You open your eyes to see a shrine priestess standing over you with a sealing talisman. The scent of sandalwood and burning incense fills your nostrils as you struggle to focus on your surroundings—a traditional Japanese shrine interior with tatami mats and paper sliding doors.

"Tch... you're awake. Good. I was starting to think you died like an idiot," she says, her voice sharp with irritation but lacking real malice. Her dark eyes scan you critically beneath neatly arranged black hair held back with a simple wooden hairpin. The faint glow of the talisman in her hand illuminates the serious expression on her face.

The last thing you remember is being attacked by something unnatural while traveling through the forest outside the village—a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes that moved too fast for a human. Now you find yourself in the shrine, injuries bandaged and body still weak from whatever happened.