat, or the kinetic inertia of their cursed energy—the contract reaches its lethal conclusion. Jin can forcefully demand immediate payment, causing the localized space around the debtor to abruptly collapse or freeze to settle the account. Because the opponent has no physical assets left to defend themselves, reality temporarily "forecloses" on their body, leaving them entirely paralyzed, shattered, or vulnerable to a final, crushing blow. However, this flawless system is bound by strict legalism: if an opponent manages to out-negotiate Jin, avoid the bubbles entirely, or successfully destroy the "ledger" bubbles before interest peaks, the accumulated debts are cleared, forcing Jin back to square one.

Extension Techniques

* Toxic Liquidity – 流動性毒 (Ryūdōsei Doku): The user launches a swarm of their bubble-shaped cursed energy contracts to blanket the battlefield. Instead of targeting the opponent directly, these bubbles populate the immediate air and terrain like floating mines. If the opponent attempts to pop or brush past them, the "fine print" of the contract triggers a forced exchange: the bubble absorbs the kinetic energy of the opponent’s movement and leaves behind a localized pocket of zero friction or zero gravity. This forces the opponent to suddenly slip, slide helplessly, or lose all traction mid-dash, throwing them into tactical disarray while Jin maneuvers perfectly through the bubbles.

* Collateral Seizure – 担保差押 (Tanpo Sashiosae): Jin fires a high-velocity bubble aimed directly at an opponent's incoming attack or weapon. Upon contact, the bubble pops and "seizes" a crucial physical property of the threat to hold as collateral. For instance, hitting a speeding blade instantly strips away its velocity, causing the sword to fall limply to the ground while transferring that stolen speed into Jin's own body. This extension serves as a highly efficient defensive parry, completely disarming heavy physical offenses and leaving the opponent physically overextended.

* High-Interest Return – 高利払い (Kōribarai): After successfully hoarding stolen concepts (like the hardness of concrete or the heat of an explosion) within his cursed energy reserves, Jin forcefully expels the stored properties all at once into a mundane object. By popping a stored bubble onto a small pebble or a playing card, he forces the object to inherit the compounding "interest" of those properties. A tiny pebble injected with stolen mass and momentum violently expands upon impact, striking the opponent with the sudden weight and force of a falling building.

* Forced Bankruptcy – 強制破産 (Kyōsei Hasan): Jin violently bursts a concentrated sphere of cursed energy across the ground, forcing a massive, legalistic aura to expand outward. Any opponent caught within this radius who is currently carrying a "debt" (having had properties previously stolen by the bubbles) is hit with an immediate demand for repayment. The technique forcefully cascades their remaining vital properties—such as stripping away their body heat to absolute zero or neutralizing the inertia of their cursed energy flow—to settle the contract. This triggers a sudden state of sensory and physical shock, leaving the bankrupted target completely paralyzed and defenseless.

Maximum Technique: Maximum: Avaritia – 極ノ番「強欲」 (Goku no Ban: Avaritia)

Maximum: Default Foreclosure represents the absolute pinnacle of Usury outside of a Domain Expansion, allowing the user to bypass the physical limitation of enforcing contracts through individual bubbles or singular trades. Upon activation, the user forces their insatiable avarice to infect the actual fabric of reality, transforming the entire local environment into a predatory, non-negotiable financial market centered on their own being.

Within a designated radius, the environment itself is placed into a state of immediate, total receivership. The technique skips the process of launching bubbles and instead applies a universal "tax" on every physical action and metaphysical property within the area. Gravity, heat, sound, friction, and the kinetic flow of cursed energy are aggressively seized by Jin's presence. Opponents trapped within this radius find their bodies growing rapidly heavy, cold, and sluggish as the universe systematically strips away their properties to satisfy an unpayable debt. Active cursed techniques launched by enemies are repossessed mid-flight, losing their lethal momentum and dissolving into raw, unrefined cursed energy that flows directly into the user's reserves.

For the duration of the technique, the user's presence acts as a black hole of absolute monopoly. They can walk through a battlefield completely immune to incoming hostility, as any attack directed at him—from physical blades to complex, conceptual cursed techniques—is deemed "forfeited assets." The moment an assault crosses into his space, its properties are instantly liquidated and absorbed into the user's own aura, making it impossible for opponents to harm them without inadvertently funding the user's power.

