Please read the disclaimer before reading this.
[This is Death Mark II's title screen]
Each Spirit has a backstory that is normally discovered during their respective Chapters, which reveals the method to Purify, release them from desire, or Destroy, mentally or physically damage them to the point of vanishing, their distorted souls. There is also a special type of Spirit, who resides in doll's bodies, but talking about them would be a big spoiler for the series.
Lastly, this franchise has a ton of body horror, and a major appeal of Spirit Hunter is the differing routes, primarily revolving around the death of your companions, although you could get your enjoyment out of these games without having a single one die, as I prefer doing.
Now that I'm done introducing the series, we can begin, but just in case, I'll say two last things: One, my commentary will be written in between angled brackets []; and two, I will translate a majority of the text possible to find, but it will be put in the order I found, in other words, how I played the game.
Finally, let's begin!
"This story is a work of fiction.
The names of places, people, organizations, etc. appearing in this story are fictitious and have no relation to any real entity."
[So says the game's disclaimer, however, in seconds, it glitches out. For a few moments, it becomes replaced by the following image]
[Once this picture of a tumorous corpse is gone, the game proper begins with a voiceover by our protagonist]
In Tokyo's H City, the prestigious "Konoehara Academy" resides.
Within it, strange rumors circulate, claiming that,
"Shibito pronounces death."
['to pronounce' here means 'to sentence']
It all started with the disappearance of a student a few weeks ago.
The day before their disappearance, a strange letter was posted on the school's bulletin board.
It read:
To Ribbon,
Hanako will kill you tonight
I will be watching, hidden in the Academy
With deepest love, Shibito
But such a letter was never found by the police, and the student's whereabouts are still unknown.
Since then, disturbing rumors began to spread...
"There's no mistaking it, Hanako must be the ghost haunting the school's bathrooms."
"The missing student must have been killed by Hanako."
"Shibito might be someone from the school."
And now, another pronouncement of death arrived at the Academy.
The shadow of the death-announcing Shibito,
It clouded the school with even more anxiety...
And so, as the summer passed, a certain man came to the school.
Is Shibito just a spirit? Or is it...
Left Female Student:
"Hey hey, continue with that story!"
"You stopped in the middle, right? It kept bothering me during class."
Right Female Student:
"That story..."
"The one about Shibito?"
Left Female Student:
"Uh-huh."
"Were you serious when you said that Shibito is someone from the school?"
Right Female Student:
"Of course I'm serious."
"Shibito disguised itself as a human to kill us!"
Left Female Student:
"To kill us... That's terrible!"
Right Female Student:
"You know Takai, from 2-B?"
"He's supposed to be missing, but..."
"The truth is that Shibito killed him. That's what everyone says."
"Just like the warning letter posted on the bulletin board said, right?"
Left Female Student:
"Then, maybe..."
"The sophomore who killed himself two years ago, was Shibito also behind it?"
Right Female Student:
"Maybe so."
Left Female Student:
"That means..."
"Are all these recent strange happenings Shibito's fault?"
"That would be too awful..."
Right Female Student:
"You said it, yeah..."
"What if you were the next person Shibito's gonna target?"
Left Female Student:
"Stop that... It's creepy..."
"If it's gonna target someone, you'd be first!"
"I have the better grades."
Right Female Student:
"What? I don't know what you mean..."
The conversation between the two students then shifted to the topic of a popular drama.
The dark talk of mere seconds ago is completely forgotten, and they seem to be enjoying themselves.
They may have spoken about a person's death, but the reason for it was probably just boredom.
That's how it is with gossip.
[Bell rings]
The sound of a large bell rings in my ears.
This bell probably belongs to the clock tower erected on the school grounds.
The students are so used to it that they don't pay a single sliver of attention to it.
Man in a Coat:
"It's about time for my appointment..."
Chapter One - Shibito Magire
[The name of this chapter is the same as that of the game's Japanese subtitle, it's a play on words.
