Long ago, in the Eastern nd of Akatsuki, mythical creatures called Youkai feed on the fear of human beings. Youkai and humans exist in a strange ecosystem. While they were enemies, Youkai needed humans around to gather fear, while humans required Youkai to protect them from other mythical creatures.
Well, that was a very outdated story. With how technology had advanced these days, a new generation of Youkai had repced older ones, and they now lived together in harmony with humans.
However, the older Youkai did not disappear. As long as someone remembers their existence, they can resurface again. As the old Youkai saw their incoming doom, they decided to record their own existence down in papers, with hope that one day, people would find these writings and give them a chance of resurrection.
Thus, the Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll was created. This item holds the power of many old Youkai, but in current days, it was considered a lost artifact. Many have seeked it out with hope of obtaining great power, but no one ever managed to find any clue.
Though, a certain girl who has transmigrated into this world knows exactly where this coveted artifact was.
In the game, the Scroll is hidden inside a Boundary created by an old Priest who has long passed away. As for the location? It’s at a corner of the biggest Shrine in Akatsuki, named Asahi, which worships the three-legged crow Yatagarasu.
Well, our Amemiya Michi can easily find the location of the Boundary. The hard part is getting inside, as that requires a person to be able to see through illusions. But how could Michi have come unprepared?
Before coming here, she has visited a bookstore and spent 20 Credits there for a book that can help solve her problem. It was quite expensive, 3 times the cost of an average meal. Though, it was 100% worth it.
Approaching the supposed location, Michi takes out ‘How Humans Think’ by Dr. Satori, and channels her ability.
‘As expected of Esper Ability… It’s no different than using my hand.’
Harnessing the book’s power feels like second nature to her. And immediately, she can feel some sort of power being imbued into her from the book.
From the pen name Dr. Satori, it is quite obvious that this person is a Satori. The only Tier 6 Satori out there, in fact. And the Satori are known for their Third Eye. In the past, this extra eyeball granted them the ability to peer into people’s mind, and from then, it has evolved into something like True Sight, being able to see through deceptions and falsehoods, illusions included.
With this ability, Michi is able to see the Boundary, and she wastes no time to navigate inside.
“Ahh, a pity I can only use this book once. Well, maybe I should be happy that it even sted for 5 minutes.”
There should be no one around, so Michi feels no problem talking to herself. It helps her focus somewhat, and eases her mind.
The book she just used has already disintegrated into paper dust. The fact that she could navigate the Boundary with a mass-produced book printed with modern machinery speaks volumes of the power of its author.
She does not feel that sad about losing a book worth 20 Lamina. After all, a much more valuable one awaits her ahead. Breaking through the Boundary, she can see herself appearing in the middle of an abandoned feudal vilge.
The Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll is located in a small bookstore in this vilge. When she pyed the game, the protagonist just stumbled upon it in a cutscene. So, Michi has no way to know what path she should take.
The only way is to search slowly. She combs through dipidated streets, broken houses and remnants of old shops, and finally, after 2 hours, she finds a small bookstore to the north side of the vilge, with a sign that reads…
ビブロフィリア幻想
“Bibliophilia Gensou… It has quite a nice ring to it, huh?” Michi reads the shop name aloud.
But she abruptly stops her footsteps.
“Wait… This pce doesn’t have a name in the game, does it?”
The girl closes her eyes to recall, but it seems like there has been no mention of the bookstore’s name when Leonard and his party visited.
Taking a closer look at the signboard, she realizes… This is written not in English or Japanese, but in old Youkai scripture. This kind of writing is very outdated, but it is still studied by historians and linguists alike. Michi, being a Schor herself, is able to identify this writing.
Her Esper Ability must have come into effect the moment she id her eyes on the sign, which is why she originally thought it was in Japanese. No, that’s not right… Youkai scripture is based on Japanese in the first pce, and it’s just a different way of writing the same nguage.
“Bibliophilia Gensou… Illusion? Fantasy? Since it’s written in old Youkai scripture, it should have some meaning…”
She doesn’t ponder on it for too long. The allure of the Scroll draws her inside the shop.
