I Created Urban Legends in Parallel World
[Original – YakuMan]
[TL – MiT7]
[PR – Spades]
Chapter 22: Tonight at Midnight, I'll Prove Hell Girl Exists
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Kamihara Shinji had expected the discomfort from boosting his Spiritual Power to linger.
But after just one night's sleep, he felt almost fine.
That confirmed it—this "Spiritual Power" was soul strength.
Raising it bolstered his soul. A stronger soul might take time to sync with his body, but they were one unit—it wouldn't stay unbearable.
Still…
Nightmares plagued his sleep, leaving him drained come morning. And in those dreams, he kept sensing someone—or something—watching him, faint but persistent.
He'd dismissed it as a dream at first, but the feeling stuck even after waking. At school, it nagged at him—someone's eyes on him.
Beyond that, passing streets, he'd catch vague, hazy shapes in his periphery.
He didn't know what they were. Like mirages, they seemed fragile enough to shatter with a touch, yet a thin barrier held him back.
He figured hitting 10 Spiritual Power would break through. The notebook demanded over 1,000 Good/Evil Points for that jump—a bottleneck.
But he held off. Nine points had wrecked him for a night; 10 might be worse.
For now, these "sensations" were just side effects of his soul and body meshing.
That, and the 1,000-point cost, kept him from pushing further. If every point past 10 cost that much, he couldn't afford it.
Not all changes were bad, though.
His five senses had sharpened.
Take that morning at school—he'd clocked two plainclothes cops lingering by the gate.
He'd overheard their faint chatter from a distance, too soft for most but clear to him.
It spooked him at first—had they noticed something off about him? But their talk eased his nerves.
They were monitoring delinquents.
Why? He mulled it over and figured the MPD must've caught on.
Hell Girl mostly took out punks. To dig up leads, they'd have local precincts watch school troublemakers for clues.
He was right—it was Aoji's order.
The goal? Snag a curse doll. With one, they could study it, maybe uncover something vital.
No doll, no biggie. Aoji had teamed up with Red Sound—his skills could help crack the case and file it.
At lunch, Kamihara noticed 2ch was blocked. He paused, but his eyes betrayed no strong reaction.
He'd seen it coming. The post was special, sure, but tethered to 2ch.
Blocked, the post didn't vanish—it'd resurface if 2ch did. For now, with the forum down, no one could see it.
It'd have fallout, but that was later. Right now, the block might just fuel Hell Girl's legend.
Skeptics, spooked by the shutdown, turned to Twitter, rocketing "Hell Girl" into the day's top three trends.
"2ch got blocked?"
"No way—what happened?"
"Is it Hell Girl?"
"Could be."
"Even if she's real, blocking 2ch is dumb. Doesn't the MPD know that's how you spread fear?"
"My uncle's an MPD inspector—he says this legend's 100% real. Think about it: tons of urban legends hit forums before. When did they ever block one? Chilling."
"As an Osaka guy, I'd love Hell Girl to visit us—no regional bias, or we'll call her Regional Girl. Can Osaka get Hell Correspondence access?"
"Kyoto wants her too."
"Nagoya's crashing the party!"
"Fukuoka's got something to say."
"This is serious—2ch wouldn't get blocked otherwise. Maybe cool it with the jokes."
"Heard? Mishima's got a scandal brewing."
The buzz drew foreign netizens too—half-believing, half-treating it like a tale.
By afternoon, the 2ch block hit a mini-peak.
When Kamihara reached the Ghost Club, the room was oddly quiet. Opening the door, he saw everyone huddled around a computer, engrossed.
"What're you watching?" he asked.
His voice startled them.
Seeing it was him, they relaxed and explained, "Someone uploaded a Hell Girl encounter to Nico."
Curious, Kamihara didn't crowd in—the screen was already swarmed by four heads.
He sat at his own PC, booted it up, hit Nico, and searched "Exploring Hell Girl's Existence" after getting the keyword.
The video loaded, bullet comments flooding the screen—a testament to Hell Girl's heat. He toggled them off.
Watching it through, he didn't spot Hell Girl. Disappointing—he'd wanted to see his creation, Enma Ai, in 3D.
But… no Hell Girl didn't mean no impact.
Doubters were wavering. One clip showed the uploader typing a grudge's name, then sitting frozen for a minute.
That minute's barrage was all "scared" and "faking it."
Then, out of nowhere, a dark, bluish straw doll appeared in their hand, red string around its neck.
The uploader snapped awake, eyes wide with shock and disbelief, they'd seen something.
The video jumped—edited.
At the end, they ripped open their shirt, revealing a black, flame-like curse mark on their chest.
"After I pulled the string, my grudge went to hell, and I got cursed."
Video over.
Kamihara went to check the comments for some classic netizen snark, but a pinned post from the uploader caught his eye.
"Bunch of bandwagon clowns. Don't believe it, fine, but why curse me out in the comments? How're you any better than those bullying punks? Wish Hell Girl'd take you lot! To slap your faces, tonight at midnight, I'll have a friend test it. Live on Periscope, proof she's real."