Welcome to the game. You are just in time to immediately face the most confusing part of this board: the cactus shortcut. Please read the section about it on the original post. I did my best to explain how it works there, but it's probably not super clear, so I'll tell you all your options. You reached this junction with 5 spaces left, and there are also 5 possible paths you can take:
1. If you skip the cacti and continue upward, you'll land on this blue space.
2. If you enter the shortcut and choose to purposely run into the first cactus you meet, you'll be launched to the right side of the map. Choosing to head left, you'll pass the eastern star space and land on the blue space just past the shop.
3. If you do the same as 2, but go down towards Luigi instead, you will land on the blue space near him.
4. If you successfully jump over the first cactus (D20 roll required) and purposely run into the second cactus, you'll be launched to the left side of the map, pass the western star space, and land on the blue space over there.
5. If you successfully jump over both cacti (two D20 rolls required), you'll head upward and land on the item space.
Note that you can't currently afford a star, but visiting either star space will give everyone intel on which one is real.
View attachment 13461