Just as Chen was staring intently at Asta’s gloves, mentally simulating various scenarios for “accidental” contact, a commotion erupted at the entrance of the Master Control Zone.
He instinctively looked up, his eyes catching the sight of Arlan leading several people inside at a brisk pace.
The moment he saw them, Chen’s eyes widened, and all his previous calculations regarding Asta were unceremoniously shoved to the back of his mind.
Leading the group was the very same Arlan who had just been the cause of his social demise.
She was walking quickly, briefing Asta on the situation as they moved.
But it was the three people trailing behind her that made Chen’s heart skip a beat.
His gaze was immediately and irrevocably locked onto a figure of pink and blue.
His pulse leaped.
‘Wait!
Is that… March 7th?!’
That signature gradient hair, that exquisitely cute face, those eyes as blue as a sea of stars… even the blue and white uniform was an exact match for the March 7th from his memories!
In this bizarre, inverted world, was it possible that one person had remained normal, unchanged?
An inexplicable wave of familiarity and excitement washed over him, the kind of feeling one gets when stumbling upon a fellow countryman in a foreign land.
He was almost moved to tears.
This was incredible!
Finally, someone familiar!
Following closely behind March was a tall young woman with a chillingly cold temperament.
She was dressed in dark robes that blended traditional and modern aesthetics, her ink-black hair tied into a neat, low ponytail.
A few stray strands framed a face of peerless beauty, accentuating her snow-white skin.
Her cyan eyes, however, were calm and indifferent, carrying a frosty detachment that kept the world at arm’s length.
Floating quietly beside her was the familiar Cloud-Piercer spear.
‘Dan Heng!
It really is the girl version!’
The quiet, taciturn young man from the game had been transformed into a glacial beauty, her aloofness only serving to enhance her stunning features.
And the one walking at the very rear of the group made Chen freeze for a moment.
It was a girl with gray hair just long enough to brush her shoulders, her eyes holding the dazed, unfocused look of someone who had just been woken from a deep sleep.
‘Stelle?
She didn’t change either?’
Seeing them, Asta visibly relaxed, stepping forward to greet the newcomers.
“March, Dan Heng, and… this young lady?
It’s wonderful to see you’re all alright.
What’s the situation now?”
March 7th scratched his fluffy, pink-and-white hair and flashed a sunny smile.
“Don’t you worry, Station Master!
With me—ahem, with Sister Dan Heng and me here, plus our new friend Qiong, all the Voidrangers along the way have been cleared out!”
Dan Heng merely offered a slight nod, her cool gaze sweeping across the room, but she remained silent.
The gray-haired girl called Qiong gave a somewhat stiff nod in turn, her eyes curiously taking in everything around her.
Chen hid himself in a corner of the designated safe zone, watching the gender-swapped Astral Express trio.
It felt like a thousand tiny claws were scratching at the inside of his chest.
‘March 7th!
Dan Heng (Girl Version)!
Qiong (Girl version of Caelus)!’They were all new icons, waiting to be lit up.
And they were right here, standing right in front of him!’So it really is Qiong… my poor Brother Caelus couldn’t escape the fate of being gender-swapped after all!’
But her physical features were a perfect match for the female protagonist, Stelle, from the game.
In this gender-swapped world, had Caelus just become Stelle?
Or was he simply using Stelle’s appearance? Find the original chapter at g.com.
Chen couldn’t help but complain internally.
‘Good grief, Caelus turned into Stelle.
But calling her Qiong feels so weird.
It would be so much simpler to just call her Stelle!’His gaze flickered back and forth between the cheerful and sunny March 7th, the cold and ethereal Dan Heng, and the dazed-yet-handsome Qiong.
The gears in his brain began to spin furiously once more.’How do I touch them?
How can I touch them naturally?”Pretend to welcome the new comrades and go up for a handshake?
A bit too obvious, maybe?”Take advantage of the chaos?
Wait for Qiong to curiously touch something and cause a minor incident, then swoop in to “help” and make contact in the process?”Or… wait until they come over here to rest?’
He watched as Asta seemed to be arranging for them to do just that—to rest in the safe zone while awaiting further instructions.
Chen’s heart began to pound against his ribs.
The opportunity was coming!
He took a deep, steadying breath, adjusted his sitting posture, and prepared himself to manufacture a “natural” contact opportunity at a moment’s notice.
‘Damn it,’he thought, steeling his resolve.’For the sake of character collecting—no, for the sake of surviving in this dangerous, gender-swapped world, I’ll give it my all!’
Seeing Asta gesture for March 7th and the others to come rest in the safe zone, Chen knew it was now or never.
