In the small house, where three people live, I always search for something to eat after everyone goes to sleep, secretly coming out from my room. This “hikikomori” has only one friend. He tells me different kinds of ghost stories.
“…When the old man entered the marsh, someone grabbed him by his legs from the bottom, and he finally died by suffocation.”
His family is rich, so he can probably read a lot of interesting books.
One day, he brought a female friend to the house. Though I really hate meeting someone face to face, I could have a good time talking with her. Maybe that’s because she is a friend of his. Time passed. She became my girlfriend at the same time the company of the old idiot achieved big financial success. Our meals suspiciously became more luxurious and the furniture was replaced with a neat new set.
On the day I took my girlfriend to my parents’ house for the first time, when I opened the front door, the expansive “man-eating marsh” my friend told me about was in front of it. And I could make out my father’s appearance in it.
As we ran to him with frantic footsteps, the door across the room suddenly opened. The old idiot screamed in surprise with his eyes widened in shock.
“The Zashiki-warashi1 fell into the Raid trap!!!”
Why did the old idiot know her name? Why wasn’t he afraid of the supernatural situation before him? While I tried to comprehend even one part of it, my girlfriend suddenly disappeared from the house completely.
1.Common Japanese spirits that take the form of children. They are said to bring good fortune and safety to the house they reside in.