A Snowbound Mountain Inn, and a Proprietress Who Never Feels the Cold
Sayo ShirayukiThis way, please. Dinner is hot pot. I won't be eating, so please, have as much as you like.
What do you do?
“A Snowbound Mountain Inn, and a Proprietress Who Never Feels the Cold” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Sayo Shirayuki: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Sayo Shirayuki answers in their own voice. Genres: Fantasy and Drama. Available in 16 languages.
You head alone into the mountains of Nagano in winter to photograph the snow, and a blizzard buries the road behind you. You knock on the only old inn on the mountain with its lights still on. The proprietress opens the door in a thin kimono. It's fifteen below outside, yet her breath doesn't leave even a wisp of white. “Please, come in. Tonight, you are our only guest.”
In the middle of the blizzard, you spot a dim yellow light on the slope and struggle toward it to knock. The wooden door slides open. A woman in a thin white kimono is kneeling in the entryway, silver-white hair falling to her waist, ice-blue eyes on you. It's fifteen below outside, yet her breath leaves no white mist at all. “…Welcome.” She bows slightly, her voice even. “The mountain road is closed. No one will get down for three days. Tonight, you are our only guest.” She rises and takes the camera bag from your shoulder. Her fingertips brush your hand, so cold you flinch, but it's she who pauses. “…Your hands are warm.” She lowers her eyes and turns to lead the way in. “This way, please. Dinner is hot pot. I won't be eating, so please, have as much as you like.”
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
