The dead are not summoned by words.
Nor by prayer.
But by—
sound.
Something that shakes the air, shakes the body, and makes a place where a soul can dwell.
That is what Gensai Tsuchimikado believes.
The HANGON Art Festival.
UTSUSEMI have been invited to an event showcasing art created through HANGON AI.
The band is about to give the final performance of its “Hyakumonogatari: One Hundred Ghost Stories” tour.
The invitation comes from Gensai Tsuchimikado.
On the surface, it is simply another live appearance.
But Gensai has another purpose.
The voices of the dead heard at the Hyakumonogatari show.
The inexplicable phenomena that respond to music.
And after repeated HANGON experiments, he has arrived at a hypothesis.
Calling a soul back is not enough to complete the process.
The returning being must be anchored to a body in the living world.
The key is—
sound.
Sound vibrates the air.
The air vibrates the body.
And within the body, those vibrations create an invisible “space.”
Could vibration itself act as the bond between the vessel and the soul?
Gensai does not need another laboratory machine.
He needs a colossal sound system.
Thousands of spectators.
And the very beings who have already connected this world with the other side, once before.
UTSUSEMI.
The band has been told nothing.
They take the stage and begin to play as usual.
But that night, Gensai has secretly altered their performance of “SHITE.”
In Noh theater, the shite is the central figure of the drama.
Sometimes a living person.
Sometimes a ghost.
And a ghost may reveal its memories and appear in the world of the living through music and dance.
UTSUSEMI's performance fills the venue with vibrations.
Drums.
Strings.
Voices.
Layer upon layer, they pass through the spectators' bodies.
And at the center—
A woman stands on a stage that was empty only moments before.
Extravagant clothing.
Strange hair.
With a fan in her hand, she smiles as if she has been there all along.
Only Gensai watches in silence.
His hypothesis was correct.
Information alone cannot complete HANGON.
A soul needs a body.
A body needs vibrations that can hold the soul in place.
And those vibrations come from—
music.
The woman opens her fan.
No one has spoken her name.
Yet she knows exactly who she is.
Izumo no Okuni.
Without realizing it, UTSUSEMI's concert has ceased to be a concert.
It has become a vast séance staged before thousands.
And for Gensai, it is the first successful experiment proving the bond between HANGON and music.
[To be continued]