Near a tree, which was in the middle of many others, there was a young man with a delicate appearance, wearing a long-sleeved blouse and white pants.
His hair was short and black, and his eyes were closed.
But suddenly, the young man's eyelids trembled, and soon he woke up startled.
Blinking his ocean-blue pupils, he began to move his eyes around in their sockets, observing everything nearby.
Upon seeing where he was, he abruptly stood up.
"Where am I? What the hell is this place?" he asked, confused, not understanding how he got there.
As he questioned the reason, he suddenly felt his subconscious shake.
"Aaaaa!" he screamed, as something pounded his head with thunderous thuds.
It was painful. Lu Chu, trying to stop or neutralize it, put his hands on his head while lying on the ground, rolling from side to side.
'What's happening?' he wondered mentally, while continuing to roll across the dirt.
"Shit!" he gritted his teeth, completely enraged.
If hatred could kill, every being in that world would have been slaughtered in that moment, such was the bloodlust in Lu Chu.
After several minutes, the pain in his mind finally subsided.
But before he could enjoy the relief, Lu Chu lost consciousness and fell into a state of unconsciousness in reality.
***
After falling into a deep sleep, Lu Chu found himself in a place of infinite blackness, completely dark.
'Did I die?' That was his first thought, thinking the headache had killed him.
"I hate this! First I vanish from Earth out of nowhere, for reasons I can't even remembe— my memory is cloudy— and now I'm dying of a headache?"
He whispered, his voice full of frustration and doubt over how everything had come to this point.
With no idea where to begin, other than remembering he was in a museum a few days ago, everything after that was a blank.
'So frustrating!' he muttered, then focused forward, trying to see if he was truly dead and lost there forever.
At first glance, nothing new appeared. Then he looked up toward the sky.
At that moment, in front of his eyes, appeared a massive star map, filled with stars, but so faint that its glow barely reached Lu Chu.
He only noticed it because, though weak, it glowed blue around the edges. On the body of the map, there were only tiny dots.
"What is this? And why does it look so illusory?" he asked himself, already knowing no one would answer.
Or maybe... not.
Just then, the dots began to move and soon formed several runes.
He didn't understand the language. He had never studied it or seen it before.
But in that moment, mysteriously, he seemed to understand it. Without wasting time, he read the message:
[I am weak, master. I spent a lot of energy to bring you from your world. If you want me to be useful, offer me anything. I will transform it into drops.]
"Whaaat?" Lu Chu was stunned, not understanding anything — and barely had time to ask questions. He soon returned to reality.
Feeling the cold ground beneath him, he lifted his neck and sat up.
Then he placed a hand on his chin and began pondering his situation.
'That star map transported me? But why? What's the point of doing that? Museum? Did something happen there? Like a landslide? And just when I was about to die, my hero, who wears no cape, shows up as a map?'
"Pfff." At the last line, Lu Chu nearly laughed at the distorted proverb.
"Focus!" he slapped his cheeks and returned to what really mattered.
'Is it possible that actually happened? Or did I just fall and hit that map, and my blood dripped on it? After that, I activated this treasure and disappeared from Earth!'
That thought was more of an otaku one. He used to enjoy reading on Earth.
"Well, it doesn't matter what the truth is. Whatever. I'm in another world, that much I can't deny. My current goal should be to find out what kind of place this is."
Coming to that conclusion, he got up and began to look for something to test the map with.
After a while, he thought of the tree behind him.
"This'll do!" he murmured, and quickly jumped, leaving the ground. In the air, he extended his hand and grabbed a branch tightly, digging in all five fingers.
After securing his grip, he placed his foot on the bark and pulled himself up. He soon swung over the branch and stood on top of it.
"I haven't lost my childhood skills—still agile as ever." He smiled lightly and then plucked a leaf from the tree. He could have picked one off the ground, but what would be the point?
"Wouldn't it be better to just jump...? Ride the adrenaline — I am in another world!"
His otaku side spoke louder.
Laughing a few times, he began to wave the leaf, which was about thirty centimeters long. Its color was green.
'How do I activate the map?' he began to rack his brain.
But that was answered when he vanished again, going into his subconscious, where he saw the star map.
Lu Chu then cast a questioning look upward.
[You can come here whenever you like, with your soul. Just think of coming! And for the things you obtain, the same applies. Next time, just think. This time, I brought you here because I wanted to tell you that, master.]
'I feel like a lunatic talking to maps…' Lu Chu rolled his eyes, and after a while, asked:
"Can you tell me why I'm here? And what world is this?"
[I don't know either. When I found you, you were near me, dying. To save you, I exhausted myself and brought you here.]
'Is that true? It could be a lie... but it could also be real.'
He had his doubts. 'But if it is true, why was I dying? This is crap! I don't know anything about my life!'
He gritted his teeth once again and then returned to the real world, where, grabbing the leaf he was using, he thought about offering it.
The next instant, he returned to the map and looked up. At that moment, there was a leaf floating. From afar, it looked larger than in reality.
'Optical illusion? Or is this place actually small? Well, since it's in my head, it probably doesn't have much space.'
That was his theory as he continued observing, not missing a single movement. Up above, after the plant reached the star map, it dissipated upon touching it.
Soon below, a green drop appeared, falling in his direction.
Lu Chu, seeing that, extended his hand to catch it. But the moment it hit him, the drop entered his soul.
When that happened, he felt a revitalizing sensation and an increase in his senses.
It was pleasant, but ended quickly—lasting not even a second.
After that, he looked up at the sky again. The map was silent.
"Hey, what just happened to me?"