A Cursed Song
There's an older friend whom I haven't been able to contact in a long time. Has it already been around 10 years?

That person and I, we were living in the same neighbourhood then, and since we had very similar hobbies and ideas, when night fell we would often go to various haunted places in his car. On one night, that friend brought me along to a damn in the mountain recesses of Saitama.

Along the way he said,
"Come to think of it, there's a cursed song. Did you know?"
"A cursed song? What kind of song is it?"
"Well it seems like a ballad but it's an unbelievably good song. Nobody could copy it."
"Ey~ That's really cool! I wanna hear it too!!"
"Right? Actually, I might be able to get the tape with that song from the person who has it now. And then I'll get you to listen to it."
"Yeah!! I'm really looking forward to it!!"
While we were having that conversation we were heading toward the dam I mentioned, and as usual he stopped the car and we started walking around in the area. The whole time, even as we took the path back, we were telling ghost stories to each other.

A few days after that, I received a phonecall from that friend.
"Oi!! I finally got that tape!! Can you come to my place later and listen to it?"
My friend speaking quickly in his excitement and getting me wound up, but that day I had to do a rehearsal.
"I'm sorry, but I've got rehearsal today. Ah, but I want to listen to it, so when rehearsal is over I'll call you!!"
So, excusing myself from my friend's invitation, I started getting ready to go to the studio.

Was it around 11 o'clock at night? As soon as our rehearsal was over I called that friend, but I only got a ring tone and he didn't answer the phone.
"Has he gone to bed?" I thought, but I tried calling again after that but there was still no answer.
"Ahh, he'll see the call and tomorrow he'll call me back I guess."
And so I waited for his return call.

However, the next day and even the day after that, there was no return call from my friend. And when I called again there was still no answer.
"Did something happen?"
When I was starting to get anxious, a call came from my friend's band member.
"Hey? Do you know where he went? He hasn't come to rehearsal and even when I called his home, his mother answered and said she hasn't seen him since a few days before. Well, have you heard anything?"
A few days before, was after my call...
However, according to what I knew it was just about that song, and even if I told him there was no way he'd believe such a thing.
"Nope, I've tried calling several times as well, but he hasn't answered! If I get hold of him, I'll tell you."
That said, we hung up the phone.
But after that, even until now, I haven't contacted him.

I've heard talk that my friend's band broke up a little while after that, as the other members weren't able to make contact with him. Whatever happened to my older friend remains a mystery.
<Coach's Deductions>
In the 13th story, the Isshi I know finally shows up in conversation. Well, to put it bluntly, I really want to know the name of this song. But apart from that, in this story there are two "core points" left behind, that it seems you intentionally left out, Isshi.

First of all, it has to do with the word "cursed" that you introduced in this story. What the heck happened that you're calling it "cursed?" It's easy to fixate on "death" or "gone missing" but if that's the case then what became of the person who gave the tape to your friend? Did he just obtain it, and without even listening to it, hand it over to your friend who then disappeared? That kind of mystery is left behind. To make this point clearer (?) we can actually compare it to the founder of the Japanese Horror craze. I'm thinking of the big hit movie "Ring." From "cursed song" to "cursed video." You asked "What kind of song is it?" but this is probably a remark to conceal a point. Maybe you really said "What happens when you listen to it?" Why? Because without listening to it, the "curse" doesn't come true. It's like the significance of "if you watch it, you will die" in the movie "Ring", but lacking... no, being concealed.

And the other thing is the song title. I've usually heard that it's more common to hide that, but I want to write a common reason. Although this is a story in the age of tapes, and furthermore it's about a "cursed song," it's likely that the person, or band, who made this song itself has a copy of it at the time I'm writing this. Nevertheless, I think we have to consider the point that it can easily be listened to, even in the present time. So you hide the name, so you don't trouble anyone with the story... You wrote without feeling it... It's strange that this raises a question from the start, "Who made that song?"

In your 11th story you used symbols in place of the temple name and that was fine, but for a story you can't fill it up with all symbols, since you'll have to consider the likelihood that it will leak. Of course, we're treating all of these stories seriously. But... your own nature, Isshi... or even more than that, as a musician who likes ghost stories, I think it's a little unnatural that you wouldn't show even a little interest in the creator of a "cursed song" (and the title).

In this story, the timing of obtaining the song and then going missing, is strangely synchronized... it works as a ghost story. If you're not involved in the talk, it's just like an urban legend. No, it's still a mystery...  isn't it, Isshi? Ah, I just noticed that my word count is too high.

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