[The first special wave has ended.]
The monitor's announcement was so loud that Yahrum could hear it from outside.
He felt slightly surprised that the first wave ended so quickly.
[Time remaining until Second Special Wave: 24:59:58]
When he returned back into the base, he found no leaks nor damage inside the building.
He felt somewhat relieved that this building was sturdy enough; otherwise, he'd likely be sleeping under the cold stars tonight.
He then looked at the monitor and saw that a full day of time left before the next wave would arrive.
[You must be exhausted today. See you tomorrow!]
The monotone voice spoke again, this time brief and concise, making Yahrum wonder slightly if whoever was behind the wall was in a hurry to go somewhere.
But he didn't say anything or ask any questions.
"Give me information about those trees outside."
He spoke to the monitor.
[The two types of trees outside are called "Jetcumber"]
[The reason for the different attack patterns of Jetcumbers is due to different mutation lineages.]
[This is another fun element we'd like you to experience in the future.]
[Mutated plants can develop into species with various unique lineages.]
[The first Jetcumber species is characterized by six beautifully blooming flowers.]
[This specie attacks by releasing water bubbles. When the bubble contacts with anything, it explodes, causing disastrous damage.]
[The second Jetcumber species is characterized by six closed flower buds.]
[This specie attacks by shooting high-pressure water streams from all six flowers, which then combine to create even greater destructive power.]
[The water stream from the second Jetcumber species are powerful enough to cut through materials harder than diamond.]
[Since you have never owned a Jetcumber, detailed information cannot be accessed.]
The monitor's flat voice explained slowly.
"These are the Jetcumber?! They're clearly valuable!"
Realizing that both types of the trees outside were Jetcumbers—the prize from this special event—Yahrum felt excited and developed a strong desire to obtain them.
"Getting even one seed is better than nothing. I wonder if they'll be available in the shop later. I must have them!"
Yahrum decided he must acquire this powerful plant.
"And what about that giant fish outside? What is it?"
He remembered the strange fish and asked out of curiosity.
[Unknown creature type. Cannot identify.]
The monitor's response disappointed Yahrum.
But then he realized he was the one being a buffoon here.
If he could get complete information about enemies from the wall, the guy behind the wall would be useless.
Yahrum then pushed aside all stressful thoughts and thoroughly inspected the room once more.
Sofa, glass table, chairs—everything looked modern.
There was even a fireplace.
Then he noticed another door not far from the bathroom.
At first, he had been too focused on the bathroom and the special event to register this extremely obvious door in his mind.
"Oh!!!"
When he opened the door, he found that it was a kitchen!
It had all the cooking equipment, even a gas stove.
He noticed a small refrigerator and rushed to open it immediately.
"Ha... of course, how could there be anything if I haven't bought anything?"
When he opened the refrigerator door, he was disappointed again as there was nothing inside except for the cool air that hit his face.
"Ah! Those eggs!"
Yahrum then recalled that in the wall shop, there were fertilized eggs for sale.
He hurried to the monitor and commanded it to open the shop.
"Fertilized eggs cost 30 crystals each. I have 200 left..."
"Even though I want to save, right now I need to take care of my stomach first!"
"Buy four fertilized eggs."
He said to the monitor with seriousness.
Despite wanting to be economical, he hadn't eaten anything for almost two days. He had to prioritize his hunger, so he made an impulsive decision.
ching!
[Thank you for your purchase!]
Yahrum heard a sound like an ATM, followed by a thank-you message then an air bubble, with four brown eggs image inside it, floated in front of him.
"That's good. I thought they might drop out of thin air and I'd need to catch them..."
"By the way, are crystals digital currency? They say I have them, but I don't see any physical crystals."
Yahrum wondered about the crystals as he reached into the air bubble to take the eggs.
But soon, he understood. If he had, say, 1,000 crystal stones and they were physical objects, wouldn't they pile over him?
He stopped thinking about trivial matters and hurried back to the kitchen to fry the eggs.
Though there was no oil, Yahrum knew a bit about cooking.
If you heat a pan long and hot enough, the Leidenfrost effect occurs, which prevents eggs from sticking to the pan even without any oil.
He knew about this but had never tried cooking completely without an oil before...
Normally, after washing the pan, he would heat it until hot enough, then add a small amount of oil to prevent eggs from sticking.
Yahrum was tempted to try cooking without an oil, but hesitated because if the eggs stuck badly to the pan and he could only eat a little, he would suffer a massive loss.
Then he recalled that the Jetcumber trees outside could provide water.
He hurried outside, grabbed the vine of the Jetcumber with closed flowers, and immediately let go.
Although the initial water stream was powerful enough to cut diamond, after releasing his grip, the water gradually weakened.
When the water had weakened to a certain level, Yahrum quickly placed the pan he had brought along to collect the water.
The wide black iron pan was now nearly half-filled with light green water from the Jetcumber.
When he walked back inside, he remembered something important he had forgotten.
"Is Jetcumber's water safe to eat?"
He turned to the monitor and asked with a furrowed brow, frustrated because of his own recklessness.
[Since you have never owned a Jetcumber, detailed information cannot be provided.]
