NOVA-003 ／ Japanese horror
The Lost Child in the Miniature Garden
The light of a smartphone, and her father's voice over the phone.
That was all she had to survive in this fog-shrouded village—
That was all she had to survive in this fog-shrouded village— — from the novel
Synopsis
The light of a smartphone, and her father's voice over the phone.
The light of a smartphone, and her father's voice over the phone.
That was all she had to survive in this fog-shrouded village—
On a trip with friends, Akane visits "Yonakimura," a desolate hot spring town situated deep at the bottom of a valley.
Their peaceful time is abruptly torn apart by a dense fog that suddenly rolls in.
According to legend, a monster known as "Kagenui-sama" abducts those who wander out on foggy nights, sewing their eyes and mouths shut with red thread.
As her friends vanish without a sound, Akane is left completely isolated in the inescapable village. With her smartphone being the only thing catching a signal, she calls her father in Tokyo for help.
Her father, who once drew up the blueprints for this village as a surveyor, attempts to guide her to a safe route relying solely on the video feed and ambient sounds from Akane's phone.
Visibility is only a few meters. An anomalous monstrosity that could approach from anywhere.
With precise instructions over the phone as her lifeline, a desperate escape begins.
Will Akane be able to survive this bottomless night…?
Characters
Inside the white, and outside it
Akane Toyama
Eighth grader
On a trip with friends she is left alone in the fog. All she holds is a light that gives out at three metres and a phone with one bar of signal. Frightened, she still takes the least bad road each time.
Shinichi Toyama
Akane's father
Years ago he surveyed every corner of that village for a living. He still carries the corners and the gradients as a drawing. From somewhere he cannot reach, he names her next step.
Yui
Akane's classmate
The friend who planned the trip with her from spring. It was she who spread the map on the tatami and set the rules of the test of courage. Akane has never managed to copy her knack of speaking before thinking.
The Shadow-Stitcher
A legend of Yonaki Village
It takes away those who walk abroad on thickly fogged nights. It sews their eyes and mouths with red thread and ties them over to the side of the dark — so the old man at the teahouse said.
Read The Lost Child in the Miniature Garden
Both volumes, on the Kindle store.