Chapter 23: Dream World

All thoughts of experimentation vanished from my mind when I learned about what could be the most useful aspect of my power. The power to go to an alternate dimension with a new additional object inside it. That's the best kind of power I can ask for right now!

It's been two months since then. My only diet since the apocalypse started has been cup ramen noodles, canned tuna, and recently canned peaches. I was actually planning to do a scavenge run once tomorrow, though I am not expecting to find anything useful or edible. It's been so long. I'm sure all raw food like meat and vegetables has already become spoiled, and the only thing left is preserved food, which is quite rare because I'm sure every person who lived here has already taken all of it before they fled to wherever they were.

There is also the worry about the future when there are only a few resources left. Everything expires eventually, and in this world where electricity is gone, I'm sure even preserved food put in some sort of vault or cold storage wouldn't last for a decade. At most they might last as far as a year or two, and then there would be nothing. I'm leery of trying to find a vegetable and planting it when I saw the monster plants in the park. They might also mutate, and if I am not careful, I might just die if that happens.

I have been putting it in the back of my mind for several weeks, but the fact that I don't have a reliable way to produce food on my own has been weighing on my mind. With this new discovery, I don't have to worry anymore!

With this aspect of my alternate dimension hopping, I can basically just stay in my base and get everything I want!

So I spent all day experimenting on this aspect of my power. I tried everything I could think of.

I created the food first. Different types of food. Ranging from canned foods and lunch boxes until I made a warm, newly cooked meal set that I remembered seeing from a restaurant. My power just let me do that because somehow, a dimension where a warm meal sat lying on top of a table from a world devoid of life existed in the multiverse. It felt like instead of jumping into alternate dimensions, I'm creating them.

The next couple of things I made were other essential things like a bed, a lamp, a larger portable generator, a fridge, and even something useless like the latest portable game console I know. After those were some necessary things like weapons, clothes, protective gear, and various tools. All of the things I specified within my mind as I used my power became real when I got to those alternate dimensions!

Concentrating on that for the whole day made me learn some facts about this aspect. I learned that the amount of mana I used depends on the object I'm adding to the empty mirror world. It wasn't just the size that dictated how much mana it would cost, but also the complexity of the item, the amount, and even other factors I wasn't aware of.

To give an example, creating a bed was much cheaper than creating the latest portable game console. Using the amount of time I could stay in a normal empty mirror world as a comparison, creating a bed used approximately one hour's worth of mana, while the latest game console drained six hours' worth even though it was ten times smaller than it. Any technology costs more mana when creating it than simple stuff like chairs or beds. Even power tools cost more than a literal box of simple tools.

There was also that weird cost difference between lunch boxes and professionally made food despite making them have the same volume and contents in them. It was also the case for the weird cost difference between frozen eggs and raw fresh eggs. The raw, fresh egg somehow cost more mana than the frozen egg.

The other thing I learned as I tested this aspect of my power was that it made whatever I desired even if I was clueless about it. While I was testing, I belatedly realized I didn't know how to operate the large portable generator, as it looked different than the household ones that the common citizens used. An idea came to me, and I tried it. Then I succeeded in creating a complete manual of how to use that portable generator even though I only wished for a manual without actually knowing the contents of what I was trying to get.

It felt like the power knew what I was looking for and made a special dimension just to meet my desire.

Due to that, I learned that I could create everything so long as I had enough mana. Currently, I have enough mana to stay for more than twelve hours in an empty alternate dimension. Whenever I ran out, I would just recover my mana with the crystals. Which means I'm basically set for life!

Though apparently, I wasn't really.

I have to stop thinking that I can live while ignoring everything in the outside world. It's the reason why I was forced to leave my first base. I even abandoned the second base just because I ignored the threat lurking near me, and it was too late before I could act against it!

There are still zombies lurking out there, and I am sure other types of monsters exist where I can't see them. There are those bird monsters who like perching on top of the roofs of the buildings and those creepy crawlies hiding within those tunnels. I don't know if there are others, but I am sure they are just there, waiting for their prey, and will surely eat me if I ever put my guard down.

