Chapter 1164 – 1164. Day 15
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
The plain-looking, short-haired woman with glasses, Nevata Noriko, who was sitting in front, suddenly screamed and ducked her head. Everyone’s eyes turned to her.
The cause of the scream was an insect. A hornet had entered the car and was circling above Noriko’s head.
“W-what is it?!”
“A hornet?!”
“Someone catch it quickly!”
The quiet interior of the van was instantly thrown into chaos.
The men frantically lowered their bodies as much as possible when the hornet approached. A disgusting insect, and a hornet that could even kill a person. Fear filled the eyes of both men and women.
“Damn it!”
A man with dyed yellow hair and piercings in his ears cursed and swung his bag at the hornet. The hornet easily evaded the attack. The man grimaced and glared at the hornet. He was Tanaka Hiroshi, a well-known delinquent in this circle and a skinny guy with tattoos.
Buzz buzz.
The hornet’s movements became threatening. The sound of its wings also became much more menacing. The hornet flew towards the closest human, Haga Ryoko.
“Ryoko!”
Instead of Haga Ryoko, who was trying to respond calmly, Wada Kyoshiro stepped forward. He struck at the hornet with a notebook in his hand. The hornet flew backward. Nakagami Risa, who was sitting next to me, was startled and swung her smartphone, hitting the hornet away. Excellent reflexes. The problem was that the hornet was now flying towards me.
I flicked my middle finger and accurately struck the hornet’s body. My physical abilities had dropped to the level of an average person, but this was not a difficult task.
The hornet hit the back of the seat and fell straight to the floor. I stepped on the hornet, killing it. I could feel the sensation of the hornet’s body being crushed. Sighs of relief were heard from all around.
“Nakagami-senpai! I’m sorry!”
Wada Kyoshiro stood up from his seat and bowed to Nakagami Risa, apologizing. The hornet he had hit had flown towards Nakagami Risa.
Nakagami Risa glared at Wada Kyoshiro for a moment.
“It’s okay.”
Nakagami Risa said coldly, then turned her gaze to me. Her sharp eyes were now relaxed.
“I’m sorry about earlier. I was flustered and sent it your way.”
“It’s alright. It can happen when you’re flustered.”
“You didn’t seem like an ordinary person when you flicked the hornet with your finger. Are you used to hornets?”
“Yes, I’m quite used to them.”
I answered with a smile.
In truth, I wasn’t used to hornets. It was the first time I had seen a hornet since high school. However, I wasn’t afraid of hornets at all. Having faced monsters that could kill ordinary people with one hand, would I be afraid of a mere hornet?
“You’re a first-year, right? What’s your name?”
“Sung Yujin.”
“…Korean?”
“Yes. I’m Korean. Do you perhaps dislike Koreans?”
“Not really. I like Korean dramas and K-pop.”
Nakagami Risa said this and started fiddling with her smartphone. I didn’t try to force the conversation to continue. That would only come across as being clingy. It wasn’t an appropriate choice for building rapport.
‘It’s a relief that she doesn’t dislike Koreans.’
In the case of young Japanese women, there aren’t many who dislike Korea. Recently, with the popularity of Korean dramas and music, there are even many who have a favorable impression of Korea.
‘That doesn’t apply to the guys, though.’
There are many Japanese men who look down on Korea. Not only university students, but even some professors look down on Korea. Some older Japanese people even think that Korea is still at the level it was in the 80s.
I usually ignore such people, but… there are always a few who pick fights to the point where it’s hard to ignore them.
‘There’s one here too.’
Tanaka Hiroshi. The yellow-haired delinquent with piercings was glaring at me. I stared back. A brief staring contest ensued. Tanaka Hiroshi was the first to look away. He slowly turned his gaze, as if to say he would get back at me later.
‘I’ll have to deal with him properly later.’
Japan, the land of bullying.
The culture of bullying is mixed into working life, so would universities be any different?
‘I’m already being bullied halfway.’
It’s not the kind of bullying where I’m subjected to violence, but rather being subtly ostracized and ignored… more like being an outcast. The reason I’m being bullied is because I’m Korean.
