The Most Ridiculous Way to Cross Worlds

She sat in the grass of an unfamiliar planet.

For a long while, she said nothing.

Then, all at once, she laughed.

“So…”

“I really did find a way to another planet?”

She lowered her gaze to her hands.

She had imagined it countless times before:

crossing the universe,

discovering unknown civilizations,

exploring mysterious planets.

But in her imagination, it was supposed to happen differently.

She was supposed to:

find an ancient ruin;

decipher some cosmic code;

activate a mysterious device;

or be summoned by an advanced civilization.

There was only one possibility she had never considered:

that the weather would simply be too hot.

That she would be walking home.

And then…

pass out.

She could not help muttering,

“The entrance to the universe is way too casual…”

Just then,

the backpack beside her began to glow faintly.

Inside was a compass she had never seen before, its needle slowly turning.

It did not point north.

Nor did it point toward any direction marked on a map.

Instead, it pointed toward an unknown continent far in the distance.

A line of unfamiliar writing appeared across the surface of the compass:

“Your journey begins.”

At last, she understood.

Perhaps the thing she had believed since childhood had been true all along.

There really were paths in this world that led somewhere beyond it.

She had simply never imagined

that the key to opening such a door

would not be technology,

nor magic,

but an ordinary accident on an ordinary summer day.

She glanced down at the Star Compass in her hand.

Then she smiled.

“Well, since I’m already here…”

“I might as well find out what this world is hiding.”