The Aokigahara Ghost Story: The Sea of Trees and Salvation

The GPS signal from Kiyohira was quite far away. Checking it on my smartphone, it looked like he was deep in the forest, somewhere near the middle. I had no idea why he'd gone that far. He knew we had plans today, didn't he?

"Here it is."

"Wait, we seriously have to go all the way there?"

When I showed Kazuhiro the phone, he made a slightly annoyed face before quickly switching to an excited expression and filming the forest scene. The narrow, completely untamed forest path and the towering trees that blocked out the sunlight created an eerie yet strangely mystical atmosphere. More than anything, after breathing nothing but polluted city air, the clean forest breeze felt refreshingly crisp.

"This needs to be verified too~!"

I smirked at Kazuhiro, then followed the forest path while checking the GPS. As we walked, the trail split.

"Boss, which way? Should I ask on the 7channel board?"

"Why would you ask the board? Just look at the GPS."

I scolded him while checking the signal. Unfortunately, the marker sat right in the middle of the fork, making it impossible to tell which path was correct. Kazuhiro stood beside me, staring at his own phone with a frustrated smile as he began typing up the situation for 7channel. There might be someone in the comments who knew the way, so posting it wasn't a bad idea.

Reading through the comments under Kazuhiro's post, the suggestion from anonymous 124 seemed the most logical.

"Let's do what 124 said."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Better than picking randomly. We'll test both a little and take the one that brings us closer."

We started with the right path that most people preferred. It seemed to lead out of the forest, since the GPS signal grew steadily farther away. After walking a short distance, we stopped and turned back.

"Let's head back."

When we took the darker left path, the GPS signal from Kiyohira grew closer, thankfully. At this pace, we would probably reach him in about thirty minutes of normal walking. We ventured deeper into the woods.

"Boss, it's getting darker..."

"It's not even three o'clock yet. The trees must be getting thicker."

"You think?"

It was true. The deeper we went, the darker the forest became. As we pushed further in, crows began cawing loudly and flying overhead, making the atmosphere even more ominous. If I didn't have any powers, this was the last place I'd ever want to walk.

"Boss! Look, over there!!"

Kazuhiro suddenly widened his eyes and pointed. What the hell? I followed his finger and saw a pale, hazy white figure staring at us from between the dense trees. It was the ghost of a naked woman. Not bad body, though. The moment I thought that, my hair stood on end and a chill ran down my spine.

I drew on the Abyss. The unknown ghost's power was repelled by the Daughter of the Abyss's strength, and the eerie feeling vanished instantly. The ghost itself disappeared along with it. I slapped the trembling Kazuhiro across the cheek to snap him out of it.

Slap!

"H-huh? It disappeared!"

"Stop looking around. Just watch the path and follow me."

We hurried forward, keeping our eyes fixed only on the GPS signal and the trail. Maybe because we were practically speed-walking, the thirty-minute estimate shrank to about fifteen before the signal grew very close.

When we reached the location of Kiyohira's GPS marker, we found a massive tree. A rope hung from one of its thick branches, and from that rope dangled the body of a white-haired man, swaying gently.

"Genbaki!!"

Kazuhiro shouted Kiyohira's nickname and ran toward the corpse hanging from the giant tree. I rushed after him in shock. The body looked like it had been dead for some time. Insects had been eating away at it, and a horrible stench filled the air.

Looking closer, only the white hair matched Kiyohira. It wasn't him at all. The corpse belonged to a middle-aged white-haired man, though it was heavily damaged.

Kazuhiro hadn't looked closely and was still wailing, "Genbaaaakiii!!" What an idiot. I slapped him across the face again.

"H-huh? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠What was that for?"

"Look properly. That's not Kiyohira."

"W-wait... you're right?"

Ever since seeing that ghost, Kazuhiro hadn't been thinking straight. But why was Kiyohira's GPS signal here?

I searched around the corpse. Hanging on a nearby branch was a Buddhist rosary. Since Kiyohira was a Buddhist, he must have left it to pray for the dead man's soul. Next to it hung the GPS watch I had given him. Checking it, I found both the watch and a note attached.

He must have left the GPS watch and note so we'd find this message. This stupid bastard, hanging a GPS next to a corpse to scare us. When I meet him, I'm definitely going to punch him like Kazuhiro said. And why leave a note at all? If he just wore the watch, we would've found him anyway. Did he want us to take care of the body or something?

I showed Kazuhiro the note. We both prayed for the dead man's soul, then called the police to report finding a corpse in the forest. The police simply said "Understood" and hung up without even asking for the location.

After cursing the police thoroughly, we headed north toward the shrine Kiyohira had mentioned. Even while walking the uneven path, Kazuhiro was already uploading his experience of seeing the corpse to 7channel. Then he said, "Boss, there's some info here," and handed me his phone.

"Shirashira? Hmm... That's a weird name."

"Anyway, it seems like there really is a cult where Kiyohira said."

Four kilometers was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠about an hour at a slow walk, but we could run it in fifteen minutes.

Following Kiyohira's directions north, we started seeing quite a few footprints, as if people came and went regularly. The path gradually became more maintained. After walking roughly three kilometers, a torii gate came into view. A torii standing in the middle of the forest looked incredibly sinister.

"There really is a shrine here?"

"People are scarier than ghosts, so we need to be careful now."

I slipped on the gloves made from the Daughter of the Abyss's hair as I spoke. Cultists who had lost their minds wouldn't hesitate to kill. And if Kiyohira had left a rosary on that corpse, there was probably a connection between the cult and the body.

At my words, Kazuhiro picked up a fallen branch and began scanning ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the surroundings. Was he preparing for an ambush?

Just as we were about to pass through the torii, Kiyohira's voice rang out.

"Wait!"