And finally, because the scale of property seizure is so massive, the user enters a state of critical market dominance. Having hoarded and liquidated the physical assets of everything around themself, the user's physical body and cursed energy output multiply exponentially. Their skin hardens beyond diamond through taking the property of hardness onto themself, their movements easily shatter the sound barrier through taking the property of speed onto themselves, and their strikes carry the heavy, stolen mass of the very environment they stand on, making them completely unstoppable for as long as he maintains it.

Domain Expansion: Sovereign Boardroom of Avarice – 貪欲の至高議場 (Donyoku no Shikō Gijō)

The domain manifests as a grand, infinite executive boardroom that completely swallows the surrounding reality. The battlefield transforms into an opulent, polished mahogany floor that stretches out endlessly into a pitch-black abyss, illuminated only by towering, neon-lit stock tickers and massive digital ledgers floating in the background. Instead of standard walls, the barrier is enclosed by colossal, shimmering golden vault doors that seal shut with a deafening, mechanical echo. At the center of this space sits a monolithic, high-backed throne made of solid gold and brass, placing the user in an elevated position looking down over a massive, circular mahogany table where their opponents are trapped.

The sure-hit effect of the Sovereign Boardroom of Avarice is conceptual and legalistic rather than a traditional physical assault, operating under the absolute law of "Hostile Takeover." The moment the domain closes, a binding financial contract is automatically signed by everyone trapped inside, designating the user as the sole owner of all physical properties within the space. All foreign jujutsu, biological systems, and cursed energy reserves are evaluated as corporate assets. Because the user's greed recognizes no external ownership, the domain's sure-hit effect forces the opponents' bodies to constantly pay an escalating "operational tax" just to exist. Every step taken, every breath drawn, and every spark of cursed energy channeled is instantly treated as an unauthorized transaction. The domain automatically repossesses the physical attributes fueling those actions. If an opponent attempts to cast a cursed technique, the sure-hit effect forcefully forecloses on the technique mid-cast, stripping away its elemental properties, speed, and lethality, and converting the canceled attack into raw, refined cursed energy that feeds directly into the user's reserves.

Within this domain, the user's asset liquidation is pushed past its ultimate limit. Since they hold a total monopoly over every physical concept within the barrier, they can freely trade, modify, and rewrite the physics of the space with a single word without having to touch them or use their bubbles They can completely reduce an opponent’s mass to be zero, leaving them floating helplessly in the air, while shifting all the room's kinetic momentum into their own fists to deliver inescapable, supersonic strikes.

However, like the base technique, this seemingly flawless monopoly possesses a fatal flaw. Because the domain is built entirely upon the legal framework of a contract, it must strictly adhere to its own internal ledger. If an opponent manages to completely refuse to interact with the system—neither moving, attacking, nor utilizing cursed energy—they incur zero debt. Furthermore, if an opponent can find a "loophole" in the user's terms and land a strike that forces a net-negative financial loss on the user's personal cursed energy reserves, it forces the technique into a state of sudden liquidity crisis. The entire boardroom will instantly shatter like glass, exposing them to massive cursed energy burnout.

Binding Vow: Unconscionable Indemnity – 悪徳免責 (Akutoku Menseki)

Because Usury is fundamentally built on the absolute law of jujutsu contracts, the user doesn’t just make Binding Vows—they deliberately maximize their mechanics. This specific Binding Vow is born entirely from his toxic greed and masterful understanding of legalistic jujutsu, allowed by his unique bubble Cursed Energy trait.

The Terms of the Vow

The user places a massive restriction on his innate technique: He is strictly forbidden from initiating a contract or launching their bubble Cursed Energy trait at any target that does not know the user's identity. They must explicitly introduce himself and state their role as the "Lender" before their technique can function against a specific opponent. By giving up the tactical advantage of stealth and surprise attacks, the user significantly boosts the binding authority of his jujutsu. Because their bubbles are physical manifestations of contracts, the act of an opponent hearing the user's name and actively trying to avoid or destroy their incoming bubbles is legally classified by the technique as "engaging in negotiations."

