Editing Internet Shrine Maiden Tsugumi-chan:Volume1 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

It was not actually accurate to say that site had naturally developed on the underground side of the internet.

It didn’t benefit the site administrator to exist there.

Just like a map of price gouging restaurants or a list of the easiest convenience stores to rob, it really came down to the major search engines deciding the site felt criminal and distancing themselves from it. In this case, by viewing the site as the poor victim. In other words, it was a condescending and unwanted favor. As a result, it had become a mysterious site that would never show up simply by typing in the name and a special illicit plugin had to be added to your browser to find it.

It had originally been the official site for a certain Shinto shrine.

Did the ruins of shrines and churches always become dens of monsters? The site had become a gathering place for experts whose love of the occult had led them to waste more than half their life. And of course, the real connoisseurs preferred the real deal. It was a lot like cheaply buying a building where a murder occurred and renovating it into a horror-themed book cafe.

The internet shrine’s home page had a number of subpages listed and the Talk Corner was something like an online conference room. The screen was divided into several windows, each with the shrine’s grounds as the background.

The usual suspects with too much time on their hands were filling those square frames with their flashy Youkai-themed avatars. One regular account had taken the monstrous theming so far it wasn’t clear where the face even was. It was early morning, an inauspicious time on the boundary between day and night, but there were still people there.

“Lady Nine Tails> I sense a trend in the newcomers. Is that fan-shaped collection of megafloats, New Sea City, the latest fad?”

“Clam Mommy> The quality and quantity of the tragic archives here are on another level. There’s something wrong with the administrator (complimentary)”

“Snow Sister> But that administrator is currently pouring most of her attention into the advice column and the daily fortune telling meant for light users, isn’t she? This could make the site more accessible and ruin it for the rest of us.”

“Joro Spider> Don’t worry. That extreme introvert doesn’t know how to appeal to light users.”

“Yamanba-chan (Brown)> Could you change your name to Jorogumo? Translating it makes it sound like you’re talking about an actual spider!”

There were of course plenty of people on the site not wearing avatars. Those users tended to be on the lighter end and there were different parts of the internet shrine for both types.

The regular known as Lady Nine Tails copy-pasted over the text from a different board.



“Sugar Doll> I can’t stick to my diet. Help me, Shrine Maiden!”

“Shrine Maiden> I can teach you a way to motivate yourself using bad smells. Keep it up and you won’t have any trouble.”



“Goddess in Love> We aren’t actually dating yet, so would handmade sweets be too much? Ahhh, I want to put them in his mailbox right this instant! I haven’t done anything wrong have I!?”

“Shrine Maiden> Why are you even asking me? You’ve already done it.”



“Cute and Popular> It’s almost my birthday, but I asked some subtle questions and my boyfriend says he has work that day. Has he forgotten, or is he planning a surprise? Either way, I’m afraid asking any more questions will only make things worse. Shrine Maiden, what should I do?”

“Shrine Maiden> He’s simply forgotten. And for this he deserves death.”



Was this a standard action she had saved to a shortcut key, or was she actually doing it all seated in front of a phone or tablet? The fox-eared kimono beauty breathed an exasperated sigh while squishing a balance ball (designed to look like a clear, white paper lantern) below her kimono butt.

“Lady Nine Tails> Thoughts?”

“Yamanba-chan (Brown)> Incredible.”

“Snow Sister> She blows them all off after a single line. That’s the kind of cold reception I could fall for.”

“Lady Nine Tails> With her making such a mess of that, this oasis for us tactless occult freaks should be safe for a century more at least.”