After thinking for a moment, Edward suddenly recalled a very classic series—one he had read as a child. That manga was Shiki.
Shiki was a very intriguing work. Though outwardly it seemed like a story about vampires and humans, it actually carried hidden metaphors. But its ending was rather unpopular among readers—or rather, the ending was highly controversial.
In the original ending of Shiki, the monk transformed into a werewolf, and he escaped together with the Shiki leader, the very source of all the tragedy, going off to bring disaster to other places. That conclusion angered many people. After all, even when he was still human, the monk had spent much of the story protecting the Shiki, which many readers found disgusting. Numerous fans protested this point, with many even trying to rewrite the ending themselves. But the original author refused to change it. And so, the ending of Shiki became permanently fixed—a result that, in hindsight, was oddly humorous.
Edward personally disliked that ending, so he planned to revise it.
Touching his chin, Edward muttered, "Anyway, this is something I can fix later. But maybe before that, I should try releasing a novel version of Shiki first, to test readers' reactions? After all, this kind of story isn't really suitable for a movie. A TV drama might work, but the ending absolutely must be altered. If it's not changed, it will never pass review."
With that thought in mind, Edward decided to rework the final conclusion of Shiki.
…
TN: I don't know this story so the names might be wrong.
Morning mist curled over the fields surrounding Sotoba Village, just as it always did. But today, the fog carried an unusual chill. Beneath the ancient tree at the village entrance, Dr. Ozaki Toshio stood beside a dirt-stained bicycle, his brows tightly furrowed. This lean, middle-aged doctor had not slept properly for an entire week. The string of bizarre deaths occurring throughout the village weighed heavily on his mind.
Removing his glasses, he rubbed his exhausted eyes and stared toward the village shrouded in morning haze.
"Again…" Toshio muttered to himself, clutching a freshly written death certificate in his hand.
The deceased was Shimizu Megumi, an eighteen-year-old girl from the village. She had been perfectly fine yesterday. Yet this morning, she was found dead in her room—skin pale as ice, lips unnaturally red, as if she had just drunk fresh blood. Stranger still, a row of small bite marks lined her neck, looking as though she had been bitten by some kind of wild animal.
Pushing his bicycle toward the village center, Toshio passed groups of villagers huddled together in anxious whispers. Over the past few months, more than a dozen similar deaths had taken place. At first, they were dismissed as a strange illness, but as the body count grew, fear spread. Toshio knew these deaths could not be explained by any ordinary disease.
"Good morning, Dr. Ozaki," greeted an employee of the village office.
"Morning," Toshio replied, forcing a faint smile. "How are things looking?"
The man's voice dropped low. "Two more died last night. People are getting scared… many don't even dare step outside anymore."
Toshio nodded and quickened his pace. He needed to inspect the bodies as soon as possible. Only by understanding the cause of death could he hope to solve this mystery.
But he did not yet realize that this was only the beginning of the nightmare. Something far more terrifying lurked within the shadows of the village—waiting for its moment to strike.
—
When Toshio arrived at the morgue beside the village office, his assistant was already waiting. The young girl's corpse lay beneath a white sheet on a simple wooden platform. Taking a deep breath, Toshio lifted the sheet.
Shimizu Megumi lay motionless. Her pale skin was dotted with faint purplish marks. The row of bite wounds around her neck looked even more sinister in the morning light.
Putting on gloves, he inspected the wounds carefully. They were arranged in a neat semicircle, each about five millimeters wide, with edges unnaturally clean—like they were made by sharp, precise teeth.
What unsettled Toshio more was that almost all of her blood had been drained, yet there were no signs of external bleeding.
"This makes no sense…" he murmured. "If she was attacked by an animal, there should be tearing. These wounds are too perfect. And no bruising—meaning she was probably already unconscious or dead when she was bitten."
He checked the rest of her body, finding no external injuries or signs of poisoning.
Just as he was about to write down his findings, the morgue door creaked open, and Muroi Seishin stepped inside—the village's only novelist, a tall, thin man with black-rimmed glasses and the frail look of a quiet scholar.
"Dr. Ozaki… I heard about Shimizu Megumi." Seishin's voice was low and heavy. "May I… see her?"
Toshio hesitated before nodding. "You can, but the situation is unusual."
The moment Seishin saw the girl's neck, his face drained of color.
"This… this wasn't an animal," he whispered. "These bite marks… they look almost human."
Toshio stared in surprise. "You think so too? I've already ruled out animal attacks. What's stranger is how her blood vanished without leaving a mess. This doesn't match any known medical explanation."
The tension between them thickened.
Suddenly, Seishin remembered something. "A few nights ago… when I passed by the Shimizu house, I saw the Kirishiki family's hearse parked outside. The Kirishikis always move around at night. Do you think…"
Toshio's eyes widened. "You noticed them too? I've been investigating the Kirishikis. They moved into the Western-style mansion at the village edge last month, but they barely interact with anyone. And their family graveyard… that is definitely not a normal cemetery."
"It looks more like a temporary storage place… for bodies," Seishin finished, trembling.
