Video Message
A colleague of mine passed away. His name was K, and he was an avid free climber. We were close friends, and I often spent time with his family, even though I was single.
K was deeply passionate about free climbing. Whenever he had time off, he'd head to various mountains and cliffs.
About six months before his death, K approached me with a request.
"Hey, could you record a video for me, just in case I die?"
Given the risks of his hobby, he wanted to leave a video message for his family in case something happened.
I told him, "If it's that dangerous, maybe you should quit, especially since you have a family."
But K firmly replied, "I can't imagine giving up climbing."
That was so like him, and I agreed to help him record the video.
We decided to film at my place to keep it a secret from his family. K sat on the sofa against a white wall and began speaking:
"Hi, it's K. If you're watching this, it means I've passed away.
To my wife, ○○, and daughter, ××, thank you for everything.
I'm truly sorry for the trouble my selfish hobby has caused.
To my parents and friends, please don't be sad.
I'm doing well in heaven and watching over you.
××, Daddy is always watching you from above, so please don't cry.
Smile and send me off. Goodbye."
Of course, K was alive when we recorded this. But six months later, he died in a climbing accident. According to his climbing friends, even though safety mats were in place, he fell far from the expected landing spot, making it impossible to prevent the accident.
Both the wake and the funeral were filled with grief. K's wife and daughter were inconsolable, and I couldn't believe he was gone.
A week later, I decided to show the video to K's family. They had calmed down somewhat and were eager to see his message. We planned to watch it during the memorial service.
As I took out the DVD, the family began to tear up. I said, "This will help with the mourning process," and played the video.
A buzzing sound accompanied a black screen for about ten seconds. Just as I wondered if there was a playback error, K's image appeared in the darkness and began to speak.
"Hi, it's K. If you're watching this, it means I've... passed away.
○○, ××, thank you for everything..."
However, the buzzing grew louder, making his words hard to hear.
"To my dad and mom who raised me, and to all my friends — if you’re sad because I died, please don’t be."
"ZVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA… [daughter’s name] — Daddy’s dea—ZVAAAAA I don’t want to die! I don’t wa—ZVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—"
A chill shot down my spine.
Near the end almost everything was drowned in static, but K’s calm farewell had twisted into a frantic death‑scream. And as his voice cut off, I clearly saw something reach out of the darkness, seize K’s arm, and drag him away.
The family screamed, and K's wife glared at me with fury. "How could you show us this?" she shouted, lunging at me.
She grabbed my collar and slammed me against the wall. K's father also stood up, punched me in the stomach, and I collapsed to my knees.
I tried to defend myself, but K's wife grabbed a flower vase and threw it at me. I dodged it, but she then punched me in the stomach again, knocking the wind out of me.
She pinned me down and continued to hit me. K's father joined in, kicking me. I tried to protect myself, but the blows kept coming.
Eventually, I managed to grab her wrist, flipped her over, and pinned her down. K's father approached again, aiming a chop at my throat. It hit, and I struggled to breathe. I retaliated by striking his abdomen repeatedly.
We continued to struggle until both of them collapsed from exhaustion. I seized the moment, stood up, and kicked K's father in the head, knocking him out. Both were unconscious, so I left the funeral home.
The next day, I took the DVD to a nearby temple, hoping they could dispose of it. Before I could explain, the monk saw the bag and said, "We can't handle this."
He directed me to another place that might help. There, a Shinto priest looked at the DVD and said, "This is quite something."
According to him, K was already being pulled into hell when we recorded the video. He couldn't understand how K survived another six months. He believed K should have died immediately after the recording.