Shibito, while the name of the antagonist, also means corpse, as it's a combination of the characters for 'death' and 'person'.
The second word, "magire" is a nominally-conjugated verb, it was used in this game before, by Shibito itself, right here: "hidden in the Academy". To be more accurate, this verb means "to be lost in, to disappear into (a crowd, etc.), however, particularly in this conjugation, it can also mean "confusion".
Therefore, this title has two meanings: Hidden Shibito, and Corpse Confusion]
Passing through the main gates, I entered the grounds of the Konoehara Academy.
I then headed for a specialized building in the extremity of the schoolhouse.
[Door creaks]
Once inside, I looked at the guide map stationed at the entrance.
It seems the faculty office is in front of me.
[Door slides]
Inside the faculty office, teachers were sparsely remaining.
I stopped one of them and asked to call the principal, Konoe.
"Good grief. Thank you for coming. Welcome to Konoehara Academy."
"I am Seizou Konoe, the headmaster of this Academy."
Principal Konoe, dressed in a fancy suit of gaudy colors, smiled at me.
We spoke once on the phone before I came here. But this is the first time we've met face to face.
Seizou Konoe:
"Sorry for calling you on such short notice."
"...Um, what's your name again?
You know how memory gets when you're at my age."
Man in a Coat:
"Then, let me introduce myself again."
"My name is..."
[In this screen, we get our first good shot of Yashiki, the protagonist of the first game of the series, now reprising his role. As you would expect, we choose our name here, I put in the default]
Kazuo Yashiki:
"My name is Kazuo Yashiki."
Seizou Konoe:
"Ah, that was your name. Sorry about it."
"I heard of you from Daimon-kun, the school physician."
[-kun can be used as an honorific for those of a lower rank than you, not just to show familiarity]
"We were discussing the Shibito incident when he brought you up."
"I hear you're an expert on ghosts and other bizarre phenomena.
Are you an exorcist or something like that?"
Kazuo Yashiki:
"No, nothing like that."
"I've just had more encounters with the macabre than most people."
"I have no expertise in this area."
Seizou Konoe:
"Oh, really?"
"But you've solved cases involving ghosts, right?"
Kazuo Yashiki:
"That's correct, but..."
"I was simply lucky. I don't have any special abilities."
Seizou Konoe:
"You're a hard-to-understand man, you know?"
The principal openly frowns. It's not unreasonable to be suspicious.
I've been caught up in bizarre incidents and have been on the verge of life and death several times, but......
Luckily, I managed to survive.
That's all there is to it. I'm not the psychic expert the principal is after.
Seizou Konoe:
"However, Daimon-kun's a trustworthy man. If he believes in you, I will too."
"Besides, we can't afford to look for someone else."
"Because a new warning letter was found on campus this afternoon."
Upon saying that, the principal took out a single letter.
I took it.
This is Shibito's warning letter...
Red fingerprint-like marks cover the surface... could this be blood?
Seizou Konoe:
"Oh, you're wondering about that?"
"It's not blood, but apparently mold. I've never heard of bright-red mold, though."
Opening the letter, my eyes course through the written sentences.
To Playpiano,
Hanako will kill you tonight
I will be watching, hidden in the Academy
With deepest love, Shibito
Obtained "Letter to Playpiano".
Seizou Konoe:
"That's the second warning letter we've received."
"I told you on the phone about the first one."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"The addressee was "Ribbon" then, correct?"
Seizou Konoe:
"Yes, so it seemed."
"The original letter was gone, however.
Somebody appears to have taken it without permission."
"Thanks to that, my predecessor was reprimanded by the police."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"And on that same day, a student disappeared just like the warning letter said, yes?"
"That's why you believe that Shibito did it, right?"
Seizou Konoe:
"No no, I don't believe in ghosts. I think he just ran away from home.
It's just that..."
"There are several people who believe the perpetrator was Shibito."
That reminded me of the scene I saw earlier in front of the school gate.
