- In a world where sins have physical manifestations, just what can a person expect....
Date - September 20th 2022. Tuesday.
The time was exactly 5:32 in the morning. The sky, filled with infant clouds as the day had just begun.
Location wasn't anything alien—from the banners scribbled in kanji, it was obvious this was Japan.
We start off at an abandoned warehouse, junk piled at the exterior, with the inside left empty...well, not quite...
Yawwwwwn~
Disrupting the unnatural silence, a girl of about average height wakes up from her slumber.
In an abandoned warehouse of all places?
"Ow.... my neck." She wiped her eyes, dismissing her tiredness. Her back was in pain— this was clearly no place for a good night's sleep.
She took a deep breath still half asleep and shouted.
"Okay, Inori Jiro! Today is your birthday!" She yelled excitedly, fist-bumping the walls of the warehouse... but something was wrong... Inori's eyes examined her location.
looking left, right, then left again, She checked her attire which was a simple yet elegant white robe with gold lining.
Her hands slowly dropped after realizing. "Where am I?" She spoke out loud, confused—this wasn't the room she fell asleep in last night.
"What's going on?" Her eyes darted the area. Rats rolled in rubbish at a corner, with blood stained walls behind Inori. A scenario enough to frighten any teenage girl.
Her heart rate slowly spiked as sweat dropped from her forehead. The terrible aroma of burnt corpse exuding from God knows where, mixed with engine oil made her nauseous.
She stood for some time, almost panicking, Inori reasoned.
'This obviously isn't possible...am I still asleep? Come to think of it, I'm feeling rather odd...'
Her face painted with slow ease as she came to the conclusion.
"What a weird dream...it feels so realistic, is it because today is my birthday?"
She spoke to herself, Inori decided to ignore the situation and deem it unreal. She then exited through the door of the warehouse. Thinking this being a dream, might as well wander about.
Now outside, Her monologue continued.
"I need to wake up, Father must be waiting for me, he even came home quickly so we could celebrate."
A smile appeared on her face as she walked about.
Her eyes gawking at heaps of metal stacked like trophies.
"By the way, this dream... It is so random!" She cursed seeing as this was nothing magical like most girls would expect from their fantasies. It looked like a place for human trafficking.
Inori occasionally called out for her father, trying to see if she could imagine him in her sleep, however it was replied by an angry comment, scolding Inori for yelling so early in the morning.
She apologized to the house-hold for screaming recklessly and continued walking.
She sighed.
"I'm cold... wait, can I even get cold?" Inori whined, rubbing her palms to generate some warmth, who could blame her, the time was 5:37 in the morning.
After about 10 minutes, now considerably leaving where she woke up, Inori found herself in a small market.
Lined with local stores that were still closed.
The time 5:47.
Amidst all the silence she muttered with a dead serious face.
"I have to wake up."
With that being said, Inori rushed to a small wooden fence and forcefully removed a plank.
"H—hey?! What the fuck are you doing?!"
The homeowner yelled, shocked to see her tearing through his fence.
"I'm so sorry sir, but please I need this for something!"
She ran to a secluded area away from the neighborhood.
Inori elegantly sat on the rocky floor with the plank in her hand. Under a bridge. She brought the board to her scalp.
'This is a waste of time, I have to wake up.'
Her mind decided. Given the likelihood of this never happening, Inori needed to end this illusion—it was simply unnecessary.
The Prime Minister being her father was extremely busy, finding time to celebrate her 14th birthday was no easy feat. This opportunity could not be wasted.
"Rather than waiting to wake up....I'll... I'll just kill myself in the dream."
Inori was obviously shaking from the statement, but she still slowly stretched the plank away from her head—about to crack her skull.
'I can do this.'
A quick pep-talk.
She tried clearing her mind to no avail, her heart pounded and her hands trembled.
Cold sweat ran on her skin, the feeling too vivid not to call this real.
Her body seemed to betray her, refusing to move a muscle related to self-harm.
Of course, no one could commit suicide at will so easily, but today was special.
She needed to "wake up" and celebrate with her father.
Inori breathed in, then out. She mustered all of her strength then acted.
Baam!!!
The sound of bone cracking echoed like a gunshot.
The impact startled nearby crows, sending them scattering into the sky—That was unmistakably painful.
As the feathers of the crows landed, Inori could be seen seated with the blood stained board.
Later letting go, causing it clatter on the floor.
Her eyes quickly teared up as her brows rose in pain.
"Ahhhh!!!! It hurts!!!"
She cried like a mad man, her body rolled on the floor as if set on fire, Inori tried her best to stop the bleeding as her forehead had been lacerated.
"Oh my God it hurts!!!"
All to no avail, her screaming that is. It only resulted in worsening the situation, as loud noises caused even more pain to her already damaged skull.
Some time after her wailing, the pain seemed to have subsided.
She sat in the silence, her bloodied hands trembled.
The world around her didn't fade, didn't flicker. It waited.
In the presence of the pain she just felt, she finally acknowledged.
"This...isn't a dream."
With a voice barely audible, Inori was certain. Then what was she doing in such a random location?
"Perhaps I was kidnapped? But that shouldn't be possible...Father was at home, meaning his protection was more than enough!"
She contemplated her situation as she rubbed her forehead, Inori stood up and decided to return the plank she removed from that poor mans fence.
Inori placed her hand on her chin, her mind searched for every possible solution to this conundrum.
She settled with the most obvious.
"I just need to call father on the telephone, I'll tell him I was kidnapped and he should come rushing to save-"
She suddenly stopped walking. She blinked then turned left, then right, searching for something.
Inori suddenly got goosebumps as dread filled the atmosphere. It got...odd...
Her nose sniffed like a dog's, as she noticed a faint aroma.
"I smell blood... animal blood."
She turned around looking for the source of the scent, the smell of blood, goat blood to be precise.
She followed her nose to a local temple in the middle of 2 buildings. She expected to see an abatoure where they killed goats but ended up in a shrine.
A faint sound with minimum decibels echoed through the alley.
"...I hear... chewing?"
Inori peeped, the source of the sound came adjacent where she stood.
"What on God's green earth is that?"
She spoke aloud with an honestly confused expression, just what did she see?
- At exactly 5:55, for the first time in her 14 years of living. Inori witnesses a Sinner.
It was a 15 feet tall snail-like creature, its body crouched as it nibbled on the corpse beneath it, revealing the mans organs torn through his flesh.
Lazily chewing as if not enjoying the meal.
Its color palette consisted of completely dark red skin—however its shell was accompanied with black dots resembling...a lady bug?
It had unrealistically huge eyes, looking animated. Something otherworldly, but the immaculate details on its body made sure to spell reality.
Simply put — THIS WAS NO DREAM.
- Congratulations Inori Jiro, and welcome to Fukui.