NOVEL NEXT Prologue
"Have you ever believed in apparitions?” I calmly asked.
“Me, senpai? Let me see…" She closed her eyes in deep thoughts. "I might have believed in them, but the modern reality doesn't have any place for them, therefore, it's not easy to believe in something like those.” She said without blinking an eye.
"There is no doubt you wouldn’t, but I know that a small part of you would agree. I wouldn’t force you to believe my words either, because this story that I will tell you is full of exaggerations and the shocking truth of the real incident that has happened two months ago and what has remained of it—of which is called the Shinjubiki Incident. Some told, it is just a made-up story, a fabrication, but they do exist.”
“Yeah, they might exist for me to believe in, but let us assume this from a different standpoint, instead of ‘if I want to believe in apparition’ wouldn’t knowing what an apparition is, the best way to start letting me get the gist of them?”
That is easy for you to say but there are a lot of things I want to say about apparitions, like how they were able to escape, how they are connected to the shrine, and why they exist. There had been a lot of multiple events from this mysterious apparition that has appeared in this place that is something even science can’t fathom and has long said that they don't exist, but they do exist, solely because there are other people that think they live, even though they are just an existence that doesn’t have its own body, and as an existence without a body, they will animate themselves into someone else's body or an object, giving a harmful or helpful presence.
“Apparitions, phantasm, phantom, or whatever you may call them. They are bizarre and startling figures that can manifest inside a person or an object, but they mostly target human beings. Since they are called phantasms and phantoms, they are regarded as dreams or nightmares, however, the latter is usually the frightening of the most.”
"Does that mean they would only exist at nighttime? It’s regarded as a dream or a nightmare, right? If so, then why haven’t I found one?”
“You’re correct. Apparitions are escaped monsters from the nether world that is causing troubles in our world. Their current objective is to conquer one of the eight shrines guided by eight current deities so that they can turn into a deity and will remain to exist unless someone banishes them,” I said. “And to answer that question… Some apparitions exist without the use of manifesting someone while others manifest a human's desire. Chances are, they are not easily seen or found.”
“Hmm… so if they wanted the world to be annihilated, then they could just take one of the shrines and become a deity. Isn’t that dangerous?”
True enough. Most apparitions have a ferocious ability that can destroy mankind where if they can take one of the eight shrines, they’ll stay here forever to put the world in a brink of destruction.
“That’s why we exist to eliminate the apparitions. The deities also have the power to do that, but they aren’t allowed to eliminate their fellow apparitions, so only humans exorcise them.” I crossed my arms. “For example, apparitions are ghosts themselves, we cannot see them but they can see us. The difference for them is that they cannot interfere with or annihilate each other. So when people experience odd things like hearing a weird noise inside their head. They panic and do irrational things, where instead, they should be doing the opposite."
Like helping them would seem very necessary.
“I see… but I am wondering why you’re helping the deities. You don't sound like the kind of person to do that and that you are far off the image I have thought of.”
“Right. It’s just that if no one can stop the apparition, then I—no, we should be the ones to stop them. Apparitions wouldn’t exist without a basis and that is why that creating a solution out of those problems that caused them to manifest is the only way to rest their souls, but it’s easier to say than act. Most people would run away from this situation which will only worsen the problem because the apparition will never stop affecting other people. Likely, to me, meeting weird creatures was never rare or surprising because I was already desensitized the moment I was born. When I met them, this hand of mine that has been grasping to the cruel reality, began to shake and fall, distorting my reality.”
“You are very strong and not only that, you have a very strong will. If I were put in the same situation as yours, I would hesitate and might give up.” She said. “But then again, it's not like it’s going to happen anyway. Senpai, I do think it’s time I become convinced, knowing that you aren’t the type of guy to tell a lie.”
Right. I can't lie to myself and I can't run away from everything. That's why when all of this insanity appeared, I went running forward to put everything back to normal while accepting all the responsibility, passing through my adolescents, changing myself and everyone, and ending all of this apparition stuff.
I wouldn’t dare to say that trying to overcome all the obstacles is simple because they were difficult enough that one mistake could have led to death, resulting at an end to this story of mine. And that’s enough of a reason to say that I’ve lived on from those experiences just so I can tell this story to someone else.
“You should have said that sooner. Well then, I’ll tell you this exaggerated story of mine,” I said with a smile on my face.