I Created Urban Legends in Parallel World
[Original – YakuMan]
[TL – MiT7]
[PR – Spades]
Chapter 13: Hell Girl Is Tired
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Kamihara Shinji pulled off his headphones just in time to catch the group's conversation. Curious, he asked, "What game?"
The others chimed in, explaining *Your Turn* in a jumble of voices.
"I'll set up a group in the next couple of days, and we can play together," Kozasa Hideki said.
Kamihara Shinji didn't refuse. He nodded. "Sure, count me in."
He wasn't big on social games, but this was part of club life. As a Ghost Club member, he couldn't exactly sit it out.
Plus, he could tell Kota and Hideki were pushing this game for Uesaki Kaito and Shinkawa Chie's sake.
Might as well play wingman for once.
After club time wrapped up, they parted ways. Kamihara Shinji slung his backpack over his shoulder and passed the familiar alley. A quick glance revealed Hisagi Kento and his crew again.
"Boss… it's Kamihara."
Hearing this, Hisagi Kento turned, tension flickering in his eyes as he spotted Kamihara Shinji.
Koyama Tsutomu, cornered by the trio, looked up with a spark of hope toward the alley's entrance…
But Kamihara Shinji just glanced over and kept walking.
The cold indifference left Koyama Tsutomu stunned.
The three thugs, though, relaxed. Hisagi Kento smirked. "Guess Kamihara's in a good mood today."
After a year of run-ins, they'd figured him out.
When he was in a bad mood, he'd butt in if he saw them harassing someone, didn't matter if they backed off; he'd still throw punches.
When he was in a good mood, he'd ignore them picking on freshmen.
Grinning wickedly, Hisagi Kento turned to Koyama Tsutomu. "What? Thought Kamihara'd swoop in to save you? Let me tell you, that guy's worse than us, acts on a whim. Even if he helped you once, piss him off, and he'd beat you too."
…
On the train, Kamihara Shinji noticed clusters of uniformed students chattering about Hell Girl.
Over the past two days, the urban legend had been chalked up to hype for a new anime or drama. Still, it was a hot topic among students.
He wasn't surprised. Japan's horror culture thrived, ghost festivals dotted the country, and every year there was a "Ghost Summit" where groups performed and ranked local ghost stories.
These traditions kept ghost culture alive in modern Japan.
New urban legends popped up regularly. The "Seven School Mysteries" were so overdone they were clichés.
Japanese people embraced horror tales, but believing them? That was another story.
Every urban legend was just that, a story. Treated as spooky entertainment, no sane person took them seriously.
Except… while other legends were fake, Hell Girl was real. Though, having created her, he'd never seen her himself.
With that thought, he pulled out his phone and logged into 2ch to browse.
In just a few days, the subpages under *Hell Girl* had hit over 300, with more than 100 marked with periods.
In two or three days, it had blown past The Gaze from the Cracks' month-long tally. He couldn't help but marvel, she was on a rampage.
But compared to The Gaze from the Cracks, Hell Girl yielded fewer Legend Points and Good/Evil Points.
The Gaze from the Cracks netted over 300 Legend Points and 80-odd Good/Evil Points per kill.
Hell Girl? Only about 100 Legend Points and 20-something Good/Evil Points per soul sent to hell.
At first, he'd wondered why the gap was so wide. Then he flipped to the second page and read the notebook's notes, piecing it together.
[Note 2: Those affected by the urban legends you write will benefit you, granting a certain amount of Legend Points.]
[Note 3: Those who die due to the urban legends you write will benefit you, granting a certain amount of Good/Evil Points.]
The Gaze from the Cracks tormented domestic abusers.
Killing one saved a family, or several. It indirectly reshaped multiple lives, so the Legend Points piled up.
Likewise, abusers were often twisted, repressed scum, so the Good/Evil Points were hefty.
School bullies, though? Most kids didn't tell their parents, suffering in silence.
So even when Hell Girl dragged a delinquent to hell, it mainly affected the victim, not a ripple effect. Parents stayed in the dark.
As for Good/Evil Points, the notebook seemed to rank bullies' sins below domestic abusers.
There were exceptions.
Take Aida Daichi, the first to meet Hell Girl. He provided the usual 100-odd Legend Points but a whopping 150+ Good/Evil Points.
That meant the person he sent to hell was worse than most abusers.
Reading Aida Daichi's story in the notebook, Kamihara felt a grim satisfaction.
If *The Gaze from the Cracks* logged tales of oppression, Hell Girl was a revenge saga, pure catharsis.
He clicked into the pinned post: [Does Hell Girl Really Exist?]
It was blazing hot now. Kamihara Shinji figured even without the pin, it wouldn't cool off.
Beyond the skeptics calling it anime hype, plenty of people were confirming Hell Girl's existence.
The more who vouched for her, the harder it'd be to dismiss, even for doubters.
Skimming the replies, he saw a flood of comments.
"Real… it's real! Hell Girl exists, oh my god! My hands are still shaking as I type!"
"Everyone knows it's a promo for a show—stop pretending it's real. Quit insulting our intelligence."
"No way, don't joke about this. It can't be true."
"I went to Hell Correspondence at midnight, nothing. Stop lying."
"It's real. I can vouch."
"There's a limit to pranks. Don't blame me for tanking the anime's ratings when it drops."
"Is there really a site? I can't access Hell Correspondence."
"If it's real, show proof!"
The replies fueled the post's fire, drawing more eyes.
A few swore they'd seen Hell Girl.
Most didn't buy it, said they'd entered names on the site and got nothing.
Kamihara Shinji smiled faintly.
Those who didn't see her after submitting a name? Their resentment wasn't strong enough.
Per his setup, only deep, burning hatred triggered Hell Girl's appearance. Casual entries or weak grudges wouldn't cut it, you didn't truly want that person in hell.
As for those who couldn't even access the site, he could only shrug.
He'd chosen Tokyo as the area. People outside it couldn't visit Hell Correspondence.
That's why so many doubted the legend.
To make it nationwide, his Legend Points weren't enough. Only Tokyo netizens could access the site.
But that's the nature of urban legends.
Most strange phenomena were tied to specific places, regional quirks.
Right now, both Hell Girl and The Gaze from the Cracks were Tokyo's own urban legends.