Starlight Traveler Journal
Back to Travel NotesThe First Crossing
Chapter illustration for Prologue: An Unexpected Journey Caused by the Summer Heat

Prologue: An Unexpected Journey Caused by the Summer Heat

I always believed there was a path leading to an unknown planet somewhere in this world, but I never imagined the entrance would be a heatstroke

It was just an ordinary summer day. The city was covered in extreme heat, and the weather forecast had shown the same message for several days. Highest temperature: 38°C. The asphalt roads had turned pale under the blazing sun, and invisible waves of heat seemed to drift through the air. The protagonist finished work as usual and walked home. In her hand was

It was just an ordinary summer day.

The city was covered in extreme heat, and the weather forecast had shown the same message for several days.

Highest temperature: 38°C.

The asphalt roads had turned pale under the blazing sun, and invisible waves of heat seemed to drift through the air.

The protagonist finished work as usual and walked along the road back home.

In her hand was an iced drink that had already melted halfway.

Around her were the sounds of passing cars and the steady hum of air conditioner units outside the buildings.

She looked up at the sky, and suddenly a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her.

ChatGPT Image 2026年7月29日 下午10_41_14
ChatGPT Image 2026年7月29日 下午11_28_49

At that moment, she remembered something she had believed in since childhood.

“This world must be hiding a road that leads to somewhere else.”

When she was young, she loved watching the stars.

She always felt that:

The universe was far too vast.

The places humanity had explored were only a tiny part of it.

If countless unknown planets existed beyond Earth, then there had to be some kind of “door” connecting two different worlds.

Maybe it was hidden in:

A valley no one had ever discovered;

A region deep beneath the ocean;

A place with a mysterious magnetic field;

Or even somewhere an ordinary person might simply walk past.

As she grew older, the people around her began to think she was just someone who loved imagining impossible things.

Her friends would laugh and ask:

“If there really was an entrance to another planet, what do you think it would look like?”

She thought carefully for a moment.

Then she answered:

“It would probably be a beam of light.”

“Or a gigantic portal.”

“Either way, it would definitely be something breathtaking.”

She had never imagined.

That the true entrance would be——

A heatstroke on a scorching summer day.

ChatGPT Image 2026年7月29日 下午10_55_30

04 / COMMENTS

Reader comments

Leave a thought from this part of the journey.

No comments yet. Be the first to leave a trace.