Chapter 3

Saeko stops typing at once.

"Shinya No what, now?"

"What even is that?"

"The two of you really should keep up with the times! It's a rather famous urban legend, you know?"

Saeko peeks through her cubicle. It's the usual group: Hinata, Umemoto and Tachikawa. Hinata is always the one who brings up random topics, while the other two are just humoring her.

"That's what you said about "The Salesman From Hell"," Tachikawa reminds.

"And "The Tree That Eats Dogs."," Umemoto adds.

"Well, I'm telling you that this one is the real deal!" Hinata insists.

"Sure, sure. And? What's the legend about?"

"It's just as the title says. A pair of eyeballs will appear at midnight, although some people claimed that they also witness those eyeballs well after midnight."

"What do those eyes even do?"

"Nothing. They just appear out of nowhere and stare at you until it's time for them to disappear."

A few seconds of awkward silence followed. Umemoto was the first one who broke it.

"...You know, out of all the urban legends you've told us about, this one is at the least scariest," she said.

"It's one thing if they can shoot out lasers or something, but they just look at you? Not scary at all," Tachikawa agrees. "Besides, if the eyes bother you so much, you can just run away."

"Or hide somewhere."

"Well, yeah. Those methods might work on regular monsters, demons or whatever, but not these eyes. All the netizens who saw them said that no matter where they went, those eyes will always catch up to them, always staring from a distance."

"So, they can teleport?"

"I guess that's one way to interpret it. Can you imagine being in the same tight space as them?"

"...Suddenly, they sound extremely scary."

"See?"

Saeko feels her heart beating faster and faster. The more Hinata speaks, the more the description fits the eyeballs that have been stalking Saeko these past few days. Shinya No Manako... So that's what they were called...

"By the way, why do they even appear in the first place?"

"Well, rumor has it that those eyes will only appear in front of those who did something wrong."

Saeko feels her chest tightening.

"So, what? Those eyes are judging you for what you did?"

"Pretty much."

"What exactly is their standard of "did something wrong"?" Tachikawa asks curiously.

"Some people said those eyes appeared after they cheated on their significant other. There are also some former criminals who confessed their past crime."

"What kind of crimes are we talking about here? Theft?"

"That and more serious ones like murder and kidnapping."

The more Saeko hears, the more she's freaking out.

Theft.

That's exactly what she was doing whenever she was stealing the wi-fi from the coffee shop. Sure, she can argue until her tongue falls off that she's just taking a little bit of data, but theft is still theft. And the eyes agree too. That's why they kept on staring at her. It makes so much sense now.

"The funny thing is, I saw the posts of a drug-trafficker and a few murderers who claimed that they have never seen those eyes before," Hinata continues.

"...Okay, now I'm REALLY confused. What exactly is their standard?" Tachikawa asked again.

"No one knows for sure, to be honest. The earliest sightings of the eyes happened around just a month ago, so the rules are still unclear."

"So no one knows how to get rid of them."

"Nope."

"And since no one knows how to get rid of them, those who saw the eyes are pretty much finished," Umemoto concludes.

Please say no please say no please say no...

"I'm not sure about that," Hinata confesses. "There are thousands of posts at the discussion forum. I didn't have the time to read them all."

Saeko could barely stop herself from getting up from her seat and yelling, "OH, COME ON!" in frustration.

"There's one other thing that has been bugging me. Why after midnight? Why not dawn, or morning, or some time after the sun has set?" Tachikawa asks.

"Because "Shinya No Manako" (The Midnight Eyeball) sounds much more sinister than "Asa No Manako" (The Morning Eyeball)?" Umemoto suggests. "Also, two floating eyeballs look much scarier during the dead of night."

"True," Hinata agrees. "Also, well, this is just my own opinion, but the time between midnight and four in the morning is called the Witching Hour, right? So-"

"AHEM!"

Whatever Hinata was about to say was cut short by Toudou's deliberate cough. His seat faced the entrance to the workspace, so he could have a clear view of anyone who comes in. And the only person who ever made him want to warn the others was none other than Asakura. And there he is now, walking towards his personal office with a scowl on his face.

Saeko has heard from a certain someone that he was going through a divorce right now, which would explain his foul mood. Not that he was ever in a good mood whenever he was around. As far as Saeko knows, he's always scowling or stone-faced.

Well, enough about him. For now, Saeko needs to concentrate on her work. The last thing she needs right now is getting on his radar.

***

It's already lunchtime, and yet Saeko couldn't even finish a quarter of the work given to her. At this rate, she's going to have to burn the midnight oil again. To be fair, it wasn't the first time, and it definitely won't be the last.

Saeko's lunch consists of a single salmon rice ball she bought at the convenience store last night. The egg mayo sandwich she also bought shall be left for dinner.Now that her stomach is filled, she could finally focus on the more pressing matter. Even if it was an accident, she has finally received a clue about those eyes. That said, further investigation has to be put on hold for now. For starters, her break is way too short to allow her to conduct a detailed one. If she tried to do something non work-related outside break time, there's going to be consequences.

She could, however, look for allies. Hinata was being very loud just now. If their colleagues recognized themselves as one of the victims of the eyes, they're bound to react. Together, they can help each other out.

She has already crossed Umemoto and Tachikawa off her list. Those two weren't acting peculiar when Hinata brought up the eyes, so most likely they're in the clear.

She's not going to ask Hinata, that's for sure.

