This is a true story that actually happened to me. Back then, I was living a lazy, aimless life as a college student in Chiba, but after a friend gave me a ride on his moped, I became completely obsessed with motorcycles.

I saved up money from my part-time job and bought my own bike, and I had so much fun riding it around to all kinds of places every single day.

One late night, while hanging out at an arcade, a guy who looked about my age struck up a conversation with me, and we hit it off. He seemed like a really great guy, and we even made plans to hang out again. We agreed to get dinner, so on the night of our hangout, I met up with him at the restaurant. We were having a great conversation and I thought we were becoming good friends, but then he said something strange.

"Have you ever believed in God?" he asked. I honestly told him I didn't really believe in miracles and didn't think God existed, but he started sharing stories of miracles he had personally experienced and said, "There's an amazing place I want to take you to!" That was the moment I realized he was trying to recruit me into a cult. It was apparently a group called the XX Society, but more than anything, because I had let my guard down around him, I felt deeply betrayed and extremely angry.

I raised my voice and snapped, "You should get out of a fake cult like the XX Society! It's a total scam! Anyone who joins a group like that is out of their mind!" As soon as the words left my mouth, all emotion drained from his face, and I suddenly noticed several other patrons in the restaurant staring straight at us. I will never forget the sheer terror of that moment. Luckily, I wasn't carrying much baggage. I bolted out of the restaurant, and to my horror, several people started chasing after me! Realizing I was in serious danger, I sprinted through back alleys and hid in the shadows as I made my way toward the station. When I got there, I saw several people walking around as if searching for someone, making my heart pound out of my chest. In the end, I blew what little money I had left on a taxi to get back home.

What chilled me to the bone happened a few days later. While reading the local Chiba newspaper, I came across an article about a college student who had been kidnapped and assaulted after being targeted by that very same cult. Even now, whenever I recall the look in his eyes that night, I get deeply creeped out.