It was summer vacation at the university, and I was having a lot of free time, so I was talking with my friends A and B about what we could do for fun.
A said, “By the way, I heard that there is an abandoned village near XXX.”
We were not only vague about the location, but we only knew it was in the “XXX” area.
We were so excited just by the word “abandoned village” that we decided to look it up on the Internet and set out immediately.
In fact, we were skeptical at first if such a place really existed.
But when I looked it up, I found it right away.
So, at around 11:00 p.m. that night when we decided to go, we headed out in my friend A’s car.
It was supposed to take about four hours to get there, but we arrived just as the sky was getting light, partly because we got lost.
It was already a sight beyond what I had imagined.
It was so deep in the mountains that one wonders if there really was once a village in such a place.
But in fact, it was.
The village was overgrown with trees, grass, and flowers, and there existed an abandoned village that had become desolate.
Broken dishes, a Japanese-style toilet bowl, a refrigerator, and boots were on the side of the road.
There were several buildings, but our goal was to find an abandoned hospital.
It was the largest building in the village, and was the main feature on all the websites.
As expected, we soon found what looked like a hospital because of its size.
We entered the hospital without hesitation, probably because the sky was already bright.
The floor was covered with air gun balls everywhere.
It was probably people who had come to play a survival game (is that what they call it?).
In fact, there was nothing else there in particular.
I had imagined an operating room or a hospital ward.
There was nothing except a series of corridors and small rooms.
A “Are you sure this is a hospital?”
I “But it’s just like the building I saw in the picture, right?”
B “Hmm? Pizza boxes are down.”
A “Don’t tell me you didn’t have it delivered here.”
As I was walking along with this conversation, I found a hole in the floor that looked like a manhole.
A “Wanna go?”
I said, “I’m going.”
Of course we decided to go down to see what was underneath.
It was a natural choice for us, as we had been disappointed by the disappointment.
We went down with flashlights and found the ground surprisingly quickly.
When everyone reached the bottom, I suddenly felt a chill I had never experienced before.
It was probably A and B, too. I could tell by the look on their faces.
I probably had the same look on my face as they did.
But before I had time to say, “Oh no!Let’s go back!”, something more terrible happened.
I could hear the laughter of women, men, and children all around me.
There were so many different kinds of laughter that I wondered how many there were.
It was an eerie laughter that cannot be described in words.
I have little memory from that point on, probably due to fear.
When I came to, I was gawking in my car.
I probably ran to my car in a mad dash.
I was so out of breath that I couldn’t even speak.
A hurriedly tried to start the car, but the engine wouldn’t start.
What a goofy story, I was able to start the car normally.
That was really good.
All three of us couldn’t stop shaking for a while.
We looked out the car window and saw the hospital that was supposed to be there, but somehow it had vanished.
I didn’t know what it meant anymore.
We had been in an abandoned hospital there and now we see it’s just a plain, empty place?
I didn’t tell A and B who didn’t notice it.
We went back to our respective homes that day with little conversation.
Before arriving home, all three of us bought omamori at a nearby shrine to ease our minds.
I regretted buying it before going to the abandoned village.
Now that I think about it.
I wonder why we went home, even though it would have been less scary if the three of us had stayed together.
Now I really regret that I should have stayed with the three of us.
The next day, B died.
It seems that the amulet he had bought was stuck in his throat.
The cause of death was asphyxiation.
The contents of the amulet had turned black.
Somehow, I and A are still alive.
There was no way to know why B was the only one who died, but A and I were crying and talking about it.
Several years have passed since then, but I still have the amulet I bought at that time.
When I shake the amulet, the contents make a sound like black ashes.
I can’t open it because I imagine it’s like black and white ashes.
I don’t know what to do with it, so I just leave it at home.
Sometimes, in my dreams, I hear that laugh.
The day I have that dream, for some reason, the middle and ring fingers of my left hand stop moving.
I don’t know what it means.
Well, I haven’t gone to an exorcism because there is no other problem.
This is what I experienced.
I read it over again, and it’s a total crap story, but it’s a pain in the ass, so I’m just going to post it as is.
Sorry about that.