The reason was simple. That colleague of hers has a nasty personality.Once, Saeko had asked Hinata about something work-related, thinking that the latter would be able to help. Hinata did agree to help, but only on the condition that Saeko pays for her lunch. Saeko refused. She could barely afford her own meals, let alone pay for someone else's. Instead of just leaving with the offer, Hinata pretended to help, only to give Saeko false information.

As a result, Saeko was scolded harshly by Asakura, while Hinata played innocent when Saeko accused her. If she ever finds out that Saeko is being stalked by those eyes, she'll definitely tell everyone inside the office. Worse, she'll just feed Saeko false information again.

Thankfully, Saeko gets along with pretty much everyone in the office. That means she can casually bring up the subject while chatting with the others and watch how they respond.

Saeko takes a peek from her cubicle. As usual, Hinata and her gang went out for lunch. Good. She can ask around in peace without arousing suspicion. Asakura has also left his office. Not that Saeko would ever bring up something as ridiculous as this to him.

Okay, let's do this.

She got up from her seat and goes to the pantry room. There, Itoh, Kawasaki and Toudou are standing and chatting, with a mug each on their hand.

The three of them smiled at Saeko when they see her approaching. Saeko tried to smiled back, but her smile came out rather stiff. It's probably because she went to them with an ulterior motive, and her conscious is gnawing at her.

In order to brace herself mentally, she takes her time in preparing herself a cup of coffee that she didn't even want to drink. Once she's done, she goes to stand between Toudou and Kawasaki. As she's listening to their conversation, she waits for her chance patiently.

"...hope the sales this month is good so that we can get our salary on time for a change," Kawasaki is saying.

"Our sales don't matter one bit, remember?" Toudou reminds her. "The top brass will use literally any excuse to delay our pay day."

Itoh laughed bitterly at that. "You got that right. My pay last month was delayed for two weeks just because I went to the toilet for too long. It was just one time, mind."

"At least it wasn't docked," Saeko consoles.

"Yeah, I guess there's that. Speaking of sales, I wish Hinata and her two buddies can step things up a bit. If they slack off too much, Asakura will yell at all of us, not just them."

Now!

"They were being very loud just now..." Saeko begins slowly.

"They sure were," Toudou agrees. "Annoying as they are, at least their topic can be interesting at times."

"What do you think of the one just now?" Saeko asks.

"Hmm? You mean the one about the eyes? It was alright, I guess. I preferred "The Screaming Tunnel" a lot more. Much scarier."

"That one was especially bollocks. The least Hinata could do is make it more convincing," Itoh states out his opinion.

"What, the tunnel?"

"No, you idiot. The eyes."

"I kind of liked Tachikawa's version. Floating eye balls that shoot lout lasers sounds fun," Kawasaki says.

"But that would make it SF, not horror," Toudou points out.

"Good point."

Saeko observed their facial expression carefully. Toudou looked bored, Itoh looks dismissive, while Kawasaki looked slightly amused. None of them were acting like they were being tormented by the eyes. After half-listening to their conversation some more, Saeko excused herself so that she could test someone else. Break time was almost over, and she couldn’t afford to waste it.

***

Her test was a complete failure.

None of her colleagues acted like the eyes ring any bells. Even if they did, they did a very good job of hiding it. So much for trying to look for allies. Dejected, she resumes her work. Her top priority is, once again, delayed until she's done.There was less work today than usual. Even so, they kept her until quarter past two. Saeko could only roll her eyes. Not only is the eyes active at this time, she has to call herself a cab again.

Not that she's going back to her apartment immediately. Instead, she's going to a manga café. This one is located quite near her office, so she doesn't have walk too far. More importantly, those eyes won't be able to stare at her for long.

***

"Welcome~"

The moment Saeko entered the building, the first thing she noticed is the smell of food. She couldn't quite tell, but it sure smelled like curry.

...Isn't this a place to read comics and surf the internet?

She walks towards the reception counter, where a bored-looking male staff in uniform is waiting.

"U-Um, hello..." she greets nervously.

"Good evening to you," he greets back. "Will you be staying with us briefly, or will you be spending the night?"

Saeko blinked several times in surprise. She's positive that she heard it right.

"S-Spending the night...? As in... I can sleep here if I want to?"

"Yes. Here are the rates."

He gestures towards a laminated paper on his left. On the paper are the words "Per Hour" and "Per Night". Below those words are the price.

"Do keep in mind that food and drinks are not included in both packages, and have to be ordered separately," the staff continues.

"Speaking of which, why is a manga café serving food and drink?" Saeko asks timidly.

Suddenly, the staff squints his eyes at her. It took her several seconds to figure out that the staff misunderstood that she's here to cause problems or something.

"I-I-I-I'm from the countryside, you see, so I'm not up to date with the current trends! And this is the first time I ever came to a place like this! It's the truth! I swear!" she quickly explained like her life depended on it.

It took the staff several more seconds to stop squinting at her.

"...I see. Back to your question, then. The reason was simple. Times are hard. We have to do everything we can to increase our revenue."

Saeko bows at him. "T-Thank you for your explanation."

"You are very much welcome. Now then, which package will you be choosing?"

Saeko gave it a good thought. She has already missed the last train of the day, anyway, so she might as well sleep here. Not only can she save the cab fare, the eyes won't be able to stare at her until tomorrow. Furthermore, she doesn't have to be cramped inside a packed train.

"I would like to spend the night, please."

"Certainly."

Saeko paid for the service, and received a key card in return.

"Just pass through this counter and turn right. Your room is the second one on your right," the staff instructs. "Please enjoy the stay."

Saeko nods at him gratefully and walks to her room.