HOT NOVEL UPDATES

Shuuen no Shiori - Volume 1 - Chapter 1




Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

Claim of Responsibility

The beginning of the story. The opening act.

Outside of the window was a cloudy sky. The season in which summer has not yet started. There existed a single rumor whispered about.
No one knows the details. No, no one was supposed to know them.
Just that, even if the empty book and bookmark are found, it is said that they must never be touched.

Rules of the Demise Game

A game with a single traitor, a “fox”, has begun.
If you wish to escape, pay attention to the following conditions, and seek the end.

—Now, the beginning of a fun Demise Game begins.

・To reach the end of the game, the “fox” must be killed.
・If the “fox” cannot be found, everyone else will die.
・While searching for the “fox”, Kokkuri-san’s demands must be met.
・Kokkuri-san’s demands will be sent via letter.
・You will be given one week to fulfill Kokkuri-san’s demands.
・If the demands are ignored, you will die.
・If the demands are shown to someone outside of the game, that person will die.
・Until the end of the game is reached, you absolutely cannot escape.

*

“This is a news flash.
Today, in a high school located in ○○ Prefecture, the body of a male student was discovered.
Police are now beginning an investigation into the possibilities of the case being either a murder or an accident——”

The announcer’s robotic voice echoed around and filled the small room.
As if the world was spinning around, I was attacked by a wave of something like vertigo.

*

The overview of the incident is as follows.

It happened towards the end of the lunch break.
The first witness was a female student from the same school.
The student had gone to recover a ball that had rolled behind the bushes, and accidentally crashed into someone that had been standing there.
The person had fallen over from the impact.

When the panicking student raised her head to apologize, that’s when she noticed an abnormality.
—the person she had crashed into had no upper body, and only the lower half of the body was there.
According to the student’s testimony, “it” had certainly been standing by itself before she crashed into it.

At around the same time, on the grounds of a narrow alley at the school’s back gate.
The first witness here was a male student in the same school.
Walking by the front of the back gate to put away cleaning equipment in a tool shed, when he walked by the back gate again, he noticed an anomaly.

——In front of the back gate, where there was definitely nothing before, was an upper body.

On the ground several meters away, the traces of something having been dragged across the ground were left behind.
That was…moving in the direction of the lower body’s location.

Naturally, although there were many students on the school grounds during lunch break, there was not a single person who witnessed the culprit.
In other words, it occurred in the closed room known as the school: a closed room murder.

“……So it was true.”

On that day, an emergency meeting was held, and the school was soon closed for the time being.
The students seemed to have lost touch with reality, and as a result were soon dismissed and forced to go home.
But the students who had stayed behind to listen to the situation, and those that were waiting for their parents, it was soon clear there was no way all of the students would leave the school.

On the second floor of an old school building, in a classroom that was originally used as a music room, several people had gathered together.
It was different from the vague fear of other students; their expressions were tense.

“——Hey, who told him? ——Who’s the traitor?!”
“I wonder if we’ll also die, too……?”
“……Calm down.”
“There’s no way I can calm down in a situation like this!”
“……You still…don’t understand, do you……? It could have been a coincidence……”
“There’s no way that was a coincidence, right?!”

“Calm down!!”
“……”
“……If anyone else gets involved……You don’t want to die, right?”
“……tch!!”
“Anyway, someone received a letter……”
“In other words, all of that was true, right? Um……”
“It seems like it.”
“…………”

For a while,  we remained silent. A silence to the point where one’s ears would hurt.

“——Hey……what should we do?”
“For now, we don’t really have any choice but to watch how it proceeds, right? Since someone will soon receive a letter……”
“Yeah, so after one week passes, one of us will die.”
“Since, since it’s this kind of incident, the culprit will soon be found, right?!”

“……………that is, if there is a culprit.”

 

Lonely Hide and Seek I – Killing Time (Pages 21-24)

Some more from the first chapter of the Shuuen no Shiori Novel!
Continued from here, master post here.

More A-ya! Just…the way he describes B-ko, though…ww

As rain fell from the cloudy sky, it soaked the asphalt, creating puddles of water everywhere.

