Huh?

The bed seemed to be too cold and hard… It felt like concrete?

I didn't open my eyes and felt my body for a bit. I wasn't tied and seemed to be wearing a pretty thick jacket? No one seemed to be near me either, or they weren't moving. Opening my eyes with a slight crack, I seemed to be on a small road. Woah, that was one clean road, not one piece of garbage could be found . You don't see that in my country.

Opening my eyes fully, I stood up and looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was surrounded by houses, with most of their lights off. So it was probably nearing midnight or already past it. It wasn't a neighborhood I knew. The houses looked too orderly and like those Japanese houses, I saw in manga or anime. I checked the stone walls outside of the houses and found nameplates in a language that seemed Japanese. Not that I knew for sure, but it looked similar to the characters they used when writing.

This was either a very expensive prank orchestrated by someone, that probably weren't my friends since they couldn't be bothered to set up something so elaborate. So probably a TV show, don't know why they would pick me but I could probably press charges for this, or the more outlandish one was… That it was magic.

Sniffing the jacket, I found that it smelled like… it was freshly washed. So whoever put me here at least didn't give me an unclean one. Thankfully pretty thick, because god my face is freezing. Fumbling around the pockets of the jacket, I found my smartphone. Opening it with a few flicks, I turned on my location and looked at Google Maps… It opened but it replied with a "Servers are down… Please try again soon." Motherfucker, did Google crash or something? Of all the times… I set the time on my phone to automatic, so that I would see the current time of where I was.

I looked at the new time on my phone and it was currently 4:44 A.M. Well if that ain't ominous then I wouldn't be sure what is.

Hint:

4 means death in certain countries and is considered an unlucky number. In Japan this number is also sometimes pronounced the same with death which is 'SHI'.

… What? Oh yeah.

Ignoring the strange very descriptive thought I had on my mind, since it basically explained it, I glanced at the date.

04/04/04

"Oh for fuck's sake, this must be a joke." I groaned out loud, rubbing a hand onto my face. This was too coincidental and I was pretty sure that it was already 2021, not when I was fucking 7. The lights from the lamp posts suddenly flickered as a gravelly voice of a woman echoed down the path. "NaO, what do yOu mean by ThAt."

I didn't know why, but I shivered at that. Feeling cold sweat running down my brow, I craned my head towards where the voice came from.

There stood a woman with hair sticking out in pigtails, instead of looking cute, they were horrific as it seemed to be haphazardly stuck together with glue, making it look stiff and unclean. She wore red skirt with jumpers that was grossly too small, stained with darker shades of red. With it, an overly small white blouse matted with blood, which made the buttons on it pop out. The woman was barefoot as she jankily walked towards me, her clothes seeming to limit her proper movement. She asked angrily as her face still faced downwards, shoulders shaking, "YoU DiSturB mY plAytImE wiTH YUTARO, and NoW yOu sAy itS a JoKe..?!"

She was giving me dangerous vibes… Like legitimately. Those bloodied scissors aren't giving me any relief… My body hair stood onto their ends. "Lady… I'm not this Nao person." I explained in what I hoped was a calming tone, but my body was already trying to bolt away from my spot. This felt too real to be a joke… I wasn't going to find out for myself if this was just a really really good actress or not. I trusted my gut when it came to danger. But why did she look familiar..?

"Oh…"She muttered and I began to back off. Her shoulders stopped shaking but it even felt more dangerous. The moment her face rose to meet mine's, I felt my lips wobble in fear. Eyes that looked far too predatory to be human's met mine and her mouth that was dirtied by dark red lipstick, reaching towards her cheeks to seem like a smile, opened with an angrier snarl.

"YoU ruN awaY THEN yoU PreTEnd YoU aRe No-" I ran away. Glad that whatever put me here, at least put me in running shoes. My heart was beating like mad as I ran away from her, screaming like hell, "HELP! HELP ME! CALL THE POLICE!"

Please for the love of god..!

"N A O ! ! !"

