Even after locking myself up in my house like a real NEET god, I didn’t feel any better.
I hadn’t been able to sleep last night. At some point, morning had come. My body heavy, I forced myself out of bed and looked out the window.
“It’s true... I’m really dead...” I whispered the words aloud, and the despair came pouring in and ruined my morning.
The air felt heavy. Heavy, and cold.
I thought once you were dead, you just stopped feeling anything. Personally, I would have preferred that. Then I wouldn’t have had to suffer and be so miserable.
I looked towards the desk. My laptop was on top and still turned on. The monitor was displaying Kirikiri Basara’s web page.
It was the article I’d uploaded before on the 256 incident. Since I hadn’t known I was one of the 256, I’d written it in my usual joking style.
And the comments were the same as ever. The Basariters were, like always, gathering at the site and making rude comments. It was true even after so much time had passed since the incident.
“[Urban Legend] Anybody Care About the 256 Incident?”
This morning, the Mitaka Police Department announced to the media that they’d discovered a massive amount of drowned bodies in the lake. 256 bodies were discovered.
The cause of death in each case was drowning, and the most prominent theory is that they all dove in of their own accord.
The Scientific Investigation Laboratory has yet to say whether any kind of drugs were discovered in the bodies, and it is hoped that further announcements will be forthcoming.
✦ ✦ ✦
■NEET God
256 lol
Did a computer do it? And is that lake even big enough to fit 256 people lol
So I’ve got three theories right now.
① Cult Mass Hypnosis
② Some internet suicide site asked for volunteers for a big meeting.
③ A bunch of people decided to have a swimming party in Inokashira and it turned out the water was poison and they all died lol
④ After an alien abduction the aliens threw all the bodies in the lake lol
⑤ HAARP mind control
⑥ A Tengu did it
Something like that lol
Alright Basariters, slice this shit to ribbons
369: Anonymous Streaming Live
You see the victim list?
Is Miyuu Aikawa Myu-tan?
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Myu... that’s a shock.
372: Anonymous Streaming Live
Saw it
I guess it’s true...
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Why?
She just told my fortune!
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No way...
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Nononono
Its a lie its a lie its a lie
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Depressing
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Was she mental?
386: Anonymous Streaming Live
I heard a friend of hers was murdered
So maybe she killed herself then
387: Anonymous Streaming Live
Maybe something was bothering her
That was a group suicide, right?
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>>386
Is that true?
Where’d you read that?
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>>386
Fake news dude
396: Anonymous Streaming Live
Maybe she broke up with a boyfriend?
397: Anonymous Streaming Live
Killed herself from the shock?
And took the other 255 with her?
400: Anonymous Streaming Live
She’s not a psychic or anything lol
401: Anonymous Streaming Live
That happened with some weird religion a long time ago, right?
They formed a colony with their leader and everyone drank the Kool-Aid.
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>>401
Did they go to space?
404: Anonymous Streaming Live
Colony like a village, dumbass.
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I can’t believe it...
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Suicide is wrong!
407: Anonymous Streaming Live
So what was the cause exactly?
408: Anonymous Streaming Live
She wasn’t well mentally.
I remember that time a listener made her cry.
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What? Seriously?
What? What happened?
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Man, occult streamers are all fucking batshit crazy, aren’t they?
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I wondered why KiriBasa was so active... I guess this is why...
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That encounter with SARAI must’ve really shook her.
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Why...
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Seriously? I can’t stop shaking.
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SARAI get your ass out here.
Kill yourself fucker
417: Anonymous Streaming Live
What did SARAI do?
418: Anonymous Streaming Live
Shut down Myu’s live stream.
419: Anonymous Streaming Live
There was somebody with a similar name to SARAI on the list, wasn’t there?
Dunno if it’s the same guy.
http://www.foreistage.jp/news/4+331182045/
420: Anonymous Streaming Live
Huh? Really?
