【Japanese Horror】The Digital Priestess — Episode 18: The Icon Is Watching | Haunted Kaidan Tales
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Episode 18 – “The Icon Is Watching” (Full Text)
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The Digital Priestess — Episode 18: The Icon Is Watching
After his afternoon lecture, Kenichi sat restlessly, fidgeting with his phone.
He was already on edge—
to the point where he was seriously questioning whether he was losing his mind.
(…I can’t keep going like this.)
One face came to mind: Yuto.
They weren’t as close as he was with Tanaka,
but Yuto was easy to talk to—laid-back, never intrusive,
and not the type to mock someone just for saying something weird.
Kenichi didn’t expect to be believed.
But if he didn’t talk to someone, he felt like he was going to break.
When he sent a message, the reply came almost immediately:
“I’m free now~”
They met at a bench behind the campus.
Yuto showed up holding a canned coffee, wearing his usual lazy grin.
“So? Love problems? Did you get dumped or what?”
“…No. This is serious. I just… need you to hear me out.”
Kenichi took a deep breath—
and told him everything.
Tanaka had “disappeared.”
No one had remembered him.
The Miko Weather app.
And how after Kenichi chose “yes,” Tanaka came back—
but his mother was gone.
Yuto listened without interrupting.
When Kenichi finished, he cracked open his can and spoke:
“Uhh… are you being serious right now?”
“…Yeah.”
“Sounds like something out of a horror movie script.
But I know you’re not the type to joke about stuff like this.”
He didn’t laugh.
Didn’t frown.
Just gave Kenichi a weird, unreadable look.
“But… do you have any proof?”
Kenichi froze.
“Her photos, her contact info, her messages—everything’s gone.
But if someone says it was never there to begin with… I can’t prove otherwise.”
“Hmm…”
Yuto pulled out his own phone.
“Then how about I try it? That app—‘Miko Weather,’ right?”
“Huh? You mean… install it?”
“Yeah. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?
If it helps you calm down, it’s worth a shot, right?”
He grinned and opened the App Store, typing into the search bar.
Soon, a red torii gate and a small bell icon appeared on screen.
“…This it? Creepy-looking thing.”
“…Are you really gonna install it?”
“Yup. If I get dragged into something, that just makes it more interesting, doesn’t it?”
He was as casual as ever.
But to Kenichi, that was exactly what he needed.
The download finished.
The “Open” button appeared.
“Alright. It’s installed. I’ll open it… later, yeah?”
“…Thanks, Yuto.”
“No prob, Ken. And hey—if nothing happens,
let’s just call this whole thing a spooky dream and move on, yeah?”
Kenichi let out a small laugh.
Just a little, the weight of the world felt lighter.
But even then, on Yuto’s phone screen,
the Miko Weather icon remained silent—watching.
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New episode drops on Tuesday June 17.
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The Digital Priestess is an original Japanese horror story about a mysterious app that starts off as a weather forecast — but soon, things go very wrong.
What would you choose?
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