1 The Shrine Between Worlds
[Player: Kazuki Arata]
[Level: 0]
[Waza: N/A]
[Kegare: N/A]
[Status: Alone]
---
Kazuki wasn't even sure why he'd agreed to come here.
Just boredom, probably. His apartment in Sendai had been too quiet lately. For a long time, really, ever since his mother had left. He’d spent his days drifting between online games and a part-time job stocking shelves - a life carefully crafted to avoid thinking too much about the future.
Going to Tashirojima, the famous "Cat Island" of Miyagi, had been the idea of one of his senpai from work. She had planned everything and convinced the other staff to join her on the trip—like an "ensoku" from elementary school, she had said. But then, on the day of the trip, clouds rolled in and it started to rain. Everyone else cancelled, but Kazuki, not bothering to check the group chat, didn't realize it until he had already bought his ferry ticket at the tiny Ishinomaki terminal.
Fine. On his own. What else was new?
The rain never turned into a storm, and the small island itself was covered in mist by the time he arrived, a light rain making the thick green forested hills look impenetrable. He should have stayed home and played a Projekt Red game, he thought, as the “See Cat” ferry docked and passengers disembarked.
Kazuki ran his hand through his mist-covered scruffy black hair and started to hike from the island's fishing port through the small village towards the Cat Shrine. Most of the houses were obviously abandoned, with broken walls and vines and leaves pushing out from the inside.
Then, a loud hiss and yowl from nearby. Down the road ahead of him, Kazuki saw a young man, probably only a year or two older than himself. The man was wearing an expensive black hiking jacket and carrying a complicated-looking fishing rod. Kazuki could hear him laugh as he kicked at a wet orange cat with a stubby tail.
Kazuki kept walking. There were assholes everywhere. Not his problem.
But as he got closer, about to pass the man, he saw why the orange cat hadn't run away. Under its malnourished frame were three small kittens, silent and visibly shaking. The mother was protecting them.
The man took the lit cigarette he had been smoking and flicked it hard at the mama cat. In the rain, it bounced off the cat's wet orange fur, not hurting it... But the cigarette landed at Kazuki's feet, and something snapped in him.
He stopped. Slowly bent down and picked up the cigarette butt, its ember glowing orange. Then Kazuki turned and flicked it back at the man in the black jacket, right in his face. With a howl of shock, the man covered his eyes. Kazuki took one long-legged step over and then pushed the bully hard, knocking him to the wet, broken pavement.
"What the hell?!" The man scrambled backwards as Kazuki loomed, standing over him silently, face impassive. The man was screaming, spittle flying from his mouth, "Are you crazy? Screw you!! I'm getting the police - that's assault!"
Kazuki took a step forward as the man crawled backwards on his hands and knees before awkwardly getting up and running away, leaving his fishing rod behind.
Were there even police on this island? Kazuki looked down - the mama cat and her kittens had disappeared.
From there, the walk took about thirty minutes. On the way, Kazuki thought about why he was really on Cat Island. Did he have a particular fondness for cats? Not really, but his mother always had. She loved cats, but dad had always said no. Then he left, and Kazuki had, as a boy, hoped to finally have a kitten - but somehow none of the apartments that he and his mother had lived in, first in Kanagawa, then Tokyo, and finally Sendai, had allowed pets. Maybe it was because his mother was white and made ends meet by working part-time jobs. They always had to take whatever crappy apartments they could find.
Then his mother had, one morning, disappeared. And Kazuki could never find a reason.
These were the thoughts drifting darkly through his head. But what was he looking for here on this island? Maybe nothing. Maybe he was just moving so he didn't have to think about his life. Walking along this single wet paved road between all this green, it was as good a place as any.
Standing in front of the Cat Shrine on Tashirojima Island, Kazuki frowned. It stood nestled among moss-covered stones and towering trees. A small stone torii gate marked its entrance, weathered by age and speckled with patches of moss. Two white banners flanked the gate, their kanji faded, rustling gently in the breeze.
Beyond the gate, stone steps ascended toward a little altar cluttered with offerings—ceramic cats, tiny statues, colorful pebbles, and a scattering of coins. Just behind was a small wooden shrine with a roof of weathered copper, faded from green to brown.
The shrine was painted white with accents of vermilion, contrasting with the earthy greens and browns of the forest. Shimenawa ropes adorned with white paper zigzagged across it. Nearby, a low red fence encircled the shrine grounds.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The whole thing was smaller than Kazuki had thought it would be.
Kazuki held a fifty yen coin in his hand, gripping it tightly. His mother, even though, or maybe because she was a foreigner, had loved Shinto shrines. Not the big famous ones, but the lost, forgotten little ones. There were thousands of them throughout the countryside, and every time they passed one, his mom would stop and drag Kazuki to it. She would have loved the cat shrine.
Kazuki realized that he was thinking of her as if she were dead. But she wasn't dead. Was she?
