The Locker Used by Protagonists to Hide in Horror Games and the Like

"Today, we'll be bringing you a horror-themed story."

'Nothing is more horrifying than your very existence.'

"That's harsh right out of the gate. I'm good at scary stories."

'Oh? Then if they aren't scary, I'll physically lower your IQ to make up the difference.'

"That's terrifying. Anyway, what we have here is a rental DVD whose due date I can't remember."

'That's pretty scary. Hurry up and return it.'

"I rented this DVD around the time I reincarnated as a hermit crab—before and after, actually."

'Hasn't the rental shop gone out of business by now?'

※ At least several hundred years have passed.

"It's scary to leave things unfinished before reincarnating in another world, so I need to get ready first—like stocking up on food."

'I'll remain in this world, but generally speaking, you leave behind anything from your current world.'

"Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to my original corpse. Since I died suddenly, if no one noticed, it probably rotted away."

'A burglar broke in later and found your body. They screamed, alerting the neighbors, and it was discovered soon after.'

"Then it should still be in good condition."

'The police would investigate all sorts of things if the cause of death was completely unknown.'

"I hope it was a woman."

'She'd only look at you the way one looks at a corpse.'

"I wouldn't mind that. Isn't that pretty much how Goddess-sama usually looks at me?"

'That's true. I don't understand why you'd consider that a good thing, though.'

"Now, for the next scary thing—"

'Unfortunately, it's time for your reincarnation in another world.'

"Couldn't we do this for just a little longer?"

'I figured no proper horror would come out of it anyway.'

"That's true, but let's quickly take a look in the suggestion box. From Dead Men Tell No Tales-san: 'A locker used by the protagonist to hide in horror games and the like.'"

'A perfect fit for the horror theme.'

"So this time, I'm going to a horror-game world?"

'Being reincarnated inside a game seems iffy, so let's make it a world with the sort of setting you'd find in a horror game.'

"I see. A horror story straight out of the textbook."

'Still, lockers show up in works like that all the time, but it feels like they're only ever used once.'

"How about making it comfortable enough to live in, so people will reuse it?"

'If you're being chased by a murderer or a monster, you won't want to live in a locker just because it's comfortable.'

"Then I'll add an option that makes them want to."

'Don't do that.'

"Hmm, honestly, being a locker doesn't benefit that much from increased durability."

'You were unstoppable when you were the Demon King's castle door.'

"It wouldn't be very nice to defeat the protagonist."

'That's not what I'd expect to hear from someone who's defeated Heroes over and over.'

"Maybe it'd be nice to focus on helping people for a change. All right, options set."

'Then off you go.'

"I'm off. Oh, right, that thing I forgot to mention earlier: a roach showed up, but I couldn't get rid of it. Anyway, bye."

'Wait a minute. Huh? He's already gone.'

◇

'Where are you...? Where are you hiding...?'

"I'm back."

'What are you doing? Go find the roach!'

"Were you looking for it this whole time? It won't live for even a year, will it?"

※ Invasive species can live for several years.

'I can't find it. Not even the corpse.'

"For that matter, how did a roach even get into this world?"

'I don't know. Maybe you brought it with you.'

"Maybe it slipped through when we traveled between worlds. Besides, this world should be a piece of cake for Goddess-sama to search with her powers."

'Now that you mention it, that's true. —Strange. I cast a detection spell over the entire space, but it didn't respond.'

"Then it must've escaped with me when I reincarnated in another world."

'Did you find the roach?'

"I did. It was in a locker at an old abandoned hospital."

'That's a nice horror setup.'

"The hospital was crawling with evil spirits, which attacked any humans who wandered inside."

'I wonder what happened there.'

"It was a hospital where inhumane medical research had been conducted in secret, costing many lives. Then one occult-obsessed patient went on a rampage, and it quickly turned into a scene of carnage."

'I see. That's not a bad setting. But why would an ordinary person visit that abandoned hospital?'

"Some came for a test of courage, but actually, that patient I mentioned earlier was still secretly alive. They were luring people there as sacrifices."

'So that person was the mastermind.'

"I never got a chance to learn their name, so let's call them the mastermind. They sent information to the families of missing people, making it look as though the missing person had visited the abandoned hospital."

'Could they really do that?'

"They used image-editing software to blur photos of the missing people—or people who looked like them—and composite them with the hospital entrance."

