I loaded the geek game

Akita Prefecture.

"Phew, it's really cold."

A young man was walking quickly in a cobblestone street lined with fallen snow. The hot air he exhaled turned into white mist as soon as it came out.

The young man's name is Higashino Sa, he is 24 years old and a student.

He is a native of Mitane-cho, Akita Prefecture.

"Come to think of it, it's already this late."

Yes.

In one week, it will be New Year's Eve.

The so-called "Da Hui Day" is actually New Year's Eve. The last moonless night at the end of the year is called "Da Hui".

Japan also used to celebrate the Lunar New Year, but later changed to the Gregorian calendar's "New Year's Day" as the Spring Festival New Year. As a result, today's "New Year's Eve" no longer matches the moon phase, but the corresponding name has been retained.

In Akita Prefecture, a grand celebration ceremony is held on the night of New Year's Eve.

The ceremony was called "Namahage", and as the name suggests, it was mainly for praying to gods and worshiping ghosts.

Nowadays, the streets of Mitani-cho have been decorated with New Year decorations, such as large picture boards and feather boards in red and green. The fronts of the shops along the street are decorated with red and white rice dumpling-shaped cocoon beads. Coupled with the snow along the street, there is indeed a strong flavor of the New Year.

After turning the corner ahead, Higashinosa stopped in front of a izakaya.

This is a small shop that is not too conspicuous and the location is not very good, but the wooden structure of the house is very old.

At this time, a long white curtain had been hung at the door of the izakaya, with the end of the curtain about twenty centimeters from the ground.

Hanging up the noren curtain means that the izakaya is open for business. As for the scene inside the store, it is covered by the curtain. Standing outside, one can only see the smoked yellow light shining through the gaps in the noren curtain and falling on the stone pavement.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Higashino went through the curtain and greeted the owner of the counter.

After entering university, Higashino would come to this izakaya to work during every vacation when he returned to Akita Prefecture.

The boss of this shop is very easy-going and easy to talk to. So he has been doing this part-time job until now, and this time when he went home for the holiday was no exception.

Going to the workshop, Dongye took off his coat and began to change into work clothes.

During this time, he glanced at his phone.

Twitter sent him several messages:

[I guarantee it’s true. Last night I saw a crying ghost wandering around Mount Osorezan…]
[Shock! A dog with a human face appeared on the streets of Nagoya!]
[I think I have found some clues to the truth behind the disappearance of Jinseki Town in Tokushima Prefecture. It was definitely not caused by a geological disaster. That place is very weird.]
[I am in Arakawa, Tokyo. When I get close to a certain area, I always feel my heart beating fast and my face getting red. I can't really tell what kind of area would cause this reaction. But this should be considered a supernatural event, right?]
“There are always push notifications like this on X recently.”

Dongye locked his phone.

In fact, it’s not recent. It seems that this trend has started in the past year or so, and discussions about supernatural content on the Internet have become very frequent.

In theory, the supernatural section is a niche content, and discussions are basically within the relevant fan circle.

In recent years, especially this year, news related to the supernatural has appeared more and more in the public eye on the Internet. The initiator of the topic and the following discussants are also serious and confident.

Even though Higashino Sa is not a supernatural enthusiast, he can still see related content push from time to time. It seems that the relevant platforms and officials do not seem to specifically prohibit the spread of related content.

In short, the current network environment gives people the feeling that -

Japan is already experiencing the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, and you can encounter ghosts everywhere you go.

But Dongye knew that the news on the Internet was always exaggerated.

Although the voices and discussions are loud, there is always a "silent majority" behind the noisy discussions.

Moreover, it is difficult to distinguish the true and false news on the Internet.

Most of the so-called supernatural events really have simple text descriptions. Even if there are pictures and videos...now that both special effects and AI technology are so advanced, Higashino Sa can't tell whether it is true or false.

Moreover, Higashino himself did not have any real feeling about the so-called "frequent supernatural events" and his life went on as usual.

In fact, he has never had any supernatural experience since he can remember.

"By the way, those four push notifications just now..."

The titles of the first three articles are quite eye-catching, but the last one...

Heartbeat and hot cheeks...

It's a bit funny. Is this some kind of supernatural event?

……

After changing into his work clothes, Higashino Sa started to order and serve dishes as usual.

Maybe because of the snow, there weren't many customers in the store today. About two hours after he started working, only the last three tables of customers were left drinking and eating.

