Hey there! I’m Aki. So, I’m a corporeal maiden born, oh, about 251 years ago. Oops, my age is supposed to be a secret! But hey, once you’ve lived as long as I have, you’ll figure out that age is just a number anyway.
There are two main reasons I decided to write this guide. First, I’ve really felt firsthand that the world ahead is becoming far more complex than we can imagine, especially for curious and quirky junior maidens like yourselves. As you know, we learn, know, and experience so much, but putting it all down clearly in writing is a whole other challenge. So, I wanted to explicitly lay out our abilities and way of life to help you gain a broader perspective and deeper understanding. Knowledge is power, right?
Second, you’ve probably noticed how fast times are changing. Nowadays, books aren’t just paper ones you flip through by hand; they’re coming out as e-books, too! (Honestly, it still amazes me!) I’m also curious about the possibilities new publishing media might hold, and I wanted to experiment with using it to share our unique maiden knowledge. Of course, the content in this guide won’t be a perfect answer to every question. We all need to keep learning and growing, after all.
This booklet will hopefully help you understand the various situations you’ll face as a maiden a little more easily. I’ve lightly covered topics like how we become maidens, how our transformation ability works and what its limits are, what life is like inside and outside the shrine, and what role we should play in this rapidly changing world.
So, I hope this book brings a little light to your life as a maiden![A:1]
If you’re reading this guide, you’ve probably received a special calling from the Divine. Unless something else happened, of course. For ordinary humans like we were to be drawn into this shrine, it’s all part of the Divine’s will.
Our formal name is “the Corporeal Maiden.” This might sound a bit unfamiliar. That’s because we’re not the only ones in the world. Far away in other shrines, there are Temporal Maidens who weave the threads of the future and past, and there’s also the Luminous Maiden, who allows all of us to read each other’s minds and communicate. I recently learned for sure through Mai that the Luminous Maiden is a single, unified being. It feels like she literally encompasses all the light in the world.
The reason we’re called Corporeal Maidens is simple: we can manipulate matter in ways people can’t even imagine, and we can even form our bodies from that matter. You could say we have the ability to literally “embody” matter. If you want, you can transform into a tiny leaf or even a huge car. Of course, your comprehension and belief play a big part in that process.
Thanks to this special ability, we’ve become immortal beings. We don’t age, we don’t die, and we can live perfectly fine without eating or sleeping. Sometimes I wonder if we’re truly alive. But despite all that, we were originally human, right? So if we want to, we still eat delicious food and sleep in cozy beds. It helps us maintain our humanity, too.
But here’s the important part: these abilities weren’t given to us just to use and enjoy as we please. Never forget that all of this was granted to us by the Divine to maintain the balance of this world. That’s our very reason for existing.[A:2]
Alright, it’s time to dive into our most important ability as maidens: transformation. You really, really need to get this right.
Within the shrine’s boundary, we can freely transform into anything we want, whether it’s living or inanimate. And changing back to our original form is just as easy. But once you go outside the boundary, it’s a different story. Out there, it’s impossible to transform or change back. If you need to operate in the outside world, you should assume you’ll have to leave in an already transformed state.
And this is important: outside the shrine’s boundary, we become completely naked. What do I mean? Simply put, our clothes and accessories don’t transform with our bodies or come along with us. So, the usual method is for maidens to go out in pairs, where one transforms into the other’s clothes to cover her up. You’ll probably learn this clothing transformation first when you start practicing.
Our five senses remain the same after transformation. For senses like sight and hearing, if you’ve transformed into something that covers a body, like clothes, they’ll be reproduced in a way the person wearing them would experience. For example, if you become a shoe, you’ll feel the vibrations and see the world from a shoe’s perspective. If you transform your entire body into something else, you’ll have a completely new experience, like perceiving the scenery with your whole being. It might feel a bit weird at first, but you’ll get used to it quickly, so don’t worry. If you’ve played any of those popular first-person action games, you’ll probably adapt easily.
The most crucial aspect of transformation is fidelity. Fidelity refers to how accurately and essentially perfectly the object you’ve transformed into is realized. Several factors are important for fidelity, but there are three main ones. First is the size difference between your original body and the object you want to become. If you’re tall and try to turn into something tiny, your fidelity might drop. Second is how well you understand the object you’re transforming into (comprehension). And third is your physical condition. If you try to transform when you’re feeling stiff or tired, your fidelity can drop significantly, so be careful!
Of these, comprehension is by far the most important. When you’re just mimicking a static object, like a stone or a wallet, simply remembering its appearance is usually enough for decent fidelity. But it’s a different story if you’re transforming into a complex, moving object like a car. You have to go beyond just its appearance; you need a detailed understanding of its engine, how all the parts are organically connected, and you must perceive those parts as if they were your own body. Only then can you go outside and pass as a proper car without getting caught. (If you’re curious, go find Lua. She’s a master of car transformation!) If you force a transformation into a car with low comprehension, it might move, but it will look bizarre to anyone, like it’s being dragged along with its wheels locked up. Ultimately, the more you know about your target, and the deeper your knowledge, the more faithful and perfect your transformation will be. So, let’s all study hard![A:3]
Let me tell you a little more about the transformation ability. When we transform into something sufficiently large, we can create an avatar near it. Of course, that avatar can’t be larger than the object you’ve become, but when you make one, you’ll primarily experience the world through the avatar’s senses. That’s not to say you lose all sensation in your original transformed body, so it can be very useful in various situations.
