Chapter 25 - 24: It’s Okay to Jump During the Warp, Right?

The person reminding them that was Pom-Pom, a rabbit in uniform. March 7th: "No need to remind me, Pom-Pom. We've done so many warps already." Pom-Pom looked at her: "Well, someone named March 7th always tries to challenge herself and ends up falling." March 7th smiled sheepishly: "Hehe~ I call that perseverance." As she explained, she walked to the center of the train car and asked for some juice. Meanwhile, Pei Guang sat down on a nearby sofa and Stelle, already seated and waiting for the warp to begin, looked at him: "Are you nervous?" Pei Guang: "Nervous about what?" Stelle: "I don't know!" Pei Guang: "Then why be nervous? It's just a warp." Stelle: "Have you experienced it before?" Pei Guang: "Nope! It's my first time. But it shouldn't be a big deal—no seatbelt needed, so how could I possibly fly off?" Stelle pondered: "You have a point." Pei Guang then looked over at March 7th, who was standing in place, waiting for the warp: "Hey, March, aren't you afraid of falling while standing there?" March 7th shook her head: "No worries, if I fall, the ice will protect me. Though, falling on ice might hurt more than falling on the ground." Pei Guang: "As long as you're fine. But, I have a question: what happens if you jump during the warp?" March 7th: "Nothing much, you might just lose your balance and fall." Pei Guang: "Is jumping prohibited on this train?" March 7th shook her head: "I don't think there's a rule against it. As long as you don't disturb others or damage the train, there's no prohibition. Wait a minute—are you planning to..." Pei Guang thought for a moment: "I have a feeling that if I don't jump, it'll feel like my knees are about to snap, and I'll be uncomfortable all over." At that moment, Pom-Pom's voice came over the train's intercom: "Warp countdown, five..." At that instant, Pei Guang stood up. Not far away, Himeko, sitting in a single seat, saw him and thought he was trying to experience the warp standing up, just like March 7th. Stelle, influenced by Pei Guang's words, said: "I also feel like if I don't jump, it'll feel like my knees are breaking, and I won't be able to do anything except walk and run. It's uncomfortable not to do something. Pei Guang, do you have a good chant?" Pei Guang: "Actually, I do. Together?" March 7th: "What, what? Don't leave me out! We're a team, remember." Pei Guang: "Of course, I'm including you! I've got a good one." March 7th: "Just like that... Uh? What kind of animal is a kangaroo?" Pei Guang: "Back home, it's an animal that can jump really high. Oh, three seconds left, get ready. I'll tell you more later, besides kangaroos, there's also frozen tilapia back home!" With three seconds left on the countdown, Stelle moved to stand to March 7th's left, and Pei Guang stood on her right. At this point, Welt also noticed what was happening. He saw the two newcomers getting along so well with March 7th, standing side by side. Though they were speaking quietly, Welt and Himeko, who were sitting far away, only caught snippets of their conversation, like "together", "team" and "kangaroo"? But as the countdown reached two, Himeko and Welt exchanged a glance. Over the past two days, Pei Guang and his group had behaved so normally that they had forgotten the unusual antics they had shown before. This was understandable since the trio had only acted crazy at the space station, and their silence over the last two days made everyone think they were now well-behaved kids. But let's not talk about Pei Guang and Stelle, who had joined the train later—March 7th herself was never one to behave. She always caused some kind of mischief during each warp, and now with Pei Guang and Stelle joining in, there was no doubt they were up to something. Just before the warp, Pei Guang took a deep breath, March 7th made up her mind, and Stelle's eyes filled with determination. "Jump like a kangaroo~" x3 In that instant, the warp began. In just the blink of an eye, the train arrived at another planet. At the same moment, Pei Guang, March 7th, and Stelle jumped up, holding hands and raising their arms. Have you ever seen the jumping style from Manga Time Kirara? That's exactly how Pei Guang led them to jump. Pei Guang held March 7th's hand in one hand, and with the other, he took out a camera. At that moment, as they jumped, the three of them beamed with bright smiles, and Pei Guang snapped a photo. As long as you were inside the train during a warp, theoretically, nothing you did would affect the outcome of the warp. But if you acted recklessly, you might get hurt. Why are passengers told to sit still? To prevent injury from reckless behavior. And what was the consequence of Pei Guang, March 7th, and Stelle's reckless behavior? They all ended up falling. And, as the saying goes, the brighter the smile, the harder the fall. Pei Guang took the worst fall of all, as just before he hit the ground, he pulled March 7th, who was losing her balance in mid-air, towards himself, trying to cushion her fall with his own body. However, in that moment of tension, March 7th instinctively summoned her ice shield, so Pei Guang ended up pulling an almost hundred-kilogram block of ice onto himself. "Ugh!" "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" "Oww!" The three of them had fallen, but since none of them were ordinary people, the fall was just a bit painful. "Wow! March, why did you use ice?" March 7th rubbed her sore bottom. "It was instinct! I didn't expect you to cushion my fall." Stelle: "Did you guys even think about me?" Pei Guang: "Of course! My plan was to pull her over, and then she would pull you over too. A bit of physical movement isn't a big deal for me, but who would have thought..." Even with two people's weight, Pei Guang wouldn't have felt much. After crossing over, he realized his body had become quite strong. His physical fitness was excellent—even after being thrown down by the Doomsday Beast, he could still move. So, catching two people was no big deal. But who could have guessed that March 7th would instinctively use ice to protect herself, resulting in him getting hit by it instead. March 7th dismissed her ice shield. "I'm sorry..." Before she could finish apologizing, Pei Guang handed her his pink camera. "What are you apologizing for? I was the one who pulled you guys over. Look at this—how did the picture turn out? It's our first warp together: how could we not capture it?" "This is..." In the camera, just before the warp, there was a photo of the three of them jumping and smiling. "Heh heh~ How's the picture? My photography skills aren't bad, right?" Stelle leaned in to look at the photo, seeing the three of them smiling together. She nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, send me a copy." Pei Guang: "Of course!" Just then, Himeko and Welt walked over. Himeko: "Are you all okay?" Pei Guang stood up: "We're totally fine~ Thanks for asking. Himeko! Do you want to see our photo?" Himeko: "Sure, but don't do anything dangerous like this again." "Dangerous? There's no rule against jumping during a warp..." Himeko paused, realizing Pei Guang was right—there was no rule against jumping. Meanwhile, he enthusiastically planned for the next warp: "Next time, I want to try a roll. I could roll out of a whole star system. Then, when someone tells me to roll out, I can show them the picture and say, 'I've already rolled out of a star system. Where else do you want me to go?'" Stelle: "I think your idea is pretty creative!" Pei Guang: "This is just the beginning. Next, I want to try a mid-air 180-degree spin and land perfectly—it sounds so cool." March 7th: "Next time and the time after that too, I'll definitely trust you to catch me." Pei Guang: "Ahem, this is where I should say, 'March 7th, trust me!'" As Himeko listened to the three of them chatting, she began to ponder. She decided she needed to talk to the conductor about banning certain behaviors during warps—like jumping and rolling, anything that involved both feet leaving the ground. And she would make sure this new rule was posted in a very visible place to prevent others from joining in on such antics. Three people were already enough for Dan Heng to handle: if there were any more, he might just give up entirely!