Ignoring my surroundings wouldn't let me live my life in peace. I have to interact with the world. This apocalypse forced me to be proactive. Even if I don't do that, those monsters will be the ones knocking on my door, and if I don't prepare myself, then there might come a day they take me by surprise!

I won't let that happen!

If living silently in my place won't ensure a peaceful life, then I'll take the initiative to burn everything down.

By doing that, I can get my own sanctuary!

I made my resolve, so I can't just go back on it and be a lazy bum once more. Besides, I cannot just be satisfied with this amount of mana. I needed more if I wanted to manifest larger and more useful items. With more mana, a lot of options will open up to me.

I just have to work for it!

And even if I get enough mana to do anything I want, I still have to continue doing so!

Mana grinding is just a secondary thing anyway. I'll hunt. As I hunt, I can reduce their numbers. By decreasing their numbers, I can make this area safe.

I will keep doing this until every monster in the vicinity leaves me alone!

And if they don't stop... well, I'll just wipe out every monster in this city!

I swear on myself, I'll do it!

____________________

Before everything else, I decided to start my morning by eating an actual, proper meal. First, I entered the Dream World.

That's right. I decided to call this new aspect of my ability the Dream World. I called it the Dream World because it literally manifested everything I desired. It was apt to call it a world of dreams, even if it was quite limited right now due to my lack of mana.

Well, I'm sure when I accumulated enough that I could stay in the empty mirror world for a year, I could do all kinds of stuff. For now, I have to be satisfied with this.

"Ah! It's been so long since I've had something like this!"

Laid on the large dining table I created yesterday could be considered a feast for the past month for me. It was a proper teishoku set. The main dish was raw salmon thinly sliced on the side with wasabi and soy sauce as the dip and the sides being vegetable strips of cabbages and carrots. There was the delightful scent of freshly cooked rice, and then the warm miso soup, completing the salmon sashimi teishoku set. This was the same meal I usually ate when I was attending high school. I haven't been able to afford it since I left my family.

Now, I can do it again!

"Thanks for the food!"

With my prayers done, I quickly raised the cup of miso close to my face and then took a sip. Oh yes, this is it. This is the taste of civilization!

Next was the vegetable salad. I picked a few with my chopsticks and then put them in my lips. The taste of mayo glazed on the raw taste of stripped vegetables made me shudder in delight. It was a nostalgic taste that made me reminisce about the peaceful times. Then the sashimi. Just dipping a slice of it in soy sauce and then eating it made me appreciate my life before all of this craziness happened. The rich taste of the salmon made me unconsciously touch my cheeks in delight.

"Ah!~ I missed this so much!~"

This is the taste of happiness!

"Ah, I can't wait anymore. It's time to dig in!"

With the taste test over, I started devouring the meal. Pairing the sashimi with the rice, and even mixing some soy sauce and wasabi on them, made me jump in joy. This spiciness mixed with the soy sauce, and the texture of the rice along with the soft texture of the salmon and its rich taste, and then adding miso to the mix further elevated the taste to the top!

I am so glad I learned about this aspect of my power!

It made me realize that, even without the superpowers that let me instantly kill zombies with a single glance, I am blessed with a very useful ability that would help me in this time.

I am very thankful for having this power!

____________________

After that meal, I just jumped back to the original world, leaving the dishes alone. Eating them in the Dream World was much better than bringing that food to the real world. I didn't have a sink here where I could clean the dishes, and even if I did, I wouldn't do it. Leaving them alone was more efficient. It only existed in the Dream World, so technically it doesn't exist.

By eating there, I won't have to worry about where I can throw it away or do any dishes!

It's not even wasteful to my mana because I have the monster cores. I can just duplicate the monster cores if I ever run out. So I essentially have an unlimited supply of mana batteries.

There is nothing for me to worry about.

And I know it's late, but eating lunch this early in the morning might sound inappropriate, but I can't help it. It's been so long since I ate something properly that I didn't think of eating breakfast. I just want to eat something good and filling, and I'll continue doing so until I get sick of it!

