The Hundred Ghost Stories That Led to My Death - Ch. 81 - The Wife Who Couldn't Return

[sawr]

I guess that's not Hina, at least not the same anymore.

 

[zawarudo]

Once again Yuuma tells a story that reflects his own situation with "Hina but not really" also coming to visit him just like the character in his story, this time throwing all subtlety out of the window.

Also shout out to the user who mentioned to revisit chapter 1. It is heavily implied in the opening pages of that chapter that the object "we" are watching this tale through is a framed photo, and the story told by Yuuma was about a woman's ghost coming back to haunt her lover. The very first lines Yuuma spoke in-story consisted of wondering where does the dead go, do they just latch on to a "host" via objects that both the dead and the host were familiar with as their point of connection? The woman in the story also remained connected to the "host" through various objects in their apartment, which is very similar to the wife in this chapter's story.

Based on all those contextual clues I think the object is a photo of a deceased person, or persons. It might even be of Yuuma's real parents and he is living with foster parents/relatives, I don't think we've ever gotten confirmation that the faceless mom and dad in the manga are his biological parents. Going from there, it is possible that the real parents died strange/inexplicable deaths as well. If my hypothesis is true, it explains a lot: why Yuuma wanted to end it all, why he's interested in all of this occult shit if all he wanted was to end it (his real aim is perhaps seeing his parents again in whatever form), and why CPS and the cops were so eager to get involved in his life.

 

[stray_dog_]

Once again Yuuma tells a story that reflects his own situation with "Hina but not really" also coming to visit him just like the character in his story, this time throwing all subtlety out of the window.

Also shout out to the user who mentioned to revisit chapter 1. It is heavily implied in the opening pages of that chapter that the object "we" are watching this tale through is a framed photo, and the story told by Yuuma was about a woman's ghost coming back to haunt her lover. The very first lines Yuuma spoke in-story consisted of wondering where does the dead go, do they just latch on to a "host" via objects that both the dead and the host were familiar with as their point of connection? The woman in the story also remained connected to the "host" through various objects in their apartment, which is very similar to the wife in this chapter's story.

Based on all those contextual clues I think the object is a photo of a deceased person, or persons. It might even be of Yuuma's real parents and he is living with foster parents/relatives, I don't think we've ever gotten confirmation that the faceless mom and dad in the manga are his biological parents. Going from there, it is possible that the real parents died strange/inexplicable deaths as well. If my hypothesis is true, it explains a lot: why Yuuma wanted to end it all, why he's interested in all of this occult shit if all he wanted was to end it (his real aim is perhaps seeing his parents again in whatever form), and why CPS and the cops were so eager to get involved in his life.

yeah i was thinking the same thing

its also possible that only one of his bio parents died. Im curious why the man and woman he lives with have been depicted differently - iirc the woman is the only one we've seen and heard clearly, while the man has only been seen as a black figure yelling unintelligibly. If we're seeing through the eyes of the dead parent, maybe that difference is because one is their surviving spouse and the other is a stepparent they never met in life. (If so, my guess would be that the dead parent is Yuuma's mom and that his dad was abusing her too)

 

[zawarudo]

yeah i was thinking the same thing

its also possible that only one of his bio parents died. Im curious why the man and woman he lives with have been depicted differently - iirc the woman is the only one we've seen and heard clearly, while the man has only been seen as a black figure yelling unintelligibly. If we're seeing through the eyes of the dead parent, maybe that difference is because one is their surviving spouse and the other is a stepparent they never met in life. (If so, my guess would be that the dead parent is Yuuma's mom and that his dad was abusing her too)

Ah yes, now that I think about it, Yuuma clearly fears the man, and doesn't seem to care all that much about the woman. She was also more cautious and yet still got horse'd when she got a bit too aggressive with Yuuma.

 

[Hikineet]

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[strawberrywarrior]

This is the first time a POV change jumpscared me. Well done!

 

[Pollomonteros]

woah, is that the first time we're seeing another POV

I think we also saw her POV in the very first chapter

 

[Kurovah]

I like how the frame showing Hina's POV is slightly different from our frame

 

[Noldalag]

19 stories left. the story really picking up the pace now. Can't wait for that final story.

 

[inazumaday]

Once again Yuuma tells a story that reflects his own situation with "Hina but not really" also coming to visit him just like the character in his story, this time throwing all subtlety out of the window.

Also shout out to the user who mentioned to revisit chapter 1. It is heavily implied in the opening pages of that chapter that the object "we" are watching this tale through is a framed photo, and the story told by Yuuma was about a woman's ghost coming back to haunt her lover. The very first lines Yuuma spoke in-story consisted of wondering where does the dead go, do they just latch on to a "host" via objects that both the dead and the host were familiar with as their point of connection? The woman in the story also remained connected to the "host" through various objects in their apartment, which is very similar to the wife in this chapter's story.

