This Tractor Is Hard to Drive

The snowman shook its body.

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

"What, there's an incomplete version?"

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

Soon.

A white light suddenly illuminated in front of itself, and then a door appeared.

[You can leave a beacon at your current location and travel to it at any time.]

[Given that you have not left any beacons before, the system has randomly left a set of initial beacons for you at Herta Space Station.]

"Meaning, I can use Thousand Worlds' Passage to return to Herta Space Station right now?"

The snowman, half-believing, opened the door.

At Herta Space Station.

The snowman emerged from a stall in the men's restroom, scratching its head as it looked at a staff member relieving himself nearby.

"Huh? You... you!"

The staff member who was relieving himself immediately trembled upon seeing a snowman, quickly zipped up his pants, and ran out.

Yan Huan: "..."

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

The cold wind howled.

The snowman stared at the door in front of it, very displeased.

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

[Replying to host, currently unable to...]

"Bang bang bang—!!"

[...]

Yan Huan shook off the snow from his body and frantically knocked on the edge of the door with the Black Abyss White Flower.

"There's something on this side, you just can't see it."

"Bang bang bang, bang bang bang—!!"

Yan Huan kept fumbling around. The outline seemed very large, but only this door was visible to him.

[Please host, cease your actions...]

"Bang bang bang—!!"

[...]

The continuous knocking actually caused some of the outlines on the door's edge to slowly take shape.

"See, I told you there was something."

Yan Huan climbed onto it directly, patting and rubbing everywhere.

Knocking here, hitting there.

"Bang bang— bang bang bang—!!"

[...]

Soon, a rusty outline finally appeared before Yan Huan.

It looked a bit like a scrapped train engine.

It seemed only that door could be barely used.

[The system can upgrade Thousand Worlds' Passage (Incomplete Version) to Thousand Worlds' Passage (Unstable Version).]

[Please host, cease current actions.]

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

"Then, then upgrade it."

[Thousand Worlds' Passage is changing form...]

"???"

Soon, this rusty train engine emitted a dazzling light again.

Its size seemed to have decreased.

After the white light.

The scrapped train engine had evolved into...

A tractor on the verge of being scrapped.

Yan Huan: "..."

"Tell me, where did the upgrade go?"

[Responding to host, it can be activated now.]

"..."

Yan Huan plopped himself down in the tractor's driver's seat, gripped the rusty control lever, and pressed the start button.

"Rumble... putter-putter-putter... bang... putter-putter-putter... bang... putter-putter-putter..."

A chaotic engine sound erupted, one after another.

The tractor lurched and began to move, spewing black smoke as it traveled through the icy, snowy landscape.

Yan Huan: "..."

"Putter-putter-putter... bang... putter-putter-putter... bang... putter-putter-putter..."

Yan Huan, at this moment, was like an old man driving a scrap tractor, sitting in the driver's seat contemplating life.

He was completely oblivious that something was moving in the snowdrift ahead.

The tractor jolted and bounced its way towards the snowdrift. A tuft of blue hair emerged from the drift.

Hearing the tractor's sound, a head popped out.

He stared at the colossal object in front of him, shocked:

"What, what, what... no, how can someone be driving a tractor on the snowfield!"

The man, named Sampo, quickly jumped out of the snowdrift and stared blankly 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, waving his hands, trying to get Yan Huan's attention.

"Hey, hey, hey, stop, stop, I..."

"Bang—!!"

The tractor ran directly over Sampo's body.

Sampo: "..."

"Huh, did I just hit something?" Yan Huan scratched his head, still fiddling with the various buttons in the driver's seat.

"Oh, this is reverse, right."

Just as Sampo managed to crawl out, a huge black shadow enveloped him again. He mumbled, "Huh?"

"Bang—!!"

A loud bang came from the rear of the tractor again.

Yan Huan looked back at the tail of the vehicle. "What was that noise?"

The tractor slowly reversed, and a "crunch-crunch!!" sound came from underneath the vehicle.

It seemed like something had broken.

After the tractor drove away, Sampo crawled up again.

He quickly held his arm and incredulously popped his own joints back into place. "Crunch, crunch."

"Why does a nearly scrap tractor have this kind of durability?"

But just then, a familiar shadow enveloped him again.

Sampo, with quick reflexes, bolted like greased lightning and, after running far away, still felt a lingering fear.

He looked back and suddenly saw the tractor coming again, with a huge white circle in front of him.

"This white circle... is it a spacetime warp gate? No way?" Sampo stared at the white circle in shock.

While he was dazed, the rumbling sound of the tractor approached again.

Sampo quickly ran forward, waving his hands:

"Hey, hey, wait a minute, wait a minute, buddy!"

"Bang—!!"

Sampo: "..."

The tractor ran over him again.

But this time, Yan Huan saw Sampo.

He sat in the driver's seat, his eyes wide. "Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, I hit someone, I'm doomed!"

He was somewhat at a loss. Just as he was about to get out of the tractor to check the situation, the entire vehicle had already driven into the white circle.

The cold wind howled.

"Rumble... putter-putter-putter... rumble rumble... putter-putter... bang..."

After passing through the white circle, the tractor continued to drive through the snowfield.

But the accumulated snow around them seemed to have thinned considerably.

"Bang—!!"

The tractor seemed to have hit something again.

This time, Yan Huan directly gripped the Black Abyss White Flower and got out of the car to check.

He found that he had hit a box.

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

Just as he was about to leave, the Black Abyss White Flower in his hand emitted a faint glow, and a healing light slowly entered the wooden box.

"Huh?"

Noticing something unusual, Yan Huan walked over to the box and opened it.

Inside lay a dazed-looking girl.

"Who... who are you?" the girl asked timidly, blinking her eyes after seeing Yan Huan.

"And who are you? Did you climb into a wooden box to stage an accident? I'm driving this little tractor, I don't look like someone with money," Yan Huan frowned.

The girl shook her head, looking wronged.

"I, I'm not trying to stage an accident... I, I also forgot what I was doing here. I don't seem to 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 clenched her hands, her pretty face flushed, and said shyly, "My name, I still remember it."

She raised her head, her features delicate and clear.

"My name is... Herta."