The Reporter

"Has the data arrived?" Anton, who applied eye drops, looked at Yoshio, who was in charge of more trivial matters.

Yoshio nodded as he received the information and said, "We can start visiting the families of the victims. A team has been assigned to visit each of their homes in case the cursed object was in one of them."

Anton really wanted to solve this problem as soon as possible, so he stood up, walked to the exit of the café, and said, "Drive and choose one of the victims to visit. We'll likely find a family member who can help us."

With little time on his hands, Anton needed to make the most of it to reduce the potential victims who might end up dead due to this evil spirit.

"Are you okay?" Yoshio looked at Anton, who had a very tired face, visible dark circles, and smoked frequently.

Anton didn't respond; he simply let Yoshio drive and reclined in the passenger seat to rest his mind. It hadn't been even a day since the trip, and he had slept very little. However, that wasn't a problem since he had gone without sleep for days due to work.

When they arrived at the hospital where the teenage girl named Hinako Saeki had been taken, Anton got out of the car and walked straight to the hospital morgue. Meanwhile, Yoshio took care of finding the victims' relatives to talk to them and discover what Anton had ordered him to investigate.

"Hinako Saeki, how did you end up involved in all this mess?" Anton looked at the motionless body of the girl on a metal gurney, making a sign with his hands to give her a blessing.

Many might wonder how he could bear all this burden. Well, for Anton, who was a ruthless business owner, the deaths of his workers were frequent. Killing nature was no different from eliminating humans. Now, after a long time working as an exorcist, his sensitivity to the dead was low. For him, anyone who lost their life was resting. Death is a respite for anyone living in this world, where the supernatural exists. As someone sent to do one job, Anton's goal was somehow to curb the supernatural.

"Who are you?"

Anton turned around at the sudden voice and realized it was a woman. He didn't seem to recognize her, so he said, "I'm a detective. Can I know who you are?"

"I'm my niece's aunt. I found out she died, and everything is too confusing. Are you here for a case?" The woman looked at Anton and professionally regained her composure.

Anton nodded, handed her a business card, and said, "My name is Anton. I'm a detective investigating a very special case of multiple murders."

"I see. I'm a television journalist. My name is Reiko Asakawa." Reiko introduced herself to Anton directly.

Anton, who remembered the surname of one of the victims, asked, "Do you have any relation to Tomoko? Her last name is the same as your niece's mother before she got married, so I wonder if you happen to be her aunt."

"That's correct. Does my niece have anything to do with the case you're investigating? From what I heard, her death is natural." Reiko was surprised by Anton's observation. As a journalist, she knew about that strange story her niece had told her. Now, she wanted to know if it had any connection to that supposed urban legend.

But, of course, Reiko didn't want to tell Anton about it for fear of being judged as a crazy woman. That's why she simply took Anton's business card and didn't say anything.

"Were you close to your niece?" Anton approached where Reiko's niece lay.

Reiko nodded without saying anything. She might not show it openly to others, but she was deeply affected by her niece's sudden death.

"If you know of any connection your niece had with a cabin, you must tell me directly, or you might get into trouble. I'm not sure about this, but your niece might be related to the series of deaths I'm investigating." With that said, Anton bowed to Reiko in the same way the Japanese do and left the morgue.

Yoshio approached from a distance and said, "Sir, it seems that all the students on the list have died approximately at the same time as the girl we're investigating. Their relationships are the same, so we estimate they were marked at the same time."

"Have you checked their homes?" Anton looked at the people staring at him on the way but ignored all that.

Yoshio nodded and said, "We're working on it, but nothing has been found. What should we do for now?"

"Have the Eye of God hide all publications related to the urban legend of the video. Since it's recent, they must do it quickly to go unnoticed." Anton said as he left the hospital.

If none of the parents knew that their children had gathered seven days ago in a cabin, it can be said that their assumption that those kids might have taken the cursed object that killed the man at the Continental is not yet confirmed. But once he proves otherwise, then he can make a report and fully focus on one problem.

"Tomorrow, we'll visit the school of those kids. I want to talk to the students who were friends with those kids." Anton said as he brought a cigarette to his mouth.