Somehow, the interior of this long abandoned store gives Michi a comfortable feeling. A small ray of sunlight shines through the cracks on the wooden wall, nding on the table in the middle of the shop.
On it, there is a small oil mp, an old phonograph, and an opened book. To the side is a pair of round gsses, as well as a fountain pen and an already dried out ink bottle.
The girl picks up the oil mp, and dusts it off. It seems that it is still half full. Her finger traces in the air, forming the kanji for ‘fire’, and a small fme bursts forth, igniting the mp.
She already knows where the Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll is. Her Esper Abilities makes her sensitive to books, and she can easily locate such a powerful artifact.
However, there is no rush. The Picture Scroll is all but guaranteed to fall into her hands. She still has plenty of time, and her heart trembles with excitement as she looks at all the books that have been gathered at this pce.
…
A few hours ter, two neatly organized stacks of books are now pced on the table. These are articles that have caught Michi’s interest, some of which she intends to bring home.
One of them is a series of history books that seems to have been written by a family of chroniclers in this illusionary world. And the other stack of books is a collection of novels written by someone with the name of Agatha Chris. Q.
‘Probably a reference to Agatha Christie.’ Michi thinks, having totally forgotten that these books were not in the game at all, let alone being a reference to some real life figures.
Aside from that, there are two more strange items on the table.
The first one is a scroll, handwritten in Youkai scripture. Michi can understand the content, and she has a pretty good guess as to what this letter is.
The Tengu’s Apology Letter is an obscure legend in Japan, where, after a Crow Tengu is subdued by a priest for causing trouble to travelers, a scroll undecipherable for humans is dropped from the sky. Humans assume that it is a letter written by the Crow Tengu to apologize for the mischiefs it caused.
Now, Michi can say with certainty that the scroll is indeed an apology letter, and the power of the wind left in the scroll pretty much confirms the writer to be a Crow Tengu.
The second one is a painting of some winged creature that resembles a dragon. Well, it’s probably an actual dragon, as the writing on it indicates that it is an Ink Dragon Rubbing. Made by a real flood dragon, no less. It carries the power of wind and water.
Once she absorbs this and the Tengu’s Letter, it should synergize well together. And she wastes no time in doing that. Feeling the power entering her body, the girl sighs in satisfaction.
“This feels quite nice… Let’s see.” Michi flick her hands, and the moisture in the air gathers into an orb of water above her finger.
“Still Tier 0 but it doesn’t matter. Let’s see the wind part…” The Water Control ability is at its weakest form, not useful for combat at all, but her new Wind Control is different.
A ball of compressed air shoots out from her fingertip, and pierces through the wooden floorboard.
“This is… almost Tier 1, huh? That’s a boon.” Michi’s Wind Control is a lot stronger, since it did receive power from both the Letter and the Dragon Rubbing.
At Tier 0, normal Magicians use simplified Spells called Cantrips, and her wind can probably rival the strongest Cantrips avaible. It’s not comparable to a real Spell though, which only a Tier 1 Magician can learn.
Now that Michi is done with this powerup, it’s time for the grand prize. The Hyakki Yakou Picture Book is actually found in the celr, where there is a quill and mattress. It seems as if someone has been reading it here, since the book is still opened, facing down.
She picks up the book, and immediately, she can feel a strange power coursing through her.
“Are the Youkai in here alive? It did not seem like the case in the game…”
The protagonist, Leonard, primarily uses this book to capture demons, and ter summon them to fight for him. Michi, now having obtained the book herself, has no intention of going around and capturing demons.
Why should she, when there are plenty of sealed Youkai for her to use?
“Let’s test it out.”
She flips the book to a certain page, before channeling her power. The ink drawing seems to come alive, and rips itself from the book, before morphing into a Youkai standing in front of her.
It stares at Michi with its 9 pairs of eyes, and Michi stares back, looking at its 9 floating heads. This is a Rokurokubi, a Youkai who is known for its extremely long neck, and in some variants, has heads completely detached from its body.
Though, since EsGod is that kind of game, of course all the demons and Youkai have to take the form of cute young girls. And this one is no different. The Rokurokubi wears a bck dress that covers the entire body and a red cloak covering its neck. But, they can’t hide a well-endowed figure underneath the yer of clothing. The heads floating around also look quite cute with the shoulder-length red hair and a rounded face.
