【Japanese Horror】The Hundred Horror Tales — Episode 55: The Reply in the Dark | Haunted Kaidan Tales
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Episode 55 – “ The Reply in the Dark| Haunted Kaidan Tales” (Full Text)
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Episode 55 — The Reply in the Dark
No one moved right away.
The photo frame still sat tilted on the shelf, and a thin trail of smoke lingered in the air.
The trace of the extinguished candle still hung inside the room.
Aoi had shifted a little closer to Sōma than before.
“…Hey.”
Her voice was small.
“That really moved, didn’t it?”
Sōma didn’t answer immediately.
He kept his eyes on the photo frame and let out a short breath.
“…I don’t think we imagined it.”
The way he said it only made the atmosphere heavier.
Miwa said nothing.
She simply stared vaguely at the shelf, her head tilted ever so slightly.
Shūji shrugged.
“What’s with you guys?”
He laughed lightly.
“Don’t make faces like that.”
He clapped his hands together in an exaggerated way.
“This is a hundred ghost stories, remember?”
“One or two weird things happening ain’t that strange.”
Maybe he meant to lighten the mood.
But no one followed him.
A brief silence settled over the room.
Shūji noticed it and let out a small sigh.
“…Ah, whatever.”
He shifted his posture slightly, slowly resettling himself.
“Alright then. Guess I’m next.”
He glanced toward the extinguished candle.
“My turn, right?”
No one disagreed.
Shūji cracked his neck lightly.
“It’s not even that crazy of a story.”
He smiled a little.
“A while back, I had to stay somewhere for work.”
He paused briefly.
“The company arranged it for me.”
“Not a hotel, though. An old house.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if remembering the smell of tatami and damp air.
“Probably cheaper that way.”
“I didn’t really have anything to complain about, so I just stayed there.”
He shrugged again.
“But…”
His voice dropped slightly.
“At night, that place got ridiculously dark.”
No one interrupted him.
“There weren’t many streetlights around, and the whole area was dead quiet.”
“The hallway was almost pitch black once you turned the lights off.”
He traced a narrow line through the air with his hand.
“At first, I kept the lights on like a normal person.”
“But after a while, I got lazy.”
He laughed quietly.
“So eventually, I just started walking through the dark.”
Aoi raised her face slightly.
“In the dark?”
“Yeah.”
Shūji nodded.
“You get used to it after a while.”
Then he stopped speaking for a moment.
His gaze drifted deeper into the room.
“…And that night too.”
“I got home from work.”
“Took a bath, watched TV for a bit.”
“Then figured I’d head to bed.”
He continued slowly.
“So I turned off the lights and started walking down the hallway.”
The atmosphere shifted slightly.
“It was seriously dark.”
“So dark I could barely even see my own hand.”
He moved his fingertips faintly in the air.
“And then…”
He paused.
“I thought I heard something farther down the hall.”
No one moved.
“It wasn’t exactly footsteps.”
“It was more like…”
His eyes shifted slightly, searching for the words.
“…a presence.”
He said it quietly.
“But at the time…”
Shūji smiled faintly.
“I was still treating it like a joke.”
He let out a small breath.
“Like, ‘Someone there or what?’”
“I figured it was probably just my imagination.”
Then his eyes narrowed just slightly.
“…So.”
He spoke slowly.
“I looked into the dark hallway…”
A pause.
“…and called out.”
No one made a sound.
“‘Anybody there?’”
The corner of his mouth moved ever so slightly.
It almost looked like a smile.
But only his eyes remained strangely still.
And then—
He stopped speaking.
The moment I called out, nothing happened.
Well, obviously.
It was pitch black, and there wasn’t a sound.
I remember thinking, See? Of course nobody’s there.
I even felt kind of stupid for doing it.
So I started heading back to my room—
…but then, after a little while.
Really, just a short pause later.
From somewhere deeper down the hallway,
very faintly,
I thought I heard—
“…Yeah.”
At first, though,
it honestly felt more like I’d imagined it.
Could’ve been something outside.
Could’ve been the house creaking.
Stuff like that happens in places that dark, right?
So I just went back to my room and slept.
I figured that was the end of it.
…Would’ve been nice if it had ended there.
The next day, I went to work like normal and came home like normal.
By then, I’d almost forgotten about it already.
Didn’t think it was a big deal or anything.
Then the same thing happened again.
I turned off the lights and walked down the hallway.
That same deep darkness.
So dark I could barely see my own hand.
And while I was walking—
I stopped again at the exact same spot as the night before.
It wasn’t like I saw anything.
Didn’t hear anything either.
I just…
felt like something was there.
I know that sounds weird.
Maybe the night before had stuck in the back of my mind or something.
And then, without really thinking about it,
I called out again.
“…You there?”
Quieter than before.
Like I was testing the air.
Right after that, nothing.
Silence.
I couldn’t hear a thing.
…and yet.
After almost the exact same pause as before,
from the darkness at the far end of the hall—
“…Yeah.”
This time, though,
I heard it more clearly.
Clearly enough to know it was a person’s voice.
Even then, I still thought maybe someone was actually there.
Maybe the previous tenant had stayed behind somehow.
Maybe somebody had broken in.
It wasn’t impossible, right?
That’s how I forced myself to explain it.
And then—
just a little—
I stepped farther down the hallway.
Slowly, trying not to make any noise.
Toward the darkness.
Halfway there, I asked again.
“…Who are you?”
This time more firmly.
Like I was demanding an answer.
