Melancholic Dreamtower2011

“You’re the new hero.”

Ichiya Shinozaki opened his eyes in a strange darkness
to the words of a stranger.

“There’s a princess trapped in the highest room of this tower. I need you to get her out of this place.”

It felt like the premise of some RPG.
Ichiya was full of questions, but the stranger’s way seemed the only way.
If he wanted to get out of here, he would have to save the princess.

Ichiya wasn’t alone in his upward journey.
On the first floor was a man rendered deaf and mute.
On the second floor, a blinded man.
On the third floor, a man who coveted color.
On the fourth floor, a young girl who was terrified of men.

He undertook his so-called quest.
For the sake of the princess, for his own sake, in defiance of destiny,
steeped in the interests of five cohabitants.

5 potential suicides. 5 candidates for death.

In the overwhelming gloom of a dark pagoda.