Zokujin boy
Once, a long time ago, a curious little boy wandered into the mines. He got lost, fell down a deep natural shaft, and ended up deeper in the mountain than anyone had ever been. The villagers searched the mountains and mines for weeks but never found any sign of the boy.
Twenty years later, a man appeared in the mine with no memory of how he'd gotten there. He was utterly blind but otherwise healthy and he swore he was the little boy who'd gotten lost all those years ago.
He told a fantastical story: A group of Zokujin had found him and taken him in, caring for him as one of their own. No one had ever heard of Zokujin even talking to a human, let alone taking care of one, so the villagers doubted his story. When he started warning of a great beast trapped under the mountains, one which had recently awakened and would devour the miners if they kept venturing into the mines, they thought him crazy.
Over the next 2 months, however, a series of lethal collapses killed dozens of the miners. Fearful that the blind man was right, the villagers debated what to do until one morning the blind man took up a pickaxe and walked into the mine without a word.
He was never seen again, but the collapses stopped. Many believe he went to fight off whatever beast had been unleashed and some say that he still lives deep within the mountain, gifted with the supernatural longevity of the Zokujin.
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