Once again, the monotone voice disappointed Yahrum.
He stood there, staring at the water in the pan for almost a minute, not knowing what to do next.
He then slowly dipped his pinky finger lightly into the water to test it.
"The water doesn't corrode iron... Okay, it doesn't burn flesh either!"
"But... is it edible...?"
His finger felt nothing but coolness and moisture, so he deduced that this wasn't acidic water.
But the next problem was: is this faintly green water safe to consume? What if it's poisonous?
He was alone with no test subjects...
....
..
After staring at the pan for a long time, he finally made a decision.
"I'll boil it first!"
Yahrum stood up and hurried to the stove.
When he reached the stove, he suddenly remembered something important.
He was in some forsaken place God-knows-where, and...
Where was the electricity coming from?
The fluorescent lamps in the outer room were clearly bright.
Looking closely at the stove, he saw it was a touch-operated stove like a smartphone.
He wanted to find answers, but for now, he thought it'd better to boil the water in the pan first.
He saw the power symbol on the stove and touched it with his finger, causing the stove panel to light up.
There were four burners in total, with four dot symbols on the panel.
At those dots were perpendicular lines arranged from the top left of the first dot, top right of the second dot, and so on, indicating the symbols to turn on each burner position.
Yahrum pressed his finger on the dot symbol with the perpendicular line at the bottom left, and the burner at the bottom left position in front of him lit up with an orange glow that gradually formed a complete circle.
He immediately placed the pan on that orange circle of fire.
He was already familiar with this modern electric stove, so there were no other issues.
The symbols next to the four burner activation symbols were for increasing and decreasing the heat.
Yahrum tapped the decrease button twice to reduce the heat.
Now he just had to wait for the water to boil before tasting it...
During this idle time, he walked around exploring the interior of the new base, then went outside to look around.
He found no generators or any other related-device.
He returned and stood at the entrance then tried jumping as high as possible to check the roof condition.
All he could see was some curved tiles of the roof.
The giant fish behind him showed no interest; it lay motionless as if dead.
The coral stood tall, pointing its tubes skyward like some kind of a pillar.
Yahrum stopped jumping because it was pointless then quickly walked back into the kitchen.
When he arrived, he touched the bottom left point symbol again to turn off the stove.
Some water had evaporated, but that was fine.
Yahrum looked around the kitchen for a cup, bowl, or any container to hold the water from the pan.
He planned to put this water in the refrigerator so he could taste it sooner.
"There's a pan but no cups or plates..."
But he couldn't find anything.
Yahrum was at a loss again. He wanted to put the pan directly in the refrigerator but feared that the burning bottom of the pan might melt the plastic shelves inside.
It's true that putting hot items in the refrigerator wastes a lot of electricity.
But he was eager to taste this water and also curious if excessive electricity usage would have any consequences.
Killing two birds with one stone.
In the end, he chose to open the refrigerator door wide, placed a wooden kitchen chair in front of it with the pan on top, letting the cold air flow out instead.
"Lucky that the table and the chairs in the kitchen are made of wood..."
He felt lucky that the kitchen chairs weren't made of plastic like those outside.
....
..
After a while, when Yahrum touched the water's surface and felt it was cool enough, he lifted the pan and slowly tilted it toward his mouth.
He tasted a small amount of water first.
"...Should be safe..."
Finding that the water had no taste and his internal organs were still intact, Yahrum concluded that Jetcumber's water was safe for consumption.
In truth, he should have waited much longer to observe for any symptoms.
Even if there were no severe toxins, there could be minor adverse effects like diarrhea, nausea, etc., that might appear after the substance had been in his body for a while.
However, Yahrum felt impatient. He didn't want to wait any longer, so he quickly took the pan outside to collect more Jetcumber's water.
At first, he planned to make an egg soup, so he didn't collect much water, but now that he considered about the safety, he decided to make boiled eggs instead.
After filling the pan almost to the brim, he carefully carried it back to the kitchen.
He turned on the heat, waited for the water to boil then added two fertilized eggs to cook.
The other two eggs, he stored them in the refrigerator for the following day.
….
After nearly 10 minutes, Yahrum turned off the heat and carefully brought the pan outside.
He squatted down, slowly poured the water to the ground while carefully ensuring the eggs wouldn't fall out.
When most of the water had drained away, Yahrum carried the pan back toward the Jetcumber.
"Aey! No! I can't!"
He bent down to grab the vine for more water, but suddenly remembered something.
Initially, he planned to use cold water to cool the egg quickly, but then realized that unboiled water might be poisonous.
Even though he would have to peel the egg anyway, his hands would be wet by the Jetcumber's water from the shell, and would inevitably touch the flesh when eating it, so he abandoned the idea.
He walked back to the entrance, placed the pan on the tiled floor, and anxiously waited for the egg to cool down.
...
..
After a while, growing impatient, Yahrum tried to peel the egg to help it cool down faster, though the heat slightly scalded his fingers.
When he had removed almost all the shell, he found that the egg had normal white flesh with nothing unusual inside.
At first, he thought the fertilized egg might contain a developing chick.
