"How much did you charge her?"

Cindy asked Richard as she stared at the large apartment complex before her.

"Don’t ask"

Richard sighed, he thought that Yumi was a regular girl, who would have thought that she was quite the "rich kid"?

Not only did the apartment she lived in exist within the more... expensive area of tokyo, she also lived in a rather large 4LDK.

You’d think that she meant a tiny apartment when she talked about being haunted.

"Totally an anime protag"

Richard murmured following the high school girl as he was led into her "small abode".

The way she described her experiences did lack a definite estimate on the "size" of her apartment. All RIchard knew was that she lived away from her parents. Not because she ran away but because it was "more convenient" that way.

In Japan, it didn’t really matter if you were rich or poor, you still had to go through the same education system.

While opportunities available to you would be different based on your social status, the education system was very strict in making everyone "level together".

Japan is infamous for its system of education that enforces pure equality and heavily stigmatizes "difference".

This makes it a struggle for people who are "naturally different".

Foreigners who have mixed offspring would pray that their "foreign genes" won’t really show too much.

This becomes especially true for those who have naturally blonde hair, different colored eyes from the Japanese, naturally taller height and other features that would make them "stand out".

In Japan, fitting in was not an "option" it was a "requirement".

But social class would make that change.

Rich people would be praised even if they had blonde hair and blue eyes.

In fact, some would be seen as celebrities or top beauties in their schools.

Boys would be flocked by girls because they were taller. But this all came at the question of-

Do you deserve it?

What rights do you have for such treatment?

As unfair as that would seem, that was the reality of the world.

Richard now faced that reality once more.

Yumi, who he thought was "just like him", was actually quite a lucky girl.

’Maybe that’s why she’s haunted’

[Extreme emotions lead to errors calm yourself]

Although he didn’t really struggle financially right now, in fact, he could honestly make money without this business but he chose to take on this money sink of an endeavour.

After all, he had spent most of his life chasing after dollar signs, now he had the freedom to do what he wanted- why wouldn’t Richard take advantage of this opportunity?

While thinking of such things, they entered the elevator and Yumi clicked on the 14th floor, where her apartment was.

"14?"

Richard asked as he saw that the number 13 was missing- only the number 13.

Cindy answered Richard, her voice carrying a mocking tone as she finally found a chance to strike at him.

"Don’t you know? 13 is an unlucky number, most high rises don’t have that in their floor plan or elevators"

But Richard was unaffected by her words, instead, he showed an even more puzzled expression as he said-

"13 being unlucky" is a western belief, for Japan, the number that is unluck is 4 which is read as "Shi" that means "death". As such, Japanese structures would have 13 but lack 4, 14, 24 and any number that has the word "Shi" in it"

Richard explained as he turned to Yumi and asked-

"Is this an apartment complex catered towards foreigners?"

Although Japanese customs dictated 4 as the unlucky number, due to globalization, many western cultures were adapted to cater to the influx of immigrants and tourists.

Because of this, many structures had to change their systems to adapt. Though basic Japanese architecture remained the same to show off their cultural heritage. Things that involve superstition were transformed in order to cater to a wider demographic.

After all, culture can earn a profit but superstition only leads to losses.

Few people would willingly purchase a haunted house and live in it unless they were actual thrill seekers or just down on their luck.

Likewise, few people understand Japanese superstitions, especially if they could barely speak Japanese and would get shocked at every new little thing they learn about the culture.

"No, there aren’t any foreigners here that I know of at least"

Yumi answered but just as she said that-

*Ding*

The elevator door opened and from the beyond the doors was a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes.

’Blonde’s are quite rare even in America but I’ve been seeing them quite a lot recently...’

Richard thought mockingly at the "coincidence"

[A blonde foreign woman, a haunted building, and a teenage girl who didn’t notice the foreigner after living in this space for more than a month... sounds suspicious doesn’t it?]

The goddess answered back to Richard, her tone lighthearted as if making fun of Richard’s own ideas.

’Now now, let’s not get too hasty here, Japan has been in the spotlight ever since the Anime boom. Especially after Hollywood flopped continuously and the superhero movies lost their spark. Moreover, with the rise of woke activism in Hollywood, movies, shows and any form of entertainment became less a "good story" and more like an activist director shoving their beliefs down your throat’

Richard thought as he recalled the parties he went to.

Most of the people were silently criticizing the high profile directors and actors who were vocal with their beliefs.

WWhile they had genuine reason to fight, they forcefully shoved it into everything that love stories became less about love and more about women empowerment.

Stories that should have been about patriotism became an attack on the government.

The market was oversaturated with stories that were nothing more than promotional material for certain beliefs that people turned to anime.

Many anime, manga and even games were extreme on their takes and were quite stupid in premise,

Yet the characters were very relatable and struck the heartstrings of the viewers since they were "down to earth".

Rather than fighting against evil because of a "greater cause", the heroes in anime and manga fought because-

’If I don’t fight, my family and friends would get harmed instead’

It was a human reason, a selfish reason.

They don’t rush towards danger because they believe it will bring glory to their beliefs.

They rushed forward because it was the only way to keep what they hold important safe.

[Okay Aristotle, while you were thinking about such philosophical ideas, we’ve already reached the 14th floor]

Richard snapped out his stupor and found that everyone was looking at him with a worried look on their faces.

Even the blondie had exited the elevator and was looking at him with a hint of worry.

"Sorry, I was just spacing out"

He said with a laugh to try and lighten the mood but he saw that Yumi was quite shaken.

[She got scared since you entered a weird state after pointing out the number 14 and the foreigner]

’She would, the foreigner should live on the same floor as her but she never noticed her. Likely because Yumi was more focused on fighting off the ghost than getting to know her neighbors.’

Aside from that, Japan was not as open of a society as one would expect.

While anime wanted to show off "Japanese Hospitality" by having characters experience things like "home warming presents" from neighbors after moving in or doing the same when you are the ones moving in-

The reality was that such actions were akin to standard greetings.

Like saying hello to a neighbor you meet for the first time.

There’s a reason why people in Japan rarely know the circumstances of their neighbors and why cases such as decomposing bodies would only be found AFTER it started to smell.

If Japan was a truly tight community, then people would have immediately noticed something wrong with their neighbors who didn’t leave their room for days.

Moreover, the hikikimori culture was also another thing that people had to deal with.

That and the issue with stalkers and deranged individuals...

Many would prefer to live in relative safety than to gamble on building a relationship with a random stranger.

Even when he tried to calm Yumi down, the girl was still quite shaken.

’Fear is all a matter of suggestion after all.’

He sighed as he recalled the many horror movies and stories he loved to indulge in from time to time.

Richard was the type of guy to watch horror movies during christmas and what romance movies during halloween.

Was he doing so out of his own twisted thoughts?

Well, only he would know.

Either way, Yumi was still able to lead them to her room but-

"Eh?"

The blonde woman who entered the room next to Yumi, this came out as a shocking revelation not only to Richard but to the young girl as well, further fueling her panic.

"Don’t worry, we’ll ensure your safety"

Richard said as he patted the girls back but his hand did nothing more than cause her to react with a shiver.

[This is getting interesting]

The goddess said cryptically within Richard’s mind.

’How about telling me what you "saw"? That would really help right now"

[This is training, you have little to lose, there are few opportunities to encounter such cases.]

’That’s what you said when Andrea died’

[What does your prophecy say?]

"..."

Richard did not answer back, he could only do his best to bring Yumi to a calm state while they enter the door.

*Click*

Just as the door to Yumi’s room closed, the next door neighbor’s door opened, the blonde lady peaked out and smiled before closing the door once more.

All of this was witnessed by an invisible floating eyeball though.