NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2 - Episode 002: SAN Value in Peril!
**Episode 002: SAN Value in Peril!**
“Huh?”
I woke up in the afternoon because there was no school that day. I had stayed up drawing illustrations until the early hours of the morning, so it couldn’t be helped.
“Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, I’m doing well today too. Thank you for always watching over me.”
In my new house, I performed the daily ritual of tending to the household Buddhist altar and offering prayers. My parents passed away when I was little, so my paternal grandfather, Grandpa, took me in and raised me.
Grandpa was a Shinto priest of a shrine dedicated to a god named Jindou Harinado. However, due to the lack of worshippers, he had a separate main occupation.
Grandma passed away when I was in elementary school, and Grandpa raised me on his own until he fell ill during my high school years and passed away.
Thanks to my uncle’s various efforts, I now lived alone in a house standing next to a mountain shrine, inherited from my parents and Grandpa. Part of the reason was Grandpa’s wish, and I simply liked it. Before his death, Grandpa even rebuilt the house for me.
I feel grateful for my kind uncle. If he were a bad person, he might have taken all the inheritance.
“Thank you for another wonderful day.”
After finishing the prayers for the deceased, I moved to another room and offered prayers again. This sacred room was locked to prevent anyone other than me from entering.
There was an altar dedicated to a masterpiece called “Assassin Girls,” depicting girls operating in the shadows to protect the peace of the country. They wore tight bodysuits and fought against enemies, and while their appearance was provocative, their struggles and stories were truly outstanding.
Drawing illustrations and spreading their popularity became my focus. As a result, I inadvertently became somewhat famous in the illustration community, bearing the nickname of the “Bodysuit Evangelist.”
Thank you for such a wonderful nickname.
“Now, let’s go to the bathroom. I’m about to burst.”
I remembered that I hadn’t gone to the bathroom since waking up in the morning. After finishing the prayers, I immediately headed to the bathroom and opened the door.
“Toilet, toilet~”
As I opened the door as usual and entered, for some reason, a sensation as if I were outdoors in the wind overwhelmed me.
“Huh?”
I hadn’t paid much attention, assuming it was the bathroom. Unconsciously, I lost my words at the sight in front of me. The reason being that there was a dense forest spreading out, with no sign of any letters such as “Toilet.”
—Gyaah, Gyaah
—Kukokokokokokok
Sounds of some kind of animals could be heard from various directions. However, it was clearly not the cries of familiar animals.
“Yeah, yeah. My bathroom is a forest~… As if that would happen!”
In response to the overwhelming shock, I made a joke and laughed at my own pun.
“Where the heck am I…?”
While dumbfounded by the unfamiliar scenery, I looked around.
“Oh, I can still see the inside of my house. That’s a relief…”
Behind me, I could see the interior of the room I had entered, as if the door had been rolled up to the size of the door frame. It was a relief to know that I could probably return inside.
However, the interior was floating in space, and the surrealism of the situation was unshakable.
“It’s probably not good to stay here too long. Let’s go back home for now.”
Even though I didn’t know where this place was, it felt better not to linger. I quickly returned inside and closed the door.
—Clatter, clatter
“It doesn’t seem like a dream after all.”
As a precaution, I opened the closed door once again, but in front of me, there was still a vast forest.
It seemed I wasn’t mistaken.
“I should stop. I’ll go outside.”
Unable to comprehend the bizarre scene, I gave up on thinking. Since this area was originally part of Grandpa’s land, I thought I could relieve myself somewhere in the nearby forest.
“Huh?”
However, my eyes widened in surprise again. The reason being that a sea of clouds suddenly spread out in front of me. Moreover, beyond the stone-made part of the back door, everything was covered with clouds.
“No, no, even though my house is in the mountains, it’s not on such a high elevation to overlook a sea of clouds, right!?”
I shook my head and hands, responding to the incomprehensible reality in front of me.
There should only be the remnants of an old well and a nearby forest behind the back door. However, for some reason, a sea of clouds was spreading.
I couldn’t make sense of it.
“Rather than that, I can’t hold it any longer!”
However, more than the incomprehensible reality before me, I felt like I was about to burst, so I prioritized the bathroom and immediately pulled down my pants and released myself.
Ah… what a sense of relief.
I momentarily indulged in the pleasure after holding it in for so long, looking at the endless view of clouds.
“But what the heck is going on?”
Feeling refreshed, I pondered the current situation. The bathroom was a forest, the back door opened to a sea of clouds, so where exactly did the other doors lead?
In the first place, can I safely escape from this house and go to the familiar town?
Such anxieties crossed my mind vaguely, and I opened each door throughout the house to check.
As a result, I found that the six doors inside the house led to six completely unfamiliar places.
What the heck is this…?
My sanity reached its limit.
—Ring, ring, ring…
—Click
“Hello? Are you accepting door repairs? Oh, yes, that’s right, it’s a standalone house. What’s the situation? I see. Each door leads to a completely different place from the intended location, so I want you to connect it to the right place for each door. Huh? Don’t call with such confusing matters? No, no, it’s me who’s confused. When I opened the door to the toilet, there was a forest I’ve never seen before… Ah!! Wait a moment!! Listen to me!! Please!! … They hung up.”