The sounds of feet hitting the ground faster than mine sounded out. I did not dare look back even for a brief moment as I turned left to what seemed like an open-road. I did not dare stop yelling for even a moment, "HELP! CRAZY MURDERER ON THE LOOSE-"

A hand suddenly grabbed ahold of the hood on my jacket, with unnatural strength I was yanked back as those hands grabbed ahold of my head and made me look into the eyes of a murderer. I grit my teeth in pain as the scissor was stabbed into my stomach as those eyes never stopped staring into mine. My legs went weak but she held me up easily with one hand. With a tilt of her head, she smiled crookedly, eyes not even blinking, "DoN't RuN aWaY fRoM mY pRanKs aGain oR I wiLL KilL yOu, goT iT?"

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

I bit my tongue to prevent myself from cursing her, I nodded painfully, "Yes… I'm sorry." I hoped with all my heart that playing along with as this Nao, would prevent her from just straight up killing me.

She twisted the scissor as she pulled it out a bit, cooing like I was a pet, "Good boy~…" My eyes couldn't help but tear up a little bit at the pain.

Hope flared into my heart as I heard a bike bell sounding out as a man's voice loudly declared, "Mam, please turn around slowly!"

I saw the bitch's eyes lighting up in annoyance as she turned back, pulling out the scissor in my stomach. Not being supported by one of her hands, I kneeled down the ground covering my wound with my hands. Looking up past the bitch, I saw a young japanese man in what I hoped was policeman clothes with a cap, pointing a pistol in our way. His arms were shaking as cold sweat ran down his face.

Adrenaline pumped onto my veins as I instinctively knew that he would die. But I couldn't just abandon him either, this was my best chance to get rid of the woman. Running away would be pointless, I was already injured and before even being injured, I was caught easily. That was with a headstart of nearly 10 fucking meters.

"Oh, iS tHaT yOu TaNaka?" She knew him?!

"Miss Kuriko..?" The policeman muttered strangely, the grip on his handgun waving for a bit, but when he glanced at me and my bleeding guts, his eyes lit up with grim determination.

Kuriko, still ever the bitch, walked closer to him. The bloodied scissors hidden behind her. I looked around frantically for something to use as a weapon. For once, I fucking swore when I saw the ridiculously clean surroundings. God fucking damn it japan, you and your clean ass bullshit!

"Miss Kurokawa, please stand down and drop your weapon." Tanaka ordered, not taking his eyes off the bitch, as I took off my jacket.

"Or WhAt? YoU'll ShOot Me?" Kuriko uttered with spite, as she came closer and closer, not even bothering to hide the bloodied scissors on her hands.

"Mam, please stand down!" The policeman all but yelled as I saw several windows light up. Kuriko didn't even seem to notice as she walked closer and closer. Before she made it past 3 meters, Tanakashot. It landed dead on, onto Kuriko's shoulder. Her shoulder flew backwards but her movements did not stop as she ran for the policeman.

Or at least tried to.

Hurriedly wrapping her face with my jacket, I wrenched onto it and kicked the back of her only foot on the ground, hard. My right foot screamed in pain but I pressed on and all but slammed her skull down the ground as I grabbed onto her. Wrapping my legs around her stomach and between her thighsr, got her into a rear naked chokehold with the thankfully thick jacket barely being held by the elbow I put on her throat. The sticky and hard frigid hair of her pigtails, poked my face and eyes, they felt like cactuses but I did not dare even flinch. Muffled screams came out briefly from the jacket but I didn't let that stop me from counting down.

1, 2-

"Hey, Tanaka or whatever, come help me!" I grunted out as she struggled harder, hitting the wall besides her, causing a crack on the cement wall. The policeman stopped looking on in shock, as he grabbed steel handcuffs. He got it on one of her hands as he kicked away the scissors from her hands. Dangerous but whatever!

...4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14-

"Agh!" Tanaka yelled in pain as she grabbed ahold of his hand and crushed it, nigh instantly. I strengthened the chokehold I had on her but her hand seemed to be like a vice-grip.

…16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30-

Her movements began to weaken and she lost grip of Tanaka's hand. It seems that hand was broken but he didn't stop it from cuffing her successfully when she eventually stopped moving and struggling. I only stopped my hold when he cuffed all of her limbs and my count reached 60. Weakening my hold slightly, I felt that she didn't move in the slightest but I released it slowly and slowly until I was sure.

"Fuck…….." I sighed in relief as I got out from underneath, my legs and arms both felt like they went through hell.

