Katana? Check! Map? Check! Phone in case of an emergency? Check! Alright, I think I’m ready to go. It’s time to head into the forest. I ran through here with Katja enough times to start to recognize the various trails, so I’m not sure if I need to bring the map with me, but better safe than sorry. The absolute last thing I want is to get lost. If I get lost in the middle of the woods… I don’t know. I’d just die. What else can I do? Pick up random berries and wait for a helicopter to find me? Sounds like a pain. No thanks, I’ll just die. But I’m not gonna die, because I’m not gonna get lost. I’ve been here before, I have a map, and my phone is fully charged. I think I’ll be fine.

 

Either way, I don’t have another choice. I have to find that portal if I want to get stronger. I think I’ll be able to gain lots of levels if I can just find a way to return to that other world. So I just gotta do it. I’m going into the forest and I’m finding that portal!

 

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. “Time to set off.”

 

After a few minutes of hiking, the first thing I realized was that I should have changed clothes. Coming here with my uniform was not a great idea. I have to be careful not to get it too dirty. At least I have a spare at home. It’s bearable, though. The second thing I realized was much more important. The map is gonna come in handy since I’ll need to head deeper into the forest. The only hint I have as to where the portal might be is that Katja told me she and the others looked for the portal but didn’t find it. They didn’t dig too deep, so that means I can safely exclude all the areas of the forest closest to the House. The map is then helpful when I reach those deeper areas that I haven’t previously been to. Nice foresight, me. Well done!

 

After walking for ten more minutes, I entered a new area for me. I’m starting to realize what a stupid idea this was. I’m looking for a needle in a haystack! How the hell am I going to find a portal somewhere between all of these trees? The idea itself isn’t even that stupid. How else am I going to find the portal no one knows about other than by looking for it? Expecting to find it in a single day, however? That was dumb.

 

Turns out this is more of a long-term project. Maybe over the course of a few months I’ll be able to cover most of the forest and find it, but there’s no way I’m gonna find it today. At least I haven’t run into any monsters… No, wait, that’s not a good thing, is it? If I’m not gonna find the portal, at least let me find some monsters. I would still be gaining some levels that way.

 

I continued to walk, trying to reach the end of the path that I had chosen to cover today, before something caught my eye. “Hm?” I caught a glimpse of a bright blue light moving in between the trees. No way! Is that the portal?! Did I actually find it? What are the odds?! I ran towards the blue light and…

 

“Butterfly…” Doesn’t really look like a portal. It’s definitely a very beautiful butterfly, just not what I’m looking for. Back to my random search, I guess. Finding it this easily would be too good to be true.

 

But even though I knew the butterfly wasn’t a portal, I couldn’t help but observe it for a little longer. Something about it really caught my attention. And no, I’m not talking about the color. The bright blue really stands out, but that’s not it. The butterfly looks familiar somehow. Where have I seen a butterfly like this one?

 

“Hmm…” I stopped to think for a moment while the butterfly fluttered around. “Oh! No way!” This butterfly… I remember! It was when I first went into that other world! In the parking lot, when I was with Miyuki, there was a butterfly just like this one! It’s the same vivid color! Is this just a coincidence? Does this butterfly…

 

But while I pondered the meaning of the butterfly’s appearance, it got bored of flying around in circles and started moving away. “Wait! Where are you going?” I didn’t know whether or not there was any meaning, but I didn’t want to lose sight of it until I figured it out. It didn’t move very fast, and it stood out a lot, so I had no trouble following it. Shortly after, it flew up into the air and perched up on a nearby tree, completely out of reach.

 

Is that it? You’re just gonna sit there? Well, of course you are, there’s no way there could have been a deeper meaning. What was I thinking? More importantly… I’m not lost, am I? I took out the map and opened it up in front of my face. This is the trail I was on, and the butterfly was to my right, and since we didn’t go too far… I should be around here…? I spun around a few times while holding the map up to figure out my location. Seems like I’m not lost yet. No need to start gathering berries just yet.

 

I lowered the map, and there it was. “WHATHFHUUUH?!” The portal was right in front of me. “Are you joking!? Butterfly?! Did you do this?!” I spun around so much that I had lost track of where the butterfly was. I wanted to thank it for the hard work. “Is this really it?” I looked at the portal, and there was no doubt about it, it looked just like the one from last time. My memory isn’t perfect, but there’s no way I’d forget what it looks like.

 

What’s up with the butterfly, then? They have to be connected to the portals somehow… There’s no way it’s just a coincidence… There has to be some kind of connection! Why are they always near portals? Is it to guide us? To tell us where the portals are? Are they attracted to portals? I don’t get it. It might just be that they’re native to the other world, and they cross the portal by accident. Then, of course we’re gonna find them near the portals… I can buy that. Are all butterflies in the other world blue? Might just be its species. Does killing it give good experience, I wonder?

 

But who cares about butterflies? The portal is the real star of the show! As a (debatably) normal young woman, I am proud to announce that I hate bugs! So I sure don’t care butterflies! They’re pretty, so I don’t actually hate them… and after today’s performance, I think I have a newfound respect for them, but now’s not the time. I’m here to investigate the portal, and that’s what I’m gonna do.

 

The first thing I do is to mark the portal on the map. I don’t want to lose its position. I’m gonna take a photo of the map and send it to myself so I don’t lose its position! Can never have enough backups.