“Hello, Master.” After a while, the Youkai seems to have gained some crity,
“Master? Is it because I am the owner of the Picture Book?”
The head that is still attached to the Rokurokubi’s body nods, confirming her theory.
Leonard was able to perfectly control any demons he sealed inside too, so that makes sense.
“I see. A Rokurokubi, huh? Let’s call you Nazuki then. And…” As Michi is about to ask the Rokurokubi for more information, she feels her stomach rumble. She hasn’t eaten anything for almost an entire day now.
“Forget it, let’s go back first. I will summon you ter.”
She reseals the Youkai back into the Picture Scroll, before packing up the two stacks of books she collected earlier, and leaves the bookstore.
As she walks towards the Boundary, she can’t help but look back towards the old shop.
“I wonder if I can come back…”
She quite likes the pce, and she has barely got to see the books it has to offer. Though, she can’t stay here forever, and as far as she remembers, the Boundary will disappear when the Picture Scroll is taken outside.
There isn’t much that she can do. Maybe, if fate allows it, she’ll stumble upon this pce again.
And so, Michi pushes through the Boundary, and finds herself back in the real world.
A/N: Skip if you don't want to hear me yap. It's mainly about the names I used. And I yap A LOT. Just be warned.
SpoilerLet's start from the top. Footnote exists but... I can talk more here.
Akatsuki is written as 暁. Meaning 'dawn' or 'daybreak'.
Hyakki Yakou is written as 百鬼夜行. The phrase is usually transted as 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demon'. The Picture Scroll part, 絵巻物, or Emakimono, literally means illustrated scroll. The concept of a Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll isn't that prevalent in media, and I only learnt of it through Touhou Suzunaan ~ Forbidden Scrollery.
The name of the Shrine, Asahi (朝日) means morning sun. Yatagarasu (八咫烏) transtes to Eight Span Crow. You should know this name. Here, it's supposed to be closer to the Chinese interpretation of the Three-legged Crow, who represents the Sun.
Satori is usually written with the Kana and not the Kanji 覚, but it does mean 'consciousness'. In Japanese Mythology, they are a monkey youkai who can read mind.
Lamina in Latin means a small pte. It was the main currency in a Roblox game named Arcane Adventure.
Next up is ビブロフィリア幻想. This is a long one. The Bibliophilia part is obvious, written in Katakana, but 幻想 is read as Gensou and means 'illusion'. Where does this come from? Let me expin. It something to do with Touhou.
During Comiket 85, Diao Ye Zong released an album called 薦 (Susume), meaning 'recommendation'. Imagine my excitement when I learnt that the girl on the cover art was my favorite Touhou character, Mootori Kosuzu! This must means that RD-Sounds was making at least one rearrange about her!
I was, however, very wrong. RD-Sounds did not make a remix of Kosuzu's theme. Instead, what I got was two original composition featuring Kosuzu!!! As the first and st song of the album, no less.
The first song of the album is called ビブロフィリア幻想. Bibliophilia Gensou. And that's where I got the phrase from. And the st song in the album, the other original composition featuring Kosuzu, is called 未だ知られぬ物語 ～ Anticipated Dream (Imada Shirarenu Monogatari ~ Anticipated Dream). 未だ知られぬ物語 roughly transtes to 'yet untold story'.
Sorry, I am just gzing at this point. Let's stop here.
Continue on, Agatha Chris. Q is another Touhou referrence.
The Ink Dragon Rubbing... Ink Rubbing is a real thing IRL. That's all.
The Tengu's Apology Letter is also a real myth in Japan. Though, I can barely find any English site talking about it.
Lastly, Rokurokubi (轆轤首). Both 轆 and 轤 (those are different Kanji) means pulley. 首 means 'neck' (or 'head' for some reason). Rokurokubi is a youkai that has extremely long neck. One of its variant, the Nukekubi (抜け首) has its head detached and floating around. 抜 here means 'to fall out'.
Nazuki (脳) simply means 'head'. She is supposed to be somewhat simir in appearance to Sekibanki, being a mix between a Nukekubi and a Dulhan.
[colpse]
