Pathway to Japanese Literature
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The Dreadful VigilAuthor: Unno Juza
| Original Title | 恐しき通夜 |
|---|---|
| Author | 海野 十三 |
| Genre | Detective & Mystery |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a dimly lit aviation laboratory on a stormy night, three men—a brash naval captain, a cynical physicist, and an enigmatic surgeon—gather for a grueling experiment. As they monitor guinea pigs under vacuum pressure, boredom drives them to share chilling personal tales. The captain recounts a wartime tragedy involving two pilots’ fatal rivalry over a lover, exposing his own complicity in their deaths. The physicist boasts of manipulating women through calculated seduction, callously dismissing emotional consequences. His arrogance ignites tension when he hints at an affair with the captain’s wife. \nThe surgeon’s delayed arrival—blamed on a “patient”—unveils the darkest thread: a tale of a young woman’s abortion and her brother’s grotesque revenge. As tempers flare and secrets unravel, a gunshot echoes through the lab, leaving two men dead. The surgeon’s final revelation—a macabre act of retribution involving cannibalism—culminates in psychological horror, exposing each man’s moral decay. \nAmidst creeping shadows and the relentless tick of machinery, alliances fracture, and vengeance blurs the line between justice and monstrosity. What began as a scientific vigil descends into a night where every confession tightens the noose—and not all sins stay buried. |
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