Chapter 27
That afternoon, Kazuma Hatori and Megumi Fushiguro arrived at the foot of Mount Asahidake in Hokkaido.
Next, they bought tickets and boarded the cable car to Shizumi Station, which is 1,600 meters above sea level. From there, it's about a three-kilometer walk according to the map to reach the end of this mission.
At 2,290 meters above sea level, this highest peak in Hokkaido is a favorite climbing spot for mountaineers.
But that's something that happens in the summer.
Mount Asahidake is actually an active volcano. Its unique feature is that the hot vents at the summit cause the snow on the mountain to melt rapidly in the summer, allowing vegetation to grow until the autumn leaves fall, creating a magnificent mix of orange-red and deep yellow hues.
only……
"Hey guys, is this what you're dressed for??"
Carrying skis, and fully equipped with down jacket, wool hat, snow boots, gloves, and goggles, the skier brushed past Kazuma Hatake and his companions, then quickly retreated, incredulously pushing up the goggles pressed against his face and rubbing his eyes.
In March, Mount Asahidake enjoys plenty of sunshine, but the temperature remains below zero. Not only are there no squirrels as described in tourist brochures, but even the branches are heavy with frost and snow.
Due to the characteristic of Mount Asahidake's snow melting in summer and snowfall in winter, the snow here is different from other snow-capped mountains that do not melt all year round. Every year, new powder snow and soft new snow are introduced, making it especially popular among skiing enthusiasts.
If it were summer to autumn, skiers who approached the two wouldn't be so surprised—at least the snow would have melted cleanly by then, and many tourists would come to soak in hot springs, admire the autumn leaves, or go hiking.
But it's March now, and the snow layer is three or four meters thick. The entire mountain is bare, with no frost pines or red maples to be seen.
Did these two guys come at the wrong time of year?
Wearing only a thin jacket, Fushiguro Megumi didn't know how to reply to him, "...Ah, um."
How can I explain this? Because Tokyo is so warm, I forgot before setting off that this is Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan, and the mission location is in the mountains... I feel a little embarrassed to say these things out loud.
Besides, the black-haired youth beside him didn't seem to react to the temperature at all; what if he was the only one feeling cold...?
Compared to the sea urchin-haired boy whose teenage pride was at play, Kazuma Hatori, with his even more incongruous crimson haori and hakama, spoke frankly without batting an eye.
Is there a problem?
Who cares what the player wears? If he could find equipment in the game that could increase his stats, he'd wear medieval armor with floral beach shorts for these guys to see.
The skiers were stunned by the two men's nonchalant reaction.
"If you're here to soak in hot springs, you've taken the wrong bus."
After struggling with the question for a long time, he finally came up with a reasonable explanation for the two people's behavior.
"I recommend the one in Zhongyue. You can get there by taking the free shuttle bus from there."
He braced one end of his ski on the snow and rested the other end on his shoulder, freeing one hand to guide them.
"We didn't come here to soak in the hot springs, thank you for your concern."
Kazuma Hatori replied politely.
Fushiguro Megumi suddenly asked the middle-aged man who had come to ski, "The Daisetsuzan Ski Resort isn't here, so where are you planning to ski?"
"Most of us who come here do off-piste skiing. The snow in the ski resorts is compacted, so it's not fun to ski there!"
When the topic of his hobbies came up, the man burst into a hearty laugh, patting the skis that had been with him for many years with his thick gloves.
“However, you should probably head down the mountain as soon as possible dressed like this. Don’t underestimate this place; there have been incidents here before, and it hasn’t been peaceful lately.” He earnestly advised, “A few days ago, a friend told me that he heard strange noises when he came to ski.”
Megumi Fushiguro pressed on, "Strange sound?"
"It's like... the sound of a cassette recorder, like those old-fashioned cassettes spinning on the recorder, making a 'zzzz' sound. You can't even hear the voices playing on it clearly before you're scared out of your wits."
As he reminisced, the uncle chuckled a few times, kindly mocking his friend for being too timid.
"This has spread throughout our circle, which is why I have to come here by myself today. He absolutely refuses to show up and even advised me not to come either."
"I see,"
After listening to the description, Fushiguro Megumi nodded, and her expression towards the skier became serious and earnest.
"However, I do think it's not safe to ski alone. Sir, you said it yourself that this is all unmasked snow. If an accident happens and you fall into at least three meters of soft snow, it will be very difficult to get up without someone's help."
Falling on flat ground is fine, but if the impact is greater, you will sink into the snow, making it difficult to even call for help, and your voice will be covered by the snow and become weak.
"I didn't expect you to know so much about skiing, buddy! Don't worry, I just warmed up on the official slopes today and had a bit of fun skiing. I'm heading back now."
The older man laughed and patted Fushiguro Megumi's shoulder repeatedly, scattering his expression.
...That was too hard, it hurts.
"Seriously, are you really going to go any further up?" the uncle urged them again. "Even if you're just going to enjoy the scenery, you should at least change your gear. It's very cold up there, and the wind is strong. Be careful not to get hypothermia."
Just as Fushiguro Megumi was about to refuse, Hatori Kazuma, who had been pondering for a long time, spoke up first and asked.
"Then, can I do you a favor?"
He gestured for Fukuro to take out his phone, "We'll exchange contact information with you. If we don't report that we're safe with you before midnight tonight, you can call the police directly."
The uncle paused for a few seconds, then readily agreed.
"You're going to go into the mountains for this much? You probably didn't just come here to enjoy the snow, did you?"
Kazuma Hagoromo nodded: "Yes."