Although it is a bit unfair to the boss to think this way, as a salaried worker, Higashino Sa is really happy to have some free time when there is less work to do.

Seeing that there was nothing left to do, Dongye returned behind the counter.

The store is well heated, and behind the counter is also the kitchen where the owner works. The heat from the oven makes people feel comfortable in such cold weather.

Higasa's face turned red due to the heat.

Standing in this position, he looked towards the entrance opposite him.

Although there is a glass door at the outside of the izakaya, the situation on the street cannot be seen due to the presence of a noren curtain in the middle. The only view outside is through the gap between the noren curtain, which is about 20 centimeters from the ground.

It seemed to be snowing outside again. The nearby snowflakes were smoked into golden color by the flowing light, and they fluttered and fell, melting on the blue-black stone pavement.

Whenever he had free time, Dongye would habitually stand in this position and stare blankly.

After all, you can’t play with your phone while at work.

Moreover, Dongye likes to observe others.

However, it was somewhat impolite for a waiter to stare at the customers in the store, so he focused his observation on the street outside.

Those feet coming and going, of all shapes and sizes.

For example, the feet are wearing shiny leather shoes, the trouser legs are flat, and the steps are steady; another example is the feet are wearing red high heels, with beautiful ankle curves and slender calves.

Higashino Sa would look at the feet passing by, and imagine what the owners of each pair of feet looked like, and what the passers-by hidden by the noren curtains looked like.

Higashino Sa doesn't know whether this little habit of his that occasionally kills time can be considered as "foot fetishism".

But in fact, this process of observing the details and then associating them with the whole is quite interesting.

He enjoys it.

It's a pity that perhaps because the weather was too cold tonight, there were no pedestrians passing by in the small street outside the pub.

"Xiao Zuo, give this yakitori to the guests at table one."

Just as he was in a daze, Higashino Sa heard his boss calling him like this.

"Ok."

He quickly came to his senses and swiftly picked up the food plate in front of him.

When he walked to table number one near the entrance, Higashino Sa suddenly saw a pair of feet sticking out from the gap under the curtain at the entrance.

Someone is standing outside.

Judging from the position of the feet, the person outside should be standing facing the izakaya.

But, there was clearly no one outside the curtain just now?
And there was no sound of the outermost glass door opening.

What made Higashino Sa even more surprised was that the pair of feet under the curtain were barefoot and had no shoes.

Barefoot on a cold, snowy night like tonight?
The feet looked very old, full of wrinkles, with twisted blood vessels, a strange gray-purple color, and some bright red rashes on the feet. And on the ankle of his left foot, there was a string of red and white beads.

What a strange pair of feet.

So, the little game that Dongye was keen on before, the little associative question used to kill time, naturally lingered in his mind -

The owner of these feet is now outside, hidden by the curtain...what kind of person is he?

If we open the noren curtain at this time, we can see it, right?

"Hey, what are you doing? Put down my snacks."

The slightly impatient urging of the guests at table number one next to him brought Higashino Sa back to his senses.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry."

He quickly put down the food tray in his hand and turned back behind the counter.

You can see that the pair of purple feet with tiny red rashes are still standing straight outside the warm curtain.

"Mr. Hou Tian, ​​there is someone outside."

Dongye whispered to the boss who was busy at the side.

The boss looked up. He obviously saw the pair of feet outside, but his reaction was not as big as Dongye's. "It's so cold, why are you not wearing shoes? Are you going to the store to ask for food? Xiaozuo, go and see what's going on."

"Me... me?"

To be honest, Dongye doesn't really want to get close to the entrance now.

But the atmosphere in the store was normal at this time.

Others probably don't have Dongye's habit of carefully observing other people's feet. The boss seems to just treat the person outside the door as a poor wanderer who is hesitant and wants to come into the store to keep warm or ask for food.

"If it was just a homeless person whose skin turned purple from the cold... Besides, there are so many people in the store right now."

Dongye thought so and walked towards the entrance again.

He stepped closer to the warm curtain, and a chill came over him. This was not the cold air on the street, but a fear that penetrated into his bones.

Do not……

It's not right.

Higashino Sa lowered his head and looked at the gap under the curtain again. He finally noticed that the environment on the street seemed to have changed.

He had just looked at the situation outside the street, and the cocoon jades used as New Year decorations on the street should have been lit up.