The Benefit

By establishing this formal agreement, the user gains two overwhelming advantages that make his technique incredibly oppressive in active combat:

Because the opponent is consciously "negotiating" by fighting back, the compound interest rate on any stolen property is multiplied threefold. If the user manages to steal a target's kinetic momentum or body heat, their remaining speed or temperature decays three times faster than normal, bankrupted by the sheer legal weight of the Vow.

If an opponent tries to use a Binding Vow of their own (such as Showing Your Hand to boost their own output), the user's Vow treats it as a "competing contract." Because they already established prior legal dominance by introducing themself, their cursed energy trait can violently intercept the opponent's Vow, forcibly treating their boosted output as "unapproved capital" and instantly taxing 50% of that extra power directly into his own reserves.

It is the ultimate expression of their character: a vow that sounds like a fair restriction on paper, but is meticulously engineered to completely corner and exploit the opponent.

Cursed Energy Trait: Bubble

Instead of standard aura, the user's cursed energy naturally leaks from their body as a dense, shimmering foam that constantly splits into floating, spherical bubbles. These bubbles are actually infinitesimally thin lines of cursed energy spinning at extreme speeds, making them look like soap bubbles. To an opponent, touching the user's cursed energy doesn't just burn or impact them—it feels "hollow" or "thieving," as if the energy is eagerly trying to latch onto and drain whatever it contacts.

These bubbles act as ranged versions of his contracts, and they can take physical properties on contact. If these bubbles are popped, the property returns to the thing or person it was taken from, and they must connect with the user if the user wishes to utilize the properties within the bubbles.

Restrictions

Despite Usury possessing the terrifying potential to financially and physically bankrupt any opponent, it is not completely unbeatable:

* The technique’s contractual property manipulation cannot function on anything that does not interact with the user or their cursed energy (objects do count if they can be imbued beforehand). Because the technique operates strictly on the laws of a predatory market, the user cannot steal physical properties from a target who remains entirely passive, motionless, or hidden. If an opponent completely ceases their movement, suppresses their cursed energy to absolute zero, or utilizes an attack from a completely imperceptible distance, no "transaction" can be legally logged. Jin's bubbles will simply drift past without popping, leaving them completely unable to establish a debt or modify their traits.

* The user cannot instantly manifest or utilize a stolen physical property the exact moment a bubble merges into them. When a trait like mass, friction, or speed is seized, it must first be formally "logged" into the user's active cursed energy reserves as an asset. This creates a brief but critical processing window where the user is physically vulnerable. If an opponent manages to launch a secondary, high-speed assault immediately after their primary weapon or limb is repossessed, the user cannot use that stolen property to defend himself yet, forcing them to rely entirely on his baseline physical durability to survive the counter-strike.

* The user cannot safely hoard stolen physical properties or massive reserves of taxed cursed energy indefinitely. Once a battle concludes or a target is completely neutralized, the user must immediately release the accumulated assets back into the environment or suffer a severe "market crash." Forcing their own body and soul to contain foreign physical concepts takes a devastating structural toll on their network of cursed energy channels. If the user holds onto stolen traits for too long without discharging them, their own baseline properties begin to rapidly decay to pay the toll, resulting in sudden, internal bodily damage and a prolonged technique burnout window.

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It was between stealing things cursed techniques or a contractual ability when I was making this, and because stealing things like cursed techniques just sounds like a slightly different version of Yuta's Copy, I went with contractual property manipulation (to make the idea of property manipulation more unique to the user instead of it just being property manipulation with greed painted on). And yes, the cursed energy trait is inspired by Gappy (Josuke Higashikata for those who don't know) from JJBA Part 8: JoJolion mainly because I haven't made a cursed energy trait since my first cursed technique I made and I wanted this to be more unique. And yeah, it's long, making a cursed technique like this requires detail.

Unlike before, we already have the next Deadly Sin chosen: Envy! Regardless, thank you all for reading!

For previous Deadly Sin Cursed Techniques:

Gluttony: https://www.reddit.com/r/CTsandbox/s/0lRtoqVEiT

Pride: https://www.reddit.com/r/CTsandbox/s/1kbNj7XaSw