He sucked in a breath and instantly plastered an expression of pure, unadulterated admiration onto his face.
He shot up from his seat in the corner and rushed to intercept the trio as they walked over.
Before any of them could react, Chen had already extended both hands, his movements so fast they almost left afterimages.
A look of incomparable sincerity and excitement shone from his face as he reached out, his target being the hands that looked so very soft.
“Hello, hello!
You must be the famous Miss March 7th!
I’ve been an admirer for so long!
It’s an honor to finally meet…”
His voice was thick with the emotion of someone finally finding their people, and he instinctively moved to shake her hand.
However, after his outstretched hand was taken, a crisp, clear voice let out a sound of confusion.
“Huh?”
Chen froze.
He looked up, meeting a pair of eyes that were still a deep, beautiful blue, but were now filled with a look that clearly said, ‘What kind of weirdo thing are you saying?’
“March 7th” blinked, and that exquisite face, identical in every way to the female version in his memories, broke into a sunny and somewhat mischievous smile.
He corrected Chen in a bright, clear tone.
“I am March 7th, that’s right!
But I’m not a ‘Miss’—”
He deliberately dragged out the last word, his smile widening with a hint of pride, like a prankster who knew their joke had landed perfectly.
“I’m a guy!
Just call me March!”
A… a guy?!
Chen was completely stunned, frozen on the spot, forgetting to even pull back his hand.
His head was buzzing, his thoughts wiped clean, leaving only a single line of text scrolling through his mind on an infinite loop.
‘The appearance is exactly the same, but he’s actually a guy?!
Are you even listening to yourself?!!'[Ding!
Contact successful!
Character:’March 7th (4-Star • Ice • Preservation)’ icon activated!]
March 7th (Male version, appearance of a girl) seemed to find Chen’s dumbfounded expression incredibly amusing.
He was kind enough not to immediately withdraw his hand; instead, he gave it another firm shake before speaking again with a grin.
You don’t need to shake my hand for this long, right?”
Chen snapped back to his senses instantly.
“I, I… Chen, my name is Chen!” he stammered, his voice a bit incoherent.
He had completely forgotten all the scripts he’d prepared.
His mind was just a frantic echo of ‘a guy, a guy, a guy…’
“Oh, Chen, hello!” March greeted him readily, his smile still bright and utterly harmless.
He seemed completely oblivious to the devastating mental blow he had just dealt.
Beside them, the female Dan Heng, who had witnessed the entire exchange, shook her head almost imperceptibly.
The Trailblazer, Qiong, remained dazed, her eyes shifting from March to the shell-shocked Chen.
Chen forcibly suppressed the herd of screaming alpacas stampeding through his mind and fought to piece his collapsing worldview back together.
He knew this wasn’t the time to start shouting ‘What the hell?!’
There were still two more icons to light up!
He steeled himself, ignored the still-smiling March, and turned to Dan Heng.
His movements were stiff and hurried, a clear sign of his mental agitation.
“H-hello!
Miss Dan Heng!”
[Ding!
Contact successful!
Character: ‘Dan Heng (4-Star • Wind • The Hunt)’ icon activated!]
After a brief handshake, Chen immediately snatched his hand back, as if Dan Heng’s was covered in thorns.
Finally, he turned almost clumsily toward Qiong, his voice still a bit shaky.
“H-hello!
Miss… Qiong?”
This time, he’d learned his lesson, adding an uncertain suffix as he quickly and lightly brushed his fingers against her wrist.
The Trailblazer nodded honestly.
“Mm, hello.
I’m Qiong.”
[Ding!
Contact successful!
Character: ‘Stelle/Caelus (5-Star • Physical • Destruction)’ icon activated!]
The icons were lit, but Chen felt not a single shred of joy.
He just stood there, feeling as though a part of his soul had drifted away with the soul-crushing realization that ‘March 7th is a guy.’
March leaned in closer, his pink and blue hair almost brushing against Chen’s chin.
His overly beautiful face was a picture of pure curiosity.
“Chen, why did you call me ‘Miss’ just now?
Do I look that much like a girl?”
Chen: “…”
‘You look exactly like a girl, alright?!’he screamed internally.’No, you are one!
Ah, that’s not right either…’ He felt like his CPU had just fried.
Damn it.
In this hellish, topsy-turvy world, even his last bastion of hope was a freaking trap.
Tears streamed down Chen’s face in his heart as he began to harbor deep doubts about the road ahead.
Just how many more of these mental blows would he have to endure on his quest to light up all the icons?
[Elysian’s Note:
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