He had never eaten a fertilized egg before, but in this desperate situation, he had mentally prepared himself when he bought it.
Fortunately, the egg had just begun fertilization. Even the yolk was still intact.
Yahrum sat there, eating the egg while quickly glancing at the sky and the surrounding scenery.
The first day passed swiftly. After Yahrum finished eating, he went back inside, dropped onto the soft mattress with satisfaction, and soon fell asleep.
....
[Time remaining before the second special wave arrives: 00:00:08]
After waking up, he washed himself in the bathroom and prepared for the second wave.
This time, he stood between the two rice paddies, staring at the strange fish and coral once again.
[The second special wave begins!]
The announcement from inside echoed outside once more.
The coral on the fish slowly bent its tip downward.
"Mouth still closes..."
Yahrum watched the coral tube intently. The giant fish didn't open its mouth this time, meaning the first attack would be water bubbles again!
Grumble!
Suddenly, Yahrum thought he heard something like a stomach growl coming from the giant fish.
This time, the coral pointed toward the right paddy.
"Damn!"
His mind told him this attack must be water bubbles, however, his instinct had already led him to the closed-bud Jetcumber.
Zsssss!
Once again, he was fortunate to have guessed correctly. The coral released a large stream of water rapidly.
Yahrum quickly grabbed the vine with slight panic, and the violent water stream collided with the coral's.
"You can't be serious?!"
While watching the shower of spray water falling down, he felt slightly relieved that he trusted his instinct.
He knew that today's second mission might be more difficult than before, but he hadn't expected it to be this intense.
At that moment, the water stream from the Jetcumber quickly pushed back the water from the coral.
Yahrum was slightly shook and immediately let go, fearing that the Jetcumber might injure the fish and cause troubles.
Suddenly, the coral slowly moved its tube directly in front of his eyes.
Seeing this, Yahrum frowned slightly.
"Is it aiming at me?"
Feeling suspicious, Yahrum decided to trust his instinct once more.
He slowly got up and walked slightly to the left.
The coral tube followed him, and then suddenly—
Pop!
A sound like air being released from a large pipe rang out.
A large water bubble floated out from the coral tube.
Yahrum's eyes widened in panic at the sight.
"Which way?!"
Looking at the approaching bubble, he noticed it was floating slightly to the left, so he quickly ran to the leftmost Jetcumber.
"Sh*t!"
He cursed softly when he realized the bubble was floating toward him, not the base.
He quickly yanked the vine to turn the Jetcumber to the right, but something unexpected happened.
Both vines snapped!
The tip of the Jetcumber, which had been forced to the right, slowly returned to its original position.
Yahrum was in utter panic. His impetuousness had caused him to be rough with the plant, costing him his only chance.
He hurriedly moved to the right to find another Jetcumber with blooming flowers.
At the very least, he should make the bubble exploded before it reached him with water stream!
Zsssss!
BOOM!
The high-pressure water stream shot rapidly toward the approaching water bubble.
As soon as Yahrum saw the water stream shoot out, he quickly released both hands from the vines and used his fingers to cover his ears.
The bubble exploded, sending a loud noise and shockwaves in all directions.
Although Yahrum had covered his ears to protect his eardrums, they still rang for a while.
...
[Þu Hafast Forlæten Þæt Ryse Ripian!]
[MĪN GEÞYLD IS GEENDOD! ÞIS SÆRLIC GELIMP IS TŌ NĀTE!!]
After a while, Yahrum, who still had his ears covered, heard an angry male voice echoing in his ears.
He didn't know where the voice originated, but he heard it clearly.
His brain wanted to analyze why those words sounded so ancient and angry, but his eyes fell on the rice paddy in front of him.
Almost all the rice plants had been destroyed by the explosion, leaving a large crater.
Only a few rice plants on the far left seemed relatively undamaged, though they had been uprooted.
He was stunned, his eyes wide open.
Guilt and anger rose in his heart.
He had been too focused on himself that he forgot the main goal of the event.
He was angry at himself for being hasty, impulsive, and careless.
He didn't understand why he wasn't as calm as he used to be.
Anger, regret, confusion, and doubt flooded his mind simultaneously, but before he could think any further, the amazing underwater environment before him gradually faded away.
Darkness began to form again.
And soon, the darkness was replaced by light.
He was back at the original place.
He stood dumbfounded in front of the same dying wooden shack.
In panic, he rushed back into the wooden shack again.
"Please! Give me another chance! There's still rice left on the right side!"
Yahrum addressed the message wall with deep regret and extreme panic.
[I'm sorry. You've lost your opportunity.]
[But since you completed the first day's mission, the reward will be given according to the rules.]
The monotone voice he had heard before disappeared, replaced only by the blood-red messages that gradually appeared letter by letter.
Yahrum was so stunned he couldn't say anything.
He wanted to make amends, but thought that asking again would be meaningless.
In front of the wall, a bubble with small blue water balloons the size of a fist appeared, along with a number reading: 50.
"Damn it!!!"
He cursed himself inwardly with an intense self-hatred.
Special Episode - The Aqua Festival
End