——It was as though the sounds of the city were absorbed by the sound of the rain.

Fiddling with my mobile phone, I made sure not to look anyone in the eye, by looking down as I walked. 
As I did, I noticed my reflection in a puddle, and locked eyes with it. 
Dark circles under my eyes, and unkempt hair. When combined with my neatly ironed school uniform, my face looked much worse than it normally would.

It’s so boring; this world, this life, it’s all so horribly boring. 
Wouldn’t someone please, just destroy this boring world…? 
Thinking of this, like a chant, I walked to school again, today.

“Hey, A-ya!”

I heard someone call my name from behind. 
It was quite a loud voice, and travelled far. 
When I turned around, I saw my classmate starting to jog towards me. 
“As always, you seem to be in a bad mood” 
This guy that’s always in good spirits is pretty popular in my class. 
If you were wondering why such a popular person would talk to someone like me: 
It’s not just me he talks with; he’s the type that tries to develop a connection with every single person. 
To be honest, I really hate guys like him; that live their lives always trying to have fun.

“It’s none of your business.” 
I replied bluntly, but he just smiled, and with a “You’re as cold as always!”, he continued to talk.

“By the way, you’re familiar with rumors, right?

This was it. I could feel a spark ignite in my brain. 
Be careful, stay calm. When I hear something like this, I begin to remember what I actually, truly find fun. 
Recently, my body’s been burned out by my experiences with fear, but I do have a certain hobby I find really enjoyable.

That is, rumors. 
However, that said, I’m different to those who just like to listen to rumors.

“Hm? Did something happen?” 
Happy that I showed interest, he began talking excitedly.

“No, it’s just that, you know B-ko from the class next door? You guys are pretty friendly, right?” 
B-ko: a girl who was said to be the top beauty in our school. 
There are probably less people at school that don’t know of her. 
Short, brown hair that fits her lively personality perfectly, with pale pink lips like cherry blossom petals, and eyes that draw you in just by making contact with them for a second. 
Her style is like that of a gravure idol, with a cute anime-girl voice. 
She’s so much of a beauty, that it wouldn’t be surprising if she were scouted on a regular basis. 
There’s a certain reason for me, who’s not really very social, to be on good terms with such a person…

“Hmm…we’re not really that close, but what do you want to know about B-ko?”

When I asked him that, he gave me an embarrassed smile.

“No, I was just wondering if there were any rumors about whether she has a crush on anyone, or already has a boyfriend, or something~” 
That’s what I thought. 
Most boys in our school only want to know about these kinds of rumors. 
Just what’s so great about her, anyways…

——Anyhow, this situation is actually extremely convenient for me.

“I haven’t really heard anything about that, so I’d say she doesn’t have a boyfriend.” 
“…I-is that so!?” 
“Plus, if she did, I bet that rumor would’ve already spread throughout the school.” 
“T-that’s true! Alright…!” 
“…Ah, but,” 
“——Hm?”


 

Lonely Hide and Seek I – Killing Time (Pages 25-31) 

The rest of Lonely Hide and Seek I for the Shuuen no Shiori novel. Next is Lonely Hide and Seek II - Innocent Longing!
Continued from Ame’s translation here, master post here.

 

Right after making a confident face, thinking that he had a chance as well, his eyebrows furrowed. 
I felt that I was already nearing my objective. 
—Now was the time to show my hand. 

“Wha …. What is it? What’s up?” 
“…. Well, it’s not about her love life or anything, but I did hear a strange rumor about B-ko.” 
“…. Eh? Ehh? Seriously!? What’d you hear?” 
“—Yeah, it’s quite an interesting story. It seems B-ko’s imposter appeared.” 
…. Truthfully, the story was complete nonsense. But that was what made it interesting. 
“Wh-what do you mean by imposter?” 
“No, it’s pretty stupid. Don’t pay any attention to—“ 
“Wait! A-ya! You’ve already started, so tell me!” 

—See, he took the bait. 
Calming myself, I put on my poker face. 
The finishing touch was important. 

