Editing Phenomeno:Case 01 (section)

====1====

Hey, mother.

If the beings called ghosts exist in this world, then—

Would it ever be possible for someone to prove their existence in a way no one anywhere could object to?

I think it would be impossible, no matter how much humanity evolves. On the flip side, it also means that no one anywhere could irrefutably prove that they do not exist.

From that standpoint, to discuss whether ghosts exist or not is a complete waste of time. That's why the only winners of such debates must be the ones who can enjoy ghosts purely as a source of entertainment. Indeed, I fall under that group, and I'm what's commonly known as an occult maniac.

Mother, you may not know this, but I’m a bit of a pariah in society — to be of my age and go ghost this, Unidentified Mysterious Animal that; I know that people laugh at someone like me. But you know, there are plenty of things in this world that are inexplicable.

Yes—

For example, the house I'm living in.

This bygone, almost thirty-year-old building rests on the banks of the Tamagawa waterworks, and the rent is exceptionally cheap, partly because of its remote location. I had just moved to Tokyo this spring, and was looking for cheap real estate, when I found this place.

The closest convenience store is a ten-minute bike ride away. It's surrounded by darkness and covered by a thick copse, and because there are no streetlights in the area, it's completely dark at night. Nevertheless, this old building was cool. It was built in the style of a mountain cottage, with a garage on the first floor and atriums on the second and third floors, so it was more than luxurious for only one person. The kitchen is as cramped as an office kitchenette, but it has a living room, a Japanese-style room, a bath, and even an atelier. From what I hear, an architect designed it as their personal workplace. For me, it was love at first sight. Furthermore, it was rare to find a place with a bath for just 30,000 yen in Musashino, Tokyo, and above all, it had a history that couldn't be ignored.

''"This is 'The Wish-fulfilling House'''," so said the smiling real estate agent who introduced this place to me. ''"The architect who built this place became famous, the illustrator who moved in next became overwhelmed with work opportunities and moved to the city center, and the young couple that lived here until last month just vacated because they had a baby. You are quite lucky."''

After hearing that, who wouldn't sign up in a heartbeat?

So, I jumped at the opportunity. There was probably a feeling of superiority too, given that my university classmates pay over twice the rent to live in rabbit cages. In any case, for a while I thought what a lucky guy I was, and how my first experience of living alone had gotten off to a good start.

Yet — within a month, I realized how big of a mistake that was.

When I was sleeping at night, I heard these sounds ring out from somewhere. Creaking sounds of an old door desperately trying to be opened. At first, I thought there was something wrong with the building, but it was odd that it only happened around two o'clock in the morning. I tried going out from the Japanese-style room in the corner of the second floor, which I had used as a bedroom, into the living room. Thereupon, the noise stopped. I thought, ''"Maybe it's coming from up above,"'' and went upstairs to check the atelier on the third floor. But there was nothing there that could be the source of the sounds. I'd planned to eventually organize it to look more stylish, but at the moment it was a bleak room, housing nothing more than my desk and a bookshelf. I looked around, but all the windows were shut, and there was nothing that could make a sound. After that, I moved to check the toilet and the bath. But I couldn't find anything that could be connected to the sounds there either. I thought it was just my imagination, and was about to go back to bed, when it happened. The sounds started up again. A creaking noise, like the sound of old wood grating. I could also hear the sound of something scratching. It wasn't a mouse or a cat or anything like that. It was an eerie kind of sound, like something trying to crawl out of some dark place after having been tormented for many years.

Gradually, the sounds seemed to stop echoing throughout the house and started to feel like they were seeping out of a space right next to my ears. From that day onwards, I kept all the lights in the house turned on, and shoved in earplugs whenever I slept, but the problem was no longer just about the sound.

It was about two weeks ago.

I found something definitive.

I found a "7" ("七") carved with something sharp on the wall of the staircase landing.

I immediately checked to make sure the doors and windows around the house were locked. But there was no sign that anyone had entered, and I was extremely terrified back then. It was a pretty big engraving, but I forced myself to think that I just hadn't noticed it before. However, a few days later, I found a "6" ("六") near the bathtub. It had indeed been carved by something sharp onto the wooden frame of the window. And then— it happened a week ago. I found the number "5" ("五") near the toilet, and even the most optimistic part of me was convinced.

Something was in this house.

And that this… was some sort of countdown.

