"The Mystery of the Topknot UFO Cape" - #Strange Landmarks of Amane Town - JoJo Project
I am Sanshita, editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine "Woo," which pursues the "mysteries of the world."
Every day, images and photos of UFOs taken by readers are sent to the editorial department.
The world of UFOs is a realm of monsters and goblins. It is a world where anything goes: obvious fake composite photos, misidentified airplanes, drones, kites, building lights, and so on.
In fact... for an editor, there is no article easier than this. Because if you label something ambiguous—which you have no intention of verifying and which is impossible to verify in the first place—as a "UFO" and write that it is "a mystery" or "shocking," it becomes an article.
—Amidst such monotony, my eyes were drawn to a certain UFO photo.
It is a UFO photo that a tourist who went on a trip to Amane Town supposedly took.
It is a clear daytime image, and the UFO is clearly visible.
The problem is that the UFO is wearing a magnificent [topknot].
"It's clearly some kind of joke, but there are no traces of compositing. Could it be..."
When I threw the photo onto the desk, a young writer laughed through his nose.
"Editor-in-Chief Sanshita, it doesn't matter if it's real or not, does it? Such a ridiculous thing wouldn't make an article..."
At this writer's remark, I felt the passion that had been sleeping within me reignite.
"You idiot! Since when did you guys become such pathetic people! Our job is to chase after unknown mysteries and provide the truth to our readers!"
Sanshita decided on the spot to carry out an emergency report in Amane Town. He was prepared not to return until he had captured the "topknot UFO" on camera with his own hands.
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"So this is Amane Town."
"Amane Town," a peaceful town surrounded by the sea and mountains.
"How peaceful and beautiful it is."
—It is precisely because it is a peaceful town that it is scary. Sanshita shuddered.
Sherlock Holmes himself has spoken of this.
"Watson, it is the peaceful landscape that is the object of terror for me. Crimes that occur in the filthy back alleys of the city are immediately exposed to the public eye. But in a house in the remote countryside, even if terrible abuse or crimes are being committed in secret, no one can notice..."
It is in the most idyllic towns that the most terrifying (or strange) truths, known to no one, are hidden.
Sanshita pitched a tent on the cape and stood by with a camera equipped with a high-performance telephoto lens.
This time, just in case, I also prepared a "suspicious bearded middle-aged man" who can call UFOs, so preparations were complete.
I stuck it out in the tent for days, but the Chonmage UFO never appeared. Beside me, the "suspicious bearded middle-aged man" continued to perform an incomprehensible dance endlessly.
Local children holding cucumbers surrounded my tent and started pestering me.
They poked my cheek while I was looking through the camera viewfinder, asking, "What are you doing?"They were fresh cucumbers. The prickles were painful.
Finally, the day of the report ended. As a result, I managed to capture some unnecessary things, but I never encountered the "Chonmage UFO".
The sunset sinking beyond the cape bled a dark red, as if reflecting my current state of mind.
__How much 'resolve' did I have to stand on this windswept cape for these past few days?
Days of having my skin burned by the blowing sea breeze, my sleep disturbed by the suspicious man dancing beside me, and being pestered by children. All my efforts of staring up at the sky have come to nothing.
"Chonmage UFO". To return home without having captured that strange yet noble silhouette with my own eyes and without having unraveled its mystery is heart-wrenching.
As a minor professional, no, as a seeker, this sense of defeat will be carved into my chest like a bruise that will never fade for the rest of my life.
__Encounters with the unknown. It is not an easy thing. That is precisely why we pursue it.
Ah, what a regret! Must I return to the noisy, yet boring, daily life of the city empty-handed like this!
Sanshita packed up the tent, said goodbye to the local children he had become friends with, and left Amane Town.
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