Finally parting ways with the experienced skier who had been enthusiastically advising them for so long, Fushiguro Megumi, who couldn't handle this type of person, breathed a sigh of relief.
“There will be [windows] at the mission points,” he explained to Kazuma Hatake. “They are people who can see curses but are not born with the spells. They will be responsible for observing curses in various places, compiling data, and handling logistical communication.”
The implication is that Kazuma Hatori's actions were somewhat unnecessary; if anything happened during the exorcism, [the window] would also send out a distress signal immediately.
“The uncle is so concerned about us,” Kazuma Hato said, “It won’t take much effort to contact him again.”
Regardless of the single sentence description of the system task, he always suspected that it was a deliberate accident rather than a problem with the task itself.
Fushiguro Megumi hummed in response and said nothing more.
"The tape recorder that makes strange noises is probably the curse we're looking for."
Seeing that it was still early, Fukuro Megumi called [the window] and asked him to help her find the way.
First, go and scout out the location to confirm the situation, and then...
Achoo!
Kazuma Hatori quietly watched Fushiguro Megumi sneeze, still maintaining her cool expression.
He considerately suggested, "Why don't you put on a down jacket?"
Fushiguro Megumi: "…………"
While waiting for [the window] to pick them up, Kazuma Hatake took Megumi Fushiguro to the station store and bought him a warm, thick coat to wear.
Before you came to Hokkaido, didn't anyone at home remind you to wear more clothes?
Kazuma Hatake's seemingly casual question caused Megumi Fushiguro to fall into an unusual silence for a long time.
“No,” he replied.
"Has he passed away?" Kazuma Hatori asked.
This time, Fushiguro Megumi remained silent for an even longer period.
"……No."
After uttering the word, he shook his head at Kazuma Hatake.
"Don't ask anymore."
There was indeed something going on.
Kazuma Hatake didn't press the matter further. He waited with him for [the window] to arrive at the station and take them to the place where the cursed spirit had been observed lingering.
"We suspect it is a cursed spirit generated by the [SOS mystery event]."
The man who came to pick them up was an ordinary-looking man, wrapped in a thick down jacket and scarf, and spoke with a peculiar local accent.
In Kazuma Hatori's eyes, he was basically the same as a quest guide NPC.
[Window] led them deeper into the snow along the compacted trail, explaining the detailed origins of the cursed spirit along the way.
“In the last century, a mountaineering accident occurred here. Two mountaineers wandered into the wilderness and quickly lost their way—but coincidentally, when the police were searching for them, they found a huge [SOS] sign made of dozens of birch trunks and quickly rescued them.”
"But soon, the two rescued climbers said they hadn't called [SOS], so the police resumed the search and found the skeleton of a man who had already died, along with his backpack."
"Among his belongings were several cassette tapes, one of which, when played, would intermittently emit eerie human voice recordings, such as '[Help me,' 'I can't move,' 'I'm at the bottom of the cliff, please pull me up,' etc."
"If it was a distress call, why would they deliberately leave a recording that's far quieter than a human shout? And how could they display an 18-meter-long SOS sign when he was unable to move?"
"In short, this incident made it into newspapers and on television news at the time, causing quite a stir. But since the internet wasn't very developed back then, it faded away after a short while."
"As a result, in recent years, that accident has been adapted into a so-called supernatural case by someone, and it has spread more and more widely on the forum."
The narrative of [the window] is quite long; try to explain the whole story clearly.
Fukuro Megumi released his two [Jade Dogs], who carefully patrolled both sides of the road, sensing whether there were any remnants of cursed power left by the passing spirits, while responding to [Window]'s words.
"These rumors, which are mixed with real events and contain a mixture of truth and falsehood, are indeed more likely to gather people's negative emotions and can give rise to curses in a short period of time."
It's even easier than imaginary curses because this paranormal case has a clear anchor of negative emotions—a cassette tape.
As they approached the location of the victim's death at the [window], Fushiguro Megumi signaled for everyone to stop a little further away from the edge of the cliff.
"We've found the remnants left by the cursed spirit; this should be it. Stay here and don't come any closer."
Fukuro first explained the word "window," then put two fingers together and held them upright in front of him.
"[Born of darkness, darker than black, all filth and defilement are cleansed.]"
The curtains falling from the sky are like thick, sticky ink poured onto paper, slowly flowing into a perfectly round, dark canopy, completely separating them from the windows.
Within this isolated little world, the air seemed to have been completely altered.
There was no rustling sound, the wind in the mountains and forests had completely stopped, and the light turned into a dim and cold blade, drawing several long cutting lines on the snow. Everything seemed so lifeless, like an eerie calm before the end of all things.
For some reason, Kazuma Hatake felt that the feeling of standing in the [tent] this time was different from the last time he was in the abandoned hospital.
"This [account]..."
Fuhei Hui frowned, his gaze falling on his outstretched hand forming a hand seal. He hesitated and spoke with great reluctance.
"It doesn't seem to be the fruit I produced..."
Boom!
The sudden, violent commotion caused the two to stumble a few steps—not because they lost their footing, but because the snow beneath their feet was trembling and cracking!
Within this vast [tent], the collapsing snow waves roared, churning with overwhelming force, impacting everything in sight: trees, rocks, mountains, and... them.
This is Mount Asahidake, an active volcano. It lacks the permafrost layer that has accumulated over the years, and every year it is covered with soft, fresh snow.
—This sentence suddenly popped into Kazuma Hatori's mind.
Immediately afterwards, his and Fushiguro Megumi's vision was completely filled with snow.
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