The WiFi is out again. That's what, the twentieth time this past two weeks? You would think that after constructing a star fort forward base equipped with internal power generators, firing ranges, motor pools, state of the art command centers, turret and AA towers which repelled 300,000 Imperials, all in a span of a little over a month, that those military engineers would be capable of maintaining simple internet connection across two worlds. Apparently not.

Ah, I'm just ranting. It's not their fault that I didn't think to download Konosuba: Legend of Crimson when I had the chance. Thankfully at least, when the connection died out the stream buffered at the perfect frame of Sato motorboating Sylvia's two gigantic melons. I will need to remember to pass the screenshot along to Kurata later. I'm sure he'll be grateful for it.

So why am I writing? Kuwahara suggested that we should all try out journaling a while ago back when we first came into the Special Region, you know, to record our thoughts and feelings down; helps with stress, supposedly. I was never one to care much about all that though, still don't, but I'm bored now and it was either this or go join Kuribayashi on a CQC course. I've no idea what's up with that girl and her obsession with the bayonet, it's almost as if she doesn't realize we have ARs to the enemy's swords and arrows. Oh well, it's not my place to question my subordinates' behaviours. Or maybe it is, I am their team leader after all.

At any rate, I digress. I decided to give Kuwahara's advice a go here to see if it can cure my boredom. Even if it doesn't, I can always sell this back home to some story-hungry journalist and fund my next doujin convention trip. However, right now I find that I frankly have no idea what to write about. At first I thought to write an ongoing war commentary, but then chose not to because I'm not nearly as observant enough to pay attention to the fine details these things require and would most likely instead show my ignorance more than I already have. Most of the time, I'm just trying to do my job, which in this world sometimes means keeping me and my team's heads intact from a bullet-proof, godzilla-sized, flame-breathing dragon.

So what can I write about? I guess I can start with my first impressions of the Special Region, this strange new world which a few months ago no one on earth could possibly imagine the JSDF stepping foot upon. No one but nationalistic light novel writers, that is.

To sum the Special Region in a word: beautiful. From the snow-capped mountain ranges that look like icy fingers reaching for the skies to the endless roll of grassland and meadows which you won't find in Japan, the Special Region is indeed beautiful, a pure, unadulterated place untouched by modern machinery. But Mt. Fuji is also beautiful. The garden my parents keep in my childhood home is beautiful too. To an otaku who have spent the majority of his life shunning all things nature like me, beauty means nothing.

I guess I should say that it isn't the geography that has made the biggest impression on me, but rather the people. You know, I used to cringe a lot at all the countless of social media posts from old highschool acquaintances of what life-changing experience they had visiting new countries and meeting new people and their culture. Pretentious pricks I thought they were. But now I see what they mean, and I sincerely regret ever judging them. When I met my first neko girl, I realized that no amount of cosplay, roleplay, or fanart could ever capture the deep complexity of such a rich, mosaic specie. It's quite the eyeopener experience to have one purr all over you like you're her snack. Although, I do find their tendency to lick themselves everywhere their tongue could reach quite off putting; it's one of the few things Kurata and I don't agree on. Nevertheless, I would grant them visa-free travel into Japan any day if I could.

They're not the only groups of people who I'd the opportunity to meet during my deployment here however. In the Special Region, a brief stroll through the streets of Italica, you won't be hard-pressed to find dwarfs working the forges, or pooka money-lenders with their tiger-men enforcers. It also turns out that medusaes make excellent maids and counter-spies, something I learned through the courtesy of Countess Myui's hospitality. I would certainly want one to be by my side if I was ever attacked by acrobatic, ninja-assassin, warrior bunnies.

But what about the elves, I hear whoever of you-who so happens to read this-ask? Ah yes, of course, the elves. I predict that that will one of the first things we'll be asked once the Special Region Task Force rotates back home. Well, I will be please to inform you that I'm one of the few people who has somehow earned their trust. I would say my experience with them has been an interesting one, given that the first elf I've ever met calls me Daddy and the second one dresses in a way that almost made me forget I had sworn off 3D girls since the collapse of my marriage. Make of that what you will. Regardless, they are as beautiful as far as stories and fantasy goes; fairer than snow in the case of Tuka, and a solid D cup in the case of Yao (Mari, if you're reading this, don't kill me please).

Anyway, I think I pretty much covered most of my first impressions here. I would have talked more about magic, but from what I've seen so far it's pretty useless. Wind magic? Sure, it does get a bit hot at times, but it's not like our rooms don't have air conditioners. Levitation? Handy, but you'll have a hard time finding a mage willing to act as your personal porter. Well, I sort of did with Lelei, but I'm not going to admit that I keep her around only to carry my stuff; there's many reasons why I keep a weird, emotionless girl in my entourage besides for the sake of it. I mean I already have two elves and a loli goddess so it only made sense to complete the set. At any rate, I guess the only useful magic is Rory's superstrength and immortality. But I find that having an orgasm every time someone dies near you to be pretty embarrassing, especially during moments of propriety. I reckon that man who suffers a hundred orgasm a day back on Earth can relate.

With all of that said, I think I'll go ahead and end this journal entry here. It seems the WiFi has come back on.

Not going to lie, Kuwahara was right. Writing turned out to be more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Maybe there's just something about putting your thoughts down on paper rather than keeping it all bottled inside of you. It's definitely got me to be more reflective than ever before. I might try it out again another day when the internet goes off again. Most likely it'll be tomorrow. But until then, time to watch some crazy-headed girl with explosion magic.

Author's Notes: This is just a side-project which I thought will be cool to work alongside my main writing projects. With all that has happened in the past month, I have been unable to write as often as I'd like to, so a project like this is perfect for getting back into writing. I will update this whenever I'm inspired, but will be mainly working on my main projects. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it. Take care and stay safe!