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Chapter 3: Generator
🕑 Added 2025-05-04 18:31:50 +0000 UTCTwo more days passed before I felt confident enough to actually leave my room.
My alternate dimension hopping's duration has increased by a minute. So if I force myself, I can stay in an empty alternate dimension for 1 minute and 20 seconds. Of course, I am still unused to the severe headache from going beyond my limit, so I simply stop myself before going beyond a minute.
A small headache is fine. Using at least 60% of my mana only gives me a minor headache.
I also realized that my mana recovery gets longer the more I use my mana. So if I want to recover quickly, I should only stay in an alternate dimension for less than ten seconds. Every ten seconds, I'll have to wait a minute more before I fully recover my mana.
So that means I need 6 minutes if I want to fully recover because I always stay in the empty alternate dimension for a minute just yