Zanmu Nippaku
Zanmu Nippaku's Fantasy Rebirth Story
Miss Hisami took off in a rush...
Miss Zanmu has to be somewhere around here!
???
So, you finally showed up.
Zanmu
What took you so long? Were you goofing off somewhere?
Miss Zanmu!
Zanmu
What. Took. You. So. Long?!
Zanmu
Well?! You think this Lost Word Incident is going to resolve itself?
I wasn't goofing off.
It was all necessary, I promise.
I've been gathering info from everyone I could.
Zanmu
You were carefree, shouting about the "Dress to Impresstival" or whatever. Now look at you, twisting things to fit your story.
H-How do you know about that?!
Zanmu
Isn't that obvious? I've been watching the whole time.
Zanmu
Surely you're aware this all began even before the Lost Word Incident hit.
Zanmu
Real incidents had stopped happening for a good while and I was the first to notice it.
Zanmu
We've had an incident before where the lack of incidents WAS the incident. But this wasn't that either.
Zanmu
That one, everlasting incident made it feel like Gensokyo was stuck in a never-ending loop.
Zanmu
Some felt like time had stopped, but it wasn't that. It was the lack of change, the repetition, the boredom... with no way out.
Zanmu
...It was as if monotony drowned everything else out.
Zanmu
Youkai really are strange creatures when you think about it.
Zanmu
With their ridiculously long lives, it seems like they're just dragging out centuries of boredom.
Zanmu
But the truth is, they hate monotony. They're always craving change. Their concept of time isn't like a human's at all.
Zanmu
Humans are masters of change. That's the reason why youkai can't help but be intrigued by them.
Zanmu
Youkai who eat humans are just trying to absorb that change. Even mingling with them is a kind of cultural nourishment.
Zanmu
Makes sense, doesn't it?
Wh-What are you trying to get at?
Zanmu
Hehehe.
Zanmu
I preside over nothingness, which is technically just eternal boredom.
Zanmu
Sure, some pedant might argue that isn't the meaning of nothingness, but I'm good at making those connections.
Zanmu
Which is exactly why I was the first to notice the change... that things were not changing at all.
Zanmu
What's the matter? Did you think I was just some edgy, dark version of Byakuren?
N-No way! (What would Miss Byakuren say to that...?)
Zanmu
I became an oni, so I may seem like a monk gone rogue, but Buddhism isn't so black and white.
Zanmu
Didn't that secret god tell you anything? Or is she too busy searching for that greater youkai?
(Yikes... she's got it all figured out.)
Zanmu
...All right. I'll break it down for you.
Zanmu
Wondering why I'd bother telling you all this?
Zanmu
Right now, you're basically running errands for Yukari Yakumo and Okina Matara. Practically their little minion.
Zanmu
Might as well serve me too, while you're making the rounds.
That's way too much for one person!
Zanmu
Glad to see your schedule's looking full. And no need to thank me. Not like I gave you a choice.
Zanmu
If I'm going to put you to work, there are things you need to understand first. Knowledge limits reckless behavior.
Zanmu
Don't worry about understanding it. You won't anyway. Just remember it well and double-check your notes.
B-Bring it on!
Zanmu
That's the spirit. Now, let's get to it.
Zanmu
Standing on the boundary between human and oni, I'm here to reshape your future with Hell-tier information bullets.
Zanmu
...That covers the basics. I probably went a bit fast, didn't I?
Zanmu
Let me break it down even further. Blink and you'll miss it, so keep up.
(Verbal bullets... got it.)
Zanmu
Let's be clear, all of this is just my opinion. Of course, to me, my opinion is right. But I'm open-minded.
Zanmu
So it's fine if others have ideas different from mine. Even if I think they are flat-out wrong.
Zanmu
In fact, I'd fight to preserve those very ideas, even if it means I end up with someone who'll oppose me.
Zanmu
So, yeah, what I'm saying might sound different from what Yukari or Okina have been telling you.
Zanmu
The important thing here is for you to listen and reason for yourself.
Zanmu
Some time before you showed up... or maybe long before, something began fading from Gensokyo.
Zanmu
I've come up with my own definition of what that something is.
Zanmu
That something was "play."
Zanmu
Of course, play can mean a lot of things, but that's exactly why it makes sense.
Zanmu
I'm not saying no one's playing anymore. Kids still spin tops in the village, tengu still play shogi in the mountains.
Zanmu
That's why no one notices.
Zanmu
But oh, I noticed the difference. It was crystal clear.
Zanmu
Especially to someone like me, who's gone from being a human to an oni.
Zanmu
Looks like the youkai are slowly turning human. Well, maybe not exactly, but this could be a symptom of it.
Zanmu
It's not like it'll happen overnight. It'll be a gradual change.