And the moment I said it—
this time,
there was no pause.
It answered immediately.
“…Yeah.”
Different from before.
Like it had actually been listening.
Like it had answered exactly what I asked.
…and that was the moment
I finally started thinking—
Wait.
Something’s wrong here.
Even while thinking, Wait… something’s off,
I asked again anyway.
“…Who are you?”
A little more firmly than before.
And then—
this time, it didn’t wait.
Not like before.
It answered at the exact timing a normal person would.
“…Yeah.”
And honestly?
That made me feel relieved for a second.
Like, Okay. There really is someone there.
So I kept talking.
“Who are you supposed to be?”
I figured I’d at least get a name.
But then—
after a short pause,
it answered:
“…Why?”
For a second, I didn’t understand what it meant.
I was the one asking questions.
But it had asked me something back.
And the voice—
it sounded different now.
Same voice as before,
but slightly closer.
That was the first moment I felt something unpleasant crawl up my spine.
Even then, though,
I still thought I was having a normal conversation.
So I answered it.
“What do you mean why? I’m renting this place.”
I even laughed a little when I said it.
And then—
almost immediately,
it answered again.
“…Why?”
The exact same word.
Unchanged.
It wasn’t listening.
This wasn’t a conversation.
And yet—
the voice was definitely closer than before.
That’s when I finally started to understand.
It wasn’t answering me.
It was questioning me.
Again and again.
The same thing.
So after that,
I stopped talking for a moment.
I just had this feeling—
like I shouldn’t keep going.
But then—
even though I hadn’t said anything,
I heard it.
Right nearby.
Clearer than before.
“…Why are you here?”
“…Why are you here?”
The moment I heard that voice so close to me—
my body reacted before my mind did.
I turned around.
Almost instinctively.
But—
there was nothing there.
Nothing at all.
Just the dark hallway stretching behind me.
No figure.
No movement.
And yet,
that voice still lingered there,
strangely vivid.
Like it had stuck itself deep inside my ears.
I couldn’t move for a while after that.
The feet that had been carrying me forward just froze in place.
And that’s when I finally realized—
Yeah. This is bad.
But honestly?
I think by then,
it was already too late.
Because right after that,
from directly behind me,
close enough to feel,
I heard it again.
“…Why?”
Same voice.
Same tone.
But this time,
I understood something clearly.
It wasn’t about distance anymore.
Or direction.
That voice—
was behind me.
Even though I had just turned around.
Even though I had just checked.
It came from the exact place where there had been nothing.
My body locked up.
I couldn’t even decide whether to turn around again
or keep facing forward.
And while I stood there—
motionless—
this time,
it came from the front.
From the darkness at the far end of the hallway I had been staring into.
Softly—
“…Why are you here?”
And after that,
I stopped understanding anything.
Which direction was front.
Which was behind me.
Where it even was anymore.
Only the voice remained.
Like it was circling around me,
coming from everywhere at once.
And yet—
not once did I hear footsteps.
Not once did I feel anything moving.
It just kept asking.
Like something was standing there,
right beside me.
“…Why?”
“…Why are you here?”
Over and over again.
That was when I finally realized
I needed to get out of there.
So I went straight back to my room.
Without looking behind me.
I turned on the lights,
shut the door,
and got into bed.
…but even then,
the voice never fully disappeared.
It stayed there,
stuck deep inside my ears.
And even after everything went quiet,
it never completely went away.
In the end,
I slept there that night.
Well… “slept” might be giving it too much credit.
Honestly, I barely got any rest.
I didn’t even want to turn the lights off,
so I left them on until morning.
…but even so,
nothing dramatic ever happened.
Nothing came into the room.
Nothing attacked me.
Even after that,
I never actually saw anything.
Nothing touched me either.
“So yeah,”
Shūji laughed quietly.
“It’s not really one of those stories where something terrible happens.”
“I kept going to work like normal.”
“Kept coming back home.”
“And I kept living in that house too.”
“But…”
His voice lowered slightly.
“Only when I walk into dark places.”
No one moved.
“Every now and then…”
A quiet breath escaped him.
“I still hear it.”
Silence filled the room.
“Right nearby.”
Another soft breath.
‘…Why are you here?’
No one spoke.
“Well…”
he said lightly.
“At first, yeah, it scared the hell outta me.”
“I didn’t even wanna answer it.”
“But after a while…”
He continued quietly.
“You kinda get used to it.”
“Nothing actually happens.”
“It just talks.”
“So now?”
“If I hear it, I just ignore it.”
No one moved.
“…But sometimes,”
he murmured,
“I think the silence feels worse.”
The air in the room seemed to grow colder.
“Like…”
“something that’s supposed to be there…”
“…suddenly isn’t anymore.”
Shūji gave a small shrug.
“Well. That’s about it.”
He said nothing more.
—Fff.
Shūji blew gently toward the candle.
The last flame went out.
—Koto.
A small sound.
And then—
very close by,
clear enough to make everyone freeze—
“…Yeah.”
Aoi gasped softly.
“…Did you guys hear that?”
No one answered.
No one moved.
And there in the darkness,
they waited
for the next story.
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The Hundred Horror Tales is an original Japanese horror anthology inspired by the tradition of Hyaku Monogatari.
Five storytellers gather around flickering candles to share chilling tales—urban legends, ghost stories, folklore, daily fears, and real encounters.
Can you endure until the last flame goes out?
Follow for more:
• Twitter: @KaidanTales
• YouTube: @HK_Tales
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