Outside the bar, Kurou looked back and saw everyone inside staring at him with ugly faces. "You're all ugly one way or another", Kurou mumbled to himself, with a bored face.
At least now he knew where he was. Egypt. Not bad for someone who was supposed to be dead. "What to do now?", he asked himself. He looked around and all he could see were humble houses, some kids playing football barefoot, a few stands with junk for sale. Emaciated men were scattered all around, laying down thin and motionless, more dead than alive.
"Funny", Kurou thought, "I couldn't understand what one of those good-for-nothings said to me, but I was able to understand every word Mahmoud was saying. And he wasn't speaking my language, I'm pretty sure. What the hell?".
Apparently becoming a Post-Mortal comes with benefits. But what about the drawbacks?
Too bothered to think, Kurou strolled past the stands. Vases, jars, all that sort of crap. Who would buy that? The salespeople tried to call his attention, but he was penniless and dressed like a bum himself, so they gave up on him quick.
He was about to leave the poor town when a man stood in front of him. It was Mahmoud. Apparently, Kurou took his time walking around, giving the old man time to catch up to him.
"You're not leaving before giving me an explanation, buddy", Mahmoud said, with a serious tone.
"What do you want to know, old friend?", Kurou asked with a subtly ironic smile.
"You withstood more than 20 punches to the face, and here you are with all your teeth in your mouth, no broken nose, no nothing. You are not normal."
"I guess you're right. I'm not", Kurou said, looking away.
"Okay then. Who are you and what happened to you?"
"I got into an airplane accident, okay? But I survived. That's all I'm willing to say", Kurou answered, irritated.
"You survived an airplane crash...in the middle of the desert?" Mahmoud asked, surprised.
"YEAH, I DID! Anything else?" Kurou asked, raising his voice.
"That's not how you treat a man who saved you from getting your ass kicked by a dozen men", Mahmoud said with a grave voice.
"Tsk, all right. Thanks for that, I guess", Kurou grumbled. "Now you know everything I could tell you. See ya."
"Hold on, Kurou. Haven't you realized it's not normal for an airplane to cross a desert during its flight? It's like crossing an ocean. Airlines always try to fly near populated areas where an airport would be available for an emergency landing".
"I know that. What are you trying to say? That there's a reason why I'm here in Egypt?" Kurou asked, skeptical.
"There might be. Why else would I be able to talk to you if you don't even belong in this continent?", Mahmoud asked.
"You have a point. But I don't really care, you know? I just wanna leave this place", Kurou said, and started walking away.
"You might leave now, Kurou, but Egypt won't leave you. There's a reason why you're here, and you'll find that out sooner or later", Mahmoud said, solemnly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Amenhotep to you, buddy", Kurou said, trying to be funny and offensive at the same time. Mahmoud wasn't very happy with his lack of respect, but put up with it anyway.
"The Post-Mortal...", Mahmoud said to himself. "The Post-Mortal really exists."
----
Kurou wandered through the desert for god knows how long. Egypt was a very large country, as far as he was concerned, and he knew nothing except the town he left was called Mehet and it was near Abu Simbel.
"Abu Simbel, huh...isn't that the temple built by a pharaoh? What was his name again...Ramses?"
Kurou wasn't wrong, although the temple was built in honor of Ramses II, specifically.
Mahmoud's words lingered on his mind, while he walked on the steaming desert sand. Was he in Egypt for a reason? He, a man who always believed the universe was chaotic and devoid of things like fate, karma or anything like that?
His life changed quite a bit in a day, he thought. From a regular worker in a shitty company, he became someone able to withstand several punches to the face, survive in an absolutely inhospitable environment like the desert, stand on his feet even after days without water or food. Now that he had the opportunity to choose whatever he wanted to do, he felt like doing nothing.
"Oh crap. How easy it is to turn into a depressive tramp. I guess I need to do something to alleviate this boredom. I always wanted to see the pyramids. They must be close, right?"
They were not.
After a long walk, eyes and throat full of sand, Kurou smelled water. Not salt water, though.
"Is it the Nile? Can't be, right? Man, I wish I paid more attention to my geography classes. The teacher was a prick, though."
As Kurou got closer, he realized it wasn't a river. It was a lake, more like a reservoir. It looked a bit desolate, but still pretty a sight.
"I wonder how that water tastes like".
Kurou took a sip of what he could only define as moistured sand. "This is awful! Come on! How can anyone drink something like this?"
Life wasn't easy in Africa, it seems.
Still, he wanted to chill a little. He saw nobody around, so he took his clothes off and dived into the lake. "Good chance to test how immortal I am. Let's see how long I can stay underwater without breathing".
More than 10 minutes had passed and he was still alive, lungs filled with water.
"Good god! I guess I really can't die!"
But his instincts still belonged to a mortal man. As he was trying to get out of the lake, his foot slipped on a loose smooth stone and he was about to fall deep back into the water. He tried to reach for a palm tree branch, and an image of his hand came off his hand for a second. He fell underwater, nevertheless.
"What just happened?" He thought. "It felt like a projection of my hand extended from my body and then disappeared".
Kurou straightened himself up and swam out of the water.
He tried reaching for the branch again a few times. After a dozen tries, he felt that again. His fingertips felt like projecting out again.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS???"
It didn't feel strange, or painful. It was just weird that something was projecting from his body like some sort of aura, or appendage.
"Ah boy. Am I living a fantasy tale now? Because it sure is no fairy tale. First the undying shit. Now this?".
Kurou put on his rags, burning hot from the scorching Sun, and went out on his search for...something.