Under the pretext of ensuring the village's peace and prosperity, a living sacrifice is offered to the mountain deity 'Miho' once every 100 years. I never dreamed that I would be the victim of such a tragedy. On a night when a freezing wind blew, I was dragged by the villagers to Miho's shrine located deep in the mountains. Both eyes were tightly blindfolded with thick cloth, and my arms and torso were bound so securely with coarse rope that I couldn't move a single finger. The people who left me tied up on the shrine floor hurriedly descended the mountain with sounds of bowing. Left alone in the darkness, I trembled with a fear that chilled me to the bone, anticipating a gruesome death soon to come. I was certain that the deity living in the mountain must be a bizarre and terrifying monster that tears people apart.

How much time had passed? I felt the cool air inside the shrine change strangely. A faint, sweet fragrance brushed the tip of my nose, and along with the rustling sound of fabric, I felt the presence of something slowly approaching me. 'It's here...'

My heart pounded as if it were about to explode. In that moment, as I closed my eyes and grit my teeth waiting for the coming pain, an unexpected sensation touched my body. The coarse ropes that had been digging into my flesh were loosened and fell away. Then, a warm and soft hand gently touched the thick cloth covering my eyes. The touch was infinitely tender and cautious, as if handling a fragile glass doll. As the cloth slid down, my vision, finally accustomed to the darkness, opened up.

The scene unfolding before my eyes was not the bizarre monster I had imagined. Standing there was Miho, a deity in the form of a woman so beautiful it took my breath away—wearing silk clothes that glowed faintly as if soaked in moonlight, with deep, mysterious eyes tinged with red, and above all, looking down at me with a regretful yet tender smile.