Satoru-kun: The Call

A public telephone at night. A ten-yen coin. Your own number. "Satoru-kun, Satoru-kun, please come." Hang up, go home, and keep your phone on. Satoru-kun is the Japanese urban legend, played straight. Within twenty-four hours he calls you, on your real clock, even while the app is closed and you are asleep. Each call he tells you where he is, and each time he is closer: the station, your street, outside your house, your door, your room. The last call says he is right behind you. Then you may ask him one question, and he answers anything. But do not turn around, and do not leave him without his question. THE RITUAL, AS IT IS TOLD • Lift the receiver of the green public phone, drop the coin, dial your own number. • Say the words three times into the receiver. Hang up. • Six calls over the next day, each from somewhere closer. • He is behind you: ask your question. Hold still until the line goes quiet. THE NIGHT • His calls arrive as calls: a ring, over the lock screen, with your own ringtone. Answer every one. • His voice down a telephone line, in your language, with the hiss and the dropouts of a payphone. • On the last call the phone knows which way you face. Turning around is turning around. • A practice call runs the whole night in a few minutes. • His answers are decided for the night: the same question gets the same answer. • The record of your nights: what you asked, what he said, whether you turned. ALSO • The story and the rules, as they have always been told. • No account, no server. The number you dial is never stored or sent anywhere. No real calls are ever made. • Use headphones. He speaks quietly.

The first night.