Chapter 49 - Campaign Map
"Hahahahahahaha"
Laughter echoed from all directions. The voice laughed as if it didn't need to stop to catch its breath.
Lying under a vast blue sky was a young man in black. He was unconscious with his face submerged in water. The water filled his lungs, and as he realized he was drowning, he jolted awake, coughing violently.
Startled by the sensation of drowning, he pulled his face from the water, desperately trying to inhale, but his throat forced him to vomit out the water he had swallowed.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Kneeling, Lucan spat out the water while gasping for air. His eyes were red with the struggle. After a while, he closed his eyes to calm himself, focusing on his breathing, letting the oxygen fill his lungs.
Confused, he tried to piece together what had happened. His mind only recalled flashes and fragmented images.
"Where am I?!"
Lucan stood up, panicked, looking around. Standing, his shins still submerged, he felt the soft ground beneath him. Lucan was standing on sand.
His head spun in all directions, realizing he was in the middle of the sea. Everywhere he looked, there was only the horizon. He looked down in disbelief and confirmed.
"Sand..." Lucan was standing in shallow water.
He scooped up the sand with his hands, experiencing it for the first time. Everything he knew about sand came from images and videos of artificial beaches. But this was real, he was touching a real sea. This was the ocean. The ocean in his world had been classified as a death zone; no one could get too close. But here, Lucan was facing the vast ocean in all its glory.
Lucan could even smell something different, wondering if this was the scent of a real beach. Tasting the water, he found it salty. Spitting out the unpleasant taste, he conjured his canteen to rinse his mouth.
He sat down, not caring about getting wet, just taking in the view. Even the air felt different, not the recycled air under the large dome.
Drinking from his canteen, he allowed himself a moment of doing nothing. Luke just sat there, admiring the beauty of nature that even the wealthiest in his world couldn't experience despite their fortunes.
Taking a deep breath, he dispelled the canteen and looked around again.
"Alright, I'm completely lost."
Scratching his head, he checked what he had with him. His bag was soaked through, but he still had a pan, a damp military ration, a knife, and the soaked meat.
I was jumping into a dimensional portal with Alice and Anna... man, this is crazy. Here I am, casually saying I jumped into a dimensional portal... I guess I'll have plenty of stories to tell if I get back to Earth.
According to Alice, the Campaign Map is a world within a card. A world with a campaign, an objective, and something to do with defeating a boss or something like that. But she mentioned you could exit it without completing the objective, just by finding the exit.
He paused, looking around, and chuckled.
"I'm completely screwed."
The day was beautiful, and Luke had never seen a sky so blue.
He sighed.
"Alright then... let's go."
Choosing a random direction, he started walking cautiously.
Conjuring his hammer, he tapped the sandy ground where he was about to step, ensuring it was solid. Each step he took was precisely where the hammer had struck.
Walking slowly across the shallow sea, always heading toward the sun, Luke took a piece of meat from his bag. The taste, mixed with the saltwater, was strange. He chewed it anyway, despite it being damp. Out of the cold climate, under the sun's full rays, the chance of the meat spoiling was higher.
After an hour of carefully walking, stepping slowly and using the hammer almost like a cane, Luke couldn't believe what he was seeing—what his mind concluded.
"The sea, as far as I can see, is entirely shallow. The bottom is just a few centimeters below me."
The sea only reached up to his shins, remaining incredibly shallow no matter which direction he looked.
"This is crazy..."
He stopped to admire the absurdity before him. Scratching his head, he sighed.
"I'm in another world where monstrous creatures exist. I jumped into a dimensional portal inside a card... and here I am, still surprised by what I'm seeing."
He laughed at himself and took another sip of water from the canteen.
Resuming his walk, he continued straight, but always looked in other directions, hoping to see anything. He knew he could be going the wrong way, but what else could he do?
I'm just moving forward. If I stop and think about my situation, I'll curl up and cry. All I can do is keep going...
"I need to find the exit from this damn place..."
As he walked, he realized, "Damn it, Alice, why didn't you explain what the exit looked like? I ended up being another crazy one and jumped in without knowing anything."
After venting his frustration and shouting a curse, Lucan continued in a straight line. He even dismissed the hammer—carrying it was tiring.
While walking, he decided to run for a bit.
"Screw it."
He ran without worrying if the next step would plunge him into the deep ocean. Lucan ran and ran; all he could see and step on was an endless shallow sea.
Tiring from his burst of rage, he resumed walking calmly.
"I'm completely screwed."
Walking for what seemed like more than half a day, he admired the sunset. It was the first time he had seen one so beautiful. The orange glow of the sun reflected on the water, making it seem like he was looking at two worlds—one in the water and the other in front of him. The water was so clear it perfectly mirrored the view. For the first time, he wished he had the technology to capture that moment, but then he reflected that such sights needed to be experienced in person.
Lucan sat down. The water was shallow, but he couldn't lie down. When he tried, the water covered his face.
He felt strange, the only black spot in that vast blue expanse.
Drinking some water, he looked up and saw the stars appearing as if they were being born. Each white sparkle lit up the sky. He had never seen a star before; to him, they were just a legend. In his world, the night sky was dark but gray due to pollution. The moon in his world also had a chunk missing, but here... the moon was so bright.
In that immense moonlit expanse, where the water's reflection mirrored the stars, Lucan felt as if the world was reflecting himself. At that moment, he felt like he did on the nights in his apartment. Luke felt empty.
So, is this how I'm going to die? Alone... with no one.
It was only then that he truly began to reflect on his situation.
"Maybe having friends isn't so bad after all..."
Continuing his walk under the starry night, Luke pushed aside his feelings of loneliness.
"Knowing how scared Little One gets, if she's out here, she's probably terrified of this darkness."
Stretching out his hand, he conjured his torch.
"Heavens, please let no Undine or anything like that come after me."
With his torch casting light in the darkness, he kept walking, hoping one of them would see the fire from afar.