'A mastermind who was good with computers. When you think about the steps involved, it's kind of absurd.'

"Still, once I found out what was going on, I figured I had to help, so I—being a locker—did what I could."

'You were a locker, yes.'

"First, I figured it would be scary if things were quiet, so I started playing rock music."

'That's the wrong kind of locker already.'

"Even the vengeful spirits got into it and started headbanging."

'That's even scarier, actually.'

"The rocker who'd wandered in was getting into it, too."

'They were probably a professional rocker, but that's confusing.'

"Most people who came for a test of courage heard the rock music and hurried right back out."

'Sneaking into a hospital where people might be inside isn't a test of courage. It's trespassing.'

"But of course, people who came looking for missing family members or lovers weren't scared off by music."

'They couldn't just leave until they found some kind of clue.'

"The person I especially want to focus on in this report is a college student named Himina, who came looking for her missing younger sister."

'From what you've said, it was a trap set by the mastermind.'

"Actually, her sister had gone to the abandoned hospital for a test of courage and been captured by the evil spirits."

'Oh? So she really did come to rescue her.'

"I wanted to chase her sister out when she came for the test of courage, but I happened to be on vacation in Hawaii."

'A locker taking a vacation in Hawaii... Where do I even begin?'

"It only cost the shipping fee, so it was a bargain."

'Let's give up on pointing out the absurdity.'

"Then the evil spirits attacked Himina. She fled and ran into the women's changing room."

'You were a locker in the women's changing room?'

"I thought maybe there was a chance I'd get to peek at someone changing."

'What a wretched pervert. That might've been possible if the setting were a school, though.'

"Himina tried to get into the locker next to me, but if she went into that one, I'd have no reason to exist."

'After all those people you chased away from their test of courage.'

"So I remotely locked the neighboring locker's door."

'What a cruel locker to someone being chased by evil spirits.'

"I thought Himina would come to me now, but she reached for the locker on the other side, so I locked them one after another."

'You're cornering her as much as the evil spirits are.'

"I decided this was going nowhere, so I was the only locker that went bang and opened."

'That made it even more horror-like.'

"Himina was suspicious, but the evil spirit was about to enter the room. With no time to think, she dove into me and shut the door."

'I would've thought it was a trap, if it were me.'

"She smelled nice."

'We don't need that information.'

"The evil spirit entered the women's changing room and searched around. Then, unbelievably, it started trying the lockers."

'Usually, it'd open the locker next to yours and the scene would end there.'

"But every locker was locked."

'Because you locked them.'

"The evil spirit left the room with a look that said, 'Huh? Were the lockers in here always locked?'"

'That evil spirit was surprisingly capable of making rational decisions.'

"I tried to open mine, too, but of course, I'd locked it."

'I'm relieved you didn't overlook that.'

"After confirming the evil spirit had left, Himina opened the locker."

'At least it sounds like you managed to help her.'

"But the locker was locked, so she couldn't get out."

'Because you locked it.'

"Himina panicked, but then I unlocked it and opened the door for her. She looked very puzzled and examined me."

'She'd be puzzled if the door opened by itself and the lock kept switching between locked and unlocked.'

"That tickled."

'You had a sense of touch?'

"This time, it was pretty normal."

'So your whole body wasn't an erogenous zone. Though it's already strange for a locker to have a sense of touch.'

"I didn't have any useful items on me, so I decided to give her some macadamia nuts."

'A souvenir from Hawaii.'

"Himina checked the expiration date on the macadamia nuts, ate some, and then left the room."

'The protagonist is sensible, too.'

"I felt a little sad that my part was over, so I secretly followed Himina."

'A locker did? You could walk?'

"I applied the same trick I used when I was the World Tree."

'You grew legs?'

※ See Chapter Eight.

"Himina was a brave woman. She acted cautiously, and sometimes boldly, avoiding attacks from the evil spirits."

'It takes courage to search an abandoned hospital crawling with evil spirits.'

"Still, there was only so much an ordinary person like Himina could do against all those evil spirits, and she was often forced to flee."

'In a horror-game-like world, you'd be in danger more than once or twice.'

"And every time she fled, I just happened to be there."

'A locker in the women's changing room, of all things. How convenient.'

"At first, Himina was suspicious, but she came to appreciate the locker that wouldn't open once she entered, until the evil spirits left."

'A safe zone that seems to appear whenever you need it.'

"And she got macadamia nuts every time she used it."