Rumors about Shibito appear to have spread throughout the entire student body.
Seizou Konoe:
"That's why I called you."
"I'm sure any worried students would feel better if
I told them that I had an expert look into it."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"Like I said, I'm not an expert..."
Seizou Konoe:
"Then pretend you're an expert, please."
"Your job tonight is to investigate the main building and
come back saying "There's no such thing as Shibito"."
"That'll convince the superstitious. Got that?"
Kazuo Yashiki:
"......"
Shibito doesn't exist, so says the principal. But the truth still remains unknown.
In any case, now that I'm here, I guess I'll have to stick around tonight.
The principal and I waited for nightfall...
It's been some time since the sun went down.
Only the two of us remained in the school. All the other students and staff had gone home.
Seizou Konoe:
"It's about time. Let's go and look around before long."
"The school at night is quite outlandish. Please have your fill, Yashiki-kun."
After leaving the faculty office together, we started to look around the specialized building.
We visited the infirmary, library, and student council room in turn.
However, nothing unusual was found.
Seizou Konoe:
"Whew, it's pretty cold for early autumn."
"If I'd known it was going to be like this, I would've put on more layers."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"Come to think of it, why is the headmaster himself helping me search around?"
"Shouldn't it have been left for a younger faculty member?"
Seizou Konoe:
"Oy oy, try thinking a little harder."
"What kind of request would "I want you to work overtime to hunt ghosts" be?
It's completely laughable."
"Besides, I've just been appointed headmaster.
I don't have any subordinates willing to do the impossible."
"All I can do is whip my old body into shape and do it myself."
The principal let out a great sigh, "Good grief".
It seems that a new position is as difficult for a headmaster as it is for a novice worker.
Seizou Konoe:
"Now then, next is some rounds in the new building. Come with me, Yashiki-kun."
After leaving the entrance of the specialized building, we headed for the new school building through a passageway.
[Sideview time!]
Seizou Konoe:
"Firstly, let's search through the new building's first floor."
"Normally the classroom doors are locked,
but tonight I asked to keep them unlocked for me."
"You can search as much as you want.
I'll leave it to you, the "expert", to figure it out."
The principal wants to make me out to be an expert by any means.
It's too much trouble to deny it every time, so I'll just let him have it.
Kazuo Yashiki:
"Let's begin our investigation, shall we?
Let's start with the first-year classrooms."
[Here's the gameplay UI, to better understand it, let's check the "Menu" screen]
[Here's Yashiki's stat screen. Do they have any use? Who knows. But, they do give a funny comparison between characters. Also, notice the level bar, and below it the "Spirit" bar, the equivalent of HP for this game (I'll show you the tutorial about it when the time comes). He's equipping his "Favorite Bag" for +01 Action Execution Rate]
[Here's Konoe's stat screen in turn. His Dexterity's amazing for someone his age, but his Spiritual Power's really low, without his "Crystal Tie Pin", which gives +02 Spiritual Power, he would have only 7 points! That's the lowest amount in the series I believe]
[Let me show you guys the options in this Menu. First is the Tools section, where items are kept, here's all of them we currently have]
Letter to Playpiano:
Explanation - A warning of death that came to the Academy. Bright red mold covers the surface in a shape similar to finger marks.
Details - Information can be confirmed.
Obtained from - Seizou Konoe
Weight - 1 gram
Favorite Bag:
Explanation - Yashiki's most prized possession. It's a large shoulder bag made from European high-grade leather. It can hold most things, but even when not used, he still carries it under his arm or in his hand.
Effect - Action Execution Rate +1% for Yashiki during Suspensive Act.
Obtained from - Sister, as a gift
Weight - 870 grams
Crystal Tie Pin:
Explanation - Konoe's most prized possession. A tie pin made of sterling silver with a clear crystal attached to its base. According to legend, the spiritual power of crystals can protect against disaster.