That’s why I could see the lights outside and the falling snow just now.

But now, in the twenty-centimeter gap between the warm curtains, there was only deep darkness behind the bare feet.

I don’t know if it was because he had read some weird supernatural topics on the Internet before, but at that moment Dongye started to have wild thoughts. It was as if with the appearance of these feet, the streets and alleys that should have been familiar behind the warm curtain suddenly became unfamiliar... or in other words, they no longer existed?
If I lift this thin curtain, what will be waiting for me outside?
"Kid, get out of the way."

The urging voice behind him brought Dong Ye, who was beginning to feel frightened, back to his senses.

Behind him was the guest who originally sat at table 6.

A seemingly ordinary office worker has been drinking alone tonight. He must have drunk too much now, even his tie is tied on top of his head, he smells of alcohol and his face is red.

"Guest, I don't think you should go out now..." Dongye, realizing something was wrong, tried to stop him.

"Hey, I've paid."

"But, outside, outside..."

"Huh?" The guest at table 6 glanced outside the curtain and burped unpleasantly. "Isn't he just a ghost dressed as a samite? You're really sick. It's not even the darkest hour yet. You too, go away, go away, I want to go out, I want to go home."

Playing the role of a ghost.

This sentence woke Higashino Sa up.

Yes, it’s the New Year’s Eve celebration in Akita Prefecture, Namahage.

The so-called Namahage is a traditional Japanese monster.

It is said that whenever New Year's Eve is approaching, the Namahage will appear, go from house to house demanding food and wine and scaring the residents.

The real meaning of the word "nama" is to peel off the red skin. In the old Japanese concept, red rashes on the skin mean laziness. Because putting your legs in the warm kotatsu and sitting idle all day will cause red rashes on the skin.

Namahage peels off reddened skin as punishment for laziness.

In Akita Prefecture, during the Namahage Festival on New Year's Eve, young people are organized to wear Namahage masks, straw raincoats and grass skirts, and hold wooden swords and barrels. They dress up as Namahage and walk through the streets and visit every household, yelling and dancing loudly.

The host dressed in formal attire, greeted them solemnly, and offered good wine and rice cakes to entertain them. Afterwards, the young man dressed as the "Namahage" would say some words of blessing, wishing the family good health and plenty of food and clothing in the new year, and then left for another house.

This is basically the process of the ceremony.

Generally speaking, the Namahage with red decorations on its body is a male ghost, while the one with blue decorations is a female ghost.

The person outside the door has red beads on his feet, so he must be the one dressed as a male ghost.

I have to say, the drunken words of the guest at table 6 seemed to describe the current situation perfectly.

Wow.

The guest at table 6 blushed and pulled open the curtain.

Then there was the sound of the outer glass door opening.

The cold wind blew into the entrance, clearing Dongye's head, which was groggy from the warmth in the store.

what.

Scare yourself.

The street outside was still the same street, a black cobblestone road covered with fine white snow. The jade ornaments hanging on the roadside swayed in the wind, emitting red and white light.

Business as usual.

Nothing at all.

Nothing...at all...

Including the person who was supposed to be standing behind the curtain, and the guest who just walked out, they all... don't exist...

call--

The wind blew down the raised curtains, and Higashino Sa, who was so frightened that he couldn't make a sound, lowered his head again.

He saw that behind the 20-centimeter gap under the warm curtain, it had returned to thick darkness without a trace of light.

The only thing clearly visible is the feet.

Still the old, wrinkled, veiny, gray-purple feet with rashes.

Double-doubles, there are double-doubles this time.

Facing the inside of the store, standing quietly.

The things behind the noren curtain have increased.

Higashino Sa wanted to scream and retreat, but his body was no longer under his control. His right hand rose stiffly and grabbed a corner of the warm curtain.

Just as this thin layer of curtain was about to be opened from the inside again, a strong gust of moisture-filled wind blew in from outside the entrance.

A straw hat rushed into Tonosa's sight.

The girl wearing the straw hat is a short girl.

It should be a girl. She rushed in from outside so fast that Dongye couldn't see clearly. But he seemed to catch a glimpse of the girl in the straw hat, her smooth skin glowing with a watery green light, and... her slender feet with webbed feet?

Before Dong Ye could react, he heard the girl who rushed to him from outside shouting:
"Uppercut!"

After that, an irresistible force came towards him. (End of this chapter)