Moving on to that topic, I am currently driving a car while I'm in the colorless world of the Faded World. My plan for today is simple. I'll go out and find the flesh mountains and then burn them. It's a long time coming. I always plan to burn one since the time I learned I can get more mana killing other types of monsters. They give more mana, and there might be a chance they drop monster cores. Normal zombies don't drop monster cores, so hunting normal zombies doesn't benefit me that much.

If I am going to hunt zombies anyway, I'll target the source itself. It's just my assumption that those flesh mountains are their source. I really hope it is because I don't want to constantly sweep the zombies that are now lurking around the burnt area that was formerly a park.

The car I'm driving is a duplicated one. I don't have a license, but I do know how to ride one. Even if I'm the useless daughter of those successful people, I am still the child of a rich person. When I still live in their estate, I have my own chauffeur, and before I graduate middle school, my handler lets me own my car. Though that car is just a common citizen model, it's just a secondhand from my other sisters, who are more competent than me. Regardless, I have some experience driving a car. Though I only had it until I decided to rebel and leave my family behind.

Well, even though I know how to drive, it doesn't mean I'm going to properly. I'm in the Faded World, so I can just ignore any buildings and obstacles even if I drive recklessly. That is why I am driving so fast today. Well, I'm not driving with the maximum speed of this car, but it's faster than the usual speed I drive when I still have my car. There is a reason why I'm going this fast when I have no reason to.

The first reason is that I want to kill zombies while I'm in the car. I activated Ghost Strike on the exterior of the entire car, and it cost a lot of mana whenever I bumped into someone, but it didn't matter. It's only the force behind my speed being reflected in the real world. Even if I actually bump them, I won't be really affected. Doing this will decrease the number of zombies on the road, and there is an added bonus of my mana capacity increasing.

The second reason is because I want to cover a lot of distance. I am going around the neighborhood, and I want to do it fast even if I can stay in the Faded World for a long time. If I try to act leisurely just because of that, I might lose my resolve to deal with all of the zombies. I know my own personality. I like to take things easy whenever I get the chance.

I want to change myself!

So here I am, driving at illegal speeds and passing through hordes of zombies who kept being blown away as I bumped them with the hood of the car enchanted with Ghost Strike. I ignored abandoned cars blocking the road, passing through them while hitting the few zombies who were within these cars, getting crushed with the force of my ghostly car bumps.

I passed through a few variants of the zombies, like those muscular ones and the lizard-like ones. The muscular ones haven't been blown away by the speed of my car, sadly, but the lizard-like flesh monsters get flattened underneath the car. It seems like, unlike those large muscular zombies, these lizard-shaped flesh monsters have very soft bodies that they can easily be crushed.

As I go deeper within the neighborhood, the number of zombie variants I encounter increases. It didn't take long before I saw the first mountain of flesh in this neighborhood.

"... It's huge." It also looks disgusting!

This is the first time I am looking at this grotesque pile of flesh this close. I might be looking at them in this colorless reality, but even with the black and white colors of this world, it still looks disgusting. It pulses randomly, and it looks like an amalgamation of flesh and bones from every different being in the shape of a pit. In the center of this mountain of flesh is a hole where I can see zombies continuously crawling up from it.

"Okay. That proves it. This monster is the source of these zombies."

A single glance immediately let me come to that conclusion. I can see it. The way it pulses and undulates on itself while its hollow peak spits out zombies of different sizes. Most of them are normal zombies, though there is one lizard-like creature that I see crawling out of its pit with slithering movements that make me shiver due to how disgusting it looks.

I wonder how much mana I can get from this.

I always want to know. Now that I have free access to do whatever I want from it, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this. First of all, though, I need to set it up. I can't just attack as soon as possible.

It will be bad if it has some sort of ability to leave this place or make things troublesome if I attack it immediately. Setting up its death will ensure that I can thoroughly kill it!

I have brought just the thing I needed. It's not car fuel or my collection of generator fuel. It is something else. Something more volatile and flammable. If I remember correctly, it is also the type of chemical mixture that can be considered a war crime.

That is right, I brought it!

I brought napalm!

And I'm going to douse this pile of flesh with it!

You can't run away from me!