Chapter 1: The First Day of Lying Flat Like a Salted Fish¹

Early autumn.

The weather was gradually turning cool, and the most comfortable season on the Desolate Planet had finally arrived.

The little girl’s clothes were thin and ill-fitting, and her shoes were so worn that her toes peeked through. After winding through streets and alleys, she finally stopped in front of a dilapidated little shop on a street corner.

The shop’s door stood wide open.

Rubbing her hand against her pants before reaching into her pocket, the girl carefully pinched the few coins inside one by one, identifying their denominations by the feel of her fingertips. Her heart beat with a frantic rhythm. She swallowed hard before stepping into the shop.

The shop seemed empty. The girl called out twice, but no one answered.

A tablet stood lonely on the counter, propped up in a precarious, nearly wobbling tilt, its screen angled downward and inward.

The girl paused, but she didn’t go over… nor did she leave.

She simply walked to the nearby shelves to look at the goods for sale.

It was a very crude storefront, with only two rows of shelves set against the walls on either side. The shelves were roughly divided into four sections with signs hanging at the top: “Games”, “Movies”, “Songs”, and “Novels”.

The girl headed straight for the game shelf.

On it sat several ancient gaming consoles.

They could even be called antiques.

In the world outside the Desolate Planet, these were toys that had been popular thousands of years ago.

Back then, humanity had not yet left its home planet. Computers – things likely similar to modern Optical Computers² – were not yet widespread, and the StarNet and holographic games existed only in the realm of fantasy.

But the Desolate Planet was different from the outside.

The level of technology here was actually close to that of the ancient home planet.

As a place where the Empire had exiled convicts for centuries, all external communication was cut off, and even commoners were forbidden from connecting to the StarNet.

The starships that shuttled incessantly between other planets were rarely seen here. Only very occasionally would one or two appear in the sky to dump trash from the Capital Star³.

Due to the harsh environment, life here was incredibly difficult. Because of special management methods, technology could not develop at all. People struggled just to survive, leaving most of the planet in a near-savage state where the law of the jungle prevailed.

In such a place, there was no market for games.

However, starting about a year ago, the area where the girl lived had suddenly become much more stable and peaceful. Incidents like highway robbery and home invasions had decreased significantly. People as weak as the girl could walk the streets freely without fear of danger.

Perhaps because of this, a unique shop had opened here. It didn’t sell food or clothing, but rather games, movies, and books intended solely for entertainment.

However, it was obvious that business was not good.

Maybe it had been better at the very beginning, but as those interested in such things visited and discovered the shop’s inventory remained the same few items without ever being updated, the number of patrons gradually dwindled.

The shop had been open for nearly a year now, and it was practically deserted every day.

The girl was the first customer to visit in a month.

The girl stared at the shelf for a long time before finally picking one up. Her delicate fingers brushed over the screen, then settled on the price tag below the shelf. She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

Looking around, she walked toward the table that served as a counter.

Then, she saw a hand suddenly reach out from beneath the table.

“!”

Startled, the girl instinctively took two steps back. She watched as the hand slapped the tablet down, face-down on the table. Then, pressing against the table for leverage, a head slowly rose from behind the counter.

It was a very beautiful head. The features were exquisite, and the cold, pale skin looked entirely out of place on this gray and black Desolate Planet. Most striking of all was the long, smooth silver hair; even though it had been unkempt for a long time and was rubbed into a messy tangle, it still possessed a beautiful, metallic luster.

Deep gray eyes looked over, and the owner of the head spoke slowly. “…Buying something?”

The girl was speechless.

Oh, so the boss was actually here.

“Yes.” The girl nodded, stepped forward, and pulled the coins from her pocket one by one, placing them on the counter.

“Today is a good day,” the boss said, glancing at her. “I’ll give you a fifty percent discount.”

A flash of pleasant surprise crossed the girl’s eyes, but after a moment of hesitation, she shook her head. “I saved up enough money.”

The boss didn’t push. “Alright.”

“…” The girl remained silent, arranging the money and staring at it for a while.

The boss had already retreated behind the counter. The girl wasn’t tall enough and had to grip the counter and stand on her tiptoes to see inside. She discovered a massive sofa bed behind the counter, piled haphazardly with a large number of pillows and quilts. And the boss was lying right in the middle of all that softness.

“Do you need me to help you prop it back up?” the girl asked, glancing at the tablet on the counter and gauging the distance between the boss and the device.

“No need,” the boss replied, not even opening his eyes.

“Oh,” the girl responded dryly. Clutching her game console tightly to her chest, she gave the boss one last look before turning to leave.

The boss raised his body slightly and propped the tablet back up. He adjusted the angle, ensuring he could see the screen perfectly while lying down.

Only then did he cast a distant glance at the girl’s retreating back.

…A girl who didn’t quite look like she belonged on a Desolate Planet.

But that had nothing to do with him.

The boss lay back down.

On the tablet screen, the image had just cut to a wide shot.

Nine rows and nine columns of ceremonial cannons pointed toward the sky. Guards stood in a precise formation as the sound of gunfire and cannons erupted simultaneously.

After the twelve-gun salute of the highest ancient military protocol, everyone in the field bowed their heads in a moment of silence.

For three minutes, the camera panned across every grieving face, finally coming to rest on a statue in the center of the square.

The figure wore a crisp military dress uniform. Beneath the military cap, long silver hair cascaded down like a waterfall, shimmering with a nearly inorganic metallic luster.

One hand rested on the brim of his military cap, his dark gray eyes looking into the distance with a focused gaze.

Bouquets and wreaths were arranged neatly at the base of the statue.

This was a memorial service.

On the first anniversary of the victory in the war against the Zerg⁴, no one in the Empire was celebrating. It was also the first anniversary of the death of the Empire’s former Marshal⁵, Lu Yuan.

The meticulously crafted statue had finally been completed and placed in the central plaza of the Capital Star, unveiled at last on this very day. The moment the veil dropped, everyone felt as if they were seeing their once invincible commander again.

Yet, in the end, it was merely a replica.

Everyone was immersed in grief, mourning the commander who had sacrificed himself in the final battle. For those few minutes, even the usually bustling StarNet fell completely silent.

But the Desolate Planet remained oblivious to all of this. The abandoned world was nearly isolated from the rest of the universe; its inhabitants didn’t even know a man named Lu Yuan existed.

And that was exactly why Lu Yuan had chosen to stay here.

The ceremony continued. Lu Yuan watched quietly.

Those dark gray eyes, identical to those of the statue, were calm and rippleless. His face, a perfect match for the sculpture, held no expression.

Once the master of ceremonies announced the end and the live broadcast faded to black, he reached out and grabbed his tablet. He carefully wiped his traces from the StarNet and tapped a switch next to the counter.

The main door of the small shop slid shut, hiding the street outside. The window shutters closed gently, blocking out the pale clouds just beginning to catch the crimson light of dusk.

The lights in the shop went out along with them.

“I’m tired,” Lu Yuan yawned, turning off the tablet. “I think I’ll just sleep for a bit.”

And so, the little shop fell into total silence.

Translator’s Notes