I immediately flew out of the house; I couldn't live in a place like this any longer. I hadn't made any close friends at university yet, so I lived in karaoke spots and net cafes for several days straight. I couldn't talk about something like this to anyone. I didn't know any priests, nor any mediums. It was then that I realized. Right, the people from "Ikaigabuchi<ref>Literally "Abyss of the Spirit World."</ref>" would be perfect for discussing this with. Like-minded people who, like me, were fascinated by the deep world of the occult; They might believe me.

And having said all that—

They definitely weren't suspicious people at all.

"No, 'we' are plenty suspicious."

"...Huh?" I recoiled at the sudden voice from above.

I turned back to see "Karasu-san's" white face, waving her hand at me.

"Sup, Nagi-kun."

"K-Karasu-san. How long have you been there?"

I checked the time on my cell phone.

It was ten-thirty at night. There were still thirty minutes remaining until the offline meeting began.

"Right around the time you started explaining 'The Wish-fulfilling House' to your mother."

"...That's basically from the beginning," I complained, as I hastily shoved my stationery back into my bag.

"Sorry, my bad. But you know, peeping is, like, our thing, right?" said Karasu-san as she displayed a cutesy smile.

This was a family restaurant near Itsukaichi-kaido Avenue.

We were going to have an emergency offline meeting here with the members of an occult site I frequent. And of course, Karasu-san wasn't her real name. It was a handle that she used online. Just as I, Nagito Yamada, go by the name "Nagi" online, she went by "Karasu," meaning "Raven." This was the third time we'd met, but I still didn't know her real name. However, she was a regular visitor on the Ikaigabuchi site, and thus a veteran of the occult in comparison to me, who'd only begun browsing the site in spring this year.

Her appearance was the same as always. She was dressed in a purplish velvet dress that reached down to her ankles, and under that was just a black camisole, which exposed her cleavage. Her breasts looked they would jump out at any time, which made looking at her awkward — however, this was her uniform of sorts.

"You're quite early, did you close up shop sooner than expected?" I asked, and in response:

"Pretty much. Fortune-tellers don't have much to do when there are no customers," she said as she took off the shawl she was wearing and sat down across from me. "But you know, to put it frankly," she looked at me as she played with the shiny skull accessory on her chest, twirling it with her fingertips. "Your house probably has nothing to it."

"What?"

"What was it called— umm, right, right, a schema."

"Schema?"

"It's a term from cognitive science, apparently. If you keep believing you're scared of something, then you start seeing faces in the stains on the ceiling, that sort of thing. The truth is that if you hear your house rattling every day, the scratches that were originally in the house to begin with start to look like numbers.”

"...S-seriously?"

"Seriously seriously. I mean, you came to Tokyo by yourself from the super rural-ness in Shizuoka, and this is the first time you're living alone, right? Furthermore, you're living alone in an old wooden house, so it's understandable. I used to live in a house that groaned and squeaked a lot, so I know how you feel. It's like the sound of plastic wrap, pretty creepy." She said that as she raised her hand to call the waitress and ordered a beer.

Wait, hold on a second. If this was just me being a wuss, then what was I supposed to say to the occult veterans that were coming to the offline meeting? Would I get banned from that wonderful site overnight for being such an airhead?

"Ahh, don't worry about it," she laughed flippantly. "They're the kind of people who love to get together and talk about creepy stories to begin with.”

"But is it going to be that simple? Around ten or so people said they were gonna join today."

Thereupon, Karasu-san said "Huh?" and stared at me. "You haven't checked?"

"Checked what?"

“Today's participants, I think there are already more than 30.”

...What?

I hastily accessed the Ikaigabuchi offline meeting board through my cell phone.

Thereupon, I opened the "The Wish-fulfilling House / Investigation Thread," and was astonished.

"It really is true. Why'd the number suddenly skyrocket? Are people really ‘’that’’ interested in 'The Wish-fulfilling House?'"

"Unfortunately, that’s not it at all. You see, even the super regulars 'Suu-san' and 'Zippo-san' are also on the list of participants, aren't they? They wouldn't come for some mere ghost story."

''...Some mere ghost story, you say.''

She laughed at the expression I was making, plucked the phone from my hand and began to twiddle with it. Eventually, she turned the LCD screen towards me. "This person. The fourth poster, going by the name 'Yoishi.' I think this many people are showing up because this person announced their participation."