Toshio exhaled slowly. "We need more evidence. Seishin, can you look into the backgrounds of the deceased? See if they had any contact with the Kirishikis."
"I will," Seishin said. "But… what are you planning?"
"I need to perform an autopsy."
…
Night fell, smothering Sotoba Village in darkness. Faint streetlamps flickered in the wind. Toshio sat alone in his study, surrounded by stacks of medical texts and thick notebooks. He had worked over ten hours straight, yet the case only grew more tangled.
A soft knock came at the clinic door.
Looking through the window, he recognized the figure—his wife, Kyoko.
"So late… what's wrong?" Toshio asked as he opened the door.
Kyoko's face was pale, eyes filled with fear. "Toshio… something has been following me. Since this afternoon, I felt eyes watching me—but every time I turned around… there was nothing."
"You stayed home all day," he frowned. "Who could follow you?"
"I don't know…" Her voice trembled. "But it felt so real—like something hiding in the darkness, staring at me…"
Toshio comforted her gently. "You're just stressed. I'll get you warm milk. Rest early."
But even after sending her home, her words lingered in his mind.
Then the clinic phone rang sharply.
"Doctor! It's terrible!" his assistant shouted, panicked. "Kyoko—she's collapsed beneath the cherry tree in your yard—her neck… bite marks… and her blood… almost all drained!"
The world spun. The receiver nearly slipped from his grasp.
He sprinted home.
Under the moonlight, Kyoko lay cold beneath the cherry tree, the familiar bite marks carved into her throat. Just like Megumi—blood gone, yet no sign of bleeding.
"No… no, impossible…" Toshio fell to his knees, voice hoarse. "What kind of monster did this…?"
A cold wind blew. From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a white figure darting into the woods. He leapt up to chase it—but the figure vanished into darkness.
…
By dawn, Sotoba Village was in chaos.
Dr. Ozaki's wife was dead.
Her corpse bore the same bite marks.
Fear spread faster than wildfire.
The village office overflowed with terrified residents. The village chief trembled as he addressed them. "We've contacted specialists from the prefecture. Please remain calm—do not panic…"
But Toshio knew the truth: no ordinary doctor could explain these deaths. Even he couldn't.
A horrifying thought was forming in his mind—this was not natural. This was something supernatural. Something like the legends—vampires… or Shiki.
"Dr. Ozaki," a familiar voice called.
Seishin stood there, looking unusually serious.
"I found something," he said. "About the Kirishiki family."
At Seishin's house, he revealed his findings. "I traced the backgrounds of the past three months of victims. Aside from Megumi and Kyoko, at least seven others had contact with the Kirishikis. And all of them lived near the village edge—close to the mansion."
"This is no coincidence," Toshio growled. "Tonight, I'm going to the Kirishiki house."
"That's too dangerous," Seishin warned. "If… if they are what you suspect… we might not stand a chance."
Toshio forced a bitter smile. "I already lost my wife. I won't let more die. Tonight is a full moon. Legend says creatures like them are most active then. If the Kirishikis are involved, tonight is our chance."
Seishin hesitated, then nodded. "Then I'll go with you. But we need supplies… garlic, crosses, holy water…"
…
Under the full moon, the Western mansion loomed ominously. Toshio and Seishin crept toward the back door. Through a window, they saw only faint moonlight casting fractured shadows across the floor.
Suddenly—footsteps.
They pressed against the wall as the door opened.
A figure in a white kimono stepped out. Under the moonlight, its skin was deathly pale, lips unnaturally red. Its eyes were pitch black—devoid of reflection.
Toshio recognized him instantly.
The village monk.
A man who had always seemed gentle, harmless—the peaceful keeper of the temple.
But in that moment, Toshio knew—
This monk was the one harboring the Shiki. The true accomplice.
Rage surged through him. He had come to investigate the Kirishikis… yet the real traitor was right before him.
But instead of attacking, Toshio retreated silently.
The next morning, he rallied the villagers. Together, they captured the monk in broad daylight. Under interrogation, the monk finally revealed the location of the Shiki leader.
Toshio faced the deranged monk and the pale, despairing Shiki leader with a cold, mocking smile.
He seized the Shiki leader and forced her mouth toward the monk's throat as the monk screamed hysterically.
"You sympathize with the Shiki, don't you?" Toshio roared. "Then become one! Become a Shiki and die with them!"
Around them, the villagers shouted with fury. Nothing disgusted them more than a traitor. Whatever pity the monk might have deserved, he forfeited it the moment he chose to betray humanity for the sake of the Shiki.
The monk was turned into a Shiki. Both he and the Shiki leader were bound with iron chains, their collarbones pierced to prevent movement.
At dawn, the monk was dragged into the sunlight, his body burning under the scorching rays. The Shiki leader howled and wept in agony, clinging to the monk's charred body before finally dying beside him. Their remains intertwined on the ground.
But the villagers were still not reassured.
They set the bodies ablaze once more, reducing everything to ashes.
Only then was the matter truly settled.
(End of Chapter)