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>>419
SARAI’s dead too
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So it’s like a curse?
423: Anonymous Streaming Live
They got him too, huh?
424: Anonymous Streaming Live
I wonder if they were wearing clothes when they were found.
425: Anonymous Streaming Live
What were you imagining lol
Most of the comments were about Myu-Pom, and there wasn’t any info on the 256 incident.
It was weird how excited the Basarites were. Because I was part of this—and because I knew Myu-Pom and Sarai, too—I didn’t feel like celebrating in the slightest.
“These guys are crazy.” Maybe I shouldn’t say this since I was the one who put together the article, but looking at the comments... I felt more scared than angry. They were attacking, egging on, and insulting... That’s all they did. Nobody was showing any sympathy, or pity, or telling people when they’d gone too far to cut it out.
If anybody did, they’d just be treated as a troll and ganged up on until they stopped ruining everybody’s fun. So no matter what awful things somebody said, they would just be ignored. People would just go with whatever the most popular opinion was. Or maybe they’d just find one guy who got a little too excited and try to troll him.
None of them seemed to feel like they had any responsibility for this. It was easier that way; nobody had to get hurt.
“SARAI was really important, huh?” Looking objectively at the mess that was going on online, I realized once more how important he was.
Even if people attacked or made fun of him, Sarai was never thrown off. He just kept on promoting his own theories. Of course, he had no backup at all. Even in the face of concentrated firepower, he never changed his style.
I could never do that. No matter what situation I was in, I didn’t want to be attacked. I wanted to be liked. I wanted to be praised. I just wanted them to say things that made me feel good. If I felt I was alone, that would be enough to make me feel scared.
“Mom...” I slowly left the room.
There was nobody in the living room. I hadn’t slept at all, so of course I’d noticed that my mom hadn’t come home.
Come to think of it... How had Mom reacted when Dad died? I’d been so busy thinking about my own sadness that I’d never thought about how she was feeling.
It was just after Dad had died, but Mom had spent her time making sure the funeral went off without a hitch, even going around to thank everyone who’d attended. I could only remember seeing her from behind. I couldn’t remember what kind of face she’d made.
“Was it Mom who ID’d my body after they pulled it up from the lake, I wonder?”
Sarai had said that they’d waited to announce names until the bodies and their possessions had been ID’d by friends or relatives. In my case, my mom was my only relative.
My mom was strong. She was making enough money to go out and have fun while still providing for her loser of a son. My mom was a hardworking career woman, and I respected her almost as much as I respected Dad.
What had her face looked like when she’d seen my body? I couldn’t imagine it. Was she acting strong, like she had been with Dad, and getting the funeral ready in between working her job?
I looked at the clock. It was still 10:00 AM.
Maybe she’d been up all night working? Sure, she could be a bit of a workaholic. But she’d never just not come home before. Had she been involved in some kind of accident?
“Oh...”
Suddenly, my eyes settled on the paper on the dinner table—and then I realized what it was I couldn’t speak.
How long had it been there?
How had I not seen it?
It was a single, ordinary-looking piece of paper that was a little bit crumpled. Had she copied it somewhere, or gotten it from the police?
It was a list of names. The paper was covered with them, 256 in all from top to bottom. A single name was underlined with red pen.
“Yuta Gamon.”
“Oh... That’s it.”
It wasn’t that Mom wasn’t coming home. She... couldn’t come home...
I let out a sob.
I’m an idiot. The biggest idiot in the world. How come I hadn’t noticed something so obvious?
The tears came pouring down as I cried loudly. “What am I... What the hell am I?”
Dad died, and I got depressed and locked myself in my room. And even now, with all that was going on, I was still making my mother sad. I was just sobbing and getting depressed and locking myself in my room. I was pathetic. I really was the worst. I couldn’t even do anything for the mom I’d left behind.
I couldn’t do anything... I’d just float here like a ghost... I couldn’t... do anything!