JJK: Wheel of Time

The journey to Yamagata Shrine was peaceful. The shrine was owned by a local family that had passed it down for two generations. It wasn't very large, and the deity it enshrined was one of those nameless local spirits from old folklore. These days, the shrine was more of a tourist spot, attracting visitors with its untouched natural surroundings. Sometimes, it even provided lodging for travelers.

Shin, Megumi and the seven arrived at the shrine's torii gate. Bathed in the soft moonlight, the ancient gate stood tall in the middle of the path. Its once vibrant red paint had mostly peeled away, revealing cracks in the wood. It had likely been standing for years, quietly reminding every visitor who passed through it that they were entering sacred ground, and that the path ahead led to a place where the gods resided—a journey to be undertaken with reverence and awe.

Several members of the group took this seriously, pausing to pray at the gate before passing through. Along the way, Shin had gathered some basic information about the three men and four women traveling with him. They were all colleagues from a small tech company, and the man named Ryojun was their boss.

Originally, they had planned this trip as a change from the usual corporate team-building dinners in the bustling city. They chose this somewhat well-known scenic spot for a bit of adventure. However, they ran into delays along the way, forcing them to arrive late at night.

Unexpectedly, they encountered Shin and Megumi on the way. Fortunately, after realizing that they were just two young boys, the group's initial fear dissipated. Meeting two handsome young men was certainly less intimidating than running into some threatening brute in the middle of the forest, although the boys did seem odd in their own way.

The group assumed that Shin and Megumi were probably thrill-seeking adventurers. After all, it wasn't too long ago that a similar group of young explorers had come here, gone missing, and ended up making headlines. That incident even drew more people looking for the same kind of adventure.

After passing through the torii gate, the group only walked a short distance before spotting the lights of the shrine ahead.

"Do you think they'll refuse to let us in this late?" one of the women asked nervously. Most shrines and temples had set hours for visitors, and while some allowed nighttime visits, it was already 9:37 PM. In the city, this would barely be the start of the evening, but out here, in a remote area far from urban life, it was quite late.

Still, being so close to their destination, the group wasn't about to turn back now. One of her companions reassured her, pointing out that they were in an unusual situation. Besides, there weren't many other places to stay around here. Surely the shrine would take them in.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario didn't happen. As soon as the shrine caretakers saw the group's flashlights, they came to greet them.

The man who approached was a warm, middle-aged man who introduced himself as Akashino Hiko, the head priest of Yamagata Shrine. He explained that his son had noticed lights on the mountain path and alerted him, prompting him to come and check for late-night visitors. As it turned out, there were indeed guests.

Akashino warmly led them to the shrine. His wife had already prepared hot tea and snacks to ward off the cold of the winter night, which the shivering group gladly accepted. They sat down and expressed their gratitude for the hospitality.

"Please, have a seat as well," Akashino invited Shin and Megumi, smiling as he gestured to them. The two young men, despite their thin clothing, showed no signs of being cold, which caught his attention. He also noticed the swords they carried. Being well-versed in such things, he recognized that they were real blades, though whether they were sharpened was another question.

If it weren't for the fact that these two were clearly traveling separately from the other seven, Akashino might have been more reluctant to host them. But after the boys politely thanked him and sat down to drink tea, with their well-behaved dog at their side, he felt more at ease. His wife, in fact, had taken a liking to the dog.

He sat across from them and began chatting with the group, subtly inquiring about their background and the reason for their late arrival. Once satisfied with their answers, Akashino visibly relaxed. A sociable man by nature, he quickly struck up friendly conversations with everyone.

He thanked them for visiting. According to him, ever since rumors started circulating about a nearby forest becoming a suicide hotspot, the shrine's popularity had dwindled. After he had reported the disappearance of some explorers, the story made the news, and even fewer visitors came.

"People on the internet started saying there was a serial killer or that supernatural entities were involved. Their baseless gossip brought a lot of trouble to my shrine. It's already hard enough to attract visitors with the quiet, remote environment, and now it's been tainted by horror stories. It's driving me crazy."

Akashino grumbled, though he was still grateful that some curious travelers occasionally visited, just like now. After everyone had finished their tea and thanked him again for the delicious snacks, Akashino led them to the guest rooms.

He suggested they rest for the night and explore the shrine and the surrounding scenery the next day. With plenty of rooms available, Shin and Megumi were naturally assigned a room together, while the other seven were left to sort themselves out.

The room they entered was clean, clearly well-maintained and regularly tidied. It was stocked with single-use toiletries, ready for new guests. Megumi, noticing that Shin wasn't preparing to sleep, asked, "Do you have a plan for what's next?"