Youkai can turn human?
Zanmu
It's not unheard of. It's happened before, way back in the old days.
Zanmu
We're talking way before I was even born. Back then, defeating a youkai often meant turning it into a human.
Zanmu
...Or so the story goes.
I see.
Zanmu
Youkai was basically a catch-all term for anything humans feared―natural disasters, wild beasts, even rival clans.
Even rival humans were called youkai?
Zanmu
By today's standards, they'd be considered humans, but back then, they were seen as full-blown youkai.
Zanmu
Since they lived in groups, if they were attacked, they retaliated. That's likely where stories of curses came from.
Zanmu
Even the Neanderthals, as the outside world people call them, might've just been what we'd call oni or giants.
Zanmu
The obvious choice was exterminating them. But there was another way: taming them and making them a part of society.
Zanmu
Humans tamed nature with science, domesticated wild beasts, and turned enemies into kin by mixing bloodlines.
Zanmu
It's difficult to attack family. Political marriages and noble houses tied to the throne worked the same way.
...But I've heard the exact opposite before.
Zanmu
Oh, you mean the idea that youkai actually originate from humans?
Zanmu
You're looking at Exhibit A... But yes, there are others.
Zanmu
Humans becoming youkai happens a lot more than people think. It's one of Gensokyo's biggest taboos.
Zanmu
It's believed that youkai are born from emotions like fear, dread, anxiety, and the things that cause them.
Zanmu
The less humans fear, the fewer youkai are born, and the ones that already exist begin to vanish.
Zanmu
And that's exactly it. If humans didn't fear, there'd be no such thing as youkai.
Zanmu
But what exactly is fear? Is it even possible for humans to live without fear?
Zanmu
Sadly, no. Fear isn't just an emotion, it's human nature.
Zanmu
Humans gave up other strengths to gain intelligence, and that intellect made them painfully aware of their own weakness.
Zanmu
It's like when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of knowledge and learned what it meant to be naked.
Zanmu
Humans create their own youkai and then try to defeat them. They fear, they hope, and they push toward the future.
Zanmu
Tales of slaying oni and dragons are all about that. Humans love stirring up trouble to get credit for resolving it.
So humans and youkai are just two sides of a coin?
Zanmu
Pretty much. In the end, they're one and the same.
Zanmu
But humans don't just act alone, they form groups that think and evolve together. Youkai lack that kind of shared nature.
Zanmu
Living beings reproduce. That's how they pass on information to the future generations.
Zanmu
If an organism only ever makes exact copies, it can't fix flaws. One day, it'll face a situation it can't adapt to and go extinct.
Zanmu
That's why information needs to be tweaked and reshaped as it's passed down. It's how humanity adapts and survives.
Zanmu
What terrifies humans isn't just death, it's the extinction of their species, the collapse of human society as a whole.
Zanmu
Rumors, for instance, are just one way fear spreads. That's actually a survival tactic to keep human society alive.
Zanmu
Makes sense that people are drawn to urban legends and ghost stories. Humans need that kind of fear to survive.
Zanmu
Rumors go around―told, heard, repeated. And in that, youkai are both born and destroyed.
Zanmu
Rumors are way more chill these days, though. Back then it was about man-eating beasts and deadly landslides.
Zanmu
But let me put it another way.
Zanmu
Say those Neanderthal genes in humans got triggered, they might morph into something not quite human anymore...
Eep... Is that what a human-oni actually is?!
Zanmu
Haha! I like the way you think. Well, it's all just a little folklore fluff. Don't go believing everything I say.
Zanmu
There's a reason I'm telling you all this right now.
Zanmu
Listen carefully. This is where it gets important.
Zanmu
Play is vanishing from Gensokyo. Youkai are slowly turning human. Which tells us...
Zanmu
Youkai are trying to blend in with humans by embracing their lifestyles, customs, culture... all of it.
Zanmu
Alice likes doing puppet shows for humans, and Yuuka isn't opposed to the idea of running a flower shop in the village.
Zanmu
Aya's become the village's weirdo journalist, and Komachi is just the slacker at the river these days.
Zanmu
Technically, it's not just the youkai. The humans around them are changing too.
Zanmu
Reimu talks more these days, even if she's a bit blunt, and Marisa's growing nostalgic about her family.
Zanmu
That, to me, is the sign of play fading. Did someone want this to happen? Or did no one want to stop it?
Zanmu
I'm sure this isn't how it was meant to go. Something must've caused it to end up like this.
(Is that why they've all been looking out for me?)
What caused it?
Zanmu
No idea. Just like the Lost Word Incident, it's all a blur. I can't even say for sure if the two are connected.
