Urban Legend Detectives Case 4: The Samejima Case

By Kyosuke Tsumiki

“Let’s talk about the case of ‘Samejima Island’, shall we?”
“Do not even think about it.”

The Samejima case is regarded as the most mysterious of the Japanese urban legends found throughout the Internet. Ayano Shiozaki, a high school girl student who was once targeted by the ‘Friend of a Friend’ (the mastermind criminal) and was saved by Urban Legend Detectives, is tackling the unmentionably taboo case.

A man? A woman? An adult? A baby? A human? Or, a beast?
Who, or what, is ‘Jonah’, the uncanny mass murderer, the descriptions of whose appearance seem to change according to the eyewitness accounts? And, what is the ‘ritual’, repeatedly conducted on Samejima Island?

Ayano investigates the case, and reaches the Sawarahama fishing port. There, she learns of the forbidden and cursed truth that no one shall know.

The ‘Friend of a Friend’ was born in Samejima Island.

This is the first extra installment of the “Urban Legend Detectives” series, and delves into the origin of the story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365314544

Book preview

Urban Legend Detectives Case 4: The Samejima Case

Urban Legend Detectives Case 4: The Samejima Case

Originally written in Japanese by Kyosuke Tsumiki

Translated by Ryusui Seiryoin

Cover illustration by Maki Takeuchi

Cover design by Maki Takeuchi

Copyright © 2016 Kyosuke Tsumiki / The BBB: Breakthrough Bandwagon Books

All rights reserved.

ISBN978-1-365-31454-4

-0.5-

It was just a coincidence that the Daihachi Kuroshio Maru (Black Current No. 8), a small fishing boat with four crews, approached the island.

Far from a fishing place, no one got close to the spot. The fishing boat got lost in the water because the fish they were chasing accidentally wandered into the marine area. Without the coincidence, the island could not possibly have been found by anyone in a couple of months, a few years, or decades. Perhaps, it might have been lost by public forever.

I didn’t know an island was over there.

Okajima, a young crew, said so while standing on the deck. It was a rocky, small island with few vegetation.

Oh? Ah, that’s Hagakure Island.

Yasuda, an elder crew, said so while looking at what Okajima was gazing into.

I know the name, but I now am seeing it for the first time. We cannot catch fish here. No one comes here because there is nothing special. And then, look.

He pointed his finger at the landmass, beyond which there was another island, which was far bigger than Hagakure Island and was also with few greenery.

The island cannot be seen from the mainland, because it is hidden behind the Hagakure Big Island. Of course, it is already located distantly and isolated enough to the level that it cannot to be seen from the mainland even without the bigger island blocking the view.

I see a house there. It is rather majestic.

It was a two-story house, which probably had four bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. Even though it was looking grand, damages from salt of sea breeze were found here and there. It seemed it had not recently been maintained.

Ah, that’s a vacation house that a crazy rich one built. It was when I was only a child. The one made it to leisurely spend holidays on that deserted island a few times a year. He brought an electric generator into the island and dug a well.

After a short pause, he continued.

However, superstitious people didn’t think so. They thought the owner didn’t just spend holidays there, but must have done something evil.

Something evil ... What’s that?

People came up with rumors about this and that, while incorporating the folklores about that island. They were imagining that the owner was offering prayers and sacrifices to the evil monster in the sea.

An evil monster in the sea?

Okajima raised his voice at the end of his words.

Yeah. Rumor has it that someone, who accidentally got too close to Hagakure Island, heard strange, horrible screams of a beast like nothing that had been heard before.

No one would get close to such an island, though. Yasuda added cynically.

Umm, it was four or five years ago. Recently, we haven’t heard of the crazy rich. Probably, he hasn’t even visited the island since a while ago. He might have become bored of the vacation house, or he has just been dead.

What is the folklore about the island?

Okajima asked suspiciously.

I heard it from my grandma. Captain knows it, too. That island, the official name of which is Hagakure Island, is known to us local people as ...

Oh?

Okajima interrupted Yasuda’s words. He made a deep wrinkle between his brows and squinted at something to focus on it.

Mr. Yasuda, someone is there.

How can it be? It’s long been an uninhabited island.

But look, at the pier that stretches from the island into the sea. The man in black ... He looks young.

A young man in black?

Yasuda raised his voice. He narrowed his aged eyes more than Okajima was doing. Surely, the man was standing on the pier.

Captain!

Yasuda called out to Yoshimura, the captain, in a loud voice.

What’s happening?

Someone is on Hagakure Island. There, that man in black.

Yoshimura appeared on the deck and spotted with his eyes the man on the pier through the binocular.

That black outfit looks like a tailcoat, doesn’t it?

Tailcoat?

This time, Okajima uttered, with the pitch of the end of the word being raised. Yoshimura said to the steersperson.

Hey, Mikami, bring this ship to Hagakure Island.

Yoshimura also knew it was an uninhabited island. The vacation house built by the owner must have been unused for years. Perhaps, a ship wrecked near the island. We need to make sure what actually happened.

They moored the boat at the pier, left Mikami, the steersperson, behind and the three of them landed on the pier. The man standing there was young, as they had observed so from distance. He was wearing a white, formal dress shirt, a black bow tie, and a tailcoat. He had arranged his rather long hair with cosmetic oil, and he had his facial hair neatly shaved.

The man looked in his late teens or in his early 20s. He looked like a young boy from the points of view of Yoshimura and Yasuda. They could not locate within the close vicinity a maritime vessel of any sort, on which he must have been on board and which should have brought him to the island. Did the vessel go back to the mainland, or ... did it sink? Besides, why is this guy dressed this way? He is standing on the pier as if he is waiting for something to come from the sea.

Has this boy been enjoying a party or something?

Yasuda leaned his head sideways. Quite contrary to the way the young man was dressed formally, he had his mouth half-open like a retard, while looking at the crews absent-mindedly. Obviously, something was odd.

Hey, are you all right?

Yoshimura asked him, who only looked back at him with vacuous eyes.

Is anyone else here?

The man finally nodded.

Hey, you guys, check inside the vacant house.

Yasuda and Okajima rushed for the building.

Kaneko, my senior colleague, and Shimizu both died.

Suddenly, the man opened his mouth.

What?

Professor Noda and his wife both died.

What do you mean?

Everyone was murdered.

The man said in a monotonous voice.

Murdered? You mean, in this island? Hey young man, give me more detailed explanation! Whom were they murdered by?

Yoshimura asked the man interrogatively in a sharp voice.

Jonah ...

What?

It’s Jonah!

Abruptly, the man hollered.

Jonah?

Who is it? He said everyone was murdered. In this island, was there a murderer, who killed the others?! Which means what?!

Hey Mikami, keep your eye on this kid!

Yoshimura said so, and started running toward the vacation house to follow Yasuda and Okajima. If the dangerous one is in this island, those two are now in danger!

Wow! Hey! What’s this?

Once they opened the unlocked entrance door and got inside, Okajima shouted. The entrance hall, which also served