Chapter 14: Chapter 8: Cactus
Sean stared in bewilderment at the endless yellow sand before him, a giant question mark practically hanging over his head.
He instinctively glanced back. No road.
Sand stretched in every direction, as far as the eye could see.
Sean: "???"
’Did I get into some shady car and get sold off?’
’No, that’s not right either.’
He had checked the map when planning the route. There was no desert on the way from Holkaydo to the Black Fruit Rainforest. The closest one was over a thousand kilometers away, and in a completely different direction. ’Could Jim have turned the car around while I was asleep just to bring me out here and abandon me?’
’But why?’
’Even that maniac Quill would at least leave me a laptop to write on if he locked me in a dark room. Jim, however, left me nothing. If he wasn’t after my talent and good looks and just wanted money, wouldn’t it have been better to tie me up in my sleep and demand my bank card number?’
’It doesn’t make sense.’
The most bizarre part was that Sean couldn’t find any footprints or tire tracks. If he really had been double-crossed, the only method he could imagine them using to get him here was an airdrop, like some kind of supply package. That was even more absurd than his enthusiastic neighbor’s cat being able to do a twisting backflip.
The handgun that had been in his pocket was gone, too. He frisked himself, turning his pockets inside out, but found nothing. All he found was a single condom in a matte blue wrapper, stuck to the sole of his shoe.
Sean fell silent.
’The brand is right, it’s the one I bought. I specifically picked the non-lubricated kind. But why is it on the sole of my shoe?’
’And there’s only one.’
’I’m sure I bought a whole box.’
"Could this be a dream?"
Sean wasn’t quite sure.
His memory stopped right before he fell asleep; he had no idea what might have happened after. If this was a dream, it would be his first time being lucid. The problem was, he had no training in this sort of thing. He didn’t know how to test if he was dreaming, and even if he could, he had no idea how to wake himself up.
The desert sun was brutal. Just from standing in place for a few moments, fine beads of sweat had already broken out on Sean’s forehead. He tried punching himself in the face—
"Sss!"
’It hurt.’
His senses were still intact. In addition to the pain, he felt hot, thirsty, and a powerful gnawing hunger. That’s when Sean remembered he hadn’t eaten breakfast. ’Has my body’s real-life condition been carried over into the dream?’
’Or maybe... in a past life, I was also starving alone in a desert, carrying a single condom?’
At that thought, an idea sparked in Sean’s mind. Drawing on past experience, he tried to channel his Magic Power, then thrust out his right hand and clenched it into a tight fist. And then...
Nothing happened.
A breeze drifted by, stirring the fine sand at his feet and ruffling his hair.
The moment was slightly awkward.
Sean: "..."
’Good thing no one else is here.’
He realized he didn’t have a shred of Magic Power in his body.
The way his body felt now was completely different from previous dreams. If before he had felt full, now he was empty... utterly hollow. So hollow, in fact, that the memory of Konina in her languid, long dress, a hint of thigh exposed, now struck him as a little bit sexy.
’Looks like I’m really hungry.’
Well, since it’s come to this...
’First, I need to eat.’
Without knowing for sure whether this was a dream, he couldn’t afford to take any chances. His only choice was to try and stay alive.
The desert was vast. Sean walked for a long time, leaving a long trail of footprints behind him. After cresting several dunes, he finally found a source of food—
In the distance, there was a cactus.
According to his limited wilderness survival knowledge, most cacti were non-toxic and could relieve thirst and hunger—as long as he was certain it was a cactus and not one of the look-alike spurge plants.
Sean wiped the sweat from his brow. His lips were already starting to crack. Thankfully, as he got closer, he saw that the cactus was huge and oddly human-like. It stood as tall as he was, with two thick, vividly green pads branching out to the left and right. The spines even looked soft.
He touched it gently. It was still prickly, but manageable. Gritting his teeth, he imagined the cactus was Quill, grabbed the spiny pad, and with all his might, wrenched it downward—
"SNAP."
The pad snapped off, instantly bursting and splattering a large amount of clear liquid. Water gushed out like a spring.
Sean hadn’t expected the cactus to be so juicy; the liquid ran all over his hands. The color wasn’t the white he’d read about in survival guides, so he had no idea what variety this was. But he couldn’t afford to be picky now. He would die of thirst if he didn’t drink. He quickly lifted the pad, tilted his neck back, and let the liquid pour in.
The juice tasted a little like aloe vera, cool and crisp on his tongue. To Sean, it was as sweet as nectar. He gulped it down, and even when the pad stopped dripping, he wasn’t satisfied. He squeezed it with both hands as if wringing out a wet rag, forcing out a few more drops until the pad was completely dry. Only then did he feel some relief.
Then he remembered the condom.
He had no idea how long it would take to cross this vast desert, or where he might find another cactus. Sean decided he needed to store some water. He took out the condom and broke off "Quill’s" other "hand." The condom quickly filled with cactus juice, swelling into a large, transparent water balloon.
Sean didn’t plan on throwing away the wrung-dry pad, either. It would be his food for the next few days.
He was ravenous. After pulling out a few spines, he took a large bite of the cactus pad.
He had expected the cactus "flesh" to be as crisp and refreshing as its juice, but it was bitter and astringent. Sean, accustomed to cooked food, nearly spat it out. He forced it down with great effort, his face scrunching up in disgust.
"Damn, why does this taste so bad?"
"This won’t do. I have to prepare it somehow."
Sean shielded his eyes with his hand, squinting up at the blinding sun. An idea struck him.
’My big water balloon can focus light.’
「Ten minutes later.」
Sean was eating roasted cactus, charred on the outside and tender on the inside.
The pad was too thick to cook through completely, but the charred surface helped neutralize the bitterness. It still wasn’t tasty, but at least it was edible. And after he finished the entire pad, whether from a placebo effect or not, Sean felt his body surge with Power.
"An oasis is just over the next dune!"
he said, psyching himself up.
The moment the words left his mouth, he was hit by a violent jolt, like a speeding car suddenly slamming on its brakes. His body lurched forward uncontrollably, and he pitched face-first into the sand.
Next second.
Sean’s eyes flew open.
"Sean, Konina, we’re here."
Jim’s voice reached his ears.
Sean looked around in a daze.
The sky outside the car window had grown dark. He seemed to be back in the backseat of the car, the shotgun still cradled in his arms.
’Jim said we’re here... Does that mean we’re at the Black Fruit Rainforest?’
’Did I sleep that long?’
’So, it really was a dream?’
"N-no, that’s not right."
’This wasn’t just a dream.’
Just as the physical state of his unfed body had been carried into the dream, Sean realized the feeling of being filled with Power from that dream had been carried back into reality.
"What’s not right?"
Jim unbuckled his seatbelt and glanced in the rearview mirror, about to ask his question. But then he saw Sean, in the backseat, suddenly raise a hand. And in the center of that palm—a palm with pale, slender knuckles that looked like they belonged to a pianist—a searing ball of flame erupted without warning, illuminating the dark interior of the car.
Jim’s eyes suddenly widened, and his mouth hung open as if he had seen a ghost.
"What the fuck?"
...
