Novel "Erosion" | Chapter 3: The Gap
Synopsis
The ringing of a smartphone, the noise overflowing in daily life,
the angry shouts that wear down the heart.
Within a closed-off workplace environment,
the many forms of exploitation rampant in society.
A breathless suspense-horror that visualizes
the terror of gradually losing oneself
as "verdigris" eroding the body.
What is it that people are actually looking at?
A six-chapter story depicting a poignant realization
that lies beyond "isolation" from society.
Characters
Aoi:
A care worker at a day service center.
While enduring unreasonable angry shouts at work,
a "strange abnormality" begins to occur in her body.
Akutsu:
Aoi's supervisor.
A man who exploits those around him with persistent pressure and angry shouts.
In the gaps of his long, filthy fingernails,
stagnant, deep green grime can be seen.
Kanata:
Aoi's colleague.
While afraid of Akutsu's tyranny,
they perform their duties calmly,
but they are concerned about Aoi, who is going mad day by day.
⚠️ Note before reading
*This work is available for free, but
it contains some depictions of bodily transformation, grotesque imagery,
and expressions related to intense mental stress.
Please be aware if you are sensitive to such content.
◀ To the previous chapter
Chapter 3: The Gap
Before my eyes, a small pond spreads out.
The surface was covered so thickly with slimy, deep green algae
that there was no escape.
My body won't move. I fall forward just like that.
With a dull splash, I was dragged
into that slimy, deep green liquid.
No matter how much I struggled,
the eerie, stagnant green masses
covering the water surface
stuck to my face and body, and I couldn't breathe.
It's painful... I'm drowning...
Even though I'm reaching out to the shore right there,
just a little more, just a tiny bit more,
my fingertips won't reach.
Because of the clinging green liquid and film,
my body is becoming heavier and heavier like lead.
That mysterious liquid is already
mercilessly entering my eyes, nose, and deep into my mouth,
violently eroding my insides.
Just imagining what is happening
inside my body right now
makes it hard to even stay alive...
In the depths of my fading consciousness, that was all I thought.
――Ding-dong.
Suddenly, I woke up to a high-pitched sound.
The bus slowly reduced its speed and began to come to a stop.
I hurriedly looked up at the monitor inside the bus, and it was the bus stop near my home that I was familiar with.
I got off the bus as if I had been flicked away.
With an unpleasant opening and closing sound like something escaping, the door shut, and I was left behind all alone in the darkness.
"I'm tired..."
I let out a voice unintentionally and started walking toward my home with heavy steps.
I arrived at the apartment building, opened the entrance door, and looked at my mailbox as usual.
"Hmm?"
A few advertising flyers were awkwardly stuck in the narrow slot of the mailbox.
As I pulled them out forcefully with a sigh, I saw something stuck to the entrance of the mailbox.
It was verdigris rust.
It was hardened and flaking off bit by bit.
And it smelled terribly of rust...
"Ugh..."
The unique, foul odor emitted by the rust pierced the back of my nostrils, and I hurriedly covered my nose with my arm.
"Haa..."
I sighed deeply and shook the flyers stained with verdigris rust to brush off the dirt.
The fine, dry particles of rust danced white in the light of the fluorescent lamp.
Being careful not to inhale them, I got into the elevator and went up to the floor of my room.
I finally arrived.
Staggering, I unlocked the door, entered the room, and threw the flyers I had just picked up straight into the trash can.
They were probably just advertisements for apartment investments, real estate, or religion anyway.
Not worth reading.
I sat down on the bed in my cramped room and turned on the TV.
It wasn't that I wanted to watch anything in particular.
I just couldn't stand this silence, for some reason.
In the dim room, the TV monitor gave off an eerie, faint green glow.
"Hmm...?"
Something felt different about the TV than usual. A sudden sense of unease struck my mind.
Relying on my senses, I searched for the wall switch and clicked it on.
With a flickering sound, the room slowly filled with light.
I peered closely at the TV once more.
"This again..."
Every single gap in the TV monitor was packed tight with that cursed verdigris.
"Ugh...!"
I was too shocked to make a sound.
What is this? Where on earth is it coming from?
