This Tractor Was Hard to Drive

The snowman shook himself.

Holding a black-and-white lance, he was suddenly at a loss.

"What? There's an incomplete version too?"

The snowman tried to summon the Key of the Gods—Thousand Worlds' Passage—in his mind.

Very soon,

a burst of white light suddenly appeared before him, followed by a door.

You may leave beacons at places you stay and travel to those beacons at any time.

Since you have not previously left any beacons, the system has randomly placed a set of initial beacons for you at Herta Space Station.

"So that means I can use Thousand Worlds' Passage to return directly to Herta Space Station now?"

Half-convinced, the snowman opened the door.

At Herta Space Station,

the snowman walked out of a stall in the men's restroom, scratching his head as he looked at the researcher relieving himself nearby.

"Huh? You... you!"

The researcher who was doing his business suddenly saw a snowman, shuddered several times, quickly zipped up his pants, and ran out.

Yan Huan: "..."

Then, the snowman silently retreated back into the icy wilderness.

The cold wind howled.

The snowman stared at the door in front of him, deeply dissatisfied.

"So how do I make Thousand Worlds' Passage complete? It can't just be a door, can it?"

Replying to host, this is currently impossible...

Bang! Bang! Bang—!! ... Yan Huan shook the snow off his body and crazily hammered at the edge of the door with Black Abyss White Flower.

"Isn't there something around the edges? We just can't see it."

Bang! Bang! Bang, bang! Bang! Bang—!! ... Yan Huan kept feeling around. The outline seemed enormous, but only the door itself was visible to him.

Please stop your current behavior, host...

Bang! Bang! Bang—!! ... The repeated blows actually caused parts of the outline around the door to slowly appear.

"See? I told you there was something there."

Yan Huan climbed right onto it, feeling and rubbing around everywhere.

Knocking here, hitting there.

Bang! Bang—bang! Bang! Bang—!! ...

Soon, a rusty outline finally appeared before Yan Huan.

It looked somewhat like a scrapped locomotive.

It seemed that only the door could barely still be used.

The system may upgrade Thousand Worlds' Passage (Incomplete Version) to Thousand Worlds' Passage (Unstable Version).

Please stop your current behavior, host.

"Huh?" Yan Huan was dumbfounded. "It can be upgraded?"

"Then... then upgrade it."

Thousand Worlds' Passage is changing forms...

"???"

Very soon, the rusty locomotive emitted another blinding light.

Its size seemed to have shrunk somewhat.

After the white light faded,

the scrapped locomotive had evolved into...

a tractor on the verge of being scrapped.

Yan Huan: "..."

"Tell me, what exactly got upgraded?"

Replying to host, it can now be driven.

"..."

Yan Huan plopped down into the tractor's driver's seat, gripped the rust-covered control lever, and pressed the ignition button.

"Rumble rumble... putt-putt-putt-putt... bang... putt-putt-putt-putt... bang... putt-putt-putt-putt..."

A burst of chaotic engine noise rose and fell.

The tractor lurched into motion, belching black smoke as it drove through the icy wilderness.

Yan Huan: "..."

"Putt-putt-putt-putt... bang... putt-putt-putt-putt... bang... putt-putt-putt-putt..."

Yan Huan now looked like an old man driving a junk tractor, sitting in the driver's seat and contemplating life.

He completely failed to notice that something was moving in the snowbank ahead.

The tractor jolted toward the snowbank, while a tuft of blue hair poked out from within it.

Hearing the tractor, a head emerged.

He stared at the huge thing ahead of him and exclaimed in shock,

"Th-this-this... no, why is someone driving a tractor across a snowfield?!"

The man named Sampo quickly jumped out of the snowbank and blankly stared at the old man in the driver's seat.

"This old man... no, that person... right, it's him, it's him! It's him!"

Sampo happily stood in front of the tractor and waved, trying to catch Yan Huan's attention.

"Hey, hey, stop! Stop! I—"

Bang—!!

Sampo: "..."

The tractor ran straight over Old Sampo's body.

"Hmm, did I hit something just now?" Yan Huan scratched his head, still studying the various buttons in the driver's seat.

"Oh, this is reverse, right?"

Just as Sampo finally managed to crawl out, a huge shadow enveloped him again. He dazedly said, "Huh?"

Bang—!!

Another loud crash came from behind the tractor.

Yan Huan turned around and looked at the rear of the vehicle. "What was that noise?"

The tractor slowly backed up, and halfway through, a "Crack—crack!!" sound came from underneath it.

Something seemed to have snapped.

After the tractor drove away, Old Sampo climbed back up again.

He hurriedly clutched his arm, incredulously cracking it back into place.

"Why is a tractor that's about to be scrapped built this well?"

But just then, a familiar shadow enveloped him again.

Old Sampo reacted quickly and bolted away like his feet had been greased. Even after running far away, he still felt lingering fear.

He looked back and suddenly discovered that the tractor was coming again. There was also a huge white ring in front of him.

"This white ring... it's a spacetime warp gate. No way, right?" Sampo stared at the white ring in shock.

While he was still dazed, the tractor's rumbling drew near once more.

Sampo hurriedly ran in front of it and waved both hands.

"Hey, hey, wait! Wait, brother!"

Bang—!!

Sampo: "..."

The tractor ran over him again.

But this time, Yan Huan saw Sampo.

Sitting in the driver's seat, his eyes widened. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! I hit someone! I'm screwed!"

He was actually at a loss. Just as he wanted to get off the tractor and check on him, the entire vehicle had already driven into the white ring.

The cold wind howled.

"Rumble rumble... putt-putt-putt-putt... rumble rumble rumble... putt-putt-putt... bang..."

After passing through the white ring, the tractor was still driving across a snowfield.

But the snow around it seemed much thinner.

Bang—!!

The tractor seemed to have hit something again.

This time, Yan Huan directly got out while holding Black Abyss White Flower to investigate.

He discovered that he had hit a box.

"Oh, it's just a box. I thought it was something else."

Just as he was about to leave, Black Abyss White Flower in his hand gave off specks of light, and a healing glow slowly seeped into the wooden box.

"Hm?"

Noticing something strange, Yan Huan walked over and opened the box.

Inside lay a girl with a blank, adorable expression.

"Y-you... who are you?" The girl blinked at Yan Huan and asked nervously.

"And who are you? Hiding in a wooden box to scam me after getting hit?" Yan Huan frowned. "I'm driving this little tractor. Does it look like I've got money?"

The girl shook her head and said aggrievedly,

"I-I'm not trying to scam you... I also... I also forgot what I was doing here. It feels like I can't remember anything."

Yan Huan was suspicious, but he still pulled the girl out of the box and asked,

"You even forgot your own name?"

The girl clasped her hands together, her pretty face flushed red as she said shyly,

"I still remember my name."

She raised her head, her features delicate and refined.

"My name is... Herta."