Zanmu
That's exactly why we need to figure it out. If it'll help resolve the incident, or even shed light on it, it's worth pursuing.
Zanmu
That's the only lead we've got.
Zanmu
We still don't know what the Lost Word Incident really is, what caused it, or how to resolve it.
Zanmu
And that might be because it's linked to the slow change that's been creeping over Gensokyo long before all this.
Zanmu
At this point, we've ruled out everything else. So it HAS to be this. I'm not even kidding.
Whoa...
Zanmu
That's the reason I'm putting you on this mission.
Zanmu
Reimu's not someone I can order around. And even if I could, I shouldn't. Yukari and Okina are no help either.
Zanmu
Reimu isn't the type to take orders from anyone. Only a miracle can get her to do something.
Zanmu
...Now we're going off track.
Zanmu
Point is... same goes for Marisa and the others. I can't order them around either.
Zanmu
That's why you've been chosen.
Zanmu
...
Zanmu
I was once something like a shrine maiden too. Well, a monk, technically. Maybe not quite the same faith.
Zanmu
Shinto and Buddhism were all the same back in the day, so let's not get hung up on labels.
Zanmu
Though shrine maiden might not be the best word. Maybe shaman fits better.
Zanmu
That's why I still care about animal spirits. Old habits die hard.
Zanmu
Otters, wolves, hawks... or was it eagles now? Animal spirits like those are the real chatterboxes.
Zanmu
They'll tell you everything about ancestors, past events, you name it. It's because they're part anima and part totem.
Zanmu
I've told stories in every era you can name. If not a shaman, then I suppose I was a poet.
Zanmu
A poet's someone who spins stories and shares them with the world.
Zanmu
Poetry is more than words on a page. Reading it is about carrying forward the inspiration, the message within.
You mean like prophecies, divination, and fortunes?
Zanmu
Yep. Be it great scholars from China or artists from the far West. They all serve that same role.
Zanmu
I called it salvation. I welcomed the monsters mankind feared into myself.
Zanmu
And sometimes, I let the monsters devour me. That's the kind of life I led.
Zanmu
That's why they called me an oni, even though I was still human.
Zanmu
That's not something I expect you to fully understand.
Zanmu
But with all that context, doesn't it make a little more sense now?
Consuming and being consumed... we all do that.
Zanmu
Exactly.
Zanmu
There's a kind of shrine maiden in all of us.
Zanmu
That's why I believe in you. You can resolve the Lost Word Incident.
...
Zanmu
I'll gratefully accept the gift. I know full well I still owe the sages.
Zanmu
Now then, let's begin preparations. You've figured out how to move between worlds by now.
Zanmu
What's left is for you to speak to people from other worlds, and gather clues no one else could.
Zanmu
You'll find people willing to help. You'd do well to accept it with gratitude.
Zanmu
That's your chance to consume and be consumed. Change the world around you and let it change you, too.
...Yes. I'll make it happen.
Miss Zanmu...
Zanmu
What is it?
Wasn't it scary...
...becoming something not human?
Zanmu
...
Zanmu
Who knows. The past is all a blur to me now.
You've been talking about the past this whole time!
Zanmu
Haha! I don't know what you're talking about.
Zanmu
But you've got nothing to fear.
Zanmu
Sure, I've become a monster, but I don't regret a single bit of it.
Zanmu
Thanks to this unnaturally long life, I got to keep the promises I made to those I owed.
Zanmu
Guess that's why I've got a soft spot for kids like you. Fate's got a funny sense of humor. Hahaha!
Y-You're totally deflecting...
Zanmu
That's about all I can say... Wait, no. There's one more thing.
Zanmu
Gensokyo doesn't need you.
Wh-What?!
Zanmu
I know Gensokyo well―its beauty, its balance. And you stick out like a sore thumb.
Zanmu
I don't mean that as an insult. No one else is as out of place here as you.
Zanmu
So you see... you're the only one who could disappear without disturbing the balance.
Zanmu
Does that make you feel sorry for yourself? Like you're all alone?
Zanmu
Do you think the idea of not always being by Reimu and Marisa's side is some unbearable misfortune?
Zanmu
I want your honest answer.
I just don't know how to express it properly.
It's like... I finally found where I belong.
I think... I can do this.
Zanmu
Hehe...
Zanmu
Very well. Your resolve is clear.
Zanmu
Monster or not, you'll always have a place in my Hell. Go, roam the other worlds freely.
Zanmu
I'll be there to pick up the pieces when it's over.
Costume Presentation
Zanmu
Long ago, I noticed the inner workings of Gensokyo and altered my plans. I never could control the Hakurei shrine maiden. The way she proved me wrong was refreshing. I hope you'll prove me wrong, too. Will you do that? Right until the very end.