Effect - Spiritual Power +2
Obtained from - An antique dealer friend
Weight - 9 grams
[Now, this is the Character Files section, Yashiki's to be more accurate. I'll put its translation here, then Konoe's]
Kazuo Yashiki (Protagonist):
The man who came to the Academy to investigate the Shibito case. He is actually the head of the Kujou household, Masamune Kujou. However, for certain reasons, he is called by a different name. A few months ago, he solved a bizarre case, originally presented in an occult magazine, which led to him being now known by the alias of "Spirit Doctor".
PS: Additional pages will be added when conditions are met.
[A literal translation of "Spirit Doctor" would be "Wonder/Mystery Doctor", however, it's actually a play on words with the Japanese word used for "Spirit"]
Seizou Konoe:
The elderly man in charge of the Konoehara Academy as its headmaster. Immediately after taking office, he was under pressure to solve the problem of the spread of rumors about Shibito, to which he invited the protagonist to the school, relying on a certain connection. He isn't a straight-laced individual, but rather a stylish, mischievous, and open-hearted character. Educated and intelligent, he is a man of ability, backed by his lengthy experience in life.
PS: Additional pages will be added when conditions are met.
[Here's the only unlocked Spirit File, like in previous games, it functions as a way to condense all the information gained in a certain Chapter, also, I took this picture much later than I should have, oops]
Rumors of Shibito:
Within Konoehara Academy, in Tokyo Metropolis' H City, a strange commotion is taking place. A mysterious being calling itself "Shibito" sent a pronouncement of death to the school. The letter contained the name of the person to be killed as well as the name of their executioner. The executioner's name is Hanako. Hence, the school's students gossip about Hanako of the toilet, a ghost from urban legends, being the one who will kill the target.
After Shibito's warning letter's posting, a student had indeed gone missing, but the police didn't intervene, assuming that there was no case. However, disturbing rumors further unsettled the school, and I was invited to the Academy to investigate this matter as someone suitable for the task. I must find out if this is a prank or the work of a spirit.
[The last option is for the User Preference menu, so I'll just skip it]
[I moved to the first classroom, whose door can be seen close in the first sideview image. That glow on top of Yashiki is a Search Point, an interactable spot. Let's see what it says]
Outside the window, darkness prevails.
As my eyes become accustomed to the view, I can vaguely make out the outlines of the trees standing nearby.
[There's nothing else here, let's move to the next classroom]
There's a girl wearing a student uniform in the classroom.
Strange... Why is a student in here at this hour?
[People can also have Search Points, but interacting with them begins a conversation]
Black-haired Girl:
"W-who are you...?"
Kazuo Yashiki:
"I'm not a suspicious person."
"See, look behind me. I have the headmaster with me."
Black-haired Girl:
"Ah..."
The girl relaxes, releasing her tension. It seems like she understood.
Black-haired Girl:
"......"
The girl has a large mark on her left cheek.
It's a mysterious mark that looks like some kind of pattern. I wonder if she was born with it.
Black-haired Girl:
"Um, could you stop staring at me?"
Kazuo Yashiki:
"S-sorry."
Seizou Konoe:
"You are, I believe, the student council president..."
Himeko Douryou:
"That's correct. I am Himeko Douryou."
Seizou Konoe:
"It's long past the student dismissal time. What are you doing here?"
Himeko Douryou:
"......"
After being reprimanded by the principal, Douryou fell silent.
There seems to be something going on. Let's hear what she has to say.
Let's get information out of Himeko Douryou.
[This is written on every conversation segment, just with the name replaced, so I'll skip them most of the time]
>Ask about her
>Bring up a Topic
>Leave this conversation
>Ask about her
Himeko Douryou:
"The truth is that..."
"I'm looking for Izumi-kun. I can't find him anywhere."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"Izumi-kun?"
Himeko Douryou:
"Toshihiko Izumi-kun, he's a member of the student council."
Obtained Topic "Toshihiko Izumi".
