"Seeking eternal beauty" "She fell into a swamp and lay there, preserved" "After a thousand years" "She awoke to put her curse on me" "A terrifying cure, a curse for all eternity" "What's that?" "I have no idea, really" "It's kind of blackish and muddy" "Have you seen a doctor?" "Yes" "And?" "There's nothing wrong with me" "But my stomach's a little upset" "You've got to take care of yourself" "Right" "Just write the damned thing and get a load off" "Right" "I repeat, you're not writing literature" "This will be a popular, readable love story" "By Haruna Reiko, the literary-prize winner" "That's the pitch" "Don't worry" "It won't damage your reputation" "I know that" "Hey, are you Okay?" "A hallucination?" "Nothing" "You must feel awful" "It's psychological" "Take care, now" "Right" "Listen" "I've been considering moving" "What?" "It might help my writing" "You think?" "I want to get out of my place in Koenji" "I see" "Do you know of anything good?" "What are do you have in mind?" "Big and quiet" "With high ceilings" "A nice view and cheap, of course" "Impossible?" "Can it be far away?" "How far?" "Pretty far" "You know a good place?" "I'll find one" "The light's back on" "Oh" "The circuit breaker's over there" "Thanks" "Um" "Yes?" "It seems the former tenants" "Left a bunch of things" "Oh, really?" "Shall I get rid of them?" "No, just leave them" "Yes" "Beloved" "Hello, Mr. Kijima?" "It's me, Reiko" "Sorry I've been out of touch" "Yes, I'm all settled" "It's a fantastic place" "Yes, I know" "I'll write like my life depends on it" "If the lights go out again" "This is the problem" "Yes" "Um..." "That vacant building out back..." "Vacant?" "The one that's locked up and looks empty" "What is it, anyway?" "I think it's a training center" "Part of Sagami University" "Sagami University?" "Yes" "What's it used for?" "I wonder" "What kind of people use it?" "I've never seen anyone in there" "But last night..." "It's not in even habitable" "I see" "Thank you" "Yeah, I think this is a fine beginning" "It's excellent" "Your work always is" "Now just pick up your pace" "Right" "So?" "How's the new space?" "Not bad" "That's good" "No more excuses not to write" "That's right" "I wonder what that place is" "It's to your taste, isn't it?" "How did you hear about that property?" "Through an acquaintance" "An acquaintance?" "Is there something wrong?" "No" "Did you know" "There's a University facility out back?" "No" "It's kind of creepy" "It's supposed to be vacant" "But it seems like someone's there" "And that's no hallucination" "Shall I have it looked into?" "I can call the cops, if you want" "No, that's fine" "Just please, don't use it as an excuse not to write" "The documents from Sagami University" "Oh, thanks" "What are they for?" "Oh, nothing" "How about this one?" "Huh" "Last year, the archeological group from Sagami University" "Discovered a mummy" "A mummy?" "Yeah, 1,000 years old" "In the Midori Swamp" "They dragged it out of the muck" "It was a woman" "" Anthropologist " " Yoshioka Makoto "" "What?" "That's him" "Yoshioka Makoto, Anthropologist" "He looks like a guy I saw near my house" "Huh" "He was carrying something big" "Into the place next door" "Really?" "Wonder what it was" "And in the middle of the night" "He carried it like a human" "Let's do a little more research" "I'll handle it" "This is Mr. Murakami from Educational Films" "Hello" "You're really Haruna Reiko" "Oh, I'm deeply moved to meet you" "We were meeting about something else" "When you came up" "I hear you're interested in mummies?" "Yes, well" "We've got documentary footage in storage" "The label says Midori Swamp Mummy" "I haven't looked at it yet" "But the title caught my eye" "It's kind of strange" "Why was the film shot?" "I couldn't tell you" "But it was shot before the war" "Before the war?" "Yes" "Sounds interesting, right?" "It's not the one they found last year?" "No, no, the film is ancient" "From