(Heartfelt thanks to Shao Feng Ye, Yume no Shouyou, and Lei Xiang for their rewards!)
Reimu Hakurei felt that today was absolutely the most nightmarish day of her entire life.
Normally, as Gensokyo's administrator and the guardian of the Great Hakurei Barrier, Reimu Hakurei lived a leisurely life as long as nothing major happened in Gensokyo.
Today had been no different.
Early that morning, after breakfast, Reimu Hakurei had picked up the broom in Hakurei Shrine and lazily swept around the shrine, passing the dull hours.
But less than ten minutes into her sweeping, the broom in Reimu Hakurei's hand suddenly snapped for no reason.
At first, Reimu Hakurei had not thought much of it. She assumed the shrine's broom had simply been used for too long and finally reached the end of its life. She fetched some tools from the storeroom, repaired the broom, and resumed sweeping the shrine.
However, after the broom in her hand broke again and again—more than ten times in total—and she repaired it more than ten times, Reimu Hakurei finally realized something was wrong.
No matter how old a broom was, it should not have broken that many times, right?...
As a shrine maiden, Reimu Hakurei ought to have had some faith.
Unfortunately, Reimu Hakurei herself did not believe in any god. Still, it was not hard to understand why, when faced with strange and unpleasant phenomena, her first thoughts turned to ghosts and spirits.
Thus, Reimu Hakurei wondered whether her broom breaking so many times might be some kind of ominous sign...
And when the broom in her hand finally broke for the eleventh time, Reimu Hakurei believed it.
Today... something unfortunate was definitely going to happen!
Just as that thought rose in Reimu Hakurei's heart, a crisp shattering sound echoed through the