Azur Lane: The Adventure of the MS München

Small Talk (targeted to the readers)

The room is shrouded in darkness, the walls and corners swallowed by shadows that seem almost tangible in their depth. The air is thick, carrying a palpable stillness that amplifies every small sound, making it echo slightly in the confined space. The walls are indistinguishable in the darkness, their presence felt more than seen, creating an oppressive sense of confinement.

In the center of this dark void stands a solitary table, plain and unadorned, its edges sharp against the encroaching darkness. The surface of the table is bare, its material hard and cold to the touch. Directly above the table, a single light bulb hangs from the ceiling by a thin, frayed cord. The light it casts is harsh and unforgiving, a stark white that contrasts sharply with the surrounding darkness. It forms a perfect circle of illumination on the surface of the table, its edges fading into the blackness that surrounds it.

Beneath the table sits a lone chair, its design simple and utilitarian. The chair is positioned directly under the light, its wooden frame casting long, angular shadows that extend to the edges of the room, where they are swallowed by the darkness. The seat and back of the chair show signs of wear, suggesting that it has been in this position for a long time, waiting for someone to occupy it.

The light bulb occasionally flickers, its brief moments of instability creating an unsettling effect, causing the shadows to dance and the table to momentarily disappear into the darkness before reappearing. The overall atmosphere is one of stark isolation and unease, as if the room itself holds secrets waiting to be discovered, or perhaps better left undisturbed.

Suddenly, a new light shines into the room as a hidden door, covered by the pitch black, opens. From it emerges a male individual, dressed in a neater uniform suit and hat than one would see at public presentations and outings. As he steps out of the blinding light, the door closes behind him, once again leaving everything but the chair and table in darkness. Soon, the man appears to move the chair and sit in it, but his face is still darkened by the hat. On the hat and uniform are the emblems of St. Florian, patron saint of firefighters and other rescue workers, including volunteers and random Samaritans.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Clearly, this is a set that some may never have expected to appear. Neither did I. To be fair, I should not be here, let alone writing something that you have read or simply skipped to see this."

He shifts a little in his chair and continues. "I am truly grateful for all the people who have read all the chapters. Thanks to you, you have given me a reason to keep writing the chapters. It is really quite unfortunate that this story has come to an end, but to be fair, a story has to come to an end. A story without an ending isn't really a story, it's just a futile attempt to be one.

In the brief pause while he thinks of what to say, he removes the hat, but the face is still obscured by the darkness. Only a glimmer of eyeglasses is visible, indicating a slight visual impairment. "The only reason I decided to write such a story was due to the rapidly evolving situation of Wattpad and its rather confusing policies, which discouraged many people from writing. This had the unexpected effect of random people entering such sites not for romance, but for fanfictions - hell, I only found this site by accident a few years ago while browsing Ao3 - also an accident, so to speak - and I was shocked at the amount of fanfictions.

However, as I said, the reason I started writing was the sudden decrease of stories available, but also the great potential a simple story could have if written correctly. Of course, as some have noted, writing errors do occur from time to time. I am human like everyone else. I have mistakes, you have mistakes, everyone has mistakes.

He clasps his hands tightly and takes a deep breath. "All I want to say is, thank you for coming. That's not to say I'm disappearing - I'm not a traveler, and I've already found a job and gotten my driver's license and my first car a few weeks ago, the moment you see this... rather obscure videotape."