[Touhou Project X SCP] Beyond the East and the West

Intruder from the West

Ever since I have memories of things around me, everyone has told me to not approach the mountains. "No one has ever returned after they seek deep inside the mountains!" "The ones who challenge themselves on exploring the surroundings were never seen again!" Et cetera, et cetera. Sure, there are wild animals or potential traps made by our ancestors, but why would we keep ourselves aside from our own land? I cannot and probably will not find an answer to that.  

My name? Does not matter, not as if history will really care of leaving a name for someone who has not accomplished anything. I am just a normal farmer in my village, whose life is just simple: sleep, eat, water plants/place down seeds/harvest them, and repeat. However, my village, in my opinion, is quite a special case: it is surrounded by mountains, many large mountains. Because of that, the government has not yet attempted to construct any internet-related towers or anything like that. At the same time, due to the overall landscape of our surroundings, wanderers have become the normal guests of us, as many hikers would lose their way without a guide. We usually will provide wanderers with food and water, even a place to rest if needed; however, we would also reject providing any resources to them if they were being disrespectful towards the shrine in the village, since that is the absolute line they should not cross.

The shrine in the village is nothing special, just another typical Shinto shrine: red walls with black rooftop. There used to be a sign hanging on the Torii gate in front of the shrine, but due to some reasons, that sign went missing long ago. The god being worshiped in the shrine? That record was gone decades ago as well. The only thing that we, as the villagers, all agree to is that: No one should ever disrespect the shrine, or else something awful might happen. People probably thought of that since the climate is stable in our area, and they thought it was due to the god they worshiped. Seriously, if that is the case, it would worsen - you do not even know the god you worship! Either way, life is peaceful around here, nothing really happens, certainly no bad things, just a farmer's life inside the mountains. Not until some strange visitors came.

They dressed in some sort of military outfit in black: A helmet with dark goggles - probably equipped with night vision; a mask that covers their face; a military uniform and a bulletproof vest on top; a trouser, assumably waterproof as we can see the droplets on it. Even guns, real heavy rifles paired with a handgun on the side. When they came into the village, I thought we were getting raided by some terrorists. I hid inside my closet for the entire day. With the spared time I got, I even had my note ready after my demise. However, after I talked to my fellow farmers, they were not here to eliminate or capture us, they were just here because they lost their direction. From what I heard, they did not announce where they are from, nor did any villagers ask since most of them are scared of the squad's arrival. They only said things like "Evacuate from this area when you still can" or "The government gave us permission". In the end, they did not force any of the villagers to leave, and they left the village soon after that.

Till this point, I had finally calmed down. Not because that might have been the last day of my life, but because the squad did not destroy my crops. Seriously, if they stepped on anything I planted over the spring, I am going to slam at least one of them right in their head with my shovel. However, when the farmer pointed at the direction they went, I was shocked. Not only did they not ask us for any guidance on leaving the mountains, but they also entered the mountains from a way said to have consumed countless men alive. The villagers had warned them. They tried to explain to the squad that no one has ever returned when they enter the mountains through that direction. The squad moved on regardless. 

I do not know if I should be at ease or not, so I had another sleepless night. The next day, the village became pretty noisy in the morning. Usually, the village is quiet, no matter the time or day, since everyone is working on their stuff. This is unusual, no, more like completely out of expectation. When I went to the location where people gathered, a man was lying on the ground. "Wasn't he in the squad yesterday?" "Yea, but look at his injuries!" "Oh gosh, what has happened to him?" The man was seriously injured: many large scratches can be seen from his back; his left arm was twisted in a horrific way; blood stained his uniform from black into dark crimson. Even until now, the man was still alive. His chest was still expanding and shrinking, breathing in as much air as possible, and trying to stay conscious. "Everyone... was dead..." He said in a very quiet and fragile tone. "That thing, no, monster... Murdered everyone..." Slowly but steadily, he looked up to the villagers. "Everyone in this village... Please... For your own sake... Evacuate from here now... I beg of you..." Right after he had finished that line, his muscles relaxed and returned to how it was before. That was the last time he ever responded to us.

Someone was brave enough to search the empty vessel on the ground. The result was very little though: a flashlight that is fully charged; an intercom with nothing but static noise; and a hand-written document. The paper was barely readable, as it was heavily damaged and covered in blood. However, I still collected the shattered document as I am one of the few educated people within the village. Well, the actual reason was because I was bored, so I tried to find something to spice my life up. I put the pieces together, like solving a jigsaw puzzle. The header of the  article was strange however, "SCP Foundation? I have never heard of this organization in my entire life." 

Little do I know, this document was only the beginning of a much larger issue - the conflict between two superpowers lurking inside the mountains...