[Topics are exactly what they sound like, and can be accessed from the second option shown above]
Which topic will you ask a question about?
>Shibito
>Hanako
>Toshihiko Izumi
>Shibito
Himeko Douryou:
"That's what everybody's gossiping about."
" 'Shibito's hiding in the school and leaving those warnings of death.' "
" 'The person the warning letter talked about is going to be killed by Hanako',
etcetera."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"Do you believe in it?"
Himeko Douryou:
"...Yes. Because someone was actually murdered."
Seizou Konoe:
"Cough-cough! I beg of you to be more accurate, Douryou-kun."
"No student has passed away. One teenager did run away, however."
Himeko Douryou:
"......"
>Hanako
Himeko Douryou:
"That's the name that was in the warning letter, right?"
"All the students are saying that... Hanako's actually Hanako of the toilet."
Seizou Konoe:
"Hmm, I heard of that name before.
That was the name given to an apparition of a small girl, no?"
Himeko Douryou:
"Apparently, Hanako of the toilet is the ghost of a girl
with bobbed hair and a red skirt."
"People say that she appears in the school's bathrooms."
Seizou Konoe:
"That's to be expected considering her name. Is there anything else you can remember?"
Himeko Douryou:
"Umm, well... I don't know much..."
"I'm not good with such things, I prefer to avoid hearing about them."
Douryou's body twitches and trembles. She's unexpectedly timid.
>Toshihiko Izumi
Himeko Douryou:
"Izumi-kun suddenly left the student council room
and didn't come back even after dismissal time."
"That's why I'm looking with the vice president."
"But, I can't find him anywhere...
I've been all over the new and the specialized buildings."
Seizou Konoe:
"Have you told a teacher about that?"
Himeko Douryou:
"N-no. I thought I had to find him as soon as possible."
"And since it's past dismissal time, it's hard to find someone to talk to..."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"Do you have any clues? Did he say anything before leaving?"
Himeko Douryou:
"......"
Douryou throws a fleeting glance at me. I guess she's wondering whether to say something or not.
Himeko Douryou:
"...I don't think you'll believe me, but alright."
"Before he left, he looked very pale."
"And he said, 'Shibito's calling me'."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"What the..."
[There's nothing else to talk about, so I choose to leave]
Himeko Douryou:
"Umm..."
Douryou stared at me, not bothering to hide her doubtful gaze.
Himeko Douryou:
"I don't who you are. But, I think you should stop here."
Kazuo Yashiki:
"Stop? What do you mean?"
Himeko Douryou:
"It's about Shibito."
"Those who become interested in Shibito's true identity become its targets..."
"That's what everydoby says at least."
This girl really does hold a strong belief in Shibito's existence.
If more and more students are becoming like this, I think I can understand the principal's concerns.
Seizou Konoe:
"Douryou-kun, please return home already.
We'll look for Izumi-kun in your stead."
Himeko Douryou:
"U-understood."
"Then, please excuse me."
[Door slides open and then closed]
Seizou Konoe:
"Hum, this has become quite troublesome."
"Shibito's now on the back burner. We should find Izumi-kun first."
"That said, you're not familiar at all with this school."
"If you're ever in doubt about where to go, simply consult with me."
[A new hint mechanic is introduced here, where you can talk with your companions and they'll reiterate your current objective and say where they think you should search next, but I never used it. Also, we got a new Character File]
Himeko Douryou:
A mature girl with a large birthmark on her face. She is a second-year student at Konoehara Academy. An honor student, she was chosen to be the student council president. Her personality is very earnest yet calm, not to mention balanced in both academic and physical pursuits. Perhaps because of this, she's not very talkative. She also isn't very good at dealing with about occult subjects such as psychic phenomena. Moreover, she has the dexterity necessary to organize the student council.
PS: Additional pages will be added when conditions are met.
See you then!
Hi! I wanted to see what the game was like so I came here. Thank you for translating!
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