Chapter 62

**Chapter 62** is the sixty-second chapter of the *Dead Mount Death Play* manga.

## Official Blurb

The fortune-telling shop is back in business! But one of the customers is giving the Corpse God some extremely bad vibes...

## Synopsis

Flashback
At a dining establishment, the lightning sorcerer 'Civil' shows Lulu and Soara Habaki a picture of Polka Shinoyama on a smartphone; upon analyzing the phones of the people monitoring the Abandoned Building, he has concluded their 'sole mission' is to survey and protect the teenager—though another Shinoyama family member also stays in the residence.

Lulu questions whether Polka can truly see the future, while Civil questions Soara whether it is typical for Japanese high schoolers to open fortunetelling shops. Soara quips that some are YouTubers, but she is more interested in discussing the unusually 'strict' surveillance of the Building's purlieu. Even if more than one organization is involved, most in her opinion are small-time chumps—then, thinking of Taipei, she adds, excepting a few. Civil praises her for exercising restraint with the surveyors, snaps his menu shut, and announces they are done "feeling out" the situation; now, it is time they act.

Present
Upon arriving at the Fortunetelling Shop, the trio find the corridor outside the fortune-telling room surprisingly crowded. Lulu, sticking close to Soara out of shyness, notices Soara looking around and asks what is wrong; though Soara brushes her feelings off as 'chills', these chills are nothing like she felt even in "that garbage heap of a lab." When Civil looks over, she insists she is not sick, and that there is merely "something in the air."

An eavesdropper—Saimyouji—interjects that he is "so jealous," sure that Soara is sensing the otherwordly occult—after all, this fortuneteller is no charlatan. Civil asks if Saimyouji would not mind giving him more details; Saimyouji positively beams. By the time the four of them are seated in the front of the queue, Civil has told Saimyouji he has come from abroad just to pay the fortuneteller a visit. Saimyouji says *he* visits the fortuneteller every day he possibly can, telling Lulu today and the day before were 'particularly crowded' due to the fortuneteller needing to deal with police ereyesterday.

He shows the trio footage from Proppen's livestream of the invisible hands incident that occurred on the Building's rooftop. The hands incident is 'precisely' what led Civil to the Shop in the first place; privately, Civil wonders whether Phantom Solitaire has made contact with "the sorcerer from the other side of the sky" whom Habaki mentioned, and whether this means Sorimura is also a sorcerer.

Regarding Solitaire, Saimyouji disagrees with the 'general consensus' that this incident was merely another of Sorimura's "for-the-fun-of-it" spectacles. Saimyouji understands Sorimura to be a spontaneous, unmethodical man whose actions nevertheless always scale in proportion to the number of people he knows are watching. To execute such a remarkable feat at night without forewarning, 'spontaneous' as it may have been, was out of character for the troublemaker. Civil asks if Saimyouji is implying some phenomenon attacked Sorimura, but Saimyouji quips it is necessarily possible Sorimura was simply rehearsing an elaborate dance routine.

Civil bursts out laughing at the idea, and Saimyouji matches him for mirth until Misaki calls his ticket—number 25—from the doorway. Saimyouji introduces himself as Mikoto Saimyouji and suggests Civil look him up on social media before heading in for his appointment. Civil does exactly what Saimyouji suggests, and, upon finding Saimyouji's 'Twittia' account, @mikoto\_kansatsu, discovers the man is a forensics examiner.

Meanwhile, by the printers in the police department, Danjō Tozawa informs Tsubaki Iwanome—who wants Saimyouji's opinion on something—that Saimyouji is not 'coming in' today. Tozawa charitably points out that even a 'troublemakers' specialist like Saimyouji must be busy considering forensics is chronically understaffed, though Iwanome wonders why Saimyouji has been frequenting Shinjuku as often as he has been these days. Aikawa tells him—not for the first time—that Saimyouji has taken a keen interest in a young new medium in town. As the printer spurts out fresh papers, Iwanome lets her words sink in.

After Saimyouji's appointment is finished, Corpse God relaxes with the supposition that he must be halfway through today's clients. Xiaoyu Lei, arms folded, says he is still coming to terms with the fact "there was never any trick to this" before checking if the 'pen' is really Miyabi Hosorogi. Hosorogi writes that he is looking forward to their collaboration going forward. Still nonplussed, Xiaoyu supposes Solitaire is oblivious that the person to whom he "owes so much" is a writing utensil; at the others' confusion, he recalls how Solitaire had told him, before they fought, that he 'owed Hosorogi'.

Hosorogi exclaims he has 'zero recollection' of Solitaire, which to Corpse God raises the possibility Hosorogi's memory was tampered with whilst he was alive. Before they can further speculate as to Solitaire's objective, Misaki peeks in to ask if she can send in the next customer; Xiaoyu subsequently departs to do chores. Remotely, Takumi Kuruya warns Corpse God he has little information on the incoming customer due to their survey answers: they wrote they are a tourist from abroad, but wrote nothing for their age or gender. This is not the first time a client has left fields blank, so Corpse God summons a small spirit to search their belongings as he has done in the past. He adds he is even prepared to psychologically manipulate the client if needed—

—but then he cuts himself off, a shudder running through his body. The small spirit darts underneath his chair, all a-tremble; the eyeball on Takumi's desk begins to shiver. *What's this?* thinks the Corpse God. *What's coming?*

Civil tells Soara and Lulu to wait for him in the corridor as Misaki directs inside the room; privately, Misaki wonders whether Civil is male or female before exiting into the hallway, closing the door behind her. Civil takes the seat opposite to Corpse God; to anyone else's eye, he wears a civil, even pleasant expression. To Corpse God's Evil Eye, Civil's entire face, excepting his smile, is obscured with a tangle of grotesque, bulbous spirits: large, humanoid eyeballs and hands with black fingernails squirm underneath dense threads that extend down Civil's body, coiling around his shins.

The amount of souls, and amount of years over which they were accumulated, are unfathomable. Moreover, the spirits are obstructing the face of the client's essential soul.

His smile now cast in an ominous light, the client introduces himself as 'Civil' and thanks Corpse God for having him.

## Trivia

* 'Kansatsu', which seems to be the latter half of Saimyouji's Twittia handle, can mean 'medical coroner', 'medical examiner', 'observer', or 'inspector'—among other definitions—depending on kanji.

### Referbacks

* To Chapter 59, in which Takeru Shinoyama learns someone (Soara) accosted his men and stole their phones.
* To Chapter 35, in which Proppen comes across the rooftop spectacle while livestreaming.
* To Chapter 32, in which Solitaire, lying, claimed to know Hosorogi.