You know how sometimes you make decisions in your life that are so stupid that they make you think, “How the fuck was I so stupid?”?

  For me, one of those was going to a desert in the middle of summer.

  “Goddamn me,” I muttered, as the scorching heat of the sun assaulted me. Around me was sprayed countless sand, and a few buildings stood out in the distance from the road we took. We.

  “Why did you invite us here? Oh my god… that was a terrible idea,” Sebastian said.

  “Agreed,” Sam added in.

  I looked back at the group behind me. There was Sebastian, Sam, Abigail, Alex, and also Haley with her sister, Emily. I thought it would be nice to invite them to hang out in the desert now that the bus was fixed, but alas, I made a terrible mistake.

  The game did not mention how fucking hot it was here.

  “Look, guys. We’re already here, so we should stick a little bit longer,” Alex chimed in. Since we haven’t hung out too much lately, I thought it might be a good idea to invite the guy.

  “We will definitely find some interesting stuff here, promise,” Emily said with a smile.

  “Yeah. Let’s just take a look around at first. We probably won’t be here long,” I said.

  They nodded, and we began to walk around. In one of the corners of the small desert was an entrance to a cave, which Abigail cheerily entered. We couldn’t enter, though, since for that we needed the Skull Key, and I’m very glad for that. Not one person here should enter the Skull Cavern.

  Then, we left and looked around some more. Three pillars stood in a formation, and the group wondered for what reason they were here.

  “I think it’s a link to the spiritual forces,” Emily said.

  “How many times do I have to tell you, Emily. Spirits don’t exist.” Haley sighed.

  Actually, they did. I did not correct her, though. As for the three pillars, this was the place where you gained the Galaxy Sword, but that was for the future.

  Next, we searched around and saw bones of a large, sand dragon. That was pretty cool. There was also the trader, but all he did was, well, trade.

  And at the south of the desert was the one spot that truly mattered.

  It was a building made out of these purple bricks, in a hexagonal shape. It was two floors tall, and as big as an average house, and right above the door was placed a sign which read “Oasis.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  We entered and were immediately greeted by the nice room temperature. It was heaven compared to the desert outside. Then, we were greeted by the person behind the counter.

  “Hello, dear customers!” It was a red-haired woman wearing blue clothing, which, if you looked at the top, would look like a genie’s lamp turned to the left.

  “Hey, Sandy!” Emily, from behind us waved.

  “Oh, Emily! It’s you.” Sandy smiled. “And Haley too. I didn’t notice.”

  “Hey,” Haley said.

  “So, why did all of you come here?” Sandy asked.

  “We’re just walking around, having fun, you know,” I said. “Though it’s hard with how hot it is here. Do you have any cold drinks, maybe?”

  “Depends. What kind of a cold drink are we talking about?” Sandy grinned.

  Soon after, Sandy offered us our drinks, and I drank my own quick. The rest of the group picked out their own, and after we were a bit rested, Sandy approached me.

  “So you are that new farmer who settled himself, huh?”

  “Yes. That’s me. What about it?”

  “Well, I have some pretty good offers. You might want to check them out.”

  “Will do.” I nodded.

  For the next hour, we all hung around in the oasis and just chatted about stuff. Really, there wasn’t that much to do around here, and it was as if everyone was trying to find something just to not let the tickets and the time traveled go to waste. There was one thing I was interested in, though.

  At the very end of the hallway was a staircase, blocked by a bouncer. He looked like a typical movie bouncer, with the black suit and glasses.

  “No entry,” he said flatly.

  “Really? Even if I pay you? I can pay you a lot.”

  “No.”

  I shrugged. I knew that trying to get past this man was nigh impossible—the man looked like he could crush me ten times over without breaking a single sweat, unlike in the game, where he looked like an average guy.

  Behind him was the Casino, but that was nothing compared to the person who frequented this place, and that was Qi. The mysterious man, who is aware of the existence of the player and has god-like powers. If there was one person who knew why I was here, it would be him.

  But if he didn’t show himself yet, this must have meant he simply did not want to meet me, and I wouldn’t put too much effort into someone like this.

  Soon after, when we were all done, we left the Oasis. Only after I bought my share of Starfruit, of course.

  “Man, I forgot just how hot it is,” Sam murmured.

  “It could always be worse,” Abigail said. “Besides, it’s not like we have to stay here.”

  The group perked up, and I sighed. “Yes, yes. Let’s just all go back. We can hang around at Haley’s and Emily’s place.”

  “Why ours?” Haley asked with surprise.

  “Dunno,” I shrugged.

  Haley grunted in displeasure, but otherwise, she just let it go. Emily looked she was fine with everything. We walked up to Pam, who was waiting in the trader’s shop for us. She was a woman in her forties or fifties, with blonde hair, who drank too much.

  “You going back already, kids?” she asked.

  We all nodded, then headed off to the bus.

  It wasn’t a very fun adventure. Quite the opposite—it was straight up boring, and a waste of time. But strangely, I didn’t mind it so much. I smiled at my group of friends who were all laughing in the bus seats.

  Still, I have been slacking off too much. Having fun was nice and all, but it was time to get back to fixing the Community Center.

  And I would do that from tomorrow onward.