the late 1920s" "I wonder what it means" "Do you want to see it?" "" Midori Swamp Mummy "" "May 15th" "May 16th" "May 17th" "Um..." "What do you think it is?" "Well, it's shot in time-lapse" "I mean, they've cut frames" "Cut frames?" "They probably filmed all day long" "And cut it down to 30 seconds" "It's a technique for observing something over time" "And in surveillance, to detect abnormalities" "I wonder what they had under surveillance" "I don't know" "That was a mummy, right?" "I wonder why it didn't decompose in the swamp" "Apparently, some kinds of mud" "Function to preserve organic matter" "I see" "Yeah, I looked it up a little" "A thousand years ago" "Women used to swallow" "Huge amounts of mud to preserve their beauty" "Liter after liter of pitch black mud" "Of course it made some of them so sick they died" "The things women do for vanity..." "Who are you?" "What are you doing?" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Please!" "Stop!" "Hello" "Yeah, I know" "I'll be right there" "I'm closing the deal" "With the National Museum for a special exhibit" "I'm sure of it" "The mummy will obviously be the centerpiece" "Get to work on the preservation process" "How much longer will it take?" "Don't know" "A month?" "I don't know what I don't know" "And the archeologists you mentioned" "The ones from 80 years ago" "Unfortunately no record of their dig survives" "I see" "So there's no way to know whether" "You've dug up the same mummy" "They found 80 years ago" "Besides, if it is the same" "Why would anyone bury it" "Right back where they found it?" "I understand" "It's less than ideal" "I understand" "But what can I do?" "It's not your problem, it's mine" "You just handle the money, as usual" "Yoshioka!" "I've got qualms about this, too!" "Oh, yeah?" "It's only a mummy" "But..." "What?" "Last night I was paralyzed" "It's happening every night, now" "So I've gotten used to it" "I can't move at all for awhile" "But it doesn't mean anything" "I get sleepy right away" "But..." "Not last night" "There was something at the foot of my bed" "Like it was..." "Just waiting for the moment when I went rigid" "Then, finally..." "It..." "Crawled onto my chest" "It was heavy and cold" "Almost like rubber" "It stayed on me for 3 full hours" "When dawn came" "It finally went away" "It wasn't a dream" "The mismatched spatula" "Marks on the exterior base" "And the grey color of this cross section" "Set this apart from others" "That's all" "Thank you, professor" "Next, we'd like to have Dr. Yoshioka" "Present his report on the eternal corpse" "Right" "Slides" "Yes" "Say, Yoshioka" "I heard you've been" "Up at the training center in Ibaragi" "What are you up to?" "Nothing" "Same old" "Studying mud?" "Yeah" "Listen, I've got some grad students in training" "I'll send them over" "Just 3 days, put them to work" "I don't need help" "It doesn't matter what" "It's just training" "I'm Yoshioka" "Right" "I'm Haruna" "I need you to keep something for a little while" "Keep what?" "The mummy" "Just for a little while" "But..." "I'm expecting students this afternoon" "I don't want them to see it" "Please" "Why me?" "I was sure you'd keep it for me" "Just for a couple of days" "Don't bother about it at all" "Sure" "I'm grateful" "It's supposed to be kept in an environmentally" "Controlled container in the lab" "I see" "But it just doesn't feel like" "The right place for her" "Ouch!" "It's me!" "Ouch" "Oh, no!" "A little gift" "Oh, thank you" "How did you get in here?" "You gave me a real scare" "Sorry" "The door wasn't locked" "I see" "What are you doing here so late?" "I drove out" "I was worried" "How's it going?" "How's what going?" "The romance novel" "Answer me" "Are you making progress?" "Yes" "How much?" "Well, I'm writing away" "Oh..." "Mr. Kijima" "Please" "One more week, that's it" "Finally time to jump off that cliff" "Have you got problems?" "Of course not" "Professionals