"Who is this 'Yoishi' person?"

"Who knows," Karasu-san grinned as she pulled out a cigarette. She lit the cigarette using a worn, thin-sized lighter, and after blowing out a puff of smoke, quietly whispered, "Those that meet Yoishi die seven days later."

"What?"

"There's more. 'Yoishi isn't a living person,' 'Offline meetings Yoishi attends end in disaster,' and what else was there..."

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Something like an urban legend that started being whispered around Ikaigabuchi. Even so, no one's actually met Yoishi. No one knows if Yoishi is some old man, or what their gender is. However, everyone who attends a meeting Yoishi goes to clams up. The entire thread disappears. The participants stop coming to Ikaigabuchi, or—"

"Or?"

''"They die."''

Her low whisper felt like I was being doused with cold water from my neck down my spine. On the other hand, Karasu-san was happily receiving her shiny cup of beer, exclaiming "Woah, delicious!" in a lackadaisical tone.

"But those...those are just rumors, right?" I asked, and she replied "That's right", while laughing.

"So, basically, even if 'The Wish-fulfilling House' is a miss, there's hope that 'Yoishi' pops up, everyone gathering today is looking forward to that. So you have no reason to fret," she said, but even so, I had some pretty mixed feelings.

Until now, and until today, I trembled with fear alone, unable to go back home. That’s why I went to the trouble of organizing today's offline meeting, in the hopes of hearing the opinions from the veterans of Ikaigabuchi. Having the story blown off immediately as my misunderstanding wasn't enough to make me go, ‘Ah, so that’s what it was’, and quell my fears.

"But — if Yoishi has gotten interested, might 'The Wish-fulfilling House' be the real deal?"

"Who knows...I'm just interested in seeing how Yoishi-kun's appearance turns a horror story that doesn't interest me into something eerier."

...''Doesn't interest her''...

"If it's still bothering you, Ikaigabuchi has a page for investigating haunted areas. You can request an investigation on there. Although I still think you'll just end up being laughed at," she laughed as she finished gulping down her beer in the blink of any eye.

Indeed, the occult website I often frequent, Ikaigabuchi, did conduct on-the-spot investigations of haunted places across the country, both famous and unknown.

After an investigation, the haunted spots were rated on a four-point scale from A to D, with A being the most dangerous. This rating was quite unique, in that even famed areas such as Taira no Masakado's Grave<ref>Taira no Masakado — Japanese commander and politician of the first half of the 10th century, one of the organizers of the uprising of 935-941. The myth holds that when Masakado’s decapitated head was on display near a river bank in Kyoto, it opened its eyes and kept grinding its teeth, not showing any signs of decomposition. When plague broke out in Tokyo nearly 400 years later, it was also attributed to the vengeful spirit of Masakado. According to legend, the head is buried in a small shrine in the Otemachi, Tokyo and disrespect for the grave is punishable by a curse. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/taira-no-masakados-grave</ref> and Oiwainaritamiya Shrine<ref>Oiwa-Inari Tamiya shrine is located at the Shinjuku district in Tokyo. This place was once home of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon, protagonists of Yotsuya Kaidan, the famous Japanese ghost story of betrayal, murder, and revenge. [https://media.magical-trip.com/many-related-ghost-story-sightseeing-spots-japanese-kaidan-ghost-story-yotsuya-kaidan-story-oiwa-tamiya-iemon Read more]/</ref> were jointly given a D-rank by Ikaigabuchi — In other words, they were rated as having the lowest level of danger. Supposedly, it was because those areas had become a place where ghosts and humans were "segregated" on the basis of mutual respect.

On the other hand, places given an A-rank were often unknown to the general public. Places such as crime scenes that involved murders brought forth by ugly emotions such as infatuation and jealousy, or at the site of an elderly person’s lonely death, who spread their fanatical delusions until the moment of their death. They say that those places serve as lightning rods for souls that resent this world, souls that have lost their personalities and simply became a mass of resentment, who exert an inescapable malice towards those that approach them.

As I thought such things, Karasu-san had begun peering intently at my face. "Hey, Nagi-kun."

"Yes?”

"You have the sign of a meeting."

"What?"

"And it's — with a girl."

...Seriously?

My expression relaxed at hearing those words.

"Could you please elaborate a little more?"

