Completely unaware that the invasive species she'd brought along had been snatched by some other brat, Yimi's mood had already been ruined by Chen. She didn't even bother visiting the friends she used to play with and left right after saying goodbye to Marisa.
At first, Marisa had treated Yimi like some kind of successor to Reimu. Although Reimu herself had personally debunked that rumor, Marisa still looked after Yimi as a junior.
So before Yimi departed, Marisa tried to shove some unsellable junk on her. Unfortunately, due to limited storage space, she only took an old Mini-Hakkero that Marisa no longer used. Its functions had degraded to the point where it could only cook rice—but for Yimi, that was just right.
Too bad it couldn't help with the current situation.
Howling wind. Cold air currents sliced past her ears. The cloud layer not far from Yimi confirmed her position in the sky—or perhaps it was simply mist, but with her sharp senses she could clearly perceive how thin the air had become at this altitude.
"Bwooo—"
She checked her quest. This time she hadn't arrived in any of the worlds she'd visited before, because the System's missions had started trending in an unexpectedly abstract direction.
Main Quest: Complete ten achievements in this world only (0/10)
In some worlds, this quest would've been dead simple. But in others—looking at you, Magical Girl world—a whole month hadn't been enough for her to complete more than a handful.
Before she could consider any of that, though, Yimi had a more pressing matter to think about: how to get down. The obvious movement and recent roar coming from the "land" beneath her feet proved that the enormous thing supporting her was most likely a living creature.
And it had noticed her.
If you pulled the camera back, you'd see her standing on the back of a colossal fish easily over fifty meters long (~164 ft). This was the kind of cursed spawn point the System hadn't stuck her with in a long time.
"A Sea King?"
Yimi had seen this sort of giant creature in the One Piece world too. Back then she'd been scared into bouncing around like crazy, but she eventually learned that creatures this massive actually provided even more nutrition.
The White Whale—information Yimi didn't know—was what this world called this beast. Along with the "Great Rabbit" and "Black Serpent," it was one of the Three Great Witchbeasts. Merchant convoys were frequently attacked by it, and it had been terrorizing this world for a full four hundred years.
A smothering white fog rolled toward her like visible steam, an attack capable of erasing "existence" itself—deflected outward by Love Train. From the very first moment of their encounter, the creature radiated total malice toward Yimi.
Yimi rose to her feet in human form atop the titanic fish soaring through the sky, fluidly twirling her lance to build mounting damage, then unleashed a Mana Burst strike aimed at roughly where its neck would be.
"Bwommm—"
The result wasn't as clean as she'd hoped. The instant her attack made contact, countless white hairs across the whale's body activated, dispersing the mana she'd released. Even so, she still tore open a long gash, and the gushing blood soaked the autumn clothes Reimu had dressed her in.
At the same time, she noticed that under the influence of Adaptive Power, her mana had converted into a strange new form.
Riding the momentum of the great fish's movement, Yimi instinctively tried to dig her nails in to hold on—but since she was in human form and hadn't kept her nails long, she slid right off. That successfully earned her this world's first achievement—
"Congratulations, Host! Achievement unlocked: 「It's a Pilot! We're saved!」 Reward: Portal Energy 5%"
"What's that—someone's attacking the White Whale?" A Witch Cultist watching from the distance squinted.
Yimi didn't bother checking the achievement. She lowered her gaze, staring at the wound. Although it was really just a scratch for something this big, as long as she'd managed to open a single wound, she'd already won.
That said, Famine's two activation conditions were strict. First, the target had to be injured by Yimi personally—her claws or her Stand, specifically. Second, the target had to ingest Yimi's blood. But that part... hurt a little.
---
"That's strange."
A merchant convoy heading for the Royal Capital of Lugunica—one of its drivers raised his lantern a bit higher, almost involuntarily.
"What is it?" His companion looked at him, puzzled.
"Nothing, just—when I was watching the clouds during the day, I figured tonight would bring rain. Didn't I tell you all to prepare for it?" The man looked up. The sky was blanketed with stars—it looked almost unreal.
"If it were just rain, we could handle it. As long as we don't run into the White Whale..."
Now that was a merchant's nightmare.
"Stop! Stop!" Someone up ahead suddenly shouted.
"What's going on?"
This route had no forests, no mountains, no rivers. Merchants who traveled it regularly could practically walk it with their eyes closed.
The man who'd remarked on the weather jumped down from the dragon carriage and weaved through the others to the front.
"What is that..."
A crater. Or maybe "crater" wasn't the right word. The ground was still the same ground, just... slightly sunken. For someone who didn't travel this road regularly it wouldn't even matter, but this stretch was supposed to be one unbroken grassy plain, every season of the year.
They were certain—just yesterday, when they'd set out, this had been a vast expanse of green. He'd even told a newly made friend that the mere scent of this grass gave him an inexplicable sense of peace.
"How is this possible?"
"I don't know. The Ground Dragons aren't resisting, but I'd recommend we detour."
They were just merchants. Encountering something inexplicable on the road left them with only one option: avoid it.
"Hey, over there..." Someone raised a trembling voice, trying to draw their attention to something.
They looked where he pointed. With the help of the lantern light, they could make out a small girl drenched in blood, walking toward them. Every step left a tiny red footprint on the ground.
"It's a child—she's hurt!"
"Idiot, don't go near her! Does she look hurt to you?"
Spotting them, Yimi's eyes lit up. She'd noticed that a few people in this convoy had cat ears just like hers, which made her feel an instant sense of kinship.
To show friendliness, the little cat took off her witch hat—the same style as Marisa's—and smiled to reveal that she, too, was a cat.
What the merchants saw: a blood-drenched little girl appearing out of nowhere in the dead of night, showing no signs of pain or weakness whatsoever, instead flashing an innocent smile as she removed her hat and flicked blood everywhere—as if to say, "You're next."
"..."
"Go, go, go—move it!"
"Run! Split up!"
"Meow?"
How rude these people and cats were!
Yimi took off on her little legs and picked one dragon carriage to chase.
The man in the green hat looked back in horror. "Stop chasing me! That bearded guy behind me is carrying goods worth way more than mine!"