Tanaka sighed in relief as well. Grabbing the walkie-talkie, he muttered a few words towards it, that I could not hear as my consciousness wobbled, "Sir... Please explain how this happened in the station."

"Don't think I can do that pal…" Hearing the sirens from afar, I let darkness take me. I could only hope they patched the wound on my stomach before I died from blood-loss.

Waking up to the smell of antiseptics and an IV latched onto my arm was not pleasant. Not to mention the familiar white ceiling on top of me.

I only wondered for a moment why I was here, when it came hitting me.

Fuck, what the fuck was that?! Waking up in the middle of nowhere in probably Japan, my phone telling me it was fucking 2004, then bam serial killer on the loose tries to kill me… Wait, how could I understand Japanese?

… What the fuck? Something suspicious is going on here.

I wondered for a minute until a nurse came into the room and glanced at me. She looked surprised for a bit and called out something that I couldn't hear. Only a few moments later, a guy in a white-lab coat came in and sat down besides my bed. I sat up as I knew what would happen next.

"Good morning sir. You have been asleep for 2 days, can you tell us your name?" He asked, getting a pen and a clipboard out.

"Ethan. Ethan Cana." I responded honestly. There were a few more questions, I couldn't be bothered to even be there to reply. Like yes, doctor, I'm a male… I know he's only doing his job but god damn it, I'm being rude again.

"Do you remember what led you lying on this hospital bed?" The doctor asked nicely, again.

"Murderer with ungodly strength chasing me down then policeman shows up, then I chokehold her till she fainted?" I asked rhetorically as that question got me out of my jam.

The doctor looked at me uncomfortably at that but nodded anyway. "Yes, miss Kurok-"

A knock came onto my door as Tanaka and what looked like an older, more experienced policeman came near my bed. They muttered a few words with my doctor, I could barely hear the man say, "Please let me talk with the patient for now…"

I waved at Tanaka, since we were buddies that went through death together. He waved back, a bit hesitantly but it will do for me. Oh, his hand broke. It was still in a cast.

"Hello, I am Inspector Fujimaru Takeda and you have met Officer Kurono Tanaka here." The middle-aged man said politely, pointing a hand to Tanaka.

"Good to see you both, I am Ethan Cana." I replied shortly and politely, to the best of my ability. It was good to see them since that means I could get news on what the fuck to do.

"Tanaka had already supplied his view on the situation, but I would like to hear on what happened." Oh nice. Well, I replied honestly, including the fact that I found myself in the middle of nowhere in Japan. It was better to be honest regarding that, since I'm pretty sure I checked all of my pockets that I had nothing besides my phone.

They both looked at me weirdly, as Tanaka looked at me with increasing suspicion. Inspector Fujimaru asked strangely, "You do not remember how you got there?"

"Nope. You could even take my levels and see that no, I did not take any drugs that night."

"If you don't mind, we actually found several I.D. cards of yours and a national I.D. It was strange that someone who looked so much like a foreigner was officially a citizen, but we had confirmed that it was legitimate. We may have to confirm it again, just to be sure." The inspector, which was probably a rank, explained in full. I blinked, surprised at that. I did not notice that I had anything besides my phone, speaking of, where was that darn thing.

"Ah sir, can you please tell me where my cellphone is?" Inspector Fujimaru nodded and handed me the phone, as Tanaka just shuffled uncomfortably in place. I mean yeah, his senior was doing all the talking and he was probably just there so I don't freak out since I saw a familiar face. Which was correct, by the way, I'm thanking all the gods I probably didn't even pray.

Opening it and seeing that it was April 6, 2004, 9:34 AM, I sighed in relief. Yey no more unlucky numbers all fucking round.

Closing it, I asked Tanaka so that he wouldn't be so uncomfortable. "So Tanaka, how is your hand doing?"

He responded with a pained smile, "Ah sir, I'm fine."

So polite… I frowned when I saw the cast on his hand again, "So how's our bitch murderer going?"

Tanaka flinched at that while the Inspector seemingly nodded at something while frowning at me. Oh boy, bad news.