Clunk clunk.
I looked out the car window. Trees were visible. No, only trees were visible.
‘Even if it’s a rural village… aren’t we going too far in?’
It was tedious to keep looking at the same scenery. I took out my smartphone from my pocket. I turned on a game I had never seen before and focused on it.
‘It’s a gacha game. I have enough game currency… let’s do a gacha.’
[Great Luck (Lv. Master) is activated.]
The skill activated, and luck occurred.
As soon as I pressed the draw button, a pickup character appeared, breaking through the 0.5% probability.
However, I wasn’t in a good mood.
‘A skill that only activates once a day is activated for something like this… what is this?’
I shook my head.
It was a skill I had somewhat expected, but it seemed like a dud. I gave up on my expectations for the [Great Luck] skill.
The van arrived at the village 15 minutes later.
•••
We arrived at Ookaruma Village.
It was quite a large village for a mountain village. There were wide fields and several modern buildings. The most noticeable thing was the shrine at the end of the village, on the mountain. The shrine was the largest structure in the village.
“Men will stay in this building, and women will stay in that building. The festival starts tomorrow evening, so until then, feel free to do as you please.”
A large, muscular man said. He had short, sporty hair and big eyes. His name was Mori Masahiro. He was the head of the Japan Festival Study Circle. He was also the one who drove the van.
We entered the lodging. It wasn’t a very large building, but it wasn’t uncomfortable to live in. The problem was that there were 7 men but only 6 rooms.
“The two first-years. I’ll give you the largest room, so you two can share a room.”
“Yes, Mori-senpai.”
“Yes.”
Wada Kyoshiro and I answered.
In the end, it was based on seniority. The two powerless first-years couldn’t disobey Mori Masahiro, a fourth-year and the head of the circle.
‘Should I just flip everything over in a fit of anger?’
I held back.
It was too early to cause a ruckus. It hadn’t even been an hour since I entered this world. There was too little information. I decided to stay quiet until I had gathered some information.
Wada Kyoshiro and I entered the large room on the first floor. It was a traditional Japanese tatami room. It was spacious, but the lack of beds was inconvenient.
“Sung-san. It’s the first time we’ve met like this. I’m Wada Kyoshiro. Nice to meet you.”
Wada Kyoshiro extended his hand to me, asking for a handshake. A pure face without any prejudice. This guy was definitely the protagonist of this world. I hid my reluctance and took his hand.
“I’m Sung Yujin. Since we’re sharing a room, let’s get along.”
“Okay, Sung-san.”
We put down our luggage. An awkward atmosphere hung in the air. The door opened, and Mori Masahiro, the head of the circle, entered.
“You two first-years. If you have nothing to do, would you mind helping me out?”
“Mori-senpai! Yes! Of course, I’ll help!”
“…I’ll help.”
“Thank you both. The second and third-years aren’t very cooperative… you guys saved me. I’ll definitely repay you for this.”
Mori Masahiro’s tone had a musty smell to it. The smell of a꼰대 (kkondae – an older person who is condescending and inflexible). To be honest, I didn’t want to get involved, but… it was for the sake of the original story’s information. I engraved the word ‘patience’ in my mind and asked him.
“Mori-senpai. What do you need help with?”
At my question, Mori Masahiro took out a camera and handed it to me. I took the camera in a daze. It was a DSLR, or so they called it. It was a heavy and expensive-looking camera.
“We need materials to write a report. Go around the village, take pictures, and conduct interviews with the residents about the village festival. Sung, you just take good pictures. I and Wada will handle the interviews.”
I had a feeling. They had excluded me from the interview role because I was Korean.
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
It was actually a relief. It was an easy job where I just had to press the camera shutter from a distance.
I followed Mori out of the lodging and walked around the village.
After walking around for about two hours, I had a rough idea of the village’s layout. I tried to go up to the shrine at the end of the village, on the mountain, but was stopped by the old people working in the fields near the entrance.
“Don’t move!”
“Outsiders cannot go up to the shrine!”
