It was exactly two years ago. I was looking for a part-time job because I wanted to travel.
It was a hot day and I was sweating as I flipped through the job listings and made calls.
But for some reason, everywhere was no good, no good.
I was lying on the worn tatami mats, swearing and flipping through a random collection of job magazines.
It’s a recession…to save electricity, the lights are turned off until night.
The setting sun was shining in the dark room.
Only the part blocked by the window frame cast a shadow like a dark cross on the tatami mats. The sound of a train echoes in the distance.
When I close my eyes, I can smell the aroma of dinner coming from another room.
”There was a Cup Noodles.”
I sat up sluggishly and put away the scattered job magazines.
Suddenly, I found a page that I must have opened by accident.
There was a job opening for a part-time position at a Japanese inn in a certain prefecture (I’ll leave that blank).
The place was exactly where I wanted to go on vacation.
The conditions were only for the summer, and the hourly wage was not very high, if at all.
However, I was strongly attracted by the fact that it was a live-in job with meals.
I have been eating only cup noodles for a long time. I wanted to go to a place where I could eat homemade food even if it was cooked for me and where I wanted to go.
I called immediately.
“hello. Thank you for calling! XXX Ryokan.”
“Oh, excuse me. I saw your job ad. Are you still accepting applications?”
“Please wait a moment. …… the…the…the…the…the…the…the(static)…yes…yes………”
The receptionist was a young-looking woman.
She was on the other end of the phone with a man with a low voice (possibly the innkeeper?). They were having a whispered conversation.
I was so nervous that for some reason I sat on my knees and waited. Eventually, I heard someone picking up the receiver.
“hello. This is innkeeper speaking.. Are you looking for part-time?”
“Yes, I am. I found out about this place through xxx jobs, and I’d really like to work here.”
“Thank you very much. When can you start working?”
“Whenever you’re ready is fine by me.”
“Then you can start tomorrow. Excuse me, what is your name?”
“My name is Kamio.”
“Kamio-kun, I see. Come quickly.”
It all happened very quickly. I was lucky. I try to record my phone calls so that I don’t forget what I want to talk about.
I replayed the call and wrote down the necessary information.
I was told that since I would be living in the inn, I would need to bring my insurance card and other necessary items, so I wrote that down as well.
I looked at the job posting page of the inn and saw a black-and-white photo of the inn. It was small, but looked like a nice place surrounded by nature.
I was relieved because I had suddenly gotten a part-time job and it was a place I wanted to go.
But something was wrong. I made a cup of noodles while humming a tune. Something about the humming felt strange to me, too.
The sun had already set before I knew it, and a warm, humid breeze was coming in through the open window.
As I sipped my cup noodles, I realized what was wrong.
The conditions were good, and I could enjoy traveling while earning money. There seemed to be girls there.
I might even meet someone at a ryokan. But something was wrong.
The glass of the window is a mirror in the darkness. My face was reflected in the dark window.
For some reason, I was not at all happy. I don’t know why, but I was intensely depressed.
I kept staring at my lifeless face in the window, as if I were old.
The next day, I woke up with a terrible headache. I sobbed violently. Was it a cold?
I wobbled around and brushed my teeth. Blood dripped from my gums.
I looked at my face in the mirror. I was startled. There were dark circles clearly drawn on the corners of my eyes, as if in ink, and my complexion was completely white. It was as if….
I thought about quitting my part-time job, but I had already made preparations during the night.
But I was not in the mood. Then the phone rang.
“Good morning. I’m XXX Ryokan, is this Kamio-san?”
“Yes, I am. I’m just getting ready to leave.”
“I understand. Are you not feeling well? Excuse me, but your voice…”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just getting out of bed.”
“Please take it easy. You can take a bath in a hot spring when you arrive here. Please take it easy on your first day. We won’t be that busy.”
“Oh, no problem. But thank you very much.”
I hung up the phone and left the house. Such a kind and gentle phone call. I was grateful.
But after I hung up the phone, I started to feel a chill. When I opened the door, I felt dizzy.
I thought, “Well… anyway, if I can just get to the inn…”
I headed for the station, dizzy enough to make passersby turn around.
Soon it began to rain.
I didn’t bring an umbrella, so I had to walk to the station without one, soaking wet.
I started coughing violently.
“I want to rest at the inn…”
I reached the station soaking wet and bought a ticket. Then I looked at my hands and was surprised.