He threw fifty yen into the old donation box in front of the shrine, then rang the small bell hanging in front of it. He bowed twice, clapped his hands twice, then bowed again.
He’d heard locals talk about it granting luck, but his luck had always been missing in action.
"Luck's a scam anyway," he muttered, kicking at loose gravel beneath his worn sneakers.
"Is it now?" purred a voice nearby.
Kazuki jumped, heart hammering as he realized that he wasn't alone. A black cat was nestled in the back of the small wooden shelter, protecting the offerings to the shrine. The cat looked back at Kazuki, meeting his gaze without fear.
"Did you just talk?" Kazuki began, then shook his head. "No, obviously not. I'm losing it."
Then, the sound of boots on gravel next to him and Kazuki realized that the words had come from a young woman dressed in a one-piece black summer dress standing to Kazuki's right, her back to the bamboo and trees bordering the shrine. She had a short bob haircut beaded with rainwater, and around her neck hung a small brass bell etched with kanji Kazuki didn’t recognize.
How had he not seen her?
The girl tilted her head slightly and smiled, playfully offended. "You're already lost. That's why she chose you."
Kazuki looked back at the shrine, but the cat, there just a glance ago had disappeared.
Cute. But a weirdo.
"I don't know you, and I'm not here to make friends."
"My name's Kuro, and that's perfect because I'm not here to be your friend," she said. "I'm here because there's a darkness in you that's just the right soil for a very particular kind of plant." The young lady began to slowly approach Kazuki, as if she would leap at him if he suddenly tried to run. The cloudy sky wasn't letting much light down, but still, her eyes flickered gold.
"Sure, crazy lady."
A low growl rose from the mist. Something huge shifted beyond the trees directly behind Kazuki. He spun around and saw eyes glowing in the darkness of the tightly packed bamboo. His breath froze, and he stepped back, stumbling on the shrine's steps behind him.
Before he could question anything, the earth jolted violently beneath him, nearly knocking him to his knees.
"What the hell?"
A brilliant flash erupted from the shrine, swallowing everything. The world twisted around him like he'd fallen into a centrifuge. Gravity went wild, colors blurred, reality stretched thin—and then, with a sudden, gut-wrenching lurch, everything snapped back into focus.
He hit damp ground hard, palms skidding painfully against rough grass. Kazuki scrambled upright, eyes wide and breathing ragged.
"No, no, this can't—where am I?" His voice cracked, echoing weakly through the unnatural silence of towering, twisted trees. Fog curled menacingly around him, hiding secrets within its shifting depths.
A bright flash caught his eye, and glowing letters formed mid-air, clear yet unreal, like text from a game:
[Player: Kazuki Arata]
[Level Up: 1 - Open UI for Details - ]
[Waza: None]
[Kegare: 5%]
[Status: Lost]
[Start Tutorial? Y/N]
"Oh, come on…you have got to be kidding me."
[NO Selected]
“Wait! What? Tutorial?! Come back!”
A black cat, the same one from the shrine, slowly walked out of the mist in front of Kazuki before saying, "It’s no joke," in the voice of the girl in the black dress, then began casually cleaning one paw. Kazuki blinked, trying to wake from what had to be a dream. "But don't get too excited, you're barely stronger than... a mouse... right now."
Kazuki stared incredulously, torn between anger and fear. "A talking cat? Am I having a stroke?!"
The cat's eyes narrowed, its tail flicking sharply. "You don’t get it yet, do you? You're here because you have no home. Nobody wants you, and you are no one. That shrine was built over a boundary between worlds. It’s meant to summon champions, although…" It seems to have worked for you, too." The cat stretched, its tail high in the air, and then, in one fluid motion, it rose and transformed to become the girl from the shrine, herself stretching her hands above her head.
A shrill, eerie cry sliced through the darkness. Shadows shifted visibly in the fog, an intimation of hunger, and blood-red glowing eyes.
"Yokai, Bad ones," the cat murmured. "They've scented something fresh. You.."
Kazuki backed away, shaking. "No way-no-no-no—no way, I don't believe this. It can't be real..."
"'Real' is just a point of view," snapped the cat, already darting forward. "This is your moment of truth, Kazuki. Now or never!"
His legs were numb, so Kazuki raised trembling hands, instincts he didn't understand surging to the surface as a black smoke curled around his fingers. A pressure was building in his chest, suffocating him from the inside like something was trying to escape.
*Oh god! What was happening?*
The red eyes were getting closer fast. He swung his head around wildly, looking for the girl or the cat or anyone who could help him.
Nothing. She had vanished.
"Wait! How do I…."
.
.
.
Too late.
No escape.
[Kegare: 8%]
The sharp shadows lunged, eyes blazing and teeth bared, hungry to devour him.
---
[New Achievement: Ready Player One]
[Next Chapter: The Yokai Attack]
Thanks for reading!
New chapter every day at 6:07 EST.
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Here’s a photo I took on my last trip to Tashirojima/Cat Island:
