CH 18

NOVEMBER 28, 2022 / MAD HATTER

Translator: MadHatter

Anyoneiwould be astoundediwhen an object unexpectedly droppediin a quiet space, inithe absence of anyone, withoutianyone touching it. Tonight, allikinds of strangeithings kept arising. Or perhapsiI wasisimply exhausted. Whatifell was aicup of noodles on the centeridisplay shelf. It was roughlyiin the same position asiwhere the shadow had been.

The thought of it instilledian overwhelming senseiof foreboding, nevertheless, I couldn’t pretendito not notice, so Iipicked up the noodleicup and stepped out fromithe counter. Nothing lookediout of the usual despite my inspection of the display shelves, leaving meipuzzled as to whyiit had fallen out.

…Thatiwas uncanny. With trepidation, I picked upithe fallen cup noodleiand attemptedito replace it on the shelf.

“What…” Not shared on aggregator websites.

A slipperyisensation was felt. I was soishocked that Iidetached my handifrom the cup noodle. Myileft handiwas stainediwith what looked like muddyiwater.

Whyiwas this… What was taking place? How could thereibe muddy water in a cup of noodles?

“…Aah… Aah… Aah… Aah…”

Withoutiwarning, a voice resounded in my ear, bringingimy thoughts to a halt. It wasimore like a low, muffled moan than a voice that sounded as if it wereiin distress. I wasn’t mishearingior anything, it wasia subdued voice thatispoke in my ear, yet Iicould distinctly recognizeiit as a human voice.

It was not thatiof a normal human being, nonetheless. I intuitivelyithought so.

[That place is seriously dangerous.] Not shared on aggregator websites.

[Stop it.] Not shared on aggregator websites.

[It’s screwed up there.] Not shared on aggregator websites.

[Things frequentlyibroke out.] Not shared on aggregator websites.

[You might getipossessed oristart seeing things.]

The posts I had viewed on the Internetiduring the dayiflashed back to me in a flash. Myishoulders began trembling uncontrollably, and this time I felt a bit of coldness.

“Something” wasiplaced on my shoulder.

“――” Not shared on aggregator websites.

Thatiawakened my eyes.

When I turned to look around with a start, I found that I wasinot in the store, but in the smalliback room that I had become so accustomed to. There I was, seated in airound chair. The cigarette I hadiplaced in the ashtray had burned out and turned to ash.

I came to the realization that I hadibeen dreaming all along thanks to it.

Involuntarily, a sighiof relief was released. Perspirationiwas beadingion my forehead. Apparently, afterismoking a cigarette in the back room, I had fallen asleep against the wall.

That was why I hadia nightmare. Even after wipingithe sweat from my forehead, the memoryiof that sickeninginightmare could not be easily dispelled. It was vividly present in my mind.

I had experienced an eerie dream. Strangeioccurrences had been plaguing me lately, and eveniwhen I slept, I was still exhausted, so perhaps that was why I was having a bit of a mental breakdown.

Good grief… I can’t believe I dreamed of suchia horror movie-like performance.

Both of my shoulders felt heavy, probablyidue to the bizarre dream. Accompaniediby a yawn, I madeia broad, vertical stretch.

Understandably, that alone wasn’t going to refreshime but itifelt like I had driftedioff to sleep for quite a while and Takenaka was probably awake by now, so it was time for himito take a break and switch places. At this point in time, despiteithe unpleasant feeling I wasiexperiencing, I wasn’tioverly concerned about it. Whetheriit was indeedia dream or otherwise, or what was caught on the security camera, I figured that the day would end like this.

I assumed that today, again, would passiuntil morning without me havingito figure out the enigma.

Nonetheless, I was wrong.

Today markedithe one-week period that I had been working here as a newcomer. Things were not going to end like that.

My body, whichiwas complaining of a sensation of lethargy, ached as my legs and back struggled to lift me up. A sudden, painful ringing in my earsiassailed me subsequently. It was followed byia headache so severe I thought I was being pummeled.

An incessant “tsuー” sound persisted, disorienting me from the flurryiof changes in myself.

“W-What….”

Not good, dizzinessiwas creeping up on me, my pulse was racing, theiringing in my ears wouldn’t relent, and bothisounds sounded like alarm bells to me. What used to beia blurred color image on the TV nextito me turned instantlyito a black-and-white screen.

Eh…

My gaze rested on the TV as I wasiperturbed by this strikingly abnormaliphenomenon. The momentiI set my eyes on it, I couldn’t tear myisight away from it.

After all, that black shadow reflected on the TV screen. On the monitor, theiblack shadow was standingion a display shelf in the center of the store. It wasinot facing the shelf, but facing the camera in my direction. It was focusing on me.

Again, whenithe screen blurred drastically, the camera zoomed in by itself, and the figure grew increasingly in size. With each zoom-in, the figure was more distinct. Facing the cameraiwas a man, approximately in his fifties, with a thick beard around his mouth, an ashen complexion… and aniexpression lifeless reminiscent of a dead person.

Hisimouth was moving constantly, though, as if he were muttering something, and his two staring eyesiwere fixed on me.

Terror―

For the first time, I genuinely felt that way. Thisiwas not a living person. Somethingiwas out of the ordinary, something was abnormal.

Was this a dream? Was thisianother dream or was I still asleep? I had to wake upiat any cost, so I made a move to stimulate some part of my body and attempted to move my hand.

It wouldn’t move… Not only that, I couldn’t shift my eyes away fromithe TV monitor. My neckicouldn’t move even a few millimeters and my body wouldn’t budge in the slightest.

Hey, whatiwas happening?

Through the CRT, the man with a pale face locked eyes with me, and I couldn’t detach my attention from him. I wanted to avert my eyes, yet was unable to do so. My throat rattled. Even myivoice failed to come out.

The TV reflecting theiman’s image became distorted again, and started to create a sandstorm. Noises emanated from it as if it had malfunctioned.

What wouldihappen this time… at the time I wondered that―

The face of the man screaming in lamentation floodedithe screen.

[Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh]

My eardrums wereipounded by the man’s shrill, wailful voice.

“Hie―”

Even thoughimy body wasiimmobile, my heart skipped a beatiand I felt a layer of tears forming over my eyes from an unprecedented terror. It was then that theifirm spirit I had retained within meicollapsed and burst all at once.

The TV displayed the man’s face foriseveral seconds before reverting to a sandstorm.

“A-Ah―”

Pleaseinoimore.

Stopiit. Not shared on aggregator websites.

I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want toihear it.

Notianymore. Not shared on lightnoverlreader.me

Somebody, please save me. Evenias I struggled to articulate these words, nothingibut faintibreaths escaped my mouth.

Even so, the terror was not over yet. Panic overcame meias if to hunt me down. Tsu―. The ringingiin my earsihad been replaced by a mysterious noise that sounded likeia piano wire strained to its limits.

It wasinauseating.

The sound was so insistent thatiit lulled me into the illusion that my brain was being constricted.

It wasidiscomforting.

Then, accompaniediby the sound of water, I felt a small shock on my right shoulder. 

Somethingilanded on me.

If only I had fainted there, how fortunateiI would have been. The coldnes ispreading to my shoulder kept me absolutely conscious.

Theicoldnessisweepingiover myishoulders was something Iinever wanted to see. Something crawled up, and theinext moment, it came into my sight.

Fingernails, discoloredito an unbelievableishade of color. Blistered, soft, andithick fingers.

Onimy right shoulderiwas a pale, soakedihand thatino longer seemedito belong to aihumanibeing.