They were crusty. They were wet, but the skin was cracked. Like an old man.
I wondered if I had a serious disease. “I hope I can get to the inn in one piece…”
I climbed the stairs, propping my feet up by hanging on to the railing. Resting several times.
I had time before the train arrived. I sat down on the bench and breathed hard.
My voice was hoarse. My limbs were numb. A headache rushed over me like a wave. Coff coff coff. Cough! I coughed and blood splattered on my feet. I wiped my mouth with a handkerchief.
The blood is sticky.
I looked at the platform with misty eyes.
“Quick…get to the inn…”
Soon the train roared onto the platform and the doors opened.
I finally sat up, watching people getting on. My back ached.
I dazedly made my way to the boarding gate. My whole body aches. “If I take that train…”
Then, as I put my hand on the exit, an old woman with a face like a demon rushed out of the car.
I was knocked off my feet and rolled onto the platform. The old woman stumbled back, but attacked again. I started fighting with the old woman.
Sadly, I had no strength in my hands, even though the old woman was my opponent.
I said, “Stop! Don’t do it! I have to get on that train!”
“Why? Why?”
The old woman asked as she straddled me, grabbed me by the face and held me to the ground.
“You must not go to the inn!”
Eventually the station staff rushed in and pulled us apart.
The train had gone. I sat in the center of the crowd, unable to stand up.
An old woman who had been pulled away from me said to me as she caught her breath, “You are being pulled. It was close.” And she left.
I had a few words with the station staff, but they soon sent me home.
I had no choice but to leave the station and return home.
Then my body started to feel better. My voice came back.
When I looked in the mirror, my blood color was good.
I went home wondering.
I put down my luggage and smoked a cigarette.
After calming down, I dialed the number of the ryokan to decline. A light, emotionless voice came back.
“This number is currently out of service.”
I pressed again.
“This number is currently out of service.”
I was confused. This was the exact number that had called me this morning.
“Something was wrong, something was wrong, something was wrong….”
I remembered that I had kept a record of the call.
I rewind to the beginning.
Playback
“Za…za…za…… yes. Thank you. I’m XXX inn.”
Huh? I felt a chill. It should have been a young woman, but her voice sounded like a low male voice.
“Oh, excuse me. I saw your job ad. Are you still accepting applications?”
“I’ll be with you in a moment. …… the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…yes…yes ……”
Hmm?
I could hear what was being discussed there.
Rewind and increase the volume of the audio.
“Yes, one moment, please. …… the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…the…yes…yes………”
Rewind.
…”
Rewind.
“…It’s ch…illy… and …fr…ee…zing.”
It contains the sound of a child. Plus the sound of many people roaring behind them.
I was dripping with sweat.
I step away from the phone. Then the call transcript plays as is.
“Uh…thank you very much. When can you start?”
“Whenever you’re ready is fine by me.”
Conversation from memory. But I must have been talking to man.
The voice that flowed from there was that of an old man, as if echoing from beneath the ground.
“Kamio-kun, come here quickly.”
Then the call is cut off. Cold sweat poured down my body.
It is pouring rain outside. I was stuck as if I were in a metal bind, but I finally calmed down.
Then, the call record went straight to the phone.
It was the call that came in this morning.
But the only voice was mine.
Death, death, death, death, death.
“Yes. I’m just getting ready to leave.”
Death, death, death, death, death.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just getting out of bed.”
Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die.
“Oh, no problem. But thank you very much.”
I pulled the phone line out.
I cleared my throat.
“What…what…what the hell is this? What’s going on?”
I was holding a job guide in my hand at the time.
Trembling, I searched for the page.
Then something is wrong. My hand was shaking.
The page was there. It was supposed to be clean, but one of the pages at the inn was wrinkled and a stain had spread widely and was slightly burnt at the edges.
It is the only page that is old. It looked like an old magazine from decades ago.
And there was a picture of an inn that had burned down.
There was an article written on it.
More than 30 people died. The fire seemed to have started in the kitchen.
The burned body of the owner of the inn was found in the kitchen, and it is thought that he had started the fire when he was cooking. Guests who had come to stay at the inn failed to escape and were engulfed in flames and burned to death.
“This…what is this?” This is not a job offer.
I couldn’t even speak up. The job advertisement was being turned over in the wind.
My head was numb and I was as still as a stone.
Then the rain suddenly slowed. A moment of silence enveloped me.
The phone was ringing.
