This was the first scene of the first episode in the anime: a black mining vehicle driving a narrow road over rugged moorlands under dark clouds.

In the scene, Crys was driving and Sorry Man sat on the back between Rainwoman and Mirim. Kimono and Test Subject weren't in the scene because they were waiting at a mountain pass, at the dried-up waterfalls.

They were in the middle of a big weapons deal: Crys' side were the dealers, Rain's side were the customers.

And that's when the routine was broken: Starfish Mansion happened and kicked the main plot forward. Buyers and sellers were forced to fight together and explore the strange situation.

In this world, things were different.

I was the one driving the autopalanquine.

Rain sat next to me on Sorry Man's lap because she insisted on taking the front seat for some reason.

Crys, Kimono, Dancer and Mirim were squeezed on back seats.

I had to apologize to everyone about this arrangement. I was so excited to get the authentic, original car that it completely slipped my mind that there were seven of us instead of four.

Well, Kimono looked happy sitting on her brother's lap and Dancer looked happy holding Mirim on his lap... Is this a teenage cruise night at a parking lot?! Your designated driver with a head wound might still be under the influence of an unknown drug, you know...

Thinking back to the original story, it was a bit out of character for Kimono to accept Rain's demand that Crys must meet her alone and drive them to a remote location in the mountains to seal the arms deal. I guess both sides were getting desperate at that point. They were all wanted criminals with large bounties on their heads and living in semi-exile.

An enemy of my enemy is my ally – that's all they needed to work together, I guess.

In the anime, the first scene happened after Caliph Tze was already immortal, so the main mission of the Revolution Movement was basically doomed from the beginning, but now we were here a lot earlier.

“I'm slowing down, we are close to the zone.”

I recognized the view instantly and had to fight against the impulse to go faster. No need to take risks or roll the car over. Play casually, play casually.

On my right... the grove of trees where Ivorythief and Reavertooth appeared for the first time in the anime.

Down the road... the shallow lake where the autopalanquine was eventually dumped.

In the distance... the snowcapped mountains and fells that formed a natural border between Loönois moorlands and the skeleton-clad No-Lands areas.

At the top of one of the distant mountains... a layered scaffolding of an unfinished slave tower that was just background art outside playable area in the game.

On my left... gently sloped heathland hills textured with dark green grass. That's where we need to hike to find the entrance of Starfish Mansion.

“The car will stop by itself any moment now... I'll keep to the right side of the road...”

We approached.

Then we approached some more.

Suddenly, just before the edge of the grove, the car stopped. The engine died like its power was cut off and the brakes locked the heavy wheels automatically.

“Pixel perfect landing! We are here!”

I pulled up the hood of my rain cloak and stepped out of the car. My companions followed my example, got out and observed the area with their weapons at ready.

“What then?” (Crys)

“We'll wait for Sorry Man to make his move. Let him just stand over there.”

Everyone looked at Sorry Man. He just stood on the road next to the car like a zombie, staring at nothing in particular.

If this were the game, I would have already kicked and pushed him in the right direction, but I didn't dare to do that with Rain watching.

Looking around, a wave of nostalgia washed over me. The scenery of Loönois Anomaly was so familiar, yet so alien at the same time.

As a fan of picturesque aesthetic, I couldn't help but think Claude Lorrain's paintings and Claude glass; a black mirror that travelers on sightseeing trips used when observing landscapes, but turned their backs to the actual landscapes – like tourists taking selfies before cameras existed.

In the anime, this was the safe area where the main characters always returned. In the game, this was the place where you could always come back to collect food and ammo between missions.

This place was the closest thing to home I had in this world.

“...This must be the place, Starfish Home is where I want to be...”

I started humming an old song, and Kimono and Mirim went back to sit inside the car. Standing in the rain doing nothing wasn't entertaining enough to you, huh?

Crys and Dancer kept examining the autopalanquin. Yeah, kick the tires, that's what buyers used to do back in the days of nonexistent quality control when swift kick could deflate a substandard tire.

We already stole the car, it's too late to get buyer's remorse now.

“Speedy, how long do we have to wait?” (Dancer)

“Can't say for certain, the idle animation should kick in any moment now...”

It seemed like nothing was happening. Without interactive background soundtrack, all we could hear here in the middle of nowhere were the ambient sounds of rain and wind.

Suddenly, Sorry Man raised his head and took a step forward, then another step.

“Thar he blows.”

Kimono noticed Sorry Man moving and stepped out of the car immediately.

“So it actually worked.” (Kimono)

“Were you doubting me? After all we've gone through together?”

“Tch.” (Kimono)

“Hop on my back, I'll carry you this time.”

Kimono punched my arm.

“Ouch! Why so violent?”

“...You're so damn defenseless.” (Kimono)

“I'm a bladerunner, Kim-chan, it's the only life I know.”

Slowly, but surely, Sorry Man walked off the road and up the knoll.

Rain had an enamored expression on her face, but when she noticed I was watching her instead of Sorry Man, her face turned back to its scornful self.

Everyone is such a tsundere queen.

We followed Sorry Man up the escarpment, making sure not to slip on the wet grass. He walked with rigid steps and continued northward for a while, then changed his path a bit and approached a tapered patch of forest.

“It should happen before we reach the treeline.”

Just when I said that, Sorry Man stopped.

