「Why did it suddenly turn into a dark-themed story? No, I wanted to see a fiery slice-of-life series. Forget it, I’m outta here.」
「If you’re not watching, then don’t. Why the need to say something? So fond of public urination, a cyber exhibitionist?」
By the halfway point of episode two, a portion of the audience who disliked this darker turn in the plot had already dropped out.
But this was to be expected.
No anime can please everyone. Some will love it, and naturally, some will not.
As a result, there was also a group of people who found this anime unlike any other they had seen before. They were drawn in and became the first loyal fans of Stellar Chronicles.
[Total Length: 400 meters]
The screen displayed the length of the room below.
To be honest, this distance wasn’t very long; even crawling, ten minutes would be more than enough.
But for these children, none older than twelve, very few could calm down and think of a plan as quickly as Lin Zhen.
Most were still at an age where their parents protected them, their minds immature.
Suddenly thrown into such a strange and dangerous environment, their minds were in chaos, and fear spread like a tidal wave. The slightest disturbance was enough to make them utterly break down.
Different.
The camera shifted from Lin Zhen and the others struggling to crawl forward to the panicked children around them.
“Dad, Mom… please come save me…”
Cries, shouts, and pleas overlapped in waves; the back half of the room was nearly in chaos.
Some tried to seek help from the nearby soldiers, but all they received in return were cold, silent stares.
Of course, in such extreme distress, some masked their panic with anger.
A boy in expensive clothing limped toward a soldier, shouting fiercely:
“Let me go! Do you know who I am? Do you know how powerful my family is?”
His face was full of arrogance, his eyes blazing with anger as he lifted his leg to kick the soldier’s shin.
But in the next moment, the soldier’s mouth curled into a faint smile.
Bang!
A thunderous dull thud echoed as the boy flew backward, crashing heavily into an alloy stasis pod.
His chest caved in, blood pouring from every orifice as he slipped into unconsciousness.
“Kill… someone’s been killed!!”
Nearby children screamed and scattered in terror.
“Let me repeat: eight minutes remain. After eight minutes, anyone not wearing a collar will face severe punishment.”
The cold male voice sounded again, this time laced with mockery:
“Also, since it seems many of you lack motivation… friendly reminder: try to snatch collars with the lower numbers first.”
With the arrogant boy as a harsh warning and two clear threats issued, even the slowest realized—
These people were serious!
If they didn’t do as told, they would truly be killed!
The threat of death subdued their fear, and almost everyone sprang into action.
Lin Zhen heard the commotion and glanced back.
At that glance, amid the crawling and walking crowd, he noticed a peculiar figure.
A girl with beautiful sky-blue long hair, wearing a magnificent blue gown.
Before being abducted, she might have had a painful past.
Her dress was stained with dried blood.
On the back of the dress was a slit, revealing a smooth spine beneath, covered in scar-like blood scabs.
The striking blue hair was matted together with clotted blood, tangled like a ball of yarn Lin Zhen had once seen on the garbage mountain.
For some reason, she did not move forward with the others but silently sat on the floor, her face buried deep between her knees.
Her shoulders trembled slightly, as if silently weeping.
Because of this, she lagged far behind the crowd, making her stand out all the more.
Although he couldn’t see her face, Lin Zhen instinctively felt she must be very beautiful.
Perhaps even more beautiful than the famed Zhongbiao Princess, known as the most beautiful woman on Garbage Planet, whom he had once secretly seen in the inner city.
Because this girl possessed a strange aura, like a delicate porcelain vase about to shatter—eliciting an involuntary sense of pity.
If Lin Zhen hadn’t lived on Garbage Planet, he might have known this feeling as a “brokenness.”
It is the subconscious reluctance and preciousness people feel when facing beauty that is about to vanish.
“Is she really not afraid of dying? Or is she just too scared to move?”
Lin Zhen couldn’t help but wonder.
Due to his injuries, he couldn’t move quickly, and whenever he paused, many people overtook him.
He looked up; the first group of movers was already approaching the pile of collars stacked like a small mountain.
Since the voice had specifically said to snatch the collars with lower numbers, it must have a reason.
Though he didn’t yet know exactly why, there was no reason for the others to lie about this.
No more delays!
Lin Zhen clenched his teeth and continued crawling forward.
The anime, meanwhile, used narration to voice Lin Zhen’s inner thoughts, gradually making the audience realize that the male protagonist was somewhat unusual.
At the same time, the suspected new character’s appearance made the comment section scroll faster.
“Rare to see a smart protagonist, not bad at all.”
“But won’t he look back at that blue-haired girl?? She has to be the heroine!”
“He should go back. For such an important character, if the protagonist just sits there and does nothing, it feels like he’s about to be kicked to death by the roadside.”
“The protagonist in episode one was clearly a smart nice guy. If he doesn’t go back and check, I’ll become a loli just to satisfy you guys ♡”
[? Making wishes here? You’ve already got everything you wanted.]
“Don’t you guys think that blue-haired loli looks like the last silhouette shown in the PV? Almost exactly the same height and build.”
“Yun Ruoxi·Yelan, I remember that name.”
“Aww, poor little loli, come to big brother, I’ll comfort you.”
“Hey upstairs, no loli here, but I definitely have a bullet with your name on it.”
“No big brother!”
[Popularity +1278]
Though the comments were gradually going off the rails, a few did correctly guess Lin Zhen’s thoughts.
He crawled until he was mid-pack, feeling his body slightly recover, then couldn’t help but look back.
The girl was still sitting where she had been.
Alone at the back, she seemed to have become the focus of everyone’s attention.
Suddenly, the spotlight on the right side of the ceiling rotated, beams converging precisely on her, as if she were the sole star center stage.
Dazzling, yet only highlighting her loneliness and fragility.
Just looking at her, Lin Zhen felt a surge of sorrow, as if her entire world had already crumbled and her heart was dead.
Was she… asking for death?
Lin Zhen was silent for a moment, then slowly stood.
Against the flow of people, under puzzled gazes, he took step after step back toward the blue-haired girl.
What exactly have you been through?
Why would you rather die here?
He wanted answers to these questions, but more than that, he couldn’t just watch a living soul slip away like this.
He couldn’t bear to watch everything with cold indifference, even though his grandparents had repeatedly told him to “mind his own business.”
It was the same when he stumbled upon human trafficking on Garbage Planet, and now, seeing a girl helplessly waiting to die was no different.
Last time, he made what he thought was the safest choice, yet was still betrayed and ended up here.
This time… would it be different?
At that moment, the animation suddenly muted and lowered the tone.
Footsteps, crawling sounds, other voices—all vanished.
The entire world seemed to sink into complete silence.
But within that silence,
a faint, suppressed sobbing could be heard.
Then came clear, resolute footsteps.
Step by step, moving against the crowd, drawing closer and closer.
Instead of slice-of-life they got slice-my-life 😭😭😭