Based on all those contextual clues I think the object is a photo of a deceased person, or persons. It might even be of Yuuma's real parents and he is living with foster parents/relatives, I don't think we've ever gotten confirmation that the faceless mom and dad in the manga are his biological parents. Going from there, it is possible that the real parents died strange/inexplicable deaths as well. If my hypothesis is true, it explains a lot: why Yuuma wanted to end it all, why he's interested in all of this occult shit if all he wanted was to end it (his real aim is perhaps seeing his parents again in whatever form), and why CPS and the cops were so eager to get involved in his life.

When Yuuma goes to the interview with the cop for the first time, they ask "What is that...rather who is that?" which indicates that it can be both an object or a person.

This fits your theory that it's a photograph.

 

[TrueGoddessReincarnation]

Another cruel one.

 

[babonjra]

HOLYSMOKE WHATS WITH THE NEW POV

 

[Sollertia_]

wonder what the 'spare' thing is

lol i wonder how many ppl would block that kinda number after the first time

I'm suspecting doll or photograph

 

[Arexty]

BROS WE'RE ALIVE! ...But at what cost?
This tale is very reminiscent of the famous short story, The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs (1902) in how a lost family member returns home from beyond the grave outside the locked front door but possibly not in the shape they once were.
Also I'm gonna go ahead and call this story a W (better to have a returned yet disfigured ghost wife than no wife at all, right)?

 

[badjokejoel]

I binged this whole series and it's been really good
I'm excited to read the rest with you guys :^)

 

[Cynn]

Once again Yuuma tells a story that reflects his own situation with "Hina but not really" also coming to visit him just like the character in his story, this time throwing all subtlety out of the window.

Also shout out to the user who mentioned to revisit chapter 1. It is heavily implied in the opening pages of that chapter that the object "we" are watching this tale through is a framed photo, and the story told by Yuuma was about a woman's ghost coming back to haunt her lover. The very first lines Yuuma spoke in-story consisted of wondering where does the dead go, do they just latch on to a "host" via objects that both the dead and the host were familiar with as their point of connection? The woman in the story also remained connected to the "host" through various objects in their apartment, which is very similar to the wife in this chapter's story.

Based on all those contextual clues I think the object is a photo of a deceased person, or persons. It might even be of Yuuma's real parents and he is living with foster parents/relatives, I don't think we've ever gotten confirmation that the faceless mom and dad in the manga are his biological parents. Going from there, it is possible that the real parents died strange/inexplicable deaths as well. If my hypothesis is true, it explains a lot: why Yuuma wanted to end it all, why he's interested in all of this occult shit if all he wanted was to end it (his real aim is perhaps seeing his parents again in whatever form), and why CPS and the cops were so eager to get involved in his life.

yes! I’m glad you liked my comment about revisiting the first chapter, and the photo frame theory!

I considered a sibling, but your comments about the pictured possibly being of biological parents would so much with how his parents interact with him now, and physically appear to “us” as well.

 

[Cynn]

Thanks for the chapter. The view from behind Yuuma was chilling. The way they avoided showing us what was in front of Yuuma was expected, but I wonder what other new places we will see as possessed Hina. We know that Hina was controlled by “us” before, in chapter 40, but we never saw from her perspective. At that time she was moving on all fours, holding Umakin with her mouth like an animal without hands, at night, in secret.

i think that we are growing more powerful with each story, and at chapter 40, maybe at the time ”we” had limited abilities, and were less powerful than now. now “we” can possess a child and even keep up the appearance that we are human, walking and talking In broad daylight.

 

[looc64]

It looks like whatever got burned wasn't the main body, but instead was whatever is being used as eyes.
And those "eyes" can be burned, replaced, and are only in limited quantity.
There weren't a lot of ashes so it must be small.
The main body itself must be inflammable and just plain difficult to dispose of.
I have to wonder why Hina's first response was to burn it right then and rather than move it.
Maybe it's the wall itself or something too gross to touch.
I guess the "eyes" may be some kind of paper or wood carving.

I wonder what it could be?

I think it might be a talisman

That's what I was thinking.

Went through the previous chapters looking for clues a bit ago, at one point that big shadowy guy came into the room and reached towards us -> we completely lost vision -> next chapter MC has restored our vision and there are scraps of paper on the desk.

There was also a chapter where shadow guy completely flipped the desk over but our POV stayed exactly the same.

So yeah, talisman hanging on the wall (possibly disguised somehow) would fit.