For a moment it looked like he was trying to catch an insect flying in front of him, but then he extended his hand –

– and grabbed the invisible door handle.

Tettere~te! You found a secret area! Starfish Mansion aka Yokai Mansion aka Witch House.

A magical door to a magical house in a magical pocket dimension.

“Everyone, take a look inside the corridor first. That's how the house works: when you see the inside of the house once, you get a permanent ability to see the outside of the house as well.”

What you saw outside after taking a look inside was a facade of a spooky haunted mansion from the Victorian Era – three-stories tall, black curtains in all windows, two one-eyed lion statues with their paws up guarding the front door.

“Wow...” (Dancer)

“T-this is where we're going to live, big brother?” (Mirim)

“Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now the only ones in the world with the ability to see this ghost mansion and open the door. It's a secret area, so keep it like that, hush hush. If outsiders walk around here, they'll just slip through the house like it's not there.”

“What are the measurements of this place? How long is the hallway?” (Crys)

“Crys, your next line is going to be: it's bigger on the inside.”

“It seems so.” (Crys)

Crys was playing it cool, but I knew that right now he was the most excited person in the party.

We were finally home.

Tadaima.

As said before, there were many fan theories about Strangers.

One of the popular ones was that they were a bunch of evil timelords, and Starfish Mansion was their multidimensional Tardis.

Another popular theory was that they were just your regular evil colonialists from far future who returned to the past to exploit their ancestors.

Third theory was obviously... ancient aliens.

Fourth fan theory stated that Strangers were simply players from a higher overworld. In this theory, the Starfish Mansion was the Inventory World where Strangers could store not only weapons and items, but also whole rooms, buildings, territories, or even continents.

Fifth theory was the most elaborate one and involved speculation about time travelers trying to save the future by sacrificing the past. The lands of Mu, Ur and Fireland were actually the “real” lost continents from real world (Mu, Lemuria and Atlantis, respectively) that were torn out of reality like pages from a history book and forgotten the same way Strangers were forgotten here. Also, the trenches of World War I were somehow psychically connected to the dungeon mines... and so on.

Crazy fan theories aside, I was both excited and afraid that I might be able to solve the backstory of Strangers in this world because there were no source material limits.

Starfish Mansion was full of original source material to explore.

“All right, before anyone goes inside, I need to give a serious warning: do not open any doors on your own! This is very, very important, so I will repeat it: do not ever open any doors in this place without asking me first. Got it? I will paint X-marks on the doors later to remind you about this. Am I being clear enough? In this world, some doors should never be opened! Opening the wrong doors here will wreck the whole run. Mirim!”

“Wh-what?” (Mirim)

“I bestow upon you the title of the Door Guardian. Your duty from now on is to make sure the doors stay shut until I, and only I, give the permission to open them.”

“...Me?” (Mirim)

“Yes, you, because I know you won't open doors alone. Everyone else here slipped at least once in the future and that caused whole episodes worth of unnecessary drama and weak filler. Crys and Rain, please don't take this personally, but this needs to be repeated because it's important. Do not open doors randomly... pretty please?”

“Understood.” (Crys)

“Yeah, yeah...” (Rain)

“Rain, you especially need a special warning. Do not kick the doors! Do not shoot the doors! Do not throw enemies or furniture against doors! Those rooms are locked for a reason and they must stay locked. Mirim, watch your big sister closely.”

“A-alright.” (Mirim)

Crys understood that I was serious about this when I took an arrogant tone instead of making bad jokes, but I still wasn't sure about Rain. She wasn't on drugs, but the strangeness of this place combined with Sorry Man's new, more active behavior would probably cause stress.

I can only trust myself and Mirim on this. And Sorry Man, I can trust in his passivity.

With that preamble, we stepped over the threshold in the foyer. Time to dump some basic info for the new recruits.

“Welcome to Starfish Mansion. I'm your tour guide Speedrun, please treat me kindly. Please keep your hands inside the rails at all times. Normal etiquette would be to leave your shoes here, but let's skip that... Now, after the antechamber, the first two rooms at your right are normal mansion rooms. You can even look out of the windows and see a nice view over the moorlands... On your left side, there's Kitchen; a perfectly safe room. There are edible, preserved food packs in the cabinets and in the cold storage space under the floor... Here, on your right, a room called Parlor Room. It's normal otherwise, but there's one trap there I need disarm first. After I've done that, you may light up the fireplace, dry your rain cloaks and warm your toes.”

In the game, the parlor room was actually called Murder Mystery Room, but I'll make sure the Hercule Poirot -style murder mystery episode won't happen.

“Next, there's a Warehouse Room on the right, perfectly safe room as well. On the left, there's Skylight Room, a double bedroom with a skylight. And that's safe to use as well. As you can see, the first rooms are pretty safe – “

“What about Sorry Man? Where's he going?” (Kimono)

Sorry Man continued to walk down the long straight corridor without stopping and Rainwoman walked right behind him.

Was Rain holding his hand? No, she had just lightly grabbed Sorry Man's sleeve like a shy Japanese bride because she didn't want to stop his momentum.

“Okay, let's leave the detailed room introductions for later. It seems we're doing an early skip to housekeepers in the Petrified Garden. Everyone, stay in the same group and follow Sorry Man straight ahead. Do not wander off to the side corridors on your own. And even if some of the doors are open, do not enter the rooms!”