"I hate trains!"
Watching the lengthy silver train eject itself from the tunnel tracks and come to an abrupt stop before him, Art murmured uncomfortably, grasping his head in pain.
A week had passed since his memories went blank, and he found himself in a world not quite like Earth.
For some strange reason, he had been transported into the world of a visual novel game he once played—how or why, he didn't know. And worst of all...
"Hey, move it."
Shoved forward by the abundance of crowds behind him, he stumbled forward with a groan, making his way through the automatic doors of the modern train and taking one of the available empty seats.
The name of the game he found himself in was Abyssal Chronicles, an urban fantasy visual novel. It was more on the niche side of the gaming market due to its girls' love nature, but it was also recognized by a few—like him—who didn't play for the plot or yuri, but for the gorgeous character designs, especially one of the most prominent characters: Art.
For a game with a primarily yuri setting, it had some of the most memorable male character designs on the market. Every male character was good-looking, attracting another kind of fandom—the fujoshi, who couldn't help but write numerous spicy fanfics between the most prominent male characters.
The male characters were so loved that the devs were eventually pressured to give them major routes in the game, and there were talks of even creating a remake where the option of playing as a male or female would be added.
So yeah, it was fairly popular among anime fans—but that didn't answer the question of why Art was in this world.
In Art's memories, he had just woken up as a character of a similar name in this world, along with a newfound trauma for trains.
[Attention all passengers onboard, the express will be departing in a minute. All passengers are to take their seats, fasten their seatbelts, and prepare for the ride.]
The conductor, seemingly in a good mood, announced, causing Art to lean against the window beside him, his gaze prying past the glass walls surrounding the train station and toward the metropolis dyed golden by the sun's hue.
Academia City—a city to the west of the Sirius Empire and the setting of the game's plot. It was a city housing myriad training academies where the current generation of youth were trained to prepare for battle against the creatures of the abyss—at least, that's what the game said.
He wasn't particularly sure because he could hardly remember minor plotlines. That wasn't due to bad memory, but because his brain seemed to automatically filter out anything that tried to keep him up to date with the game's plot.
For instance, he knew he was in a game. He could remember the characters and even some of their fates—but what led to those fates? He couldn't remember. It was being blocked, or so he presumed.
Probably, whoever brought him here was sick of tropes where protagonists could recall dozens of plot points effortlessly and, out of spite, had filtered out his ability to do so.
It was petty, annoying, and depressing—but hey, at least he had a system.
Remembering the blue interface that had appeared when he woke up in this world, he sighed in relief, imagining a timeline where he came here with nothing.
It was depressing, especially knowing the fate that awaited the character he possessed. He couldn't help but imagine how stressed he would've been—but at least he wasn't going to be as helpless as he feared.
"I just need to make contact with one of the main characters."
Clenching his fist, he assured himself.
As he did, the modern train began to move, causing the scenery outside the window to shift—from the glass walls of the station, to a darkened tunnel, to the light-blue ocean, its surface displaying a school of ethereal glowing fish moving about their business.
Watching in wonder, a pleasant smile formed on Art's face as his sapphire eyes marveled at how aesthetically pleasing everything was.
The ocean scene remained for a few more minutes, and through it all, Art—along with a few children—stuck to the glass, eyes glued to the wonders outside.
The flying fish erupting from the ocean in a splashful leap, trailing the train with curious intent. The youthful cheers of ski-driving teenagers dashing across the ocean's surface, enjoying their last day of vacation.
The sight was reminiscent of Miami and Dubai back on Earth. While Art wasn't particularly a fan of traveling, he had once longed to visit those places just for fun. He never had the opportunity back then—so he wondered if he could here.
"No, don't lose sight of your goal."
Pinching his left cheek, he watched as the train soon crossed over the ocean and onto the shores of the distant metropolis.
The once-watery expanse transitioned into the coarse yellow sand of the beach shores, then into the asphalt pathways teeming with vehicles roaring and dashing through the streets of the urban metropolis.
"Academia City!"
Looking up through the window, his gaze landed on the towering glass skyscrapers, their tips aiming to pierce the sky.
Billboards displayed various celebrities and trending products, their neon glow almost blinding. A sea of civilians marched along the sidewalks, and so much more.
Seeing how familiar everything was, his shoulders unconsciously loosened, and he leaned back into the chair, relieved to finally be back in a city.
He was a city brat—this world's Art, not so much. Of course, the suburbs weren't too bad, and his mother in this world was kind and loving—but this place really reminded him of home... Earth. So he couldn't pass on this.