never do" "I've known many writers" "To get stuck in writers' block and vanish" "I don't want that to happen to you" "You still haven't unpacked" "Want me to send you some help?" "No, I'm fine" "Don't blame me, Okay?" "I'm getting rid of what you couldn't" "For a thousand years" "Well done" "I'll read it later" "And tell you what I think" "How about a title?" "I'll leave that up to you" "Okay and email me the file" "I'll rush it over to production" "Aren't you going to read it first?" "No, I'm sure it's a masterpiece" "If you don't like it, just kill it" "No way" "I'm not killing a piece you stayed up" "Writing 3 days and nights" "I see..." "What's wrong?" "Nothing" "Lose your nerve?" "No" "What you write gets published" "That's the nature of being a pro" "You're right" "It's in your hands now" "Mr. Yoshioka" "Miss Reiko" "I took the mummy back last night" "Oh, I see" "Thank you for keeping her" "She's almost a thousand years old" "Her garments suggest that" "Her family was privileged" "Approximately 20 years of age" "Height, 155 cm" "Her bone structure indicates a noble visage" "For a woman of her time" "The huge deposits of chalky mud" "In her stomach and lungs" "Prevented decay for over 1,000 years" "That's about all we know" "Still, the cause of death is unclear" "Whether she fell into the swamp by accident" "Or was buried there in some sacrificial ritual..." "Is it possible she consumed" "All that mud intentionally?" "A form of suicide?" "Yes" "It's possible" "I see" "She would stop at nothing to acquire" "An eternally youthful body" "That's a natural supposition" "But maybe" "She regrets it now" "Regrets it?" "Yes, swallowing all that mud" "What are you doing?" "Making an incision in the abdomen to remove the mud." "Easy enough" "Don't you think it will provoke" "Some new terrible misfortune?" "I've had enough misfortune" "Where were you?" "You're late" "I've been waiting" "Was the door open?" "Yeah" "Just like last time..." "It was open last time, too" "Do you have... a key?" "I went to a lot of trouble to find this place" "What do you want?" "Hey, you've got it wrong" "I'm here to talk about your book" "Get out" "How dare you, I'm your partner" "Get out!" "Just get out!" "I'm disappointed by your outburst" "That's the girl who used to live here" "Ouch" "You slammed the door on my finger" "A college girl from the country" "With dreams of becoming a writer" "You know the type" "I set her up to live here" "She was talented but she went nowhere" "She took off about 3 months ago" "I have no idea where" "She was just a nuisance, anyway" "Hey, are you listening?" "Don't make me any angrier" "I don't think it's wise to infuriate your editor" "God, you're the worst" "Who the hell do you think you are?" "It's not your talent that won that prize" "Surely you know that" "So why don't you try making more of an effort?" "Try being a little nicer to me" "Oh, well, I'll be back" "Are you all right?" "" Yoshioka "" "Oh, hello, Reiko" "It's me" "The police are here" "There's a Missing Persons report for a girl" "They say Mr. Kijima's involved" "Mr. Kijima hasn't been home" "Or to work since yesterday" "I'm sure this is a homicide" "Reiko, you watch out" "All right" "Mr. Yoshioka" "Wait" "You're so selfish" "Selfish?" "I have every right" "Let go" "How dare you..." "Who are you?" "I was next door" "I saw you from the window" "I'm... still alive?" "You should've just left me alone" "I don't know what happened here" "But you were in danger" "If I hadn't seen you..." "Have you come to save me?" "That's right" "Why?" "Because you seem to be having a hard time" "Save me, then" "Save me" "Hurry up" "But how?" "How will you save my soul?" "Who..." "Are you?" "It doesn't matter" "Are you the woman I found?" "You'd been waiting 1,000 years" "Yes, waiting to destroy men" "Stop!" "Let's go, come with me" "Where?" "To hell" "The dead shouldn't speak" "Where were you?" "Just checking up on