“So…
where is the Astral Express?” The gray-haired girl looked up at the island floating high in the sky.
Her delicate face, naturally somewhat indifferent, was now visibly filled with confusion.
The grass beneath her feet felt real, and the gentle breeze brushing past her was enough to prove that this was no dream.
At her feet lay a very familiar baseball bat.
If she remembered correctly, it was a Curio from the collection of Madam Herta, the eighty-third member of the Genius Society.
Later, she had casually taken it for herself…
“Ah, right!” After staring at the island in the sky for quite a while, the girl suddenly seemed to remember something.
She quickly rummaged through her clothes and soon pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket.
The phone still worked normally, but there was no signal and no internet.
Logically, there should at least be a group chat for the Astral Express crew.
But after searching through the entire phone, she couldn’t find anything that would allow her to contact anyone.
She had no idea where she was, but judging from her surroundings, she guessed this world was far from being a modern, advanced one.
In other words, she might not even be able to charge her phone…
“Hm?” No, that might not be the case.
The gray-haired girl raised her phone and pointed it toward the sun.
With a soft chime, the phone’s critically low battery actually began to slowly increase.
“As expected.
As a Trailblazer who travels among the stars, how could something as trivial as battery life be a problem?” The girl nodded in satisfaction, a faint smile appearing on her face.
When she woke up, she already had a vague understanding of her situation.
She had most likely been brought here by Aha.
Who else but the Aeon of Joy would think of throwing someone into another world for their own amusement?
Of course, that was only her speculation.
She had no recollection of how she had arrived here.
Her mind was shrouded in a hazy fog, and no matter how hard she tried to remember, she could only grasp scattered fragments.
The Astral Express…
the Trailblazer…
Paths…
These things floated faintly in her mind, unclear and incomplete.
But her memory problems could wait.
The current situation was far more important.
Reality was completely different from the images in her mind, and none of the people she was familiar with were by her side.
The island floating in the sky at least proved that this world possessed some form of civilization.
But reaching it was completely impossible.
She had no means to do so.
Still, there should be civilization on the ground as well…
it was unlikely that everyone in this world lived on that island in the sky.
“Whatever.
One step at a time.” After putting her now partially charged phone back into her jacket pocket, the gray-haired girl casually picked up the baseball bat beside her.
It wasn’t that she was particularly optimistic.
It was just that panicking wouldn’t help in a situation like this.
Staying calm was the best choice.
After all, she was in an unfamiliar world, and overthinking the situation wouldn’t do her any good …
Stelle had no experience with wilderness survival, but if she had to say, the forest before her didn’t really count as “wilderness.” At the very least, there was some easily obtainable food.
“Farewell hit!” she shouted with a slightly chuunibyou flair, as her baseball bat smashed hard against the poor tree.
This heavy strike didn’t snap the tree in half, but it was enough to knock down the fruit hanging from its branches—and scare several birds into flying away.
Some might ask why characters in anime always shout out the names of their moves when attacking.
Twirling the bat in her hand, Stelle pondered this strange question.
“In fact, it’s like playing cards.
When people put down a card, they always announce what they’re playing.
Is that cringey?
No—it’s about momentum…” Of course, that had only been a question in her mind.
In reality, there was no one around expecting an answer.
The scene was a bit awkward, though no one was there to care except her.
“Sigh…
what am I even talking to myself for?” Stelle shook her head helplessly and bent down to pick up the fallen fruit one by one.
She had never seen this kind of fruit before, but it looked edible.
It seemed juicy enough to quench thirst.
Hopefully, it was ripe.
Without much hesitation, Stelle took a bite.
The texture was nice, and the taste was decent.
In simple terms, it was crisp and sweet—good for hydration, though not necessarily filling.
So her top priority was still to leave this forest and find somewhere inhabited.
But…
Stelle looked around again.
Aside from trees, there was nothing else in sight.
Which direction should she go?
Would it be better to climb a tree and take a look?
Stelle glanced up at the heavily battered tree in front of her, estimating the feasibility of climbing it.
“Let’s try it.
It’s better than wandering around blindly!” She quickly finished the fruit and made her decision.
With a casual toss, she threw her baseball bat aside.
The bat vanished into thin air.
Yet Stelle could still feel her connection to it.
If she wanted, she could summon it back at any time.
She didn’t understand how it worked, but she didn’t care much either.
Maybe it was just a special ability unique to the Trailblazer.
She only hoped that when she eventually encountered people in this world, they wouldn’t find it too strange.
“Heave—” With somewhat clumsy movements, the girl spent over ten minutes before finally climbing to a high point on the tree.
Standing on a thick branch, her field of vision immediately improved.
Though other trees still blocked parts of her view, she at least spotted something that gave her hope.
Not far away in what she decided to call the north—well, straight ahead in her line of sight—there was a path.
And it didn’t look like one formed by animals over time.
There were clearly signs of human activity.
For her, this was excellent news.
She quickly jumped down from the tree, grabbing two bird eggs from a nest on the trunk along the way.
These might come in handy later.
If she got hungry, they would be an important source of protein.
Her goal now was that path.
She didn’t know where it led, but following it would surely bring her to signs of habitation.
Time to set off!