Tokyo Exorcism Diary

After instructing his employee, Hoshino Gen bolted, not out of fear of being caught and sent to the police station for “breaking and entering.” After all, he was officially connected to the Special Affairs Unit as a “contracted” operative. And when it came to the unit’s work, how could it be called stealing?

He simply didn’t want to waste time.

Because his call with Shimizu Yuu remained active, she caught up to him just moments after he arrived at the train station.

Bent over with her hands on her knees, Shimizu Yuu panted heavily. Her gaze, however, was fixed on the computer tower in Hoshino Gen’s arms, her expression stange.

Just now, she—Shimizu Yuu—an upright, exemplary student, moral paragon, pure and untainted young lady from a family of police officers—had aided this scoundrel in committing a heinous act of burglary.

Shimizu Yuu felt tainted. Her racing thoughts even conjured an image of her father coldly snapping handcuffs on her wrists and declaring, “You’re under arrest.”

After catching her breath, she puffed out her cheeks, her face full of displeasure. She demanded, “Return it immediately after you’re done!”

Hoshino Gen, naturally, gave a noncommittal shrug.

The two boarded a train back, and half an hour later, they were inside the antique shop.

Finding the tower too dusty for his liking, Hoshino Gen passed it to Shimizu Yuu halfway through the trip.

Once at the shop, he instructed Shimizu Yuu to clean the case and take off her dust-covered tracksuit jacket before leading her—the “porter”—to the second-floor bedroom.

The room looked freshly renovated, with wooden floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, a bed built into a platform, and a computer in the corner.

Hoshino Gen had Shimizu Yuu place the tower beside the computer. He then connected his own peripherals to the “ill-gotten” machine, plugged it in, and pressed the power button.

“…”

The machine powered on without issue, but the cacophony of noises it made during startup was worrisome—almost as if it might explode at any moment.

After an excruciatingly long boot time, the new monitor finally displayed a Windows 10 desktop. Among the plethora of icons cluttering the screen, Hoshino Gen’s eyes immediately locked onto the alluring Notepad icon. However, just as he reached for the mouse, the screen turned blue.

To be fair, this tower—possibly used by Michiko for her livestreams back in the day—boasted specs that were impressive even by modern standards. But time is a merciless blade, capable of cutting down not only humans but electronics as well.

After two failed attempts to reboot, which ended in crashes, Hoshino Gen had no choice but to dismantle the machine.

The files were all stored on the hard drive. Theoretically, as long as the drive remained intact, transferring it to another computer would allow access to the original data.

With methodical precision, he removed the hard drive from the old case, installed it in his own high-performance computer, and reconnected the peripherals.

The computer powered on. The hum of the fans and the glow of RGB lights from the case filled the room.

Yet even with his high-end setup, the aging hard drive’s sluggish read speeds bogged down the system.

During the wait, Hoshino Gen took out his phone—the one holding Chi-chan—and flashed its screen toward the dismantled old tower lying on the floor. With a smirk, he teased, “This used to be your computer, right?”

The phone screen flickered, Chi-chan’s face marred by occasional static. Her expression, though disturbingly eerie, retained a hint of cuteness. Yet the blood-red word “LIAR” soon emerged on the screen, as though scrawled in fresh blood.

Hoshino Gen raised an eyebrow. At first, he was puzzled, but his quick wit soon reminded him of a moment in Red Skirt. Before Chi-chan’s affection reached 60, the game presented him with a question:

“If I become ugly, will you still like me?”

To boost her affection and make her reveal her true form, Hoshino Gen had, of course, chosen “yes” without hesitation.

From Chi-chan’s perspective, though, it must have felt like a lie—a betrayal, just like the promises of love from the fans who eventually “drove her to death” in front of her computer.

Hoshino Gen didn’t bother to explain. From her vengeful ghost’s point of view, his actions indeed made him a liar. Besides, there was no point reasoning with her until her hatred and grievances were resolved.

Pocketing the phone, he turned back to the computer, which had finally booted to the desktop.

Without delay, he opened Notepad. Unfortunately, amidst pages of garbled text and nonsensical characters that suggested the owner’s deteriorating mental state, only a handful of decipherable lines stood out:

So sad.
What should I do?
Starting as a streamer today. You can do it!
Forget, forget, forget…
Die, die, die, die, die!!!!!!!
So tired.

To the uninitiated, it might have seemed incomprehensible. But for Hoshino Gen and Shimizu Yuu, who knew Michiko’s tragic backstory, it offered a haunting glimpse into her final, suffocating days.

Shimizu Yuu, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since their return, suddenly had tears welling up in her eyes. Choking up, she asked, “What can we do to help Chi-chan?”

Hoshino Gen wasn’t as emotional. He sympathized with Michiko’s plight, but the past couldn’t be undone. The best he could do was ease Chi-chan’s grievances, then treat her kindly after forming a ghost contract.

The contract could wait; dispelling her hatred was the immediate concern.

The solution wasn’t complicated: understand what the vengeful ghost hated and eliminate all sources of that hatred.

Ghost manipulation techniques were inherently sinister, considered taboo by orthodox practitioners.

Hoshino Gen, however, had no qualms about them. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill if necessary.

Still, Chi-chan’s targets of hatred were likely either her ra**ist teacher or the ‘fans’ who drove her to despair.

If it were the former, Hoshino Gen would gladly rid the world of such scum. But if it were the latter, the situation was far more complex. Tracking down anonymous trolls from years ago would be a Herculean task, and killing them would risk a confrontation with Japanese authorities.

This was why Hoshino Gen had to search Michiko’s home for clues—to ensure he wasn’t wasting his time.