“Hmm ….. then, don’t tell anyone?” 

Don’t tell anyone. This was the last step needed to spread a rumor. 
Every single person has someone who they think, “It’s fine to tell them.” 
If it’s the social type like this guy, they’ll soon tell everyone. 
…. Those first words, “Don’t tell anyone,” work in the same way. 
With this, the rumor would spread as something that “could actually be true,” while the source of the rumor remained unknown. 

“It seems that several people have witnessed it. And the most famous account is from B-ko’s classmate ….” 
“Uh-huh ..” 
“As she was going home late at night after her club activities, she saw B-ko from inside the bus. She thought it strange, since B-ko’s house was in the opposite direction, so it seems she sent a mail.” 
“…. Uh-huh.” 
“She sent, ‘Huh? B-ko, what are you doing?’ And the reply came soon afterwards, saying, ‘What ..? I’m studying at home right now?’” 
“Could it ….. be that B-ko had lied ….?” 
“But her neighborhood friend who was with her at the time, confirmed that she was at home.”
“…..” 
“Well, this story has gone around a lot, so there’s a rumor about B-ko’s imposter wandering about.” 
“….. What, so it was some kind of monster or something?” 
His eyes shined, anticipating my next words. 
It was precisely because of this, that this was one of my pleasures …..! 
“…. Who knows? I don’t really understand these occult things, but since there are so many witnesses, so it can’t be a lie.” 
“…. Yeah, I guess so!” 
“Well, it’s not something that’s so easy to believe.” 
Giving off an uninterested pretense, in the depths of my heart, I couldn’t stop laughing. 
I even looked at the usually dark gates with a smile. 
I had a feeling that today was going to be good day—for me, at least. 

—But for others, it’ll probably be an ill omen. 



After the morning lessons ended, the class was buzzing much more than I would have thought.  
The rumor has spread much faster than I had expected. 
All I could do was hold my breath, and not stand out. 
Without being noticed by anyone, everyone would be interested in my story. 

“Without knowing it’s all made-up.” 

During class, the traffic of letters had been intense. 
Usually, it was good enough with one note a day, but today, already six notes had come around.
Since I already knew the contents of the note without even opening it up, for a moment, it made me feel as if I were a psychic. 

It’s a bit sudden to say it now, but my hobby is to make up these “false stories” about other students. 
Sometimes, I do this by sneaking it into the school’s online forum by cell phone, sometimes by chainmail, or sometimes by forging girls’ letters ….. 
In this way, I create false stories, and literally observe as the masses expand it spreading it with their curiosity. 
The stories I create impact the public in a completely different form. It’s so enjoyable when it proceeds just as I expect it to. 
A great man once said that the world is a stage, but as for me, I am almost like a playwright. 
Using a person’s tragedy, I direct it as a comedy to the audience. 
This is what I love to do. 
In the end, it is only an illusion that rumors can really change lies. 
In this world, who can know the difference between the truth and a lie? 
There are only “things that seem like the truth,” and “things that seem like lies.” 
Rumors sway on the borderline between those two. 
This is why people love rumors. As do I. 
I listened to the usual chatter of the classroom while fiddling with my cell phone. 
A group of popular girls was talking nearby. 
“I saw her too.” 
“Even though she’s like a model student, it seems she goes out night after night.” 
“I wonder which one is the imposter?” 

….. Kuku. As expected, everyone was buying the story about B-ko. 

After checking my cell phone screen, and while hiding my satisfied smile, I collapsed on the desk and pretended to sleep. The soothing sound of the rain that fell from the cloudy sky blended in with the sound of gossip, and sounded to me almost like television noise. 
Sitting in that position, I allowed my drowsiness to quickly take over my body—— 

“—That B-ko … she must be angry.”

 

Lonely Hide and Seek II - Innocent Longing (Pages 32-52) 

Part 2 of the first chapter of the Shuuen novel. Masterpost for the novel translation here.