Even though they were old, their bodies weren’t frail. Perhaps it was from being trained by working in the fields, but I could see their muscular bodies through their shirts. With the farming tools they were holding, they were intimidating just by standing there.
“Why can’t we? We want to pay our respects at the shrine.”
Mori Masahiro said calmly. His large frame was intimidating even when he spoke calmly. The old people swallowed, as if trying to hide their fear, and answered.
“The shrine is currently conducting a ritual. It’s a ritual to prepare for the festival tomorrow.”
“No one can enter during the ritual. Go up to the shrine on the day the festival ends.”
Mori Masahiro stepped back.
“Ah. Is that so? We didn’t know. Is it okay to take pictures of the shrine?”
“It’s fine as long as you don’t go up to the shrine.”
Mori Masahiro gestured to me. I took out the camera and took pictures of the shrine. The building itself was impressive, so it was fun to take pictures.
Wada Kyoshiro approached the old people and spoke to them.
“Is there a shrine maiden at the shrine?”
“A shrine maiden? Of course, there is. Tomorrow night, the shrine maiden will walk around the village and give blessings.”
“Can we receive blessings too?”
“Come out to the streets tomorrow night. Then the shrine maiden will give you blessings on behalf of the mountain god.”
“I see. We’ll definitely come out to the streets tomorrow night.”
The short interview was over. We walked around the village again.
I was getting tired of taking pictures.
‘It was somewhat fun at first, but…’
The sun was gradually beginning to set.
“Mori-senpai. Let’s go back now. There aren’t any restaurants in this village, so we need to prepare food.”
“I heard the women are preparing it. You’ve worked hard. I brought some beer, so I’ll share it with you.”
“Oh, beer! Thank you!”
“But let’s do one last interview. Ah, this is a personal question, so you don’t have to record it.”
“There’s plenty of storage, so I’ll record it.”
“Okay. Thanks, Wada.”
Mori Masahiro nodded and headed towards the field. An old man working in the potato field saw us and straightened his body. He stared at us intently.
“Senpai. That person… doesn’t he seem a bit unsettling?”
His body was emaciated, and his eyes were sunken. His dark pupils were similar to the eyes of a corpse.
“That’s rude to an old man.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“Well, I do feel a bit uneasy too.”
Mori Masahiro approached the old man and spoke to him.
“Hello. I’m a student from Naio University. Would you mind answering a few questions for an interview?”
“An interview?”
“It’s just a few simple questions.”
“……”
The old man nodded. It was a sign to go ahead.
“Around this time last year, I heard that five people went missing in Ookaruma Village. Do you know anything about them?”
“…Are you a relative of the missing people?”
“No. I’m not a relative.”
“I don’t know much about that. And that’s already over.”
“Over? Did the missing people return?”
“The police finished their investigation.”
The old man turned his body away. He held a sharp sickle and slammed it into the ground as if he was being irritable. It was quite grotesque.
“Old man.”
“I have nothing to say. Don’t talk to me.”
Mori Masahiro was about to speak to the old man again, but he stopped. We headed back to the lodging.
Before entering the lodging, I said to them.
“Mori-senpai. I’ll stop by the corner store for a moment and then come back.”
“Huh? Do you need anything?”
“Cup noodles. I’m going to get some for a late-night snack.”
“Okay.”
I gave him the camera and went into the corner store. They had all the basic necessities. When I came out of the corner store, the sun had completely set. Because it was a mountain village, it was even darker than the city at night. There were no streetlights, so it seemed difficult to go back.
‘There’s a limit to the light from my smartphone… I should buy a flashlight while I’m here.’
I bought a flashlight and walked down the road.
I felt a gaze.
I turned my head and saw the old man I had seen earlier standing stiffly in the field, staring at me. He was holding a sharp sickle in his hand.
I ignored the unsettling old man and walked down the road.
However, even after walking 50 meters, the old man was still watching me. I felt annoyed and shouted at the old man.
“Old man! Do you have something to say? If not, look away!”
“……”
The old man didn’t move and just stared at me.
I frowned and changed direction, walking towards the old man.
