“Um, friend, excuse me...”
Catching a glimpse of the speaker with her peripheral vision, Mo Shao paused for a moment. ‘Holy crap, the real deal is actually here?’
‘I guess that makes sense, though.’
In an environment like this, anyone with a bit of initiative and this level of power would likely be the leader.
And Katicia was indeed someone with a mind of her own.
‘I need to act a bit more human, then.’
After all, first impressions were crucial when trying to recruit someone.
“Is something the matter?” Mo Shao turned her head. After quickly suppressing the flurry of inhuman things she had been about to say, she spoke in a proper, serious tone.
“Uh...” Not expecting this “idiosyncratic and strange beautiful stranger” to be so approachable, Little Ka was momentarily taken aback.
Since Mo Shao didn’t know who this person was before, she simply referred to her as “Little Ka” for now.
Of course, even if Mo Shao did know who she used to be, she probably wouldn’t call her by her old name.
In the post-apocalyptic zones, the idea of “not obsessing over who a person was before they became a Transformer” had almost become a common consensus.
One reason was that Transformers themselves would gradually forget their old names and adopt their new ones.
Another reason was that if someone insisted on poking and prodding into the past, it would inevitably lead to an awkward situation for everyone involved.
After all, among Transformers, cases where the personality changed drastically after the transformation were common, and things like gender-swaps—like Mo Shao’s—were hardly a rarity.
Although this “unspoken rule” didn't exist yet in the early stages of the apocalypse.
Besides, Mo Shao hadn’t encountered many survivors in her previous life, so she hadn’t actually practiced this rule herself.
However, that didn’t stop her from adopting this “good” habit now.
...
“It’s just... could I trouble you to tell us a bit about the situation outside?” While asking, Little Ka unconsciously twirled a lock of hair around her finger, appearing somewhat shy.
Mo Shao’s evaluation of this: She couldn't understand why asking a simple question required being shy; the immersion was still a bit lacking.
But a question was a question, and she had to answer it. It would earn her some impression points, after all.
“Sure, I can do that.” Mo Shao nodded and began a brief explanation.
“Games, movies, novels, anime—things that originally only existed in fiction have descended into reality.
“The real world has been fragmented by the Phantom Realms. This school has become an isolated island. The apocalypse is here.”
She didn't lower her voice, so as soon as her words reached the crowd, an instant hubbub erupted.
This was normal. Since the Phantom Realms had fragmented the Real Realm, it meant that all roads, power lines, and internet cables had been severed.
Trapped inside the supermarket without any way to receive news, their understanding of the outside world was naturally very limited.
They probably hadn’t even grasped the full extent of the “fantasy descending into reality” situation—some surely guessed, but not with this much clarity.
After all, there were only monsters from Wuthering Waves and Arknights near the supermarket, so they might have assumed it was just “mobile games coming to life.”
...
“I see, thank you for clarifying... Could you also mention a bit more about the situation within the school?”
Little Ka kept using formal honorifics. Mo Shao wasn’t sure if she was naturally like this or if she was just being extra polite because she needed something.
“I don’t know much either,” Mo Shao said, shaking her head.
“Various Tacet Discords and Object-type monsters are wandering the campus, along with various monsters from Minecraft.”
She really hadn't seen any other types of monsters yet.
“Also, there are about a thousand or so people gathered at the cafeteria, led by a Dean of Students. To the left of the school, there’s a ring of desert.”
“That’s everything I know.”
“Thank you very much for the information...”
Little Ka thanked her earnestly before following up with another question: “May I ask what your plans are next?”
‘Finally, she asked!’ Mo Shao was secretly delighted, though on the surface, she just tilted her head slightly. “My plans?”
She answered matter-of-factly, “I plan to get out of here. Without an organized defensive fortification, this place won’t last long.”
“I see... Do you seem to have a destination in mind?” Little Ka sounded a bit hesitant, but for the sake of the people behind her, she asked directly.
“I do. I plan to head west. There’s a good survival point located within a Phantom Realm in that direction.”
She did indeed plan to find a safe place to settle down temporarily to lay the groundwork and prepare for her future long-distance travels.
...
As for why she said the survival point was inside a Phantom Realm...
The large-scale city-states established in the apocalypse were all built by reprocessing existing structures.
Some were set up by military districts. After all, even though the Real Realm was fragmented and weapons were scarce, the chain of command still existed.
Unless a powerful Phantom Realm manifested right next to them—like massive waves of zombies or ridiculously giant entities...
Or unless they encountered a medium to large-scale negative Phantom Event—like a Honkai descent...
Otherwise, with the advantage of firearms and ammunition in the early stages, each military district could quickly complete the integration of their respective Real Realm fragments.
However, they could only remain scattered like that. It was already impossible to knit the various military bases back together.
The heavens were high and the emperor was far away. As the Phantom Realms cut the world into pieces, the nations of the old era existed in name only.
...
Besides these city-states in the Real Realm, many other city-states in the apocalypse were established based on conditions within Phantom Realms.
Places like “Mondstadt” from Genshin Impact, “Xuanfeng City” from Honkai: Star Rail, “Wall Maria” from Attack on Titan...
“Aincrad” from Sword Art Online, “Tokyo-3” from Evangelion, “Rhodes Island” from Arknights...
“Planetary Engines” from The Wandering Earth, “Minas Tirith” from The Lord of the Rings, and “Skypiea” from One Piece.
It could be said that all types existed, blooming like a hundred flowers.
As for how to find their locations—don’t forget she had her [Pathfinding] ability! It was a simple task!
Through her prior research while gathering resources at the village, Mo Shao had gained a much better understanding of her [Pathfinding] ability.
First, the target of [Pathfinding] had to be a specific location; it couldn’t be a vague direction—at least for now.
Second, the prerequisite for [Pathfinding] was that she had to know where she wanted to go—she didn’t have to have been there before, but she had to have an impression of it.
And this was where her advantage lay! She was a reincarnator, carrying a mountain of information in her head!
After applying [Pathfinding] to various locations in her memory and comparing the distances for each...
The closest location to here was—Seven Hills City!
Rate on N.U.