"Miss Kurokowa Kuriko is still unconscious to this day, it is not known when she will wake up." Oh good. I sighed in relief at that. While, I would feel bad normally, fucking nope. She was insane and wanted to kill me. Not to mention, she kept calling me Nao this, Nao that…

I asked about that part, "May I ask who's Nao is? Bitch kept calling me that-"

Tanaka cut me off with a, "Sir. Please stop calling Miss Kuriko by that word. "

Ah god damn it. He likes her, doesn't he. Well, maybe she's pretty if she doesn't wear that makeup and getup like a monster. God, I hope he isn't crazy enough to fall in love with her when she looked like that.

"Excuse me sir, I would also like you to refrain from calling people such things. In this country, we find it extremely rude…" The inspector informed me as well, as my eyebrow raised. Seeing the offended looks on their faces, Tanaka still looked pained but offended as well, I sighed and replied raising both of my hands, "Yes, yes, I was just heated by the fact that she tried to kill me. Now can we get to who Nao is?"

Taking a deep breath, Tanaka answered my previous question, "Kurokawa Nao… was the previous husband of Miss Kuriko. He had gone missing for over 4 years just after their child was born and hadn't been spotted anywhere else."

"Child? How's the kid?" I asked a bit worried. If the kid had that psychotic of a mother, not to mention those bloodstains all over that woman… If she finds me similar enough to call me 'Nao' then her child-

Tanaka seemed to be especially pained at that but Inspector Fujimaru cut him off, " Besides a few cuts and wounds, Hiroshi is fine. He currently resides just beside the room you are in… He attested that he ran away from his mother when he cut his arm with scissors." Jesus christ, I guess physicality runs in the family if the kid can run away from his monster of a mother. Thank god for genetics saving a life…

"Oh right, woman also kept roving around about how I 'disturbed her playtime with 'Yutaro' think that means anything?" I mentioned that since I kept all the things she said playing on my mind.

Both policemen looked towards each other in confusion and seeing that they didn't know, I sighed. The woman was familiar to me, strangely enough but I couldn't put my finger on why. God if people like that existed everywhere, then this world must be full of… horrors..?

"Holy shit, Junji Ito." I muttered in despair as I grabbed my head with both hands. Oh fuck, if I'm right then I'm so screwed. God let this be a dream-

Beginner Quest Completed.

You have discovered you are in The World of Horrors by Junji Ito.

You have unlocked Inventory, Quest System and Abilities.

Scenario 1 has been completed… Scenario 2 will begin in 5 days and 33 minutes. Please complete your preparations.

Please check your inventory for the rewards.

Note: Remember that the time between Scenarios are not assuredly safe. Other horrors may come in to contact with you at that time.

I froze.

"Sir Ethan?" Tanaka asked, concerned.

I fainted in despair, of course, not before screaming, "FFFUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCK!"

Very long a/n:

First time writing, but this seemed interesting to write at the time so I did. It was hard… If I have made any mistakes in the story, please say so and I'll do my best to remedy it. Especially regarding technical stuff, I haven't done extensive research behind them.

Didn't put any suffixes in, but might change that later on. I just can't handle tanaka being chased by a monster then him screaming "Help me, Ethan-kun!!!" it sounds so anime i cant take it seriously HAHAHA

Used Sir instead of san this time. Since it fit with how tanaka is a such a boyscout.

I'm gonna try to put all the monsters and ghosts, collectively gonna be called by me as Horrors but the things ethan gets as rewards, can be from other series. Not a massive horror nut, planning to research some stuff but not now, so I'd like rely on you all with that stuff at least for now.

The Horror this time was quite easy to deal with. She is Kuriko found in the chapter 'The Bully' by Junji Ito, forgot which volume it was. Chose her for the first scenario since she is supposedly just a normal human but really fucking insane. I recommend you read the chapter, since oh boy, its pretty scary when it sinks in.

Also if you're curious what she looks like in picture, search "the bully last chapter" or you know read the entire thing so its better.

I'll accept recommendations regarding what the second Horror will be, since oh boy, there's alot to pick from. Please make sure, that it isn't fucking impossible to survive or a really major event in the whole world like the army of one, because I'm trying to make plans for those. Next chapter is due next year, since I plan to write after my christmas break…

Probably won't do junji ito much justice on how terrifying his stories are but I'll try. Probably should start leaning how to write horror as well...

See ya'll later! Have a fun christmas~