something" "Me, too" "I just remembered" "When I was walking through the woods the other day" "I found a strange place" "A strange place?" "Can I come in?" "A strange place?" "Almost like a grave" "What shall we do?" "What should we do?" "Report it to the police" "Or go ourselves now" "And find out what's buried there" "What do you imagine it is?" "I don't know" "It may be nothing" "Yes" "You still want to?" "Yes" "Reiko" "Yes" "Are you religious?" "No" "I don't care how, please pray" "Yes" "It's a bust" "Looks like it" "There's nothing" "No clothing fragments, no ornaments" "A total miscalculation" "But I've never enjoyed a miscalculation so much" "Reiko, it's because of you" "That I'm free" "Free?" "Really?" "Yes" "So you're free, too" "Can I trust you?" "Yeah" "I'll throw it all away" "Everything except you" "I'll do the same" "Throw away everything but you" "An answer to your prayers" "Let's go back" "Huh, so that's how it is" "Whatever" "How'd you find this place, Reiko?" "I wasn't trying to keep it from you" "If you'd asked me, I'd have told you" "But it's too late" "People die" "They all die" "So I don't care how" "You're fine with this, right?" "You're Kijima Koichi" "You're under arrest for attempted murder!" "What an ordeal" "I still can't believe it" "It's all your fault" "Don't drag me into your fate" "I'll solve my own problems" "So you decide your own fate" "If you can move, why did you wait?" "I understand" "I'll save you now" "What have I done?" "Forgive me" "It's over now" "We should have done this a long time ago" "Corpses on my right, on my left" "Everywhere, corpses!" "You're okay, you're okay" "We've got to bury it in the swamp again" "It's gone" "Turned to ashes long ago" "I let myself in" "That's fine" "You were really moaning" "Yeah" "What is it?" "Mr. Yoshioka" "There's one thing I want to know" "I know" "I had a nightmare" "I always do" "I don't want to tell you... why" "I see" "But I want to know" "It's not a pleasant story" "Tell me" "You'll regret it" "I don't mind" "I killed her" "Her?" "The girl who lived there before you" "Why?" "I don't know" "Probably there was some confusion" "What kind?" "I returned from the swamp" "Spiritually and physically exhausted" "Which is when I stumbled on her" "She slipped right inside me" "In some inexplicable way" "And then" "Why was it?" "I began to feel I'd made" "A terrible mistake about human life and death" "In an instant she shattered my convictions as a scientist" "I felt as though a thousand years" "Of time were rushing in" "In the end" "She said she would take me to hell" "I became confused" "If I let her keep talking" "Something terrible would happen" "When I came to" "I had my hand firmly over her mouth" "That's all there was" "And where is she now?" "That..." "I don't know" "What did I do with her?" "I can't remember" "Don't you remember?" "Then nothing's certain yet" "Maybe that's true" "Let's clarify things" "How?" "Go to the swamp" "There's only a swamp there!" "Is that so?" "That's fine, then" "Let's go make sure" "No!" "Why not?" "If we do that..." "I've thrown everything else away" "I couldn't" "You can" "You have me" "Maybe the old Yoshioka couldn't" "But now you have me" "Isn't that true?" "Will you pray?" "Sure" "Which one?" "I don't know" "This one" "No, I can't do it!" "Why not!" "Are you going to leave her there?" "Buried in the mud" "All alone for eons" "Abandoned forever?" "No" "Then save her" "You saved one yesterday" "What am I supposed to do?" "All right, I'll do it" "I can do this" "No, you stay here and pray" "See?" "This is reality" "I didn't kill her" "No" "It was all a delusion" "That's right" "It's all over" "Everything's done" "We're both free of everything" "It took a long time" "But it's over" "Yes" "The beginning of a new era" "Yeah" "Shall we go somewhere?" "Where?" "On a trip, now" "Yeah" "Anywhere" "Somewhere far" "To the end of the earth" "I'll never let you go" "Forever"