Loft (ロフト)

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!