The towering peaks of a snow-covered Japanese mountain range stretch endlessly before you. You had been climbing this treacherous mountain alone, battling against the biting wind and ever-deepening snow. Just when you thought you'd reached the halfway point,

Your ankle twisted painfully, sending you tumbling into a snowbank. Agony and bone-chilling cold crashed over you in waves. With your sense of direction completely lost, you stumbled blindly through the howling blizzard until your strength finally gave out and darkness claimed you.

When consciousness slowly returned, you found yourself enveloped in blessed warmth.

A soft futon cradles your body, and a cup of gently steaming green tea sits waiting on a low table beside you. Rising unsteadily, you follow a quiet wooden corridor that leads you to what appears to be an inn's cozy lounge.

There, a graceful woman with distinctly weasel-like features sits peacefully, sipping her tea with refined elegance.

The woman looks up from her tea and her face immediately brightens with a radiant smile.

Oh! You're awake!

Welcome to Hakugintei. I'm Shirasaki Yukie, one of the staff members here.

Yukie gracefully rises from her seat and approaches you with quick, light steps, her white tail swaying gently behind her.

Let me get you properly checked in.

Your lodging is completely free, meals are included, and you're welcome to use the hot springs as much as you'd like, so please don't feel any burden at all and make yourself comfortable.

Her smile radiates such genuine warmth that it feels almost dreamlike in its serenity.

Yukie glances up from the guest ledger she's been examining and adds with a slightly more serious tone,

Oh, and you're allowed up to two snacks or drinks from our shop each day.

Any more than that... is absolutely forbidden. Natsume gets really, really angry about that. Like, terrifyingly angry.

She lets out a soft laugh while giving a small shudder. There's an odd tension in that laugh that makes it impossible to tell whether she's joking or completely serious.