Black spot

'So many places to make a challenge, and they choose a desert.', thought Gen just after Dehji had disappeared.

'Well, complaining won't solve anything. I better start looking for this 'I don't know what thing' at once. Now, how am I supposed to explore this desert? The best strategy is to start from a corner and cover the desert little by little, but Dehji left me in the middle of the desert.

Gen then started to look around, thinking, 'I'd better pick one side and focus on going that way until I reach the end of the desert. That way, I can better organize myself to explore the entire desert. Now, which side should be the best? Ah, I got it. I'll go in the direction where the sun is on one of my sides, that way, at no time will I have to walk towards it.'

Gen then positioned himself with his back to the sun and thought, 'Now, which way do I choose, right or left?'

Gen then took the scarf off his face, held it up high, and waited. After a few moments, the scarf flew to the left, and then he thought, 'It seems that the wind is coming from the right. Let's go to the left then, so I can avoid eating sand.', and then he started to walk to the left.

After a few minutes of walking, Gen began to think, 'How will the people react to not seeing me for a year? I bet Stanley will be worried after a couple of weeks, and maybe he'll even organize a group to look for me.'

'Lapis will probably be very sad and think the worst, but her family will certainly help her with this. Marco, on the other hand, will probably say that I knew the risk I was taking and that this kind of thing happens every day, but inside, he will be just as sad or maybe even worse than Lapis, hahaha.'

'Balkan and Miss Anna, on the other hand, will probably be unconcerned. They took me in when I arrived in town, and they know I won't fall that easy.'

'As for Lina ..., so much could happen that I don't even know, maybe she will be sad and cry for me, pfft, yeah, as if. She will probably come looking for me, just so she can kill me with her own hands, hahaha. Or maybe she believes that I won't die and is waiting for me to come back to make my life a living hell, which is quite possible too.'

Gen then touched his lips and thought, 'Just remembering the kiss I gave her makes me break out in a cold sweat. I don't know what came over me at the time. It was like it wasn't me. Maybe I put up with her teasing for so long that I reached my limit. Thank goodness I got out of there on the spot. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened.'

'On second thought, it might be good to spend a year here so that she forgets about it and doesn't hit me much when I come back. She might even miss me, and when I come back, maybe she'll give me a welcome kiss, hahaha.'

'Ahh, a year... that's a long time. I'll miss them. During this year that I'm here, the only person I'll have to talk to will be Dehji.'

Gen started to remember the conversations he had with Dehji so far, and after remembering, he felt a shiver down his spine and thought, 'Yeah, looks like it's going to be a long year. I'd better not even think about it, or I'll lose my motivation.'

After that, Gen continued walking in the same direction for a few hours until, at one point, he stopped and thought, 'I'd better stop and rest a bit.'

He then started to look around, thinking, 'Is there any shadow around here?'

After looking for a while and not finding any shadow, Gen gave up and thought, 'Looks like there isn't any shadow around here. I don't remember seeing any shadows since arriving. How strange.'

Gen then thought, 'Well, if there isn't any shade around here, I'll just have to sit right here in the miserable sun.', and so he sat down.

He then took his canteen and started to drink some water, and after a few minutes, he stood up, thinking, 'I guess there's no point in stopping to rest. It's so hot that maybe I'm even worse off than before. I'd better get on my way.'

Gen then thought, 'Should I change direction? Hm, better not. I've come so far. It's not because I haven't found anything that I need to change my strategy.', and so he continued on the same path.

After more than a few hours of walking in the same direction, Gen still saw nothing that caught his attention, much less the end of the desert, and then thought, 'How big is this desert? It's not possible that it's the size of a normal desert, right? Because if it is, you can forget about a year. It's going to take me at least four years to go through it all.'

He then continued for a few more hours until, at one point, he noticed a black dot on the horizon and thought, 'Finally, something different in this sea of sand. If all goes well, that's what I've been looking for.'

Gen then started walking towards it, but after a few hours, he didn't seem to get any closer, and then he thought, 'It looks like I'm a really far from that spot. From the amount I've walked, it looks like it will take me at least five days to get there. Well, at least it's a start.'

Gen was about to continue towards the point when suddenly Dehji appeared beside him and said, "Hey Gen, did you enjoy your day in the desert?"

"Dehji, why are you here? It hasn't been a day yet. The sun isn't even out yet."

"And it won't be. One part of the challenge is to endure this sun on your body. But anyway, are we going back? Or do you want to start another day of the challenge now?"

Gen then said, "No way. I have a year in here. I don't need to be in such a hurry. Let's go back."

"Ok, come with me then.", said Dehji, and then walked through a door that appeared out of nowhere.

Gen followed him, and after going through the door, he reached the room that gave access to the other facilities.

He then started toward the kitchen, thinking, 'I'll finally get something decent to eat today.', but before he could enter, Dehji stopped him and said, "I know you must be starving, but you can't go into the kitchen like this."

Gen then looked at himself and saw that he really did have sand all over his body, and then said, "You're right. I'd better take a shower."

"I know I'm right. Now get going before my nose falls off.", said Dehji, covering his nose.

Gen then went towards his room and took some clothes from his backpack. He took it to the bathroom, and when he went in there, his eyes widened.

Gen looked around and said, "What is this? Why is this bathroom so big? It's big enough for about twenty people to take a shower at the same time.

Gen then took off his clothes and got into the water, and then he said, "Wow! The temperature is perfect. It's tough having to spend a whole day in that desert, but at least the accommodations are good. In fact, they are even exaggerated."

Gen then finished bathing, dried himself on a towel that was already in the bathroom, and then said, "Even the towel is warm. Later, I have to congratulate Dehji on the quality of this bathroom."

Gen then put the clothes he took with him to the bathroom, left his room, and went towards the kitchen.

When he got to the kitchen, Gen saw Dehji eating, he then sitted down in front of him and asked, "What are you eating?"

"Nothing much, just bread with cheese and ham. Would you like one?"

"Sure."

"Ok, there's bread on the right, and the cheese and ham are on the left, behind the fruit."

"Oh, I thought you were offering to make one for me."

"Pfft! Please don't make jokes now, Gen. I have food in my mouth. Hahaha, but anyway, that was a good one."

Gen frowned at what he said but put it aside and asked, "Dehji."

And Dehji said, "Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you why everything here is so out of proportion. The bedroom, the bathroom, the training room, and even this kitchen. It doesn't seem that these things were made with one person in mind. Was it common in the old days to have several people here at the same time?"

"It wasn't that common, but it did happen sometimes."

"Hm, got it."

"But that's not why everything is so exaggerated."

"Really? Why is it like this then?"

"It's your fault."

"My fault?"

"Yes. When you entered that dark room that we went through, you were analyzed, and then these rooms were created based on your standard of normality."

"Normality? There's a mistake then because I've never seen anything like this in my life.

Dehji was about to say something but stopped in the middle as he looked into Gen's eyes and said, "That's right, there must have been some mistake. Well, you'd better rest after you eat. You must be dead from the challenge and your trip here."

"I really am."

"Well, enjoy your rest. You have one day before you have to enter the challenge again."

"One day there, one day here, hmmm, at least that's fair."

"Yeah. Well, I'm off. Good rest."

"Thanks."

Dehji then left the kitchen and thought, 'Fair, pfft. I want to see you say that after tomorrow, hahaha.'