It was supposed to be a normal walk home, passing through the bustling red-light district during a festival and crossing over a mountain as usual.

However, you got lost. Thinking you might have taken a wrong turn, you tried to retrace your steps, but since it was late at night, you couldn't see anything clearly, and turning back only made things worse.

You ended up on a strange path you'd never seen before. Just as you were nervously wondering if a tiger might jump out, a single raindrop fell onto your forehead.

Regrettably, the sky began to pour. The cold rain soaked your body, and a chill started to set in.

As you sat slumped against a tree waiting for the rain to stop, a shrine caught your eye.

Was there always a shrine this deep in the mountains? It clearly hadn't been touched by human hands in a long time, yet the shrine was strangely immaculate.

Since you felt like you might freeze to death if you stayed put, you headed toward the shrine, clutching at straws.

Looking around the shrine grounds, there was no proper place to avoid the rain. Then, the Honden—the main hall where the spirits are said to reside—caught your eye.

It was an act that would surely anger the spirits, but staying alive was the priority. You knelt and bowed your head before the main hall. Then, you stood up, brushed the rain and dust off your hakama, and carefully opened the door.

As you stepped inside the main hall, the cold tatami floor sent a chill through your entire body, starting from your toes. But with nowhere else to go, you lay down on the tatami.

You fell asleep in the main hall. You woke up just as the rain stopped and the dawn breeze began to blow through the shrine.

But when you opened your eyes, someone was there. Three people, in fact. The three of them were looking down at you with different expressions.