Note: We’ll be trying to base it directly off our translation of the manga (for chapters that are already scanlated), since many of the sentences in the novel version are exactly the same. Although, it there were some mistranslation or awkward grammar, I tried rewording it when translating the novel version to make it clearer.

After school, while my classmates were in the midst of going to club activities, I did not head for home, but instead walked towards a place that was completely clear of people. 
From the first floor corridor, after passing through the rear garden, there was an old school building.  
It was a two-story, deteriorating wooden building that was mostly unused now. 
When I opened the door of what had originally been the music room, I saw that the usual, unchanging faces were already gathered inside. 

“…. Hey.” 
With an innocent air, I set down my bag on one of the desks. 
The cheering from the sports club activities could be heard from far away. 
“No, it’s not just ‘hey’ …. I don’t really care about your bad tastes, but would you stop using people as your topics?” 
“…. What’re you talking about?” 
“…. Don’t act like you don’t know!” 
Desperately trying to suppress the anger in her expression, and coming towards me with a glare was the top class beauty of the school, B-ko. 
Normally, she was a cheerful honor student that was friendly with everyone, but inside this classroom, this was not so. 

“Look, don’t call smoke where there’s no fire. I only meant it as a little prank.” 
“… Why you …” 
“If someone happened to see you right now, won’t they think you’re an imposter?” 
“I’m serious, if you don’t stop now ….” 
“—But, I think it’s wonderful that B-ko-chan has that dual nature.” 
These cheerful words were directed at B-ko, who was about to grab me by the collar. 
Long hair and slender body. If you were to ask, she gave off the same “pessimistic” impression as I did. 
—This girl’s name was D-ne. 
One of the members of our usual group. 

“Dual nature … You’re saying it like I have a split personality.” 
“Well, to be honest, it’s at a level where it really seems you might?” 
Despite the bluntness of her words, D-ne affirmed this with a carefree smile. 
B-ko sighed in resignation and returned to the seat she had been sitting in before. 
“Pfft, as usual, B-ko has a soft spot for D-ne, huh?” 
“Oh, shut up.” 
C-ta, who had been grinning while listening to us talk, interrupted suddenly. 
Light-colored hair that was thin and soft-looking, and droopy, friendly-looking eyes. 
He could probably be included in the “ikemen” category, and was very skilled at making fun of people. 

“It’s not like A-ya meant to tell a pointless lie, right?” 
“That’s right, and it matches our activities so perfectly, too.” 
“Club activities … Can we really even call it that?”  
At first glance, it may seem like we’re all over the place, and although these people and I aren’t compatible, we have just one thing in common. 
All of us love extreme rumors. 
Rumors … To be more exact, most of the rumors were categorized as occult or urban legends. 

“Split-face Woman,” or “Human-faced Dog” …. 
As we talked about rumors like those, we eventually came to gather in this old school building. 
It wasn’t a club or association or anything. We merely got together to talk. 
We didn’t set specific dates to meet together, and it wasn’t even a regular thing. 
From an outsider’s point of view, it might seem odd that we get together even if we’re not good friends or anything, but as for me, I was perfectly fine with it being nothing than that. 

“…. By the way, there’s something that I’ve been thinking about recently.” 
I spoke up suddenly. 
“It might just be my imagination, though, or it might actually be an unnatural phenomenon.” 
“…. Unnatural phenomenon?” 
With a scraping sound, B-ko shifted her chair so that she was sitting facing me. 

“That’s right … Lately, when I wake up in the morning, I’m certain that I can feel someone’s gaze on me.” 
“Are you sure … it’s not just your family?” 
“My parents leave early in the morning, so it can’t be them.” 
“Then, is it like someone’s watching from outside?” 
“That’s not it … How should I put it—I feel like someone’s watching me from behind. But when I turn around, there’s no one there. This kind of thing has been happening frequently.” 
“….. Huh ..” 

—This was, in fact, a true story. 

However, they won’t easily assume that I’m just joking. That’s one other thing that’s good about them. 
Even B-ko, who had been the subject of a rumor I’d created with my lie earlier, was seriously thinking about it. 
After all, these guys know how to enjoy rumors. 
Or maybe it was merely because we all had too much free time on our hands …. 

