King of the Ring Page #2

No one I phoned took a tape to the cabin.

And they all sounded normal, not like they'd make a tape like this.

Pirate stations?

There's no record of an illegal broadcast anywhere in Izu.

Here's the copy.

Asakawa...

Have you ever seen this woman?

No.

This shot is weird.

From that angle, the cameraman should appear in the mirror.

What do you mean?

Well, you could fix it with special effects, but...

``Eruption''...

Which eruption?

You can't read it on a regular home TV...

Come in.

Takano... A student of mine.

Asakawa. My ex-wife.

How do you do? I'm Takano.

I'm Asakawa.

Sensei, the publisher wants your essay.

Why did they tell you that?

They couldn't find you.

Ask them to extend the deadline a week.

Me? Ask them yourself!

Okay, okay...

No good...

``Sa...da...''

Is Yoichi all right alone?

He's used to it.

Whoever did this left a sign subconsciously.

He wants to be stopped.

Wait.

``Frolic in brine, goblins be thine.''

It sounds like some sort of dialect.

What does it mean?

I'll check tomorrow.

...who says ``you will die in one week''.

They say if you watch late night TV, she appears.

And then the phone rings.

Thursday, September 16th

I heard it was on a local channel down in Izu.

Hello?

I found it. As I thought, it is a dialect.

It's something about ``brine'' and ``goblins''.

A dialect from where?

Oshima Island. The volcano there.

Hello, Yoichi?

I'll be late tonight.

Yeah.

You're okay alone?

I'm sorry.

Mt. Miharayama Erupts

Here... but it's a long time ago.

Did Local Woman Predict Eruption?

What is it?

Do you have an Oshima Bureau?

I think so. A correspondent.

Get me the number. Tonight.

Why?

You only have four days left.

I'll handle it with your correspondent.

You stay with Yoichi.

Grandpa!

Well, hello...

Friday, September 17th

Yoichi wants to go fishing with his Grandpa.

Oh, is that so?

C'mon, let's go!

Let's go out and go fishing!

Yeah!

Grandpa! You've got one!

Aww, he got away!

You're not very good at this!

Okay, let's try it again.

Let's fish over here this time.

All right.

You're home...

Hello?

Your man on Oshima says...

...our woman is probably the one who predicted the eruption.

Her name was Yamamura Shizuko.

She threw herself into the volcano 40 years ago.

What do we do now?

Go down there, I guess.

I'll go tomorrow.

Oshima? But I only have three days left!

I know. I have four.

I'll call again.

Is something wrong?

No, just some work.

Auntie...

Yoichi?

Yoichi! Did you bring that?!

You did, didn't you? Why?!

Tomo-chan...

Tomo-chan told me to.

I was careless.

I sensed something at your place.

I thought it was the video.

It was Tomo-chan.

She's not Tomoko anymore.

Yoichi can see her, too, then.

It's all my fault, isn't it?

It should have ended with Tomoko and the others.

I wonder...

Who did the story start with?

Stories like that don't start with anyone.

People feel anxious, and rumors start flying.

Anxious?

Or people start them, hoping things will turn out like this.

Mr. Hayatsu?

Hello. Sorry you've had to come all the way out here.

This way.

Saturday, September 18th

The Yamamuras...

...used to run big fishing crews here.

They're all but out of the business now.

Shizuko's cousin is still alive.

His son and daughter-in-law run an inn.

I've booked you into there for the night.

Why did Yamamura Shizuko commit suicide?

They say she went crazy.

The papers had written some things about her.

She was famous all over the island after she predicted the eruption.

It had always been said that she had strange powers.

She was what they call a seer.

After that, a professor showed up.

You've heard of him. Ikuma Heihachiro.

Wasn't he fired?

He brought Shizuko to Tokyo and experimented on her.

He was trying to prove the existence of ESP.

The papers built him up, then smashed him.

The media haven't changed much in 40 years.

I remember something about that.

Didn't someone die?

Dr. Ikuma disappeared after his university fired him.

I doubt he's still alive.

Even if we found him, then what?

They say Shizuko had a daughter.

Anyone here?

Hello.

Welcome.

I'll leave you here.

This way.

One room?

Two, please.

This way.

Umm...

Please.

Wait!

Please tell me about Shizuko!

I have nothing to say.

About her daughter...

There was no daughter.

Not hungry?

When I die, be with me...

Cut it out.

Please!

Please? And then...

If you learn anything, use it to save Yoichi!

Stop it!

The girl with Tomoko lost her mind.

Who knows what'll happen to me?

You'll be all right!

Because I'm not ``normal''.

Maybe all three of us should just die.

Good idea! We shouldn't have had a kid in the first place.

STOP IT!

There are still two days.

Excuse me.

Come in.

You were asking about Shizuko...

This is all that's left.

Is this Dr. Ikuma?

Yes. It was before I came here.

Anyway...

Thank you.

``Frolic in brine...

...goblins be thine.''

Sunday, September 19th

You'd best head home early.

There's a storm coming tonight.

What was Shizuko like?

She was a strange one.

She'd sit out here the whole day long.

Day in, day out... just staring at the sea.

The fisherman all hated her.

For us, the sea is unlucky.

Every year, it swallows some of us.

And she'd just stare out at it...

``Frolic in brine, goblins be thine''...

If you play in the sea, the goblins come for you.

Shizuko could read minds.

She would know things about people they didn't want known.

That could be painful.

Go home!

I have some abilities that way myself.

You're the one who told people about Shizuko, aren't you?

You called Dr. Ikuma.

I did what?

You thought you could make money off of Shizuko.

You took money from the newspapers, too.

Shut up!

Tell me about her daughter! What happened to her?

I don't know!

She should have been with Shizuko!

You were there...

...when Shizuko gave her demonstration.

Correct.

Correct.

Correct.

Correct.

Correct.

This is a fraud!

It's nothing but a vulgar magic show!

You don't fool me!

Dr. Ikuma is deceiving you!

He's making a fool of you!

Show us the...

Hey! What's wrong?

He's dead!

She's a monster!

Sadako! You did that!

``Sadako''?

Sada

Sadako killed him?

She could simply kill someone dead?

She was a monster!

Sadako!

Hey!

Yes! When Shizuko killed herself, Dr. Ikuma took Sadako away with him.

But no one knows where they went.

Anyway, find them!

Dr. Ikuma may be dead, but Sadako would be in her 40s.

I'll explain later. Hurry!

I doubt Sadako is alive, either.

She killed a man just by willing him dead.

That's power of a different order from her mother.

So that video...

It's not of this world.

It's Sadako's... rage.

She's put a curse on us.

The typhoon's too close. All the ferries have been canceled.

Try a fishing boat. We'll pay.

A fishing boat?

The typhoon might change course. Your best bet is to wait.

I'll find one, then!

Mr. Takayama!

Mr. Takayama!

Hello?

Ms. Asakawa? I'm sorry.

There's no trace of either of them.

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