Chapter 26: The Capsule

He had always been half-doubting the existence of supernatural powers and paranormal events. But now, he was certain his experiences weren’t a dream or some kind of hallucination.

His neighbors, the Tanaka couple, were dead. Sooner or later, the police would come knocking to investigate. But the terrifying thing was, Mr. Tanaka himself had turned into a pile of ash, and the body of Mrs. Tanaka had completely vanished.

This unsettling reality made Fang Jing deeply worried inside. It seemed the claim in that online forum post, emphasizing that this apartment building was terribly unlucky, was undeniably true.

“The problem is… what do I do next? Do I tell Mom, Motoko, that we should leave Ichinose Apartment?”

Their family finances were currently stretched too thin. Everyone’s daily needs for clothes, food, and expenses were a hard struggle. Fang Jing felt Mother Motoko probably couldn’t afford this additional cost. However, staying in such a haunted place meant the whole family might die. Compared to the threat of death, financial difficulties were a problem that could be solved, something they could reluctantly accept.

“If there really is no other choice, I’ll have to tell Mom, Motoko, the whole truth about our situation and figure out a way to convince her.”

But would Mother Motoko believe him?

Fang Jing could only offer a bitter smile at that thought. If he were in her shoes, he absolutely wouldn’t believe it either.

“Satsuki went to school at this time too. She has no memory of yesterday whatsoever…”

Satsuki woke up completely unbothered this morning. She thought it was a little strange that she had slept in her clothes, but she seemed to have zero recollection of anything related to last night. When he questioned her, she knew practically nothing.

“And then… there’s also this thing. How should I deal with it?”

He stared at the table, where a “time capsule” sat. It was what Fang Jing had dug up last night from under the withered cherry blossom tree. He had no idea what was inside. The only thing he was certain of was that the little girl in red had demanded he dig it up.

…Watching too many horror and thriller movies let you recognize some cliché plot points.

Fang Jing could now confirm one thing: if he opened this “time capsule,” it was likely to trigger a new event.

(Fate split into two completely separate, straight lines before me. One led down the cursed one-way street of receiving Sadako’s videotape. The other led straight to the deadly house of Saeki Kayako.)

Fang Jing muttered to himself, “I feel like whether I choose ‘YES’ or ‘NO,’ neither seems to lead to a good outcome.”

It’s like playing a puzzle game. If you don’t trigger a few death flags, you’d almost be embarrassed to say you’ve played the plot. But when you go trigger those death flags, you definitely have to reload your save and start over several times…

(But, since I’m a real, living person, I can’t repeatedly save and reload like a game character.)

He didn’t hesitate for too long before choosing to open the time capsule.

“Are these all kids’ toys?”

Inside were mostly old-fashioned building blocks and robot toys. There was also a cloth doll with the name “Yuasa Kyoko” written on it. In addition, there was a small wooden boat, carved with the name “Ichinose Satsuki.”

“Yuasa… Kyoko. Could that be Ms. Kyoko?”

That meant the person who left this time capsule was almost certainly the landlord, Uncle Yuasa.

Speaking of which, the death of Landlord Uncle Yuasa had been quite strange.

Fang Jing had heard some rumors about it – that he died of a heart attack. Except, people said that when he died, the expression on his face was extremely distorted, as if he had seen something terrifying.

It was just neighborhood gossip. Fang Jing hadn’t seen Yuasa’s body himself and couldn’t verify the rumor’s truth.

He continued sorting through the time capsule and finally became certain it was truly connected to Uncle Yuasa.

It was then that Fang Jing found a notebook. Written clearly on it was “Yuasa Junichi,” which must have been Uncle Yuasa’s real name.

He casually opened the diary. Its first page bore a line of text:

“I don’t know who you are, but I suspect that by the time you open this diary, I, Yuasa Junichi, am already dead. If my suspicion is correct, then whoever is reading this diary, please listen carefully to what I have to say next…”

“But if you are guided here by some spirit to find this book, I can only tell you some unfortunate news: you have been cursed by this Ichinose Apartment…”

“From now on, escaping this curse will be incredibly difficult. In the worst-case scenario, you will end up like me, dying unnaturally – a horrifying death.”

Fang Jing couldn’t help but sigh deeply at this point and closed the diary in his hands. He knew this time, he was truly screwed.

“Forget it, seems I don’t have much choice. I have to keep reading.”

He opened the diary again and started reading seriously from the beginning.

Yuasa Junichi – Landlord Uncle Yuasa – had recorded everything he knew.

“Point one: I advise you not to leak any information about the curse. Because from what I’ve learned, since the curse started, anyone who left this apartment building seemed to meet with misfortune. Some had severe accidents. Some past residents… it was like robbers broke into their homes, resulting in the whole family dying tragically…”

Here, Uncle Yuasa explained that even now, he didn’t understand the true nature of the curse. He could only determine that anyone connected to the land upon which Ichinose Apartment stood would be affected to varying degrees.

In his first point, he insisted the information cannot be leaked. The curse would erupt after those affected left, acting upon the victim, causing harm… If the news got out, it would cause a mass exodus of residents, putting all those who fled under the curse’s threat.

“Point two: The curse’s effects vary by person. Not everyone is affected equally. However, those marked by the thing within the ‘Wooden Buddha’ definitely cannot escape… Have a look at your own chest. See if there’s an additional grey mark.”

Seeing this, he lifted his quilt with confusion and pulled open his pajamas.

“Damn it!”

A charcoal-grey handprint, clearly five-fingered, was imprinted right on his chest. Fang Jing had been completely oblivious to this before – the grey mark brought by the curse. Was he really this unlucky?

“Point three: Despairing now is pointless. In fact, there might still be a way to temporarily alleviate things. This curse can be temporarily resisted. For that, you must go to the ‘Defiled Temple’ on Mount Sagiri and retrieve the Wooden Buddha. It holds the power to resist the curse, providing temporary relief from the sealed curse within this apartment…”

Yuasa Junichi explained that the origin of the curse was mysterious and complex. He couldn’t lift it. But he knew an old man known as “Jinno” who had taught him how to mitigate the curse.

“…Since ancient times, our world has been filled with too many bizarre and terrifying events, and too many strange, unfathomable existences. It’s deeply frustrating, but when facing these ‘Strange Phenomena’, we truly seem powerless…”

Yuasa Junichi, writing these words, must have been filled with anxiety, terror, unbearable dread, and bitter resentment.

Reading this section, Fang Jing felt he could almost grasp Yuasa Junichi’s state of mind through the words.

Yuasa Junichi must have endured many horrors. His powerlessness in the face of supernatural events filled him with a suffocating anger.

Frail mortals like myself – faced with that twisted, dark malice – are like dried twigs that snap with a single step. Against their existence, besides despairing over our fate, what else is there for us to do?

“Thankfully, though we cannot fight them, we have still discovered some ways to resist… No, that’s too grandiose a claim. A more precise explanation is we’ve found ways to avoid direct confrontation.”

…Direct confrontation is out of the question. Turning to religious figures, folk witchcraft, magic, or self-proclaimed psychics and frauds? That’s foolish and ineffective. Expecting the police or government agencies to save you? That’s a sure path to death – spreading the information publicly would only mark you as a madman to everyone.