The Train-May This Journey Reach The Stars (Wrong Set, Seriously)

Dead End Hollow, near the Old Capital Fall Zone, Canvas Harbor District.

The abandoned subway tracks lay twisted through the dead silence like the bones of a giant serpent.

More rusted trains stood scattered about. Some had toppled beside the tracks, while others had embedded themselves entirely into the tunnel walls, their cars covered in dark-purple Ether Crystals.

"Proxy... this isn't right, is it?!"

Nekomata walked behind them, staring so hard at the small figure ahead that her eyes nearly popped out.

Back outside the Hollow, Nekomata had even carried Griseo to save time. But the moment they entered the Hollow, the balance of power had completely shifted.

Nekomata watched as Griseo pulled out that paintbrush from her arms and gave it a light wave.

From some unknown dimensional rift, a tall figure appeared out of thin air—silver-gray armor, silent footsteps, and a knight's greatsword longer than Nekomata herself.

There was no need to say it: this was the guardian of the Princess of [The Stars]—Mr. Knight.

At that moment, Griseo sat on Mr. Knight's shoulder, her little feet gently swinging in the air. She held Eous in her arms, her face as peaceful as ever.

They were strutting through the Hollow so openly, and even found time to impersonate Public Security Department officers to rescue a little maid.

Her name was Corin, apparently. The sight made Nekomata's tail stand straight up.

Weren't they Hollow Raiders? Illegal Proxies?

Since when had they become official personnel, and so practiced at it too... Though that could be explained. The main issue was that Ethereals were dangerous!

Dead End Hollow was called Dead End Hollow because it contained a Level-four Ethereal known as the Dead End Butcher.

The Dead End Butcher was something even Vision Corporation refused to hunt!

Hollow Raiders like them naturally had to be as careful as possible. If they ran into it... it would be a dead end!

"Um, Griseo, you know about the Dead End Butcher, right?" Nekomata jogged after her and lowered her voice.

"Mm, I know." Griseo's soft, sweet voice drifted down from Mr. Knight's shoulder.

Nekomata said, "Then why are you still—"

Griseo said, "It's okay. If we meet it, we can just tell it to go away."

Nekomata said, "???"

Tell it to go away?

Just tell it to go away?!

That was a Level-four Ethereal! Not some stray cat or dog by the roadside!

But Nekomata soon shut up, because she felt as though she had seen a Dayun vehicle—Griseo plus Mr. Knight.

Wise controlled Eous to point out the route, while Griseo commanded Mr. Knight to charge ahead, one Ethereal with every swing of his sword.

When they encountered Level-two or Level-three Ethereals, if one slash didn't kill them, he simply delivered another.

Whenever they encountered a large pack of Ethereals, Griseo waved her brush and summoned huge amounts of paint, then shouted something like, "They can all be blown up!"

And so, Nekomata silently followed behind them, feeling sorry for all her earlier worries.

A few minutes later, deep within the tunnel.

[Master, the train is about to pass the optimal execution point. Please prepare.]

Fairy's electronic voice rang out. At the end of the tunnel, a blinding beam of light tore through the darkness—the train was coming.

"Move!"

Nekomata took the lead, clutching Eous as she rushed toward the side of the train. According to the plan, she needed to infiltrate it once it stopped and alter its route.

Meanwhile, Griseo lightly leaped down from Mr. Knight's shoulder. Her little feet landed steadily on the gravel.

She raised her head and looked at the approaching steel behemoth. The headlights illuminated her sky-blue hair, casting a warm halo across her face.

Then she raised her hand—

Here, the Little Painter used both hands to paint the world. Together with the knight's blade, she painted a chapter of [The Stars].

In an instant, the previously drifting Ether Energy was drawn in from all directions, gathering, condensing, and swirling around her.

Griseo lightly tapped her brush.

Clusters of Ether Energy flew one after another toward the greatsword in Mr. Knight's hand.

Mr. Knight moved. He stepped forward and raised his sword—BOOM!!!

The longsword plunged deep into the rails. Gravel flew everywhere, and sparks burst forth.

Those ink-wash-like clusters of Ether light surged forward and pounced on the train.

Explosions rang out one after another—the train's steel wheels immediately erupted in sparks.

Griseo manipulated the Ether Energy, instantly increasing the wheels' friction. The train visibly began to slow.

Until, with a long screech, the train slowly came to a stop less than ten meters away from Griseo.

On the other side, Nekomata sprinted and leaped, tossing Eous onto the top of the train as she shouted, "Proxy, I'll leave the rest to you!"

With a duang, Eous landed on her butt!

"Mmna! Mmna!"

[Easy, Master! Your butt hit the roof hard.]

"Fairy, don't make snarky comments at a time like this..." Wise said to Fairy in front of the HDD. "And that was Eous's butt."

[According to calculations, the roof vent on this train is so small that even Nekomata could not squeeze through it. She would practically need to be liquid.]

[But for you, it will be as easy as a ninja cutting a watermelon. You are truly the king of the world.]

[Now then, King of the World, please proceed to the driver's cabin and complete your coronation!]

"Got it!!" Wise helplessly ended his conversation with Fairy.

After tremendous effort, Wise finally succeeded in infiltrating the train car through Eous.

However, what greeted him was not a throne for his coronation—but a row of pitch-black gun barrels.

Inside the train car, more than a dozen fully armed Public Security officers all turned at once, aiming their guns at the Bangboo that had suddenly appeared.

"Damn it, first an inexplicable emergency stop, and now some weird Bangboo shows up?" The lead officer rubbed his forehead, then walked forward irritably and picked Eous up.

"Mmna? Mmna??"

"Huh?" The Public Security captain raised an eyebrow. "Spaghetti mixed with reinforced concrete? Sweet tofu pudding tastes good? Fish mint root is the soul of mixed seasoning?"

He actually started translating seriously!!!

"Mmna mmna??" (You can understand me?)

The captain grinned smugly. "Of course. How else would I be captain? When you're out and about, there's never any harm in learning another skill—"

Halfway through, he suddenly came to his senses. This was an intruder.

"It's an intruder! Take them all out!!"

"You're finished, I'm telling you!"

Before his words had even faded, every officer raised their gun at once—then, at that critical moment, the train window exploded!

A black shadow crashed through the window and delivered a vicious flying kick straight into the Public Security captain's face, sending him flying.

Nekomata landed in a roll, then seized Eous and threw herself to the floor.

"Meow—!!!"

Gunfire erupted, bullets whistling over their heads.

But the next second, everyone froze, because a terrifying pressure, almost tangible, enveloped the entire train car.

"Hahaha, hahahahahahaha—!!"

Suddenly, wild laughter echoed through the cramped space, making everyone's eardrums tremble.

A masked phantom tore the train car apart with his bare hands, then stepped inside. Vast Ether Energy surged around him like blazing flames.

His voice sounded like a roar from the depths of hell.

"What a disgusting presence. Another group that delights in greed, hypocrisy, and killing the innocent! Cheer for it! Celebrate it!!"

"Ants! Scum! Await my ever-burning flames, which will strip you of your lives and strip you of your right to be human!!"

"I will make you swallow even deeper fear!!!"

I opened the backend today... and all I could say was, holy crap.

No, am I really writing that badly?

If you gave me a bad review at around 100,000 words, saying my logic made no sense, my setting was a mess, and my writing was garbage... I'd accept it.

But it hasn't even reached 30,000 words. I've only written the opening, and you already gave me one?

And you even specifically tagged me... Bro, don't be this outrageous.