'You didn't eat them?'

"How could a locker eat anything?"

'Then why did you bring the macadamia nuts back as a souvenir?'

"Japanese people have to buy macadamia nuts when they go to Hawaii."

'That's not a thing.'

※ It isn't.

"Himina liked me so much that she named me Locker-chan."

'You were a locker in the women's changing room, so I suppose she treated you as female.'

"When you put it that way, being female isn't so bad."

'You were a locker, not a woman.'

"Feeling pleased, I went ahead of her and placed hints in conspicuous spots to help Himina find her sister and move forward."

'That's a classic horror-game trope.'

"I got rid of any evil spirits that were clearly too much for Himina to handle."

'Pity the evil spirits, being eliminated by a locker.'

"At last, Himina reached the evil spirit haunting the morgue and found her younger sister, who was being held captive."

'The word "morgue" is a little worrying, but was she all right?'

"Yes. Her life force had been gradually drained while she was held captive, but she wasn't in serious danger. Once they freed her, she woke up shortly afterward, and the two sisters were reunited in a tearful embrace."

'That's a relief.'

"I nodded discreetly behind them."

'Don't have a locker nod.'

"But the evil spirit was furious that its captured prey had been stolen, and chased after the two of them."

'If it was attacking them with a purpose instead of indiscriminately, it must've been a terrifying sight.'

"But I was waiting at the end of their escape route."

'Locker-chan, reliable as ever.'

"Himina tried to dive into the locker, but her sister said, 'Are you insane? Why would you get into a locker that's been placed so conspicuously here?'"

'At last, someone who can make a sensible retort.'

"Himina said, 'It's okay. This locker gives me macadamia nuts.'"

'Her sister must've had no idea what that meant.'

"Her sister was completely bewildered, but Himina shoved her into me and climbed in after her."

'Sounds cramped.'

"It was a tight squeeze."

'A changing-room locker is doing well if it fits one person.'

"Well, I certainly got lucky."

'Don't let the locker get excited.'

"The evil spirit had watched them dive into the locker and tried to break it open, but there was no way an evil spirit could hurt me."

'You're a locker, aren't you?'

"I swiftly dodged the evil spirit's attacks and landed a pair of hooks."

'You had hands, too?'

"No, the hooks for hanging things."

'That must have given you a short reach. And if you showed that much mobility, the two inside would be tossed around.'

"It was hard to keep my composure."

'What a disgusting locker.'

"After successfully driving off the evil spirit, I figured I might as well carry the two of them outside the abandoned hospital."

'That sounds kind, but you wanted to keep them inside a little longer, didn't you?'

"As expected of Goddess-sama."

'There's nothing impressive about it, you perverted locker.'

"The two finally made it out at the entrance and thanked me."

'I can't believe they thought to thank you.'

"Apparently, they thought I was a locker possessed by a good ghost who lived in the abandoned hospital."

'Ah, those do show up sometimes.'

"I gave them the macadamia nuts I had left and saw the sisters off."

'They probably never understood what the macadamia nuts were about.'

"That was the end of my story with Himina, but there's a little more."

'There's more?'

"If you think about it, as long as there was a hospital with evil spirits and a mastermind, victims would keep appearing and the tragedies would repeat. So I thought I'd take them all out."

'That's not the kind of idea a locker at the scene of the tragedy should have. Come to think of it, we never saw the mastermind in your story.'

"They went to Guam while I was away."

'What was the mastermind of a horror world doing?'

"When the mastermind returned to the hospital, all that remained was the rubble of the abandoned building."

'You completely destroyed it.'

"The mastermind dropped the Chamorro chip cookies they'd brought as a souvenir with a thud and stood there in a daze."

'We didn't need the souvenir details.'

"And finally, I attacked the mastermind from behind and sealed them inside the locker."

'In the very end, you turned into a horror locker.'

"And so the source of the tragedies, the setting, and the evil spirits who'd become victims all disappeared, leaving the land at peace."

'How did you meet your end after that?'

"I locked the locker and burrowed deep underground, burying the mastermind alive."

'A locker as a coffin. They say you reap what you sow, but what a pitiful end.'

"In the end, a happy ending is best."

'It's impossible to expect you to keep things horrifying.'

"Oh, right. Here's a souvenir: Chamorro chip cookies."

'You stole the ones the mastermind bought? Since we have them, could you brew some tropical tea?'