022 The test of courage begins

"Strange demon tales from another world."

Kamiyagawa stared at the message sent by [Shiono Ue] for several seconds.

[The Honest Country Bumpkin]: "Since a Wandering Soul causing trouble is a common possession, could you tell me about the uncommon situations?"

[Shiono Ue]: "I can."

[Shiono Ue]: "The uncommon situations should be a case of Strange Tale Descent."

[The Honest Country Bumpkin]: "Strange Tale Descent?"

[Shiono Ue]: "Yes. Demons and ghouls from tales of another world may descend into reality by attaching themselves to specific objects."

[Shiono Ue]: "The tsukumogami and gods talked about in folk stories are all cases of Strange Tale Descent."

[Shiono Ue]: "A Strange Tale that achieves descent in reality cannot stray too far from the object it possesses, and its strength is greatly reduced. But to deal with an ordinary person, it's more than enough."

"Strange Tale Descent, huh."

Kamiyagawa turned over on his single bed, repeating this newly learned term aloud.

It seemed to him that there was a significant difference between "Strange Tale Descent" and "Otherworldly Visit" as described by [Shiono Ue].

Based on the information provided by Strange Tales, a Strange Tale that has achieved an "Otherworldly Visit" can move freely between two worlds with full strength, without needing to affix itself to a specific object.

From this, it could be inferred that an Otherworldly Visit is a level higher than Strange Tale Descent.

In terms of danger—

Strange Tale Otherworldly Visit > Strange Tale Descent > Wandering Soul Remnants.

Probably like that.

"Speaking of which, the case of the Drowned Ghost Sachiko Kuriyama should be Strange Tale Descent, right? It seems that what [Shiono Ue] said is true."

The object that Sachiko Kuriyama had used to achieve her descent was the letter brought from the Strange Tale World.

Kamiyagawa had followed up on Nagasawa Keisuke's situation afterward, and it was said that he was sent to a mental hospital for treatment.

The outcome that had occurred was likely the punishment inflicted by the descended Sachiko Kuriyama on Nagasawa, that scumbag.

On his phone, the messages from [Shiono Ue] kept coming—

[Shiono Ue]: "Do you carry any special items on you, or have you picked up any strange things and brought them home recently?"

[Shiono Ue]: "If you really come across some weird troubles, it's best to visit a nearby shrine. There's not much else I can help you with."

[The Honest Country Bumpkin]: "I got it, thanks. By the way, is there any possession more dangerous than Strange Tale Descent?"

[Shiono Ue]: "There should be, but you definitely haven't encountered it."

[The Honest Country Bumpkin]: "Why do you say that?"

[Shiono Ue]: "Because everyone who encounters it dies on the spot."

[The Honest Country Bumpkin]: "Got it, boss. Can I ask you one last question?"

[Shiono Ue]: "Go ahead."

[The Honest Country Bumpkin]: "Why do you know so much?"

[Shiono Ue]: "Just personal interests, that's all."

[Shiono Ue]: "Rather than that, you should think about yourself first. If you do run into some troublesome strangeness, visit several shrines more often, see a fortune teller or a witch."

After sending that last message, the status of [Shiono Ue] showed offline.

Lying on his back, Kamiyagawa smacked his forehead with the back of his hand, sighing deeply: "Because everyone who encounters it dies on the spot."

If Hanako's Otherworldly Visit isn't resolved, it's bound to cause serious problems, right?

He exited the forum and opened the "Ghostly Visitors Illustrated Records" in "Strange Tales," glancing at Hanako's current ghostly visitor progress.

That glance nearly scared Kamiyagawa so much he almost rolled off the bed.

Right there in the column for [Ghostly Visitor Progress] was scrawled 54%!

"Damn! Wasn't it 53% during the day?"

One percent increase in a day?

If that was really the growing trend, didn't it mean that in another 46 days, the infamous ghostly story of Hanako-san would materialize in the bathroom of Karin High School?

"Calm down, calm down," Kamiyagawa sat up in bed, trying to steady his feelings, "So far, it's been just under a month since I've encountered the game 'Strange Tales.'"

Forty-six days was enough to do a lot in the game.

"I need to step it up."

Kamiyagawa was destined to be sleepless tonight.

As of tonight, the ghostly doll Hanako's visiting progress—54%.

For now.

...

At the same time that Kamiyagawa was in conversation with the mysterious online friend "Shi no Ue."

National Karin High School.

Several high schoolers took advantage of the night's cover to quietly scale the wall and sneak into the campus.

"The school at night is really completely different from the daytime, eerie," said Kawano Sae as her boyfriend lifted her down from the wall, looking around at the quiet surroundings and speaking thus.

Kawano's boyfriend, named Nagasaki Yuma, was a senior student at the school.

Tall and handsome, and the captain of the baseball team, he was very popular with the girls at the school.

Kawano and Nagasaki had both just broken up with their exes not long ago, and they'd been together just two weeks.

"It's supposed to be spooky—that's what makes it suitable for a courage test, right?" Nagasaki grinned and winked at his girlfriend, wrapping his arm gently around her waist, "Sae, in a bit, just the two of us..."

"Stop it, you're such a tease, Senior Yuma!" Kawano playfully hit her boyfriend's chest.

The two were an understood conspiracy of grasping intentions and feigned resistance.

"Um... it's almost 11 o'clock now, I think we should go a bit earlier..." The last one to come in was Ishino Sayuri, who wore a hearing aid.

She climbed down the wall alone, trembling, with no one taking the initiative to catch or steady her.

"Don't be a buzzkill, Sayuri," another girl named Matsushima in the group giggled, "They say Hanako-san will appear in that girls' bathroom at midnight. We'll miss her if we're too early and the courage test will be pointless."

"Seeing Hanako-san or whatever..." Sayuri Ishino adjusted her hearing aid on her left ear.

The so-called courage test was nothing more than an excuse for young people seeking thrills and to get closer to the opposite sex.

Who would really want to see Hanako-san anyway?

That was what Sayuri thought to herself, but she wouldn't dare to say such blunt truths in front of these people.

"Alright, let's move, let's move. Let's head to the teaching building and not waste time here," urged Nagasaki Yuma.

The group moved, heading towards the teaching building through the quiet, creepy campus.

There were seven people in tonight's courage test squad.

Four girls from Kawano Sae's group, including Nagasaki Yuma and two male members of the baseball team.

Four girls and three boys, after making up the three couples, someone was bound to be the odd one out.

But no one said who it was.