Cactus (Thanks [xmukmb] for the generous reward!)

Sean stared blankly at the endless yellow sand before him, a giant question mark seemingly imprinted on his forehead.

He instinctively turned his head to look behind him. There was no path.

Sand stretched in all directions, as far as the eye could see.

Sean: "???"

Had he gotten into the wrong ride and been sold out?

That didn't seem right either.

He had checked the map when planning his route. The journey from Holkodo to the Black Berry Rainforest didn't pass through any desert. The closest one was over a thousand kilometers away, and in the opposite direction of the Black Berry Rainforest. Could Jim have turned the vehicle around while he was asleep just to dump him here?

What was the point?

Even the deranged Quill would at least leave him a laptop to write in the little black room. Jim, however, had left him nothing. If it wasn't for his looks and talent, and purely for money, wouldn't it be better to tie him up while he slept and demand his bank account number?

It didn't add up.

The most bizarre thing was that Sean couldn't find any footprints or tire tracks. If someone had set him up, the only way he could imagine being brought here was being air-dropped like supplies, which was even more ridiculous than his enthusiastic neighbor's cat doing a somersault.

The handgun in his pocket was also gone. He searched his clothes and pants thoroughly, finding nothing. In the end, he only found a single frosted blue-packaged condom stuck to the sole of his shoe.

Sean fell silent.

It was the same brand he bought, the one specifically chosen for being lubricant-free. But why was it on the sole of his shoe?

And only one.

He had bought a whole box.

"Is this a dream?"

Sean was unsure.

His memory was still stuck on the moment before he fell asleep. He didn't know if anything had happened after he passed out. If it was a dream, this would be the first time he realized he was dreaming within a dream. But the critical issue was that he hadn't received any training for this. He didn't know how to verify if it was a dream, and even if he knew, he wouldn't know how to wake up.

The desert sun was exceptionally scorching. Just standing there for a moment, fine beads of sweat had already formed on Sean's forehead. He tried punching himself in the face—

"Hiss!"

It hurt.

His senses were still intact. Besides the pain, he felt hot and thirsty, and a strong hunger gnawed at his stomach. Sean then remembered he hadn't eaten breakfast that morning. It seemed his real-world physical state had been brought into the dream?

Or perhaps, in his past life, he had also been alone in the desert, starving, and carrying a condom?

Thinking this, Sean's mind stirred. Following his usual experience, he tried to channel his Magic, extended his right hand, clenched it tightly, and then...

Nothing happened.

A gust of wind blew, rustling the fine sand beneath his feet and his hair.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Sean: "..."

Good thing there was no one else around.

He discovered he had no Magic within him at all.

This time, the sensation in his body was completely different from his previous dream state. If before he felt full, now he felt empty... extremely empty. To such an extent that thinking about Conina, wearing her lazy long dress with her thighs half-exposed, now seemed a little sexy.

It seemed he was truly hungry.

Since things had come to this...

He should eat first.

Without knowing for sure if this was a dream, he couldn't afford to gamble. He could only try his best to survive.

This desert was vast. Sean walked for a long time, leaving a long trail of footprints behind him. He crossed several sand dunes and finally found food—

There was a Cactus in the distance.

According to his limited knowledge of wilderness survival, most cacti were non-toxic and could quench thirst and hunger, as long as he could identify it as a cactus and not confuse it with plants from the Euphorbiaceae family.

Sean wiped the sweat from his brow. His lips were already a little cracked. Fortunately, as he approached, he found that this Cactus was very large and quite anthropomorphic, as tall as he was. Its two fleshy leaves were on the left and right, fresh green and plump. The thorns seemed soft.

He touched it gently. Although it still pricked him a bit, it was within his tolerance. So, gritting his teeth, he treated the Cactus like Quill, grabbed the thorny fleshy leaf, and used all his strength to break it off—

"Snap."

The leaf broke off with a sound, bursting open and splashing out a large amount of clear liquid. It flowed like a spring.

Sean hadn't expected the Cactus to be so juicy. It drenched his hand, and the color wasn't white as described in related materials. He wondered what species it was. At this point, he couldn't afford to be picky. If he didn't drink water soon, he would die of thirst. He quickly lifted the leaf, tilted his head back, opened his mouth, and stuck out his tongue to catch it.

The juice tasted a bit like aloe vera, cool and refreshing, making Sean feel blissful. He drank greedily, gulping it down until the leaf couldn't drip any more water. He still wasn't satisfied. He squeezed both hands like wringing a rag, forcing out more juice. Only after he had completely squeezed the leaf dry did he feel somewhat better.

Then he remembered the condom in his pocket.

In such a vast desert, he didn't know how long it would take to get out, and he didn't know where the next Cactus would be. Sean decided to pack some water first. He took out the condom and broke off the Cactus's other "hand." The condom was quickly filled with the Cactus's juice, swelling into a large, transparent water balloon.

Sean didn't plan to throw away the shriveled leaf either. This would be his meal for the next few days.

He was truly starving. He casually plucked off some thorns and bit into the fleshy leaf.

He had expected the Cactus's "flesh" to be as cool and refreshing as its juice. Instead, it was bitter and astringent, nearly making Sean, who was used to cooked food, spit it out. It took him a great deal of effort to swallow it, his face contorting into a bitter grimace.

"Damn, how can this be so hard to eat?"

"No way, I need to do something about this."

Sean raised his hand to shield his forehead, squinting at the dazzling sun in the sky, an idea forming in his mind.

His big water ball could focus sunlight.

So, ten minutes later.

Sean was eating cactus, roasted to a crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

The cactus pads were too thick to be cooked through completely, but the charred flavor on the surface neutralized the original sourness. Although it was still not tasty, it was at least edible. Whether it was a psychological effect or not, after eating the entire pad, Sean felt filled with strength.

"Cross the next sand dune, and the oasis will be right in front of us!"

He encouraged himself.

As soon as he spoke, a strong jolt suddenly hit him, like a car speeding along and then slamming on the brakes, causing his body to lurch forward uncontrollably, and he face-planted into the sand.

The next second.

Sean's eyes snapped open.

"Sean, Conina, we're here."

Jim's voice reached his ears.

Sean looked around in a daze.

The sky outside the car window had darkened. He seemed to be back in the backseat of the car, still holding that hunting rifle in his arms.

Jim said they were here, did he mean they had arrived at the Black Berry Rainforest?

Had he slept for so long?

So, it really was a dream?

"No, something's wrong."

This wasn't just a simple dream.

Just as his physical state of not having eaten breakfast had carried over into the dream, Sean found that the feeling of being filled with strength he had in the dream had also carried back into reality.

"What's wrong?"

Jim unbuckled his seatbelt and glanced at the rearview mirror. Just as he was about to ask, he saw Sean in the backseat suddenly raise his hand. On the palm of that hand, with its clean, slender knuckles, the kind that looked like they could play the piano, a blazing ball of fire erupted without warning, illuminating the unlit car cabin.

Jim's eyes widened abruptly, his mouth agape as if he had seen a ghost.

"What the F?"