New Era 2930, midsummer. Eastern Continent, Great Xia, Shu region. Night.
In the red-walled, pink-tiled circular school building, a disheveled black-haired boy in a school uniform stood confidently at the front of a third-year high school classroom, finishing up his lecture.
"…The small, smoke-shrouded destroyer HMS Glowworm, undaunted and ready to die, charged the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. She rammed into the enemy ship and tore a gaping hole in her hull, only to sink shortly afterward due to a boiler explosion. Such a fearless act moved even the enemy—Hipper's captain was so shaken that after the war, he petitioned the British government through the International Red Cross to posthumously award Glowworm's captain a medal… After World War II, Alexander, the former First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, once said of Glowworm and her captain: 'Even the Victoria Cross pales in comparison to the glory of your fearless act!'… 'Engage the enemy wherever they appear'—this is a sacred tradition of the Royal Navy. Even a fragile destroyer like the Glowworm carried this indomitable spirit deep in her heart."
Kuramoto Hikaru closed his notebook. Behind him, the projector froze on an image of a piece of ship equipment.
A dark gray disc-shaped base with three cylindrical tubes mounted on it at adjustable angles. Its description read:
[Smoke Generator (Three-Star Blue), Accuracy -5, Evasion +15]
[A piece of equipment used by destroyer shipgirls to generate magical smoke. While it significantly increases evasion, it also lowers attack accuracy.]
[No development records; high chance to obtain during retrofits of Glowworm, Hoel, and Johnston.]
As Hikaru finished, a balding, chubby middle-aged man was the first to start clapping. "Alright, let's thank Kuramoto Hikaru for his excellent presentation."
Scattered applause followed, mostly from the girls in the class—being from the liberal arts track, they were clapping more for Hikaru's decent looks than the actual lecture.
Looks are justice. Humanity's aesthetic preferences haven't changed for tens of thousands of years.
Hikaru walked over to the teacher with his notebook in hand, flashing a sunny smile. "Sensei, I'll head out first."
The balding teacher patted his elbow with a nod of approval. "Go on, then."
Hikaru was from the science class, and technically should have been neck-deep in college prep. But under the new education reforms, the teacher had selected a few standout students from both the science and liberal arts classes to give mock lectures to each other. Hikaru was chosen thanks to his deep knowledge of Old World history—especially World War II.
Humanity may never have been so obsessed with one particular slice of history.
With that thought, Hikaru shook his head and walked out of the classroom amid playful protests from the girls—though they were mostly just teasing.
…
The night breeze was gentle, like a lover's hair brushing across the cheek.
A beautiful girl with long, flowing black hair slipped out of a classroom and quickly caught up to Hikaru. Slowing her pace, she adjusted a strand of hair near her cheek and clasped her hands behind her back.
"Are destroyers really just cannon fodder?" she asked softly. "That Miss Wilhelmina who gave a lecture last time seemed so powerful—she could even tank a nuclear bomb."
Hikaru glanced at her, the corner of his mouth quirking. "Fuyutsuki Shiraha, do you know Wilhelmina is actually the nickname for the historical destroyer, the USS William D. Porter?"
Shiraha pouted and shook her head.
"Though she was just one of over a hundred Fletcher-class destroyers, the William D. Porter had a bizarrely dramatic career. She once accidentally launched a torpedo at the President, shelled her own fleet headquarters, and was ultimately sunk by an aircraft she herself had shot down. That's why people called her 'the jinx.'"
As he spoke, Hikaru recalled the petite girl who had visited their school recently—Miss Wilhelmina, bragging halfway through her speech about how she had ignited a nuke with a lighter. The principal and staff had turned green on the spot.
According to the bespectacled loli herself, she had just received a ring from her commander—a token of his affection. Ecstatic, she couldn't sleep and decided to light some fireworks in celebration.
In her excitement, she accidentally detonated a ten-kiloton nuclear warhead assigned to the base. The resulting explosion left her severely damaged and caused a panic at the front lines, who thought it was a surprise attack by Abyssals.
Naturally, she couldn't remain at the front. But punishing such a young destroyer girl was also tricky—after all, if she were human, she'd still be in elementary school. Her mental maturity was that of a normal little girl. So they sent her to the rear to give lectures and help inland civilians better understand the front lines.
Unfortunately, Miss Wilhelmina was hopelessly unreliable. The authorities wanted her to describe the intense frontline battles and the hard-won peace in the rear. Instead, she kept boasting that she'd walked out of a nuclear explosion unscathed, making everyone doubt whether this tiny girl could really help defend humanity.
But they had no choice. Even immature girls like her—those born from the memory of warships and known as shipgirls—were humanity's only weapon against the Abyssals.
Shiraha walked a few steps ahead of Hikaru, then leaned on the railing and looked back at him. Her gaze was intense.
"Say, you know so much about Old World history… you must want to become a commander too, right?"
Hikaru gave a small nod, then hesitated and shook his head, a strange smile playing on his lips. "I just miss the old world a lot."
Shiraha blinked rapidly, clearly thinking hard about something. Her stare made him uneasy.
Hikaru turned his head, glancing up at the reddish moon hanging in the sky.
"That won't do," Shiraha said, leaning in close until her face filled his vision. He could feel her breath, and the soft scent of her hair tickled his nose. "They say commanders need to be good at recruiting shipgirls—persuasive, charming. But you're so dense. How are you supposed to win over any girls?"
Hikaru pushed her head away and straightened up. "Maybe some shipgirl out there likes guys like me. Anyway, I see Old Wen waving at the gate. Let's go."
Shiraha huffed and rubbed her head. Then she slipped a card into his chest pocket before skipping away.
"Tomorrow's the Sacred Build Day! You better come!"
Watching her dash back to the classroom, Hikaru reached into his pocket and fished out the rectangular metal card.
[1++ Standard Resource Card. Can be redeemed at any city Shipgirl Affairs Bureau for 1++ resources.]
"1++" was originally military slang used by commanders, but over time it had become official terminology. It referred to 1,000 units each of the four core resources needed by shipgirls: fuel, ammo, steel, and aluminum. These were used to repair shipgirls, restock supplies, develop equipment, and most importantly—construct new shipgirls.
Even if Shiraha's family had the money and connections to acquire such a restricted military resource, a 1++ card would still be worth over a million yuan in Great Xia currency. She had likely smashed open her piggy bank from childhood to get it for him.
It was an incredible gift—perhaps too incredible.
She probably thought that Hikaru, a boy raised in an orphanage, couldn't afford it on his own.
It was a fair guess.
Hikaru weighed the cool card in his hand, a smirk tugging at his lips.
She guessed wrong.
Because he had been reborn from the Old World.
Once a person knows their purpose, they live with clarity. Hikaru was just such a person. Even though being a minor and an orphan made everything more difficult, he had still managed to save up a full million over the years—he didn't need Shiraha to break her piggy bank to "help him chase his dream."
Still, her gesture was one he wouldn't forget.
Slipping the resource card into his pocket, Hikaru turned and looked up at the sprawling Milky Way above. Unlike his memories, this galaxy seemed veiled in an ominous red haze.
So we failed in the end, huh? Otherwise, why would the threat of Abyssal corruption still linger?
The demon tide's resurgence had led to the birth of shipgirls. The New World had become far too magical.
Hikaru clenched the 1++ card in his pocket, lost in memories from many, many years ago.
The world had ended. Civilization had collapsed. And he had lived on.
"Commander… I, too, was once a washed-up commander," Hikaru sighed to himself as he stepped into the dark corridor. "But that was three thousand years ago."