“Maybe it’s something like a ‘zashiki-warashi’ ….” 
“If it’s ‘Mearry-san,’ you’d be getting phone calls, right?” 
“The Mearry-san lately seems to even use text messaging.” 
“Hmmm …” 
I took a breath, and then continued. 
“There’s something else that’s also been on my mind.” 
“What is it?” 
“The other day, we did Kokkuri-san, didn’t we? The three of us: B-ko, C-ta, and I …” 
“Yeah ….” 
“—The following day, I started to feel someone’s gaze on me …. That’s why … Perhaps this has something to do with the “Bookmark of Demise, is what I’ve been thinking. 
“……” 
“……” 
“……” 
“……” 
A long silence passed. 
Perhaps because each of us was thinking of many things at once, none of us said a word. 
The reason for this was because the word “Bookmark of Demise” was the biggest topic for us, and also because of the meaning of the word itself. 

“The Bookmark of Demise.” 

This story could possibly be classified as a “school ghost story.” 
Not found on any site or through any search engine, a true rumor told only in this school …. 
According to the rumor, the “Book of Demise” and the “Bookmark of Demise” seem to be hidden somewhere within this school. In the book, each and every urban legend in this world is written down, and when the book is opened to the page the bookmark is placed on, that urban legend is said to become a reality. 

We didn’t only hear rumors about it. There was a important reason why this rumor was different to us compared to others. 

—It would seem that this book and bookmark do exist. 



About ten years ago, the year that this old building had become unused, an inexplicable murder case occurred at this school. 
This is a fact that can even be found in newspapers from the time. 
No matter which teacher you ask about it, they’ll only give a vague answer. 
However, among the students of this school, it’s a famous story everyone has heard at least once. 
The reason why most students knew about this incident, despite it being from so long ago, is because it’s been handed down like a ghost story. 

—That incident … It is because they had obtained the “Bookmark of Demise.” 

In this way, the rumor about the Bookmark of Demise is often talked about along with the incident from ten years ago. 
Come to think of it, it may be due to this happening that we became interested in rumors. 
Anyway, solving the mystery of the “Bookmark of Demise” was our one objective. 
While doing so, we discovered a single notebook in this old school building about a week ago. It seemed like an exchange diary belonging to the students that once used this old building. 
As we were all reading the notebook, we realized something. 

—This was the exchange diary of those who had died ten years ago. 

Evidently, it seemed like they had been a group of students that liked gathering urban legends. 
Recorded inside the notebook were rumors completely different from the ones in school now. I can’t ever remember being this excited in my life. 
And within those, the method to obtaining the “Book of Demise” and “Bookmark of Demise” was written. 
“In accordance to certain rules,” perform Kokkuri-san, and they would be obtainable. They had written that they had, in fact, been able to obtain them. 
The entries after that day had been destroyed, and we were unable to read them, but it was written that the book and bookmark did indeed exist. 

“…. Anyway, the last attempt at ‘Kokkuri-san’ failed.” 
“Failed ….?” 
“We weren’t able to obtain the “Book of Demise” nor the “Bookmark of Demise,” right?” 
“… It’s true that we didn’t do it as it said in the rules … but …” 

Once more, the classroom was filled with silence. 
Surely, everyone knew what I was about to say next. 
“…. Let’s do it one more time.” 
Yes, I said it. 
Everyone was looking at me. 
Perhaps I was misunderstanding, but everyone was looking at me with expectant eyes. 



And so, we began Kokkuri-san. 
The way to perform it didn’t differ much from the Kokkuri-san that is commonly performed. 
On a piece of paper that’s about A3 size, draw a shine gate in the center, and on either side of the gate, “yes” and “no.” Below that, write the fifty hiragana characters, and the numbers one through ten. 
For the coin, we used the ten-yen coin that I had on me. 
Everyone placed their index finger on the coin. Because there were a lot of people, it was slightly difficult to keep all our fingers on it. 
We closed the curtains, and with the only light in the pitch dark classroom coming from the television that we had turned on, we began. 

“Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, if you have come, please proceed to ‘yes.’” 

The ten-yen coin slowly moved to where the word “yes” was written. 
Up until here, it was the same time as last time. 
Last time, we had been too scared to go any further than this, and ended it here. 
“Now then, Kokkuri-san, please return to the gate.” 
The ten-yen coin returned to where the gate was drawn. 
“Next, everyone will ask each other questions in turn. To start off, someone try asking me something.” 
“… Okay, was A-ya’s dinner last night made of meat?” 
“…. What’s up with that?” 
“… It’s the only thing I could think of on the spot.” 
“Ah, it’s started moving.” 
“…… It says “yes” ….What did you eat?” 
“It was hamburger steak …” 
“So, it was right then … Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, please return to the gate.” 
“Then, next is B-ko …. Does B-ko have a crush on anyone?” 
“Wait! What kind of question is that!?” 
“Look, B-ko-chan, it’s not good if you don’t calm down.” 
“…. Ah, ahhh ….. geez …” 
“So it’s ‘yes?” …… Huh …” 

“A-ya! If you’re going to ask, why’re you reacting like that!? 
“When I thought it over, I wasn’t actually that curious, that’s all …. Ah, Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, please return to the gate.” 
“….. !! N-next is D-ne’s turn. Here I go!” 

 —Just like this, we proceeded with Kokkuri-san. 
However, in the end, we had failed.  
And what’s more …. in the worst possible way. 
Because of this, we became involved in a game. 
In the worst, Demise Game …. 



The following day, I was in an even worse mood than usual because of my lack of sleep. 
Was it because we did that yesterday? When I came home, I felt watched even more than usual. 
I went to my room straight away, and clutching my phone that said “no signal” due to the state of the radio waves, I crawled under my covers and hugged my knees in a fetal position. 
When I did this, I actually felt the gaze get even closer than before, so I got out of bed to check the surroundings, turn on the TV, turn it off again, get back in bed, and wound up repeating this cycle several times. 

—By the time I’d noticed, it had become morning. 

“He~y, A-ya!” 
When I arrived at the shoe lockers, as usual, I heard that overly-optimistic voice. 
He probably wanted to ask me about a bunch of things like usual, but I couldn’t put up with that sort of thing right now. 
“… What is it? I’m not feeling that well today, so—“ 
“—Hm? What’s that?” 
All of a sudden, a letter fell out of my shoe locker. 
I immediately knew that it couldn’t be anything good. 
He picked up the letter, and I was not able to get it back from him quick enough. 
“Ooh! Could this be, a love letter!?” 
“….. O-oi …” 
“Hey, who’s it from?” 
“Cut it out …” 
“Aw, come on, just let me take a little peek, okay? Please?” 
After thinking for a little while, I muttered these words. 
“…. I guess it can’t be helped ….. Don’t tell anyone else, okay?” 
The moment he happily opened the letter, he contorted his face and said: 

“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. What is this?” 


“—Ah!” 

I couldn’t understand what he was feeling right now, or the reason for those words or that expression; he simply seemed to be in a daze. 
Mumbling incoherently, he returned the letter to me, and staggered past me and down the hall, as if all his will to live had been lost. 

“…… H-hey ….” 

—And then, that incident occurred during the lunch break. 



As soon I came home from school, I locked myself up in my room. 
The school was closed for an entire week, but any rate, I was in no condition to go to school even if it had stayed open. 
Since I wouldn’t come out of my room, my parents were also quite worried, but because they understood that a classmate had died, it seemed they avoided bothering me too much. 

Over a period of several days, I stayed in my room and constantly questioned myself, again and again. 

Was I the one that had killed him? 
….. Who in the world could have done this ….!? 

….. Clatter.

A dull sound echoed throughout the room. 
Still in a daze, I looked around the room for the source. 
In the middle of the room, was a book I has never seen before. 

