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(Translated and arranged by Saya)
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| Food stalls at a summer festival |
ππHello, everyone! I hope you are all happyπ This is a normal scary story but some people think it is a cryptic story. Can you guess why? ✨
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This happened to my colleague while he was on a business trip in Tokyo.
To save the travel expenses, he decided to stay in a cheap hotel.
In the room where he stayed, he found a video cassette player that allowed you watch a video when you inserted one hundred yen coin*1 into it.
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| videotapes and player |
They had also some videotapes beside the player. Out of curiosity, he picked them up one by one, and read the labels.
Among Western films and usual adult videos, he found one that was unlabelled.
"I wonder if it's some kind of a black market adult video?"
He decided to watch it, thinking that spending one hundred yen on it wouldn't hurt him much.
He inserted a coin into the video cassette player, and put the said cassette into it.
The video started a few seconds later.
The TV screen was showing a festival*2 in a rural town.
He saw a lively street lined with many food stalls. People dressed in breezy summer clothes were strolling between them.
After some minutes, a boy wearing yukata*3 (summer kimono) came into view, and the camera zoomed in on the boy.
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| A boy in yukata |
It continued to zoom in on him until the screen was filled with the boy's face from his chest upwards.
Then zooming came to a complete halt and the video froze too.
The next moment, at the bottom of the screen, a cold, impersonal caption appeared in white Gothic font: *4
"Akifumi was murdered that evening."
Almost instantaneously, my colleague pressed the stop button.
He told me that he vacated the room right away, and found another hotel to stay in.
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Notes:
*1 100 yen coin ---- (One US dollar is equal to about 108 yen on 21 May 2021) See Wikipedia
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| 100 yen coin |
*2 Festival --- "Ennich" in the original text.
Ennichi (ηΈζ₯, "related day") is a day believed to have a special relation (ηΈ en) with a particular Japanese deity. Often, it is a day when a deity is believed to have been born or left the world. In Shinto, this day is encouraged to be embraced as it is in the "four affirmations" of their religious code. Japanese people generally think that visiting a temple or a shrine on these holy days related to Kami and/or Buddha will bring greater fortunes than on regular days. Therefore, temples and shrines often hold festivals. At such events, there are generally a large number of food stalls selling Japanese food such as takoyaki, okonomiyaki, grilled corn, and candy floss.
More links:
*3 Yukata --- A yukata (ζ΅΄θ‘£, lit., "bathrobe") is an unlined cotton summer kimono, worn in casual settings such as summer festivals and to nearby bathhouses. Originally worn as bathrobes, their modern use is much broader, and are a common sight in Japan during summer. Though yukata are traditionally indigo and white in colour, modern yukata commonly feature multicoloured designs, and are designed to be machine washable. They are similar in appearance to the nemaki, a unisex short-sleeved kimono-like garment worn by guests at traditional inns (from Wikipedia)
More links:
*4 Gothic font -- talking about East Asian type of Gothic font, not English one. It embodies a "style characterized by strokes of even thickness and lack of decorations akin to sans serif styles in Western typography." I added this note because there has been some misunderstanding about it.
( Wikipedia )
Comments
Although I'm somewhat nostalgic for videotapes myself, it makes the story have an extra impact.
Poor Akifumi
I am so glad it have you that effect!π✨ LoL
That would be really scary too!
You always have great imagination! Thank you for commenting ✨π
"This hotel has some funky voodoo murder VHS tapes that will ruin your vacation. Do not stay here. I ended up staying at a much nicer business hotel instead."
Jesus christ saya, hes under the bed.
I hope he isn't under the bed LoL ✨
*maybe when we not looking, that videotape going to some market to buy new cassette tape.
Or perhaps, it's a some sort of a "Ju-on" ripoff.
It looks more like "Sans-serif" font and is commonly used in Japan.
Thank you for that!π✨
The theory says that Akifumi in the story at first glance seems to be the boy's name, but it is actually the name of the man who watches the video in the story. He realised his life is threatened and decides to run away π⭐
I spent many years abroad so I am not so familiar with Tokyo either π ✨ I am sorry I can't help you much.
It just reminds me of video from this Chriddof guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIR1sUzr_60
or maybe Cyriak's Videos, or for something actually quite unsettling, the Local58
I love found footage style mockumentary horror movies! :D
anyway thanks for making my day happier :D
Now I get the picture.
The videotape with the festival was set in an alternate universe where he (Colleague/Akifumi/Boy) died that evening and if he stayed in the cheap hotel room, he would have been sucked into the alternate universe where that happened. So he will be dead but alive as an alternate universe man.
Or he could just be looking for a better cheap hotel with better adult films because "cursed" videos aren't really his thing :D
Unfortunately, I haven't received your previous message!
i feel old now that VHS needs to be explained ;_;
However, I do admit that it will definitely creep me out if I watch it alone in such hotel in a strange place.
Nice story, Saya-san.:D. Thank you.
- nunu -