Today we return to the world of Spirit Hunter: NG, a place where even the simplest fairy tales can become corrupted and terrifying.
The third spirit you encounter in Spirit Hunter: NG is the Screaming Author, a monstrous figure looming in the shadows of a seemingly normal estate, waiting for the next unfortunate victim to wander into its nest.
The Screaming Author
The Screaming Author’s story is based loosely on Tsuru no Ongaeshi, the Crane’s Favor (sometimes known as “The Crane Wife”). Legend tells of a man who saves a crane that has been shot down by hunters. That night, a beautiful young woman appears at the man’s door. She tells him that she is now his wife, but the man protests that he is too poor to support them both.
“Don’t worry,” the mysterious woman tells him. “I have a bag of rice that is always full, and so our bellies will always be full, as well.”
Her story proves to be true–they eat from the bag of rice every day, and the bag never empties.
The woman then informs the man that she wishes to make something for him. She tells him she will lock herself in a room to create the gift, and he must not look before she has finished. She shuts herself away for seven days; when she emerges, she presents her husband with a beautiful piece of clothing. However, her husband notices that his bride has become frighteningly thin.
“Go to the market tomorrow morning,” she instructs him. “Sell this for as high a price as you can.”
Dutifully, he takes his gift to the market the next day, and returns with a massive sum of money, enough to lift him from poverty.
“I will make another,” his wife says. “But remember: do not look before I have finished.”
Just like the time before, she shuts herself away to work on her gift. But this time, the man’s curiosity overwhelms him. In spite of his wife’s warning, he peeks into the room, and is shocked by what he discovers: his wife is, in fact, the crane he had saved. When the crane realizes that the man has discovered her true identity, she flies away, never to return.
In Spirit Hunter: NG, the Screaming Author will give no gifts–just a warning. Don’t look at it. Whatever you do, don’t look at it.
Will you be able to face the terror of the Screaming Author? There’s only one way to find out…