“The Book ….” 
The moment I realized, all color drained from my face. 
Fearing that someone would hear me if my voice came out, I quickly covered my mouth. 
It almost felt like an out-of-body experience. 
A bookmark with a black cat, in a pitch black book …. 
Yes. The Book of Demise and Bookmark of Demise was there. 

“—It really exists.” 

If I were to see my own face at the time, I wonder what kind of strange expression I was making. Before the joy could envelop my whole body, the memory of my dead classmate’s face and the atmosphere of the old school building took over. As if jolted into motion, I got into my bed and flipped open my cell phone. 

“Stay calm …. Stay calm …. Stay calm ….. Stay …. calm …..” 

To forget about my worry of someone noticing, and all while my emotions triggered the Gestaltzerfall phenomenon in my brain, I earnestly started typing in the body of the text to reassure myself. 
I kept doing this, kept on doing this …. I concentrated fully on typing. 
I saved it in the sent folder without sending my feelings to anyone. I often wrote them down like this on a regular basis, so the capacity of the folder has already become quite full. 

—How much time had passed, I wonder? 

Had I fallen asleep? 
I fell into a strange sense of not being quite sure myself. 
Keeping the silence, I could hear rain from outside. 
And although there was no sound, even from under my covers, I knew that lightning was flashing. 
It was nearing the end of the rainy season. 
Once the regrettable, continuing sound of the rain stopped, early summer would begin. 
Was it all just a dream? 
That was what I thought as I listened to the sound of the rain. 
Picking myself up from the heavy covers I had been lying under this whole time, I gently pushed them off of me. 

“Fuu …..” 

I sighed loud enough so that I would be able to hear myself. 
It might have been a sigh of relief. 

“xxxxxx” 

Once again, my body stiffened. 
Come to think of it, I’d seen something about this on the internet before. 
Even though there had been witness reports, when asking television stations about it, they didn’t know anything about this special broadcast. 
This broadcast would give a list of all the victims that had already passed away, and those who are the next to go. 

What I had thought to have been the sound of rain had actually been the noise from the TV. 
And what I had thought had been lightning had actually been the light coming from the TV display. 

I had thought that it was only a rumor. 
Just another urban legend—— 

Up until now, I hadn’t believed in any of them …. 

“xxxxxx” 

“Good evening. This is a special broadcast. We will be announcing the victims thus far.” 

“The person who looked at his phone as he walked today.” 
“The person who kept a rabbit in his Japanese-style room because his life was too lonely.” 
“The person who felt accomplished after walking 10,000 steps.” 
“The person who peeked into another person’s letter.” 

“Moving on, we will be listing tomorrow’s victims.” 
“The person who spoke to someone directly about something they’ve always been curious about.” 
“The person who ignored the demands made.” 
“The person who skipped school and played all alone.” 

“—The person who is turning pale at this very moment.” 

“Tomorrow’s victims are these people. We pray for your happiness in the next world. …. Good night.” 

The announcer’s monotone voice echoed around the small room. 
It felt like déjà vu. 
The way the voice talked so indifferently sounded terribly inhumane. 
A light breeze drifted through just then. 
The pages of the Book of Demise rustled as they turned, and stopped on the page where the bookmark was. 

——One-Man Hide and Seek    Author: A-ya——

By the time I had noticed, it had almost been a week since I had received the letter. 
—How interesting. I’ll do it. If I plan it right, I won’t die. 

I pulled out the letter that had been buried deep in my bag, and prepared to bring what was written into action.

 

The rules of “One-man Hide and Seek” were written in the letter.

Firstly, I have to prepare a stuffed toy with limbs. I decided to use a rabbit doll that someone gave me long ago but for some reason never threw away. A doll that, rather than…being attached to it, I only held on to it for this long because I was scared of throwing it away.
Next is the rice.
I descended down to the kitchen, where both a note and dinner were prepared.
The time was 3 AM. My parents seemed to be staying elsewhere for the night, so they weren’t at home.
Once again, I felt a gaze from behind my back.
A soulful gaze that was even more intense than usual.

“……Again?”

In that manner, I prepared a cup of salt water, and headed to my parents’ bedroom.