In a panic, I moved closer to the TV screen to check.
"Rust...?"
I instinctively traced the mysterious particles of verdigris with my fingertip, as if to confirm their existence.
Then, those toxic particles shattered into even finer pieces, rising into the air all at once like mushroom spores.
Then,
those toxic particles shattered into even finer pieces,
like mushroom spores,
rising into the air all at once.
"Cough... cough...!"
Having inhaled the sharp, distinct smell of rust and the carelessly swirling particles,
I couldn't help but choke violently.
I have absolutely no idea why something like this is in my house.
But for now, I have to do something about these particles.
But for now, I have to do something about these particles.
Coughing violently, I ran into the bathroom, grabbed a bath towel, and threw it over the television.
For now,
preventing any further spread was all I could manage—.
Not knowing what it was,
a nameless anxiety surged deep within my chest like thick sludge.
I took my smartphone out of my bag to look up the cause online.
But...
The moment I peered at the smartphone screen,
I froze.
The screen,
was in the exact same state as that television.
On the surface of the LCD,
particles of verdigris rust were clinging like dust.
That wasn't all.
In the narrow gaps of the speaker and the charging port,
hardened green clumps were stuck fast.
"Ugh...!"
Overcome by a visceral sense of disgust,
I instinctively dropped the smartphone onto the floor.
Thud.
A dull sound echoed through the quiet room, and from the impact of hitting the floor,
those green particles from the surface of the smartphone
floated up into the air.
And then, right before my eyes, the hardwood floor where the smartphone had fallen began to slowly discolor into a stagnant green.
--This is bad. This is really bad.
I recoiled instinctively.
Driven by primal fear, I
rushed into the bathroom as if to escape.
I slammed the door shut and locked myself in the cramped space.
I told myself I had to calm down...
and tried to take deep, deep breaths to steady myself.
That was when it happened.
I noticed that my smartphone,
which I should have dropped in front of the TV earlier,
was lying right in front of me.
"Why...?"
The bathroom floor began to make a rustling sound.
Verdigris began to spread,
and as if it were alive,
it started creeping toward me.
Suddenly, my own reflection in the mirror
caught my eye.
"Uh... uh..."
A dry scream leaked from the back of my throat.
Was it because I had been covered
in the particles that had swirled up earlier?
The me in the mirror had
the entire thumb of my right hand and the tips of my other fingers covered.
And on my neck,
that eerie verdigris was stuck
thickly.
The bright green skin covering my softened flesh
shone with a sickening vibrancy
under the fluorescent light--.
▶ To the next story
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading.
The ringing of a smartphone, the angry shouts that wear down the soul--.
The atmosphere of the closed-off workplace depicted in this story
is based on my own experiences and
the "everyday exploitation" that is still happening
in corners of modern society.
I expressed the fear of becoming "isolated" with no one to turn to
in the form of verdigris, but
if something like a "piercing realization" remains
with you after finishing this,
there is no greater joy for me.
【A request to all readers】
If you could leave a comment with even just a word,
like "it was interesting" or "it gave me chills,"
I would be truly happy.
Following me on note and clicking the "Like (♡)" button
also serve as motivation for my next work!
Utsuro Tabata
Free full-length magazine of the novel "Erosion"
This is a collection of links for all six chapters of this work.
For those who want to reread from the beginning, or
for those who want to read it all at once, click here!
Future developments of the novel "Erosion"
Chapter 1: Claw
Chapter 2: Stench
Chapter 3: The Gap (this article)
Chapter 4: Iron (scheduled for update on 2026.8.8)
📖 Other works by Utsuro Tabata 📖
If you enjoyed the worldview of Utsuro Tabata,
please be sure to enjoy these works as well.
All are available to read for free.
📖 Novel "Drip Out"
Extracting the finest drop
from a life shattered into pieces—.
A semi-documentary novel depicting
the half-life of Utsuro Tabata.
📖 Novel "Shiro the Optician Sees Too Much"
A veteran store manager who "sees too much" and
a new employee who "sees too little."
A comedy of laughter and tears
featuring an odd-couple duo.
Thank you very much
for reading until the end.
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