Today...

...they realized it had no intention of leaving.

The boys did exactly what the rules said.

They politely asked Kokkuri-san to leave.

The coin shot across the paper.

NO.

Rio tried again.

NO.

Someone else asked.

NO.

Panic spread through the group.

"Just lift your finger."

They tried.

Nothing.

Not because the coin had glued them down...

...their own arms simply refused to move.

(At this point, every single Crime Lab detective would've been apologizing to spirits they hadn't even summoned. 😭)

Desperate, Kenji shouted one final question.

"What do you want???"

The coin began moving again.

This time...

faster than it had all night.

It darted around the board so violently the boys could barely keep up.

Then it slowed.

One character.

Then another.

Then another.

Until three words stared back at them.

"If Haruto dies."

Haruto, the friend who'd been the most excited to play, went completely silent.

No one argued, laughed or questioned whether the game was real anymore.

Rio remembered something his family had taught him growing up around Shinto traditions.

You don't negotiate with trickster spirits.

You submit.

So that's exactly what they did.

For hours.

Five teenage boys sat in an empty school courtyard...

crying.

Begging.

Screaming apologies into the darkness.

Time stopped making sense.

According to their account, they completely lost track of how long they'd been there.

Only after they broke down completely...

did the coin slowly glide toward the Torii gate.

The spirit had finally agreed to leave.

Or so they hoped :)

The boys followed almost every rule.

They shredded the paper.

They buried it.

But there was one final instruction.

The coin had to be spent within 24 hours.

Haruto didn't.

Instead, he slipped the old black coin into his pocket.

(Remember where he found it? Yeah... maybe some things are hidden for a reason 😭)

The next morning, Rio's father walked into the kitchen.

He was the head priest of the family's shrine.

The kind of man who had spent his entire life around sacred rituals.

He looked at the boys...

...and froze.

Without saying a word, he turned around, ran to the bathroom...

and violently vomited.

According to Shinto belief, the spiritual pollution surrounding them was so overwhelming...

he could physically sense it.

Then he asked one question.

"Where's the coin?"

When Haruto admitted he still had it...

The priest completely lost his composure.

He struck Rio across the neck in sheer panic. (But why not Haruto???? 🥲)

Then...

the promise the spirit had made began coming true.

Haruto tripped on the front steps of his home, shattering his leg so badly it required multiple surgeries.

Two of the other boys collapsed with violent fevers that doctors couldn't explain.

Shinto cleansing rituals were eventually performed.

The illnesses finally lifted.

Coincidence?

Mass hysteria?

Or exactly what the boys believed happened that night?

We'll let you decide.

Just...

if you ever find an old black coin hidden inside the walls of a priest's house...

Would you leave it there or… ;) Don’t forget to reply and tell us.

If you didn’t know, we are working on a new product at crimelab. Reply to this newsletter and tell us why we should give you exclusive discounts 😈 

—The Crime Times

(Your smartest friend who's dangerously obsessed with horror stories 🧚🏻‍♀️) 

Keep Reading