And, I took a sewing needle and red thread, scissors, and a cutter knife.

From here on, was the phase before the game’s start.
Stab the stuffed toy’s stomach, and take out the stuffing.
With a blank face, I set to work on a chain of tasks.
“Somehow, in movies and such, there are stories of housewives cutting up people into tons of scattered pieces, but even in those times, they do it with a straight face, huh…” I thought of those kinds of unrelated things.
Then, replacing the stuffing with rice and some of my own nail clippings, I clumsily stitched it up.
Having stitched up the doll’s arms, legs, and even its mouth with the red thread, just from looking at it, it appeared to be an extremely grotesque thing.

“It’s as if they were blood vessels…”

I softly muttered, and then, taking the salt water, went to place it deep inside my closet.
It seemed like I was supposed to put this in my hiding place.

“After that, the doll’s name, huh……”

After I thought about it for a bit, I decided to use that guy’s name.

I turned off all the lights in my home, and closed the curtains, leaving only the television on.
I didn’t put down my phone, putting it into my pocket instead.

“A-ya is first to be it. A-ya is first to be it. A-ya is first to be it.”

I told the doll with a blank expression, and heading to the bathtub, I submerged it in the water.
In the pitch black darkness, the water reflected only a little light, as if distorting the doll’s expression like it was living.
I felt a slight chill.

I could feel the gaze like usual, but I had already stopped paying attention to that.

Returning to the kitchen, I took out my cutter knife, closed my eyes, and counted to ten.

“Are you ready?”

Having said that, I set off for the bathroom, opened the tub, and took out the doll.
——I stabbed its stomach.

“Next is xxx’s turn to be it. Next is xxx’s turn to be it. Next is xxx’s turn to be it……”

After I said that, I returned once more to the kitchen, and after dropping off the wet cutter knife, returned to the closet where I had hidden the salt water.
Once I was inside, I sat down and thought of various things.

——Just what point is there to this?
——In the first place, who’s the so-called traitor? That game shouldn’t have started yet…So then, why? Where did I go wrong? This…this game, just…just why…!!!

After a while had passed, I eventually decided to go search for the doll, and poured some salt water into my mouth.
But then, I heard something that I shouldn’t have.

Creak. Creak.

In the corridor, the sound of footsteps echoed about.
In the corridor that no one should be in……why?!

I held my breath and hid myself.

The footsteps then seemed to come closer to where I was.

Creak. Creak. Step. Step.

I could hear the sound of something dripping.
After a while, I covered my ears, and waited for all signs of anything being there to disappear while earnestly shaking.
Since then, I wonder just how much time had passed.
I tentatively peeked out into my room from the crack in the sliding doors, and there I saw something that shouldn’t have been there.

“—-Why are…you…?!”












“——I foound you.”














My memories from here were fragmented as if they were a flashback, and as if the noise channel had been cut off, played silently.
I poised myself to pick up the discarded scissors in the middle of my room, but I was kicked, and my chest stepped on.

“It’s pointless.” “xxxxx”

Those cold words were said.

Why? Why is it…?
Could, could it be that you were the culprit……?
Just like I had done to the doll earlier, he raised the cutter knife up high.

——slash.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t even able to scream, and while even being able to think calmly, took out my cell phone as my conciousness began to fade. And, like always, opened up the text composition screen.
“Eh? What was that?”
“I can’t hear you, you know?”
Aah, up until the very end, my voice wasn’t able to reach, and while strangely feeling like I had come to understand, my conciousness…………………………………………………came to an end.

『—…This is a news flash.
Today, in ○○ Prefecture, the body of a male student was discovered.
The male student was inside of his room, with a cutting tool stabbed into his body.
The victim was discovered with a cellphone gripped tightly within his hands.
In addition, the victim of the mysterious murder incident several days ago, in the same city, appears to be a classmate of today’s victim.
Police suspect that there is a possibility that both murders were committed by the same culprit.
An investigation has begun—』



Share This :


COMMENTS

No Comments Yet

Post a new comment

Register or Login