【Japanese Horror】The Digital Priestess — Episode 28: It’s Always Me | Haunted Kaidan Tales
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Episode 28 – “It’s Always Me” (Full Text)
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The Digital Priestess — Episode 28: It’s Always Me
The moment Kenichi passed through the crimson torii gate,
the atmosphere changed.
The air was thick with an unnatural silence.
The ground beneath his feet had become stone,
and faintly glowing lanterns lined the path at regular intervals.
There was no ceiling, and yet—
when he looked up, the sky was veiled in a dark mist, like a curtain of fog.
(…This place… it feels like a shrine…)
Just as that thought crossed his mind,
he saw her.
A lone figure standing deeper down the path.
White robes. Crimson hakama.
Long black hair. Bells adorning her forehead.
—The shrine maiden.
She stood there silently,
as if she had been waiting for him from the very beginning.
“You’ve arrived, Kenichi-san.”
Her voice was soft, but carried a subtle chill.
Kenichi bit his lip and stepped forward.
“…What is this place?
And what the hell are you…?”
She didn’t answer.
Just stood there, smiling.
“Tanaka… my mom…
You erased them… all of them—didn’t you!?”
His voice cracked with rage.
But the shrine maiden didn’t flinch.
Her smile remained unchanged—cold, serene.
Instead, she spoke in a calm, detached tone:
“You must make a choice.”
“…A choice?”
She took a step closer.
“If you disappear, everything will return to normal.
The world, the memories, and even the ‘optimization’ you wished for—”
“Hold on! What do you mean, ‘disappear’!?
Are you saying I’ll die?
Or will I just… stop existing?”
But the shrine maiden didn’t answer.
Her expression said it all—
That question isn’t worth answering.
“Is it death? Or is it… erasure?”
She offered no reply.
Instead, she slowly raised her arms, sleeves draping down,
and extended both hands before her.
A glowing white panel appeared in midair.
“Please make your selection.”
Below it, two phrases appeared:
◯ Restore everything
◯ Postpone your decision
Kenichi’s eyes widened.
(Again…!?)
The exact same options he had seen on his phone.
But this time, they weren’t digital.
This space—this reality—was forcing him to choose.
“…You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
His voice trembled.
His hands shook.
“Why me…?
Why is it always me…?”
He had lost everything.
Finally reached the truth.
And this was what waited for him—a choice.
The shrine maiden didn’t move.
She stood there, silently waiting for his decision.
The silence pressed in.
He knew the truth:
Without a choice, he couldn’t move forward.
But once he chose—something would end.
Sweat beading on his palms,
Kenichi slowly reached out.
But his fingers… still hadn’t touched the options.
(If I really disappear…
will everything truly go back to normal…?)
No one could answer that.
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New episode drops on Tuesday July 22.
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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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