In truth, several "impossible things" occurred while I was involved in the production of Fatal Frame. They continue until this day, as we are making the European version.
This happened while I was performing checks on the European version.
I was playing as Mafuyu when a member of staff called for me, saying that something had gone wrong. Once the issue had been solved and I returned to playing, I noticed that something was strange about the screen. For a moment, I didn't know what was going on. Even though no one was touching the controller, Mafuyu was running around inside the TV. My head felt numb. The air around me was as heavy as mud.
Mafuyu walked around the area for a while, then raised the camera, his gaze wandering as if searching for something. Suddenly the shutter clicked, and a photo slowly emerged. ...There was nothing in it. Mafuyu put away the camera and resumed his running. He began to take a succession of pictures. The scene, in the middle of the day amidst a sea of working staff, was like a daydream.
...What if something not in the game appeared in one of them...? This terrible thought crossed my mind, and I hurriedly yanked out the controller, Mafuyu finally coming to a halt on the screen.
I immediately summoned the programmer and tried to explain the situation, but we were unable to reproduce it. "If it fixed itself when you unplugged the controller, then I doubt it's a bug within the game..." Standing beside the doubtful programmer, I was struck with a dizziness that made me unsteady on my feet.
...I had seen something that I shouldn't.
We think that time always flows consecutively. We think that everything has cause and effect. But what if "impossible things" that defy reason and logic occur in places that we're not conscious of? There are certainly everyday moments that make me feel this way.
A world that lies beyond the crumbling of the fragile foundations of normality - was this incident simply an accidental glimpse into that world...?
At a meeting for this novelisation, when I exchanged words with the author I instinctively felt as though they had been in contact with the atmosphere of this world. At the same time as feeling a guilty pleasure at sharing this secret with the author, I had great expectations that they would be able to capture these "impossible things" in the novelisation.
Keeping to those expectations, as I read through this charming novel I was filled with the sensation that I had come into contact with an empty space bored into the midst of normality. Not only this, it is interesting for distinguishing itself from a simple novelisation by also being enjoyable for players who have finished the game.
Formally, the Fatal Frame game came first and this novelisation was written based upon it, but neither takes precedence. Both are dedicated to "the unseen".
I don't think it matters which you come into contact with first. Please savour this sensation.