- Monologue
POV Main Character
The light blinded me as I looked up. My hands felt the beach sand, smooth and wet. My feet were washed by the waves that alternately came and went, creating ripples along the shoreline. When I opened my mouth to ask where I was, my voice—which used to be deep since I was a 35-year-old man—had transformed into the voice of a mature woman in her mid-twenties. Even my way of speaking sounded strange.
Where am I?
For a moment, I stared at a ship, one whose real form I had never seen before in person. A ship I could only ever look at through the internet and YouTube videos. It was my favorite ship from one of the games I played: Modern Warships. The vessel was moored, sitting slightly low at the stern. Up top, several planes, drones, and helicopters were parked perfectly on the flight deck. I recognized them immediately; those aircraft were the exact build I used in the game. The Russian MiG-27K jet, the Iranian Qaher drone, the Italian AW249 helicopter, and the Mi-42 Comet helicopter.
Visual memories from the game flashed through my mind, making it impossible for me to process anything. All I could remember was getting into an accident and losing consciousness.
Was I reincarnated? Ah, impossible. But is this an alternate world? I don't know. I still have my doubts. However, when I stood up and looked at my reflection in the water... my form had become a ship girl. Physically, I was manifesting the nation of Japan—or the Sakura Empire, as it's known in Azur Lane.
Amidst my bewilderment, I spotted two girls in the distance. They were dressed in a way I recognized, though I couldn't immediately remember from where. They looked just like my in-game avatars, and one of them was even a ship decal.
----------
POV Narrator
His name is Angga, a 32-year-old man from Surabaya who has worked in the retail service industry for 11 years. His hobbies revolve around playing warship games and watching naval-themed anime. Azur Lane, Kancolle, and Arpeggio of Blue Steel are some of the military and anthropomorphism-themed shows he watches. He has spent a lot of money playing games like Modern Warships, Warship Mobile, and World of Warships: Legends. He even plays the Azur Lane mobile game.
In 2025, he got into a motorcycle accident and fell into a coma. His consciousness became trapped in a strange game world. Here, he has become one of his own custom characters, taking on the form of one of the aircraft carriers he played in the game.
Back to JS Izumo, the name of our main character. Trapped in a mysterious game world in the form of the ship girl he had imagined in the real world. Now she has become that girl, standing in front of the very aircraft carrier she played in the game.
Two girls approached her from a distance. Both shared physical traits similar to hers, but they weren't ship girls like she was.
One of them was dressed like a medieval noblewoman or an adventurous cavalry knight, wearing a pristine white shirt. Over the shirt was a tight black vest with double rows of gold buttons down the front and red trim. A bright red short capelet covered her shoulders, tied at the neck. She wore fitted white trousers, a thick brown leather belt with a large gold buckle, and a small brown leather pouch wrapped around her hips. She had pitch-black over-the-knee boots with cuff details and snug black leather gloves. Her ears, hair, and tail were a bright orange.
Beside her was a little girl who looked more like a red cat than a fox like Izumo. She wore a cheerful Japanese sailor-style school uniform (Seifuku) with idol and tactical touches. It featured a long-sleeved white sailor shirt with a black sailor collar and double gold stripes around the neck. On the front of the collar sat a large, bright red bow with a gold gem in the center. She had black sleeve cuffs with gold stripes and a layered mini skirt—the outer layer black with gold stripes, the inner layer red. A black tactical belt with several small red leather pouches and gear wrapped around her waist. She wore pitch-black thigh-high socks with tiny red gems at the ankles, white chunky platform boots adorned with red and gold decorations, and a black choker with a gold pendant around her neck.
These two characters approached Izumo and knelt in front of her. Izumo looked on in astonishment, her expression silently asking: who are they?
"Hey, don't you recognize us, Commander?" said the orange fox girl.
"Ah, you're finally awake! I've been waiting for you to wake up all day, even going out to find coconuts to make drinks with Sis Jolly," said the red cat girl.
"Jolly? What are your names? Where am I?" asked Izumo.
The two girls looked at each other before finally explaining it once more.
"I'm Sweet Jolly, but you usually just call me Jolly. And she is," she said, pointing at the red cat girl, "Akagami Neko, and you usually call her Akaneko. You're the one who named us. Did you forget? We were running away from a brutal battle and almost sank," the fox girl said, finally introducing herself as Sweet Jolly.
Akaneko nodded her head, agreeing with Jolly.
"Maybe Big Sis Izumo forgot! We got trapped in a storm while fighting enemies on the Lost City map. You accidentally sailed into a tornado and everything went blank. We don't really know how it started either, but the three of us ended up taking on these forms. But Akaneko is happy to be able to talk directly with Big Sis Izumo!" Akaneko said enthusiastically.
Izumo suddenly realized that in the real world, right before her accident, she had been playing Modern Warships on the Lost City map. While retreating because her team was losing, the aircraft carrier she was playing got caught in the map's eternal tornado storm, and the app force-closed. Coincidentally, she had been playing it while taking a break during a road trip. Thinking the game had bugged out, he chose to continue his journey, putting on his favorite playlist: soundtracks from Azur Lane, Kancolle, and Arpeggio of Blue Steel. Then, the accident occurred on that trip, putting him in a coma.
"I remember everything. So I'm trapped here. And I'm lucky to have met the two of you," said Izumo, looking at the two girls. "So, are we going to continue our journey? Naturally, I want to find out what kind of world this is. My stomach is hungry and I'm thirsty."
Akaneko enthusiastically pointed toward the JS Izumo aircraft carrier, which stood majestically, albeit smoking slightly.
"I've already caught plenty of fish and gathered lots of coconuts! Enough to stock up on food for the journey. Let Akaneko prepare the meal, Big Sis Izumo," Akaneko said.
Izumo smiled and nodded. Finally, the three of them walked toward the lifeboat that Jolly and Akaneko had used to transport their catch, ready to load it onto the destroyer carrier.
Along the way, Izumo spoke in her heart.
What awaits us on this journey? Is this an anthropomorphic world? A place where all ships manifest in the form of girls? I will study it and look for help. I just hope I don't run into the aliens that serve as their enemies.
And the two of them arrived beneath the pulley system, ready to hoist the lifeboat up onto the ship.
----------
To be continued
Next Chapter 1: My Adventure in a Different Game World.