"Hmm..." She began playing with the realistic skull-shaped accessory near her chest as she continued. "How should I put it...it's a very intense encounter. Like two split souls are reuniting... But—" she declared with a look that seemed to see right through me to some other world. "It's hard to say if meeting this girl will actually result in happiness for you."

"What do you mean?"

"And furthermore... Huh? Wait, isn't she already dead?"

......Hey!

Isn’t that like being possessed or something?

You've gotta be kidding me, I thought, but I also remembered that she would tell me such ominous things every time we met. Previously, she'd told me I would have luck with bicycles, and then I got hit from behind by a mama-cycle on the way back home. Another time she told me I would have golden luck and I was happy about it, then I stepped on a gold-colored thumbtack at home. In other words, she has a subtle skill as a fortune-teller, conveying people's unhappiness in a way that does not make them feel unhappy.

"You know, Karasu-san, if you're a fortune-teller, shouldn't you also teach people how to avoid misfortune?" I asked.

"Well, It's up to the individual to decide whether they consider misfortune to be misfortune." she said, and stuck out her tongue in a cutesy way, then shouted to the employee passing by, "Another beer, please!"

As I sat there, watching over her in a vexed manner, the chime at the entrance rang in rapid succession, and one after another, suspicious-looking people entered. Seeing as they were coming over after recognizing Karasu-san, I deduced they were people attending the offline meeting.

"Hello, hello, Karasu-san, you look as beautiful as ever."

"Maru-san, it's been a long time."

"It's exciting, isn't it?"

"The cruel tricks of our fortunes, that we should meet."

As such conversations unfolded, the seats at the far back of the family restaurant, where I was stationed, gradually became more and more crowded. I recognized a few faces among the increasing number of people, but the vast majority of them were strangers. I'd been actively participating in the offline meetings in Tokyo, but I have to say that the world of the occult is really deep when you see new faces en masse every time.

Just past eleven o’clock, the group of people with bizarre tastes gathered at the back of the family restaurant, finally exceeded thirty people. Well, I'd picked the family restaurant figuring there'd be only ten people, so this was a pretty big transgression. The looks from the waitresses passing awkward smiles at me hurt.

"Are there any more coming?" I quietly asked Karasu-san, who was engaging in small talk with the other attendees, and she responded with her cheeks slightly reddened, "It's way too late to ask that now."

"There are a bunch of people who show up without registering, so there'll probably be a few more."

"Won’t that be problematic?"

"This might scare away 'Yoishi' too," she commented cheerfully, but—

This might be a bit troublesome.

   ◯

"So, which one's Yoishi?"

As expected, not even an hour passed before the conversation blew past "The Wish-fulfilling House."

The countless occult veterans crammed into the family restaurant all looked around at each other, frantically searching for the accursed "Yoishi."

"Alright, I propose we do one round of introductions now!" The middle-aged man going by the handle "Professor" suggested as such, his face was already red.

Judging by the number of empty beer mugs lying on the table, he seems to be quite the drinker. The chorus of "Let's do it! Let's do it!" began in response, and soon each person stood up one by one and began to speak. At least half the participants were already quite drunk, so the atmosphere began to feel less like a gathering of occult enthusiasts and more like a full-on drinking party.

"Me first! I'm Professor! My field of occult specialty is in the ethnography of forgotten cultures!"

"Me second! I'm Usagi. I love folklore about Ryoumen-sukuna-sama!<ref>A specter said to have appeared in ancient times, named after his two faces on the front and back of his head (Ryoumen in Japanese meaning both sides), you can read more in-depth about him here: https://japanese-wiki-corpus.github.io/literature/Ryomen-sukuna.html</ref>"

"Me third! I'm Harley! I get excited by stuff related to OOPArts! Among other things, I'm currently researching the Voynich manuscript!"

What're they going first, second, and third for? And why are Usagi-san and Harley-san both jumping on the bandwagon?

The occult maniacs, who were more playful than necessary, began to introduce themselves one by one. And they did so in a ridiculously boisterous way. I alone, seemed to receive the sharp, reproachful glares from customers all over the shop.

"Me seventh, I'm Karasu!" 

When she energetically rose from her seat, she was greeted with a particularly loud round of applause, and when she started reciprocating the affection, I completely gave up on discussing the house. Come to think of it, every offline meeting ended up like this, it was uncharacteristic for an occult website like Ikaigabuchi.