Maybe some of you junior maidens are scared about what happens if you get hurt while transformed. Well, to be honest, it’ll really hurt. For example, if you transform into a glass bead and get shattered, the pain is surprisingly intense. But don’t panic. As long as you can get most of those shattered pieces back inside the shrine’s boundary, you can return to your human form completely, with no marks or injuries. If a terrible situation like that ever happens, the key is to hold on tight, keep recalling what your pieces look like, and constantly remind yourself that all of those pieces are ‘you’ right now. Remember how I said your comprehension and high-fidelity perception are important? The same principle applies here. If you can perceive your own shattered state as ‘one complete self,’ you can return to being whole again from that state.
We can only transform into objects that could physically exist. This is an important limitation. For example, a car that rolls on its own without any energy source can’t exist in reality, right? We can’t become something like that either. In other words, if you transform into a car, you’ll continuously need fuel. Usually, we can substitute that fuel by eating. If you run out of fuel while transformed, you’ll probably be forced back into your human form, which would put you in a real bind, so it’s best to eat regularly! Honestly, there haven’t been many cases of us operating as complex, moving objects like this. So, we’ll need more experimentation and experience in the future. If you discover anything interesting during your activities, please be sure to let me know!
One last piece of advice: for emergencies, it’s a good idea to have a way to move yourself at least a little, even if you’re an inanimate object. For instance, if you become a ball, it would be much more useful to have a counterweight inside that lets you control the direction you roll. Without that kind of preparation, you’d have no choice but to hope other maidens find and help you. Pretty scary thought, isn’t it? There’s no harm in preparing in advance, so be sure to keep that in mind.[A:4]
If you’ve entered the shrine, you’ve probably met her. There’s a maiden who is truly beautiful, and whose words and actions carry a wisdom that feels ancient—that’s the Great Maiden. To be precise, the Great Maiden we see is her avatar; in reality, the Great Maiden is the shrine building itself. She’s the very first maiden of this shrine and the one who has lived the longest, so if you have a question that other maidens don’t know the answer to, don’t hesitate to ask her. You’ll surely find your answer.
Let me tell you more about the maiden attire you’re wearing. This attire is like a part of your body that only exists within the boundary. You can slip it off easily, like shedding skin, and if you leave it off, it will fade away after a moment. If you want to wear it again, just wish for it strongly in your mind, and it will reappear on your body. As I mentioned briefly, this attire disappears outside the boundary, so if you need to go out, make sure to take it off and change into clothes from the human world while you’re still inside.
As I said before, we have bodies that don’t need food or sleep. We don’t age or die, after all. Still, maintaining regular meals and sleep, just like when you were human, is very good for your mental health. A regular routine helps calm the mind, as you probably know from before you became a maiden. The dining hall and bedrooms are right next to the main hall, so feel free to use them.
We maidens can communicate telepathically, all thanks to the Luminous Maiden. Telepathy always works, no matter where you are—even in an urgent situation where you have no idea where you are—so don’t worry, just let us know what’s happening. But there’s one thing to be careful about: if you send telepathy to too many people at once, you can easily get a headache. So, getting to know which maidens are good at solving certain problems will be a huge help in an emergency.[A:5]
While we are spiritual beings, we also exist as part of this physical world. Therefore, it’s crucial to respect the laws of the outside world. As long as it doesn’t threaten the foundation of our shrine’s existence, we must not recklessly challenge the world’s order. For example, the land this shrine sits on has been legally passed down through generations to a maiden who is wise yet young enough by outside standards. As of my writing this, Lua is in that role. Someday, one of you reading this might take on that role, too.
You’ve probably all received your new maiden names by now. While it’s natural to use your maiden name within the shrine, there will inevitably be times outside when you have to use the name from your human life. This might feel awkward or uncomfortable, but it’s unavoidable, so we ask for your understanding. If it’s too difficult or troubling, please talk to the other maidens in advance. We’ll help you find a solution together.
We are the ones who maintain the world’s balance, right? So, it’s extremely important to keep up with how the world is turning. Especially these days, the tools of modern civilization like televisions, computers, and mobile phones are essential for understanding the world. When you need things like that, come to me (Aki), and I’ll transform to help you out. But don’t use me too much. Unfortunately, I only have one body.
When you go out into the world, you must be extremely careful not to let our secret get out. In truth, it probably wouldn’t be a huge personal problem for us even if our existence were revealed. The problem is that the world would be turned upside down. If it became known that our abilities are verifiable superpowers, religious beliefs could be shattered, leading to great chaos like wars, and dangerous people might appear wanting to misuse our powers. Never forget that we are beings who quietly adjust the world’s balance from behind the scenes. Always be careful, careful, and more careful. If you ever find yourself in an unavoidable situation, the best course of action is to first send a telepathic message to the Great Maiden and ask for her wisdom.[A:6]
What else am I forgetting? Oh! You must always be careful to prevent ordinary people, non-maidens, from entering the shrine’s boundary. If they do enter, their souls, unable to bear the shrine’s spiritual weight, will suffer extreme pain. We usually immobilize them to protect them and then send them back outside the boundary, but pain is still pain, so it’s best to prevent them from entering in the first place. There’s a mailbox right in front of the boundary, so communicating with the outside world through analog methods like letters is one option.
The task we have is truly a heavy one. It’s a job that might take an eternity. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun doing it, right? Don’t be too impatient or push yourself too hard. The world is always changing, and new things are constantly happening, so I hope you’ll sometimes tune into those changes and enjoy your life as a maiden for a long, long time. And who knows? When new maidens come to the shrine after you, you might get some unexpected, fresh inspiration from them!
Alright, I think that’s all the basic stuff I can tell you for now. I sincerely hope this “Maiden Life Guide” is of some help to you in your new life at the shrine. Whenever you have a question, don’t suffer in silence—come ask the other maidens or me. We’re all here to help each other and be together!
So, I wish you all the best in unfolding your life as a maiden!
From Aki.[A:7]