 

The next thing I have to check is if the portal is really dangerous or not. Katja told me that they were, and that just being near a portal was enough to kill people. But if that were the case, then why am I alive? I didn’t just go near one, I touched and went through one. I think Katja was fed some kind of lie. Even now, I’m pretty close to the portal, and I’m not feeling anything. I’m feeling perfectly fine. Am I special? Is there some kind of toxin the portal releases that kills people that I’m just immune to somehow? I don’t think so. It could be that the VISS Driver grants me some kind of immunity or protection, but that too doesn’t make sense since I only got the VISS Driver after going through the portal.

 

I took a few steps closer and walked around the portal a few times. It really doesn’t look like it’s dangerous. If a monster comes through, it might kill people, but the portal itself? I don’t think so. Wow… The portal is really pretty… Oooh! I’m so excited! I’m gonna get so many levels. I’m not a big fan of grinding, but if it gives me actual superpowers, then I can spend all day grinding for months on end. Don’t test me. I can’t wait. It’s gonna be so cool!

 

I was really curious about the portal, so I tried to take a peek to check if I could see something. The image is a little distorted, but I think can see a forest through portal. It almost looks like the surface of the portal is reflective, but that’s not it, it’s a different forest. The trees here are tall and dense, which is the complete opposite of what I’m seeing on the portal’s surface.

 

I guess this is it. I’ve found the location of the portal, and I’m more or less sure that it is safe. It’s impossible to know for sure without actually trying to go in, but my goal for today was only to find the portal. I have to make some more preparations if I’m planning on actually going through it. I take a look at the map and turn around. It should be easy enough to find my way back, I’m actually not that far from the House.

 

I took a couple steps and turned around to take one last look at the portal for the day. I actually found it, didn’t I? How lucky was that? That was a great success, I’m so happy.

 

A couple more steps, and I found myself stopping again. I just had to look at the portal one more time. I’m a little farther away this now, but the portal is as beautiful from here as it is from up close. I have to prepare myself first. It would be absolutely foolish to enter the portal without being prepared.

 

I turned my back to the portal once again and started walking away. Slowly… I tried to clear my head, but it didn’t really work. I can’t resist! I turned around and ran towards the portal at full speed. The other world is right in front of me! You can’t dangle something like that in front of me and expect me to hold back! It’s just a quick peek! I just wanna take a quick peek!

 

…

 

It worked! And it didn’t kill me! I knew it! With that worry out of the way, I breathed a sigh of relief and started looking around. I’m in a forest, just like the one I saw on the surface of the portal. They share some similarities, but this one is much brighter.

 

If I’m not mistaken, I think this is one of the early-game areas. Lucky me. Don’t know what I would do if this portal put me near another end-game location, like the demon city. If the weak monsters that appeared in the real world came from this side, then this has to be a lower-level area, right?

 

Well, I’m glad I was able to get here, and it’s not like I want to go back immediately, but I also don’t want to get stuck here. That would be a different kind of story. I wanted to make sure the portal hadn’t disappeared when I entered, so I turned around and saw that it was still there. That’s good to know, but how stable is it? The portal in the parking lot seemed to disappear as soon as I used it to return. Is this one going to do the same? Are they one-time use? I sure hope not.

 

I really didn’t want to waste this opportunity, but I didn’t want to start exploring without being sure that the portal wasn’t just going to disappear on me. Is there a limited number of uses? Is there a time limit? I think I’d rather miss my chance to explore this world, by wasting the portal to test if it will disappear than to be stuck here because I got greedy. I crossed the portal back to the real world, and a smile quickly formed on my face. Would you look at that? It’s still working I went back and forth between both worlds a few more times to make sure it wasn’t going anywhere.

 

“I think it’s stable. Great!” Why is this portal different from the other one? Now that I think about it, it’s obviously not one-time use since monster have been using it for a while. Can I also assume it’s not going to run out of time and disappear for the same reason? The portal has been here for a while, why would it disappear now? There’s no way to be completely sure, but I think this is stable enough for me to feel comfortable staying in the game world for a while. But then, why did the portal in the parking lot disappear? Was it because Katja and Narumi were there? They might have done something that disrupted it somehow.

 

But enough speculation, it’s time for an adventure, it’s time to explore! A little bit… I swear I’m just taking a peek, and then I’ll go back. I started walking in a straight line in hopes of finding something interesting. This forest was much easier to navigate since it was really sparse in comparison.

 

After walking for a couple minutes, the forest opened up, and I stepped out onto some plains. Wow! That’s a nice view! The sky was bright blue, and I could see vast fields of perfectly even grass ahead of me. This level of uniformity is something you would only ever find in a fantasy world. In the distance, I could see some wicked mountains. Wicked seemed like a good word to use because the mountains I’m seeing all have these crazy shapes with impossible holes and overhangs. It's a very cool look that really makes me want to get closer and explore, but they’re too far away, so I’ll leave that for another day.

 

Perhaps the most important thing I could see from here were the walls of a town in the distance. It’s not a town I immediately recognize, maybe I’ll know where I am once I’m inside, or maybe it’s not even a location in the game, who knows? At least this area is human territory, one that they share with a lot of other races, but I don’t think I’ll be getting attacked as soon as I approach them.

 

I was only here to take a peek, but now I’m walking towards the town in the distance. It’s fine though, isn’t it? I’m still just taking a peek. This much still counts…

 

*BOOOM!*

 

“What the?!” All of a sudden, I self the ground shake and I turned around towards the sound of the explosion. It’s the same direction from the forest. Soon after, I heard a high-pitched shriek coming from the same place. Is there someone in trouble? What other explanation could there be? I was heading towards the town, but legs quickly started running in the direction of both sounds. What’s with this turn of events? There’s no way I can ignore someone in trouble! There has to be something interesting going on! I mean, something troubling going on. I need to know more!