Hypermania

This was supposed to be one of those epic adventure starts that completely changes how you see life... Yeah, right.
Who am I kidding? This was a shitty idea from minute one. The moment Aranara went, 'Looks like they’ve only got one mountain,' I should’ve realized she’d cursed me with every ounce of her bad luck.

Three hours on the train. Fields. Power poles. Fields. Power poles. Rinse and repeat.
No signal on my phone whatsoever. Car practically empty.
My only entertainment? Peeling off some random idiot’s stickers from the seat in front of me.

Seriously, this place has zero vibes. The station? One platform and a turnstile door. Someone took 'minimalist' to the almost literal way. But I was trying to stay positive… okay, no—I had to stay positive. It was literally the only thing stopping me from calling Aranara the second I got bars just to yell a couple of things at her.

"Boring. Boring as hell. Nothing interesting. Not a single thing worth looking at. God… can people actually live here?” I let out a long, slow breath—the kind that’s supposed to make your head feel lighter and keep the anxiety from spiking without popping another of those happy pill. “It’s just one mountain,” I mimicked her annoying high pitched voice. “Ugh… you braindead moron. What’s the point of being all-seeing if you can’t see past the end of your own nose?”

I slung my backpack back on and started wandering street by street. Plan? Find the local newspaper—which, surprise, doesn’t exist.
Not that I cared that much, but I figured it’d be step one. Otherwise, how was I supposed to kick this off? By dumping my photos on social media? …Please, kill me now.

Only thing left: climb the damn mountain and admit total defeat. Up close? Easily over 120 steps, no lights on the path at all. Definitely not meant for nighttime hikes… which made me scratch plan B.
No way was I turning around with nothing to show, so plan C: write off the day and crash at the inn right at the base of the mountain.

I’d take a real hotel over… whatever this was. I don’t wanna call it a 'shithole' since it’s literally under a temple, but the outside screamed “owner gave up on me years ago.”
Perks of being the only place to stay in this ghost town, I guess.

“Good even—”

“Ah! Miss, the spot’s all yours!” The guy behind the counter was so hyped his voice practically vibrated my skull.

“Spot?”

“Ah… you’re not here for the job opening?”

“I’m just here for a room. That’s it.”

“I need someone to run the inn for a couple days.”

“Cool, good luck with that. Room, please—one with a mountain view if possible.”

“Pay’s decent...”

Who was he trying to fool? The place was crumbling on the outside and looked like a cat fight happened on the inside. I was honestly more shocked he hadn’t torched it for the insurance than the fact he was desperately hiring someone.

“Thanks, but hard pass. I’m just here till tomorrow.”

“Trains don’t run on weekends around here, miss.”

“Fuck…” I muttered, rubbing my temple. “Fine. Room till Monday, then.”
Took me like thirty seconds to get a glimpse of how bad it really was. The display window crusted with grime in the corners, the “Help Wanted” sign so faded from sun it was basically see-through.

Translation: nobody wants this job, and I was starting to understand exactly why.

I dropped my backpack and fished out my wallet from the third inner pocket. “How much for the…?” My voice just… died. Wallet empty. And someone had left a little note inside.

[I borrowed some cash~ I’ll pay you back later, or get Eiji to do it. Don’t be mad! >_<]

“Haaa… you absolute piece of…” I tried the breathing trick again, but nope, too far gone. “Uh… tell me... if I took the job, just till Monday obviously… would the room be free?”

“Absolutely! Room’s on the house, plus anything you want to eat or drink here!”

“That’s kinda…”

Before I could finish, he slapped the keys into my palm, flipped the counter gate, grabbed two suitcases, and bolted out the door like the place was crumbling right now.

“H-Hey! You can’t just hand me the keys like that! I could rob the place and disappear, you know?” I yelled with my head sticking out the doorframe like a total moron while he sprinted down the street.

“It’s rude to shout this late, miss! Thanks for taking the job!” he called back, waving without even turning around.

“Tch… the term is double standards, asshole…” I grumbled, stepping back inside.

One minute of dead silence.
Two minutes.
Couldn’t take it. Grabbed the phone.

[Hello? Hello?]

“You brainless idiot!”

[Oh, Sayo. It’s you.]

“Who the hell else calls the landline, airhead?!”

[Eijiiii… Sayo’s yelling at me again…]

“I’m not—!”

[Sayo? What’s going on? How was the trip?]

“Uh? Oh, Eiji…” I cleared my throat, trying to sound normal. “Your idiot girlfriend robbed me blind and left me stranded at some rundown inn.”

[Still not used to that word.]

“Me calling her an idiot, or ‘your girlfriend’?”

[The second. Anyway… I can send you money if you need it. Aranara took it, huh?]

“Obviously. The stupid emoji in the note gave her away.”

[At least she left a note. You know, baby steps.]

“I didn’t call for money… the owner just offered me the manager job… then literally ran out the door…”

[Got it… here’s Aranara again…]

“What? No—Eiji, wait—!”

[I heard the whoooole thing~ Loot the place, Sayo~]

I hung up.
My head felt like a bomb was about to go off.

"This place is gross…” I muttered, scanning the room. Only half-decent thing was the big front window looking out at the temple stairs. “And it’s creepy as hell…”