"Go on, Nagi-kun. It's your turn next," urged by Karasu-san, I begrudgingly stood up. "Umm... Eighth. I'm Nagi. I'm a university student."

"What type of occult do you like?"

"Uhh, I love all kinds of mysterious stories...but right now I'm interested in things related to ghosts."

When I answered half-heartedly to the question that had been flung at me, people began shouting "Too stiff, too stiff!" "You haven't drunk enough!" and someone ordered a beer for me without even asking me. Man, I'm still 18. I'm underage, I can't drink.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'll drink it. Just act like you're drinking and they'll be satisfied," laughed Karasu-san as she smacked my butt with her palm after noting my expression.

Well, in any case, that’s how the thirty or so people introduced themselves in one round—

And in conclusion:

There was no one here who went by the handle of Yoishi.

"What? So they didn't show up?"
"I showed up just to meet Yoishi."
"Is anyone faking their handle?" Such voices arose one after another, but in the special space of an offline meeting, where it was not unusual for people to meet each other for the first time, it was hard to figure out if anyone was lying.

"Well, since we've all gathered, can we discuss what 'The Wish-fulfilling House' is—" I began to speak, but "Suu-san" cut me off,

“Here’s what I think," As I recall, he was an old veteran of Ikaigabuchi who managed a liquor store and liked collecting things like the arms of tengu and the shells of kappa, "Yoishi might be a different handle of Krishna-san."

I was listening with a sigh, but I reacted to that famous name.

"I see. That would make a lot of sense." Replied someone.

"If we summarize the rumors involving Yoishi — umm, 'If you get involved with Yoishi you'll meet a terrible end,' 'Yoishi isn't a living person,' 'Those that meet Yoishi die seven days later.' Things like that? But we've never heard any concrete news of someone dying, and maybe certain threads disappeared from the forum because Krishna-san used an alt account to participate and register haunted places that needed to be investigated, That's what I think, anyway."

''I see,'' nodded Karasu-san in agreement.

"Krishna hasn't been showing up as well lately, so that'd make sense."

"W-wait please," I interjected. "Krishna-san, as in the administrator of Ikaigabuchi, Krishna-san? Everyone's met them?"

"We have met them, or rather, they've always shown up to meetings before."

"But they're not here today?"

"You want to meet them?"

"Yes, of course."

In the first place, the reason I became interested in the Ikaigabuchi site was because the person named Krishna was so fascinating to me. Of course, part of it was that I was interested in the occult from the start, but Ikaigabuchi clearly held an attraction that was different from other occult sites.

That was apparent, for instance, when looking at the odd sentence prominently displayed on the home page, "Things that bother people also bother ghosts." Ikaigabuchi was originally established as a site to promote the separation of ghosts and people. Most people can't see ghosts. That's why, regardless of whether we mean well or not, we probably bother ghosts more than they do us, it was a perspective that was both fresh and unique. And as I read articles about renowned haunted spots on Ikaigabuchi, my conviction deepened. Each article was filled with care towards ghosts, and at the same time, never forgot to show respect towards both the living and the dead.

''"I've always wondered: Why are people always afraid of ghosts? Perhaps some ghosts play tricks on people, while other ghosts say, 'Come on, stop it,' and step in to intervene, yet no one ever thinks of the latter possibility. Maybe a certain amount of order is maintained by good spirits, and that is why the vast majority of people live their lives without ever being threatened by ghosts."''

That paragraph in particular, struck a chord with me.

Those words hit me hard, as I had just arrived in Tokyo and hadn't met anyone I could call a friend. I realized more than ever that people were connected to others through sincerity. It gave me the courage necessary to think that I could make it in Tokyo, where it's said that people's relationships with others is tenuous, where people try to avoid needless interaction with others as much as possible. I was encouraged by that. That was when I actually began participating on the site.

As I read the daily updates of bizarre articles, I became more and more fascinated by this Krishna person. Their deep, yet wide-ranging knowledge of the occult. Their logical and elegant writing style. The sincerity that could be felt in every written word. They were packed with things that my soul lacked and things that I truly needed right now. Before I’d realized, I had come to think of Krishna-san as my brother and father in Tokyo.

And if I could make a wish—

I wanted Krishna-san to personally investigate "The Wish-fulfilling House" themselves.