"I'm thinking about checking out that suicide hotspot," Shin replied casually. "We didn't encounter any potential curses on the way here, and White and I didn't pick up any traces of cursed energy. Your divine dogs didn't sense anything either, right? So, I figure it's worth investigating the site itself."

Fushiguro nodded. Earlier, he had sent out his dogs to scout the surroundings but hadn't detected any signs of a curse. Hearing Shin's plan, he asked, "Shall I come with you?"

However, Shin shook his head and refused. "No need. I'll be quick. Based on the information we have, it's unlikely that the curse is located there. I'm just going to check things out."

With that, Shin grabbed Dojigiri and Kumo-Kiri, stepped out of the room, and vanished into the night. Fushiguro glanced at White Wolf lying on the ground, said a quick "goodnight," and prepared to chat with his sister before going to sleep.

Like a ghost, Shin slipped into the dense forest on the east side of the shrine. The warning signs and placards urging people to cherish their lives assured him he was in the right place.

Though the forest was dark, it didn't obstruct Shin's vision. As he moved deeper, he remained alert for any trace of cursed energy. The trees, with their mostly withered and fallen branches, reached towards the sky in the dim moonlight like skeletal hands clawing their way out of the earth.

After traveling a considerable distance, Shin stopped at a particular spot. Squatting down, he examined the traces left behind. From what he could tell, this was likely one of the places where people had ended their lives, and it seemed the police had already been here and cleaned up the scene.

But what truly drew Shin's attention wasn't the remains, but the faint traces of cursed energy. There were also signs that someone had been here recently. Growing more cautious, Shin continued forward.

"Wooho hu hu~"

Suddenly, the sound of faint, mournful sobbing drifted through the dark woods, making the hair on the back of one's neck stand on end. But instead of being alarmed, Shin immediately activated his technique and rushed toward the sound, drawing Dojigiri as his surroundings became clearer.

What he saw next made his expression unreadable.

There were no female ghosts, no cursed spirits. In the clearing ahead, three men were present. One was kneeling on the ground, muttering something under his breath. In front of him were salt, bells, and talismans. However, the most eye-catching thing was the stand they had set up on the ground, with a phone mounted on top.

One of the other two men was holding a camera, filming the scene. Shin, with his sharp vision, even saw the feed on the phone's screen. Was it… a livestream?

Shin sighed, putting Dojigiri back in its sheath. He had thought he'd encountered something supernatural, but it turned out to be just a team of ghost-hunting streamers trying to capitalize on the site's notoriety. Worse yet, they were faking it.

A short distance away, Shin spotted the source of the sobbing: a recording device hidden under a pile of fallen leaves. Ghost hunting, or similar activities, were heavily regulated on the internet, but it wasn't something that could be outright banned. To most people, the idea of spirits was still vague and abstract.

Outlawing such activities would likely only create a counterproductive effect. Sometimes, the more something is forbidden, the more appealing it becomes. Matsuki Yūya was one of the streamers who had managed to find success in this niche.

Thanks to his convincing performances and carefully crafted scripts, even though many of his viewers knew the ghost hunts were staged, the chilling atmosphere he created kept them hooked. It had brought Yūya a considerable amount of traffic.

The recent news about this location had caught his attention. After some preparation, he came here with a tragic love story between a man and a female ghost as the theme for his latest livestream. They had just reached a dramatic point in the broadcast. One of his assistants had set up the crying sound effect to push the atmosphere in the livestream to new heights.

"Wait, is that a shadow in the background?"

"Streamer! Streamer! Look behind you! Kiyoko is here!"

"Oh my god, is there really a ghost?"

"Come on, it's obviously a prop or someone from the crew. There are no ghosts."

Yūya glanced at the comments on the screen, his brows furrowing. Kiyoko's appearance wasn't supposed to happen yet. Did something go wrong? He was definitely going to dock their pay! He raised his head, intending to warn his assistants, but what he saw startled him.

His two assistants, who had been setting up the props, were frozen in fear. The one responsible for the audio setup had wide eyes, staring at something behind Yūya. His mouth was open, but no sound came out.

Yūya could even see his legs trembling, his entire body shaking as if he were barely holding himself together. The cameraman wasn't doing much better; he could hardly keep a grip on the camera.

"When did their acting get this good?" A cold sweat broke out on Yūya's back as he tried to suppress his mind from wandering to more terrifying thoughts. But his brain was already slipping toward the abyss. His stiff neck turned slowly toward the screen, and what he saw made his heart stop.

There, standing in the dark forest behind his kneeling figure on the livestream, was the faint outline of a shadowy figure.

°°°

A/N: Just uploaded a new fic. A Hunter x Hunter fic, check it out.

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