The glaring sunlight, unfamiliar text, and variety of people dressed in bizarre outfits all around made Lu Chen's brain short-circuit for a second. Wasn't he up late grinding away at a video game? How could he wake up to find the world completely changed?
"Excuse me... brother, where is this?" Lu Chen tentatively asked an older man passing by, only to receive a baffled look in return. The man replied with a string of unintelligible chatter in a language Lu Chen couldn't understand. Lu Chen smiled awkwardly, realizing he seemed to have landed in a place where he didn't know the language.
Without a phone, without the internet, and with even basic communication out of reach, an overwhelming panic wrapped around Lu Chen's heart like vines. He walked aimlessly down the street, trying to find a trace of familiarity, only to find everything around him as incomprehensible as an alien script. The peddlers shouting their wares and the children laughing and playing all turned into jarring noise in his ears, heightening his anxiety and unease.
Just as Lu Chen was on the verge of despair, he noticed a strange symbol painted on the sign of a shop at the corner of the street—one he felt he had seen somewhere before. Holding onto a last shred of hope, he stepped inside and found the shop crammed with all sorts of bizarre trinkets. A short, plump man with a waxed handlebar mustache was sitting behind the counter, clicking away on an abacus.
"Hello, excuse me..." Lu Chen tried greeting him in every language he could think of. Yet the man merely looked up in confusion and replied in the same incomprehensible tongue.
Could it be... that no one here understood a single word he said? Lu Chen's heart sank completely.
Lu Chen's heart plummeted to rock bottom. Was he destined to be trapped in this language-barrier world forever? No, he couldn't give up! He clenched his fists, stepped decisively out of the shop, and continued searching the town for help.
He weaved through the bustling crowd, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings in hopes of finding someone he could communicate with. He tried using simple body language to convey his predicament to passersby, but was mostly met with puzzled stares and headshakes.
Just as Lu Chen was about to give up, he noticed a crowd gathered around a roadside stall, seemingly buying some rare novelty. He stepped closer and saw that the stall owner was a tall woman with a mane of fiery red curls, piercing emerald-green eyes, and exotic clothing that accentuated her passionate and free-spirited demeanor.
"Perhaps she can understand me?" A flicker of hope ignited in Lu Chen's heart. He squeezed through the crowd and tried asking her for help in various languages, but the result was still disappointing.
"What can I get for you, customer?" Seeing the anxious look on Lu Chen's face, the red-haired woman set aside her work and asked in a language Lu Chen had never heard before.
Unable to understand what she was saying, Lu Chen could only shake his head helplessly, pointing at his own mouth and then at her ears to convey his inability to communicate.
The red-haired woman seemed to understand his meaning. She flashed a friendly smile and pointed to a stool nearby, motioning for Lu Chen to sit down.
Seeing this, a spark of hope reignited in Lu Chen. He quickly thanked her and sat down on the stool.
The red-haired woman took a wooden board and a few differently colored stones from behind the counter, then began arranging them on the board, using expressive facial expressions and gestures to explain something as she went.
Though Lu Chen didn't understand her words, he could feel her kindness and patience. He watched her movements intently, trying to grasp her meaning.
As it turned out, the red-haired woman was a merchant named Cana. She traveled frequently to various regions and had therefore picked up quite a few local languages. While she couldn't fully comprehend Lu Chen's speech, she was willing to help him learn the local tongue.
Over the next few days, Cana became Lu Chen's language tutor. She taught him the local language in the simplest, most accessible way possible, starting from basic pronunciation to simple vocabulary and grammar.
Lu Chen studied with intense dedication, absorbing new knowledge like a sponge. Still, as a beginner, his progress was painfully slow, which left him feeling quite frustrated.
"Don't rush, take it one step at a time. Learning a language takes time," Cana said, noticing his discouragement and offering encouragement.
Lu Chen nodded. He knew Cana was right, but he couldn't help feeling anxious inside. He desperately wanted to master this language so he could figure out as soon as possible where he was and how to return to his own world.
One day, while Lu Chen was wandering through the market, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar item—a uniquely shaped metal badge that he had once seen in...
Just as Lu Chen wanted to ask the price, he suddenly realized he couldn't express himself fluently in the local language. He took a deep breath, desperately tried to recall the pronunciation Cana had taught him, and asked in a stiff, awkward tone, "How... much... is... this...?"
His pronunciation was far from standard, drawing a burst of laughter from the people around him. Lu Chen was instantly overwhelmed with shame, wishing he could crawl into a crack in the ground.
The harsh laughter around him pierced his self-esteem like needles. His face flushed beet red, and he wanted nothing more than to vanish from the spot instantly. He waved his hands in a panic, trying to explain, but the more he tried, the messier it got, attracting even more mocking gazes.
Just then, a hand gently rested on his shoulder. Lu Chen looked back to see Cana standing behind him with a gentle smile on her face. "Don't worry, take your time," she softly comforted him, then turned to the vendor and inquired about the price of the badge in fluent local dialect.
The vendor was a short, stout middle-aged man. He glanced sideways at Lu Chen and quoted an absurdly high price in a raspy voice. Cana frowned slightly and was about to start bargaining when Lu Chen tugged at her sleeve.
"Forget it, Cana, let's go," Lu Chen said quietly, a hint of dejection in his voice. He had realized that even if he learned the language, he would still remain an out-of-place outsider in this strange land.
Cana gave him a deep look and said nothing more, simply patting the back of his hand gently before leading him away from the stall.
They continued strolling through the market. The dazzling array of goods kept Lu Chen's eyes darting from one thing to the next, but he couldn't muster any interest. His mind replayed the scene of being laughed at over and over, filling him with a sense of failure.
"Watch out!" Cana suddenly cried out, reaching out to pull Lu Chen aside.
Stumbling a few steps, Lu Chen nearly fell. He raised his head just in time to see a tall figure brush past him, knocking over the basket of fruit he had been holding. Bright red fruits rolled across the bluestone pavement, filling the air with a sweet, cloying fragrance.
"How do you walk? Are you blind?" Lu Chen angrily lifted his head, only to freeze the moment he saw the other man's face.
Standing before him was a burly man with a mop of unruly red hair, a face full of coarse flesh, and a fierce, jagged scar slashing across the outer corner of his left eye, giving him a menacing look. The man was glaring down at the fruit on the ground with a cold sneer at the corner of his mouth that made one's blood run cold.
"H—hello..." Lu Chen's voice trembled slightly as he realized he had crossed paths with someone he shouldn't have.
"Hello? You smash my things and think a simple 'hello' lets you off the hook?" The red-haired man spun around, grabbed Lu Chen by the collar, lifted him off the ground, and threatened him in a harsh tone.
Lu Chen instantly felt a wave of suffocation wash over him. He struggled desperately, but to no avail. He knew trouble was about to strike...