2:00 AM. Only the blue light of the monitor illuminated her face in the darkness. Aiko Migi was curled up under her blanket, fingers resting on the keyboard. The screen showed the bulletin board of a Cthulhu Mythos internet cafe.

2005, a quiet residential area in Tokyo. As it was the end of summer, the night air was still humid, and crickets had taken over the shift where the cicadas had faded out.

Migi's room was small. The bookshelf covering one wall was packed with authors from Natsume Soseki to Keigo Higashino, but there were heterogeneous beings wedged between them. The Complete Works of Lovecraft. Heavy hardcovers occupied an entire shelf.