"H-h-how old is Krishna-san? What kind of person are they?"

"Nagi-kun, you're stuttering." "Calm down." "Here, have a drink."

Undeterred by the interruptions of Suu-san and the others, I rephrased my question. 

"Please, tell me. How could I meet them?"

However, my question was met with an awkward silence from the group of thirty people.

"I don’t think they’ll show up to an offline meeting again."

"Why?"

"Some things happened..."

"Some things?"

"Well, you’ll see. I’m sure you'll get the chance to find out sooner or later. But for now, leave it be."

I only received vague responses like that.

The brief silence in the family restaurant was broken by Zippo-san, who I think worked as a programmer.

"Um... I disagree with that opinion."

"That opinion?" In response to Karasu-san’s question, Zippo-san pushed up his thick glasses and answered nervously:

"Um… The theory that Yoishi and Krishna-san are the same person."

"What do you mean?"

"To tell you the truth, I know of an acquaintance who met Yoishi at an offline meeting."

"Really?" the entire gathering was suddenly excited.

"What were they like!?" "How old?" "Guy? Girl?" "Which offline meeting?" They all asked in unison, and Zippo-san quietly answered:

"The offline meeting was for the investigation of an abandoned hospital in the Tama prefecture, about half a year ago."

"So, what was Yoishi like?"

"Umm, well...I don't know."

"You don't know? How come?" Karasu-san asked, and Zippo-san gulped once before answering:

"Because the guy's hospitalized."

"Hospitalized?"

"Psychiatric Ward," Hearing that, the lively crowd once again fell to a deathly silence.

Everyone fell silent as if something heavy and grim overshadowed the excited crowd in their seats.

"Hospitalized in a psychiatric ward? Is that Yoishi's fault?" asked Suu-san, and Zippo-san slowly shook his head. 

"I don't know. But even after regaining consciousness, the only word he ever mumbled was 'Yoishi.' That's why I came to this meeting today, to ask Yoishi what the hell happened that day in the offline meeting."

Everyone fell silent for a while once Zippo-san stopped speaking.

From then on, the family restaurant was once again filled with stories of Yoishi. "Come to think of it," was the type of statement preceding conversations as tales of Yoishi emerged one after the other, as if being unconsciously recalled by those present.

If I were to summarize those stories—

It seemed "Yoishi" was someone who appeared very rarely on the Ikaigabuchi forum. They rarely posted, but when they did, they would post on threads on almost any topic, and give accurate commentaries on even the most maniacal of topics. Taking into account the variable times of their posts, Yoishi was thought to have been an occult maniac that sat in front of a computer almost twenty-four hours a day. They had knowledge of the supernatural that rivaled that of Krishna-san, but their posts showed no signs of sharing the love for ghosts that defined Krishna-san. If anything, they could be described as creepy — a creepiness that felt as if a dead person had blended into the internet.

"Maybe there's some truth to the rumor that Yoishi isn't a living person after all," mumbled Jersey-san, who said he was a writer for a magazine. "Remember that thread that popped up on the net a while ago, 'I'm a ghost, do you have any questions?'"

"Ahh, you mean the one that was talked about as being the real thing? Even after running an IP search, the PC and host were unknown."

"In my opinion, ethereal forms have good affinity with computers and other digital equipment. Because, you see, brain function is also driven by weak electrical signals."

"You do hear a lot of stories like that about ghosts posting on the internet."

"Then, that Yoishi—" mumbled Suu-san in summary. "We can't see them, but — maybe they are already here?"

Those words sent a shiver down my spine.

I quietly looked around the brightly-lit restaurant.

It wasn't just me, it seemed like everyone had felt something cold.

After that, the gathering became somewhat reserved on the topic of ghosts. Gradually, seats became arranged by topic as people broke off into their areas of interest.

As the organizer of today’s offline meeting, I wanted to bring it back to the original topic, but I was certain no one remembered anything anymore about my house. In addition, the creepy stories that Suu-san sitting next to me was telling were just too interesting. A story about a box found in an antique store that could not be opened, a talisman found behind a painting on a hotel wall, a woman‘s cackling laughter while speaking to a doll — each provided enough entertainment to leave you sleepless when alone at night.

Everyone lost track of time as they enjoyed the endless flow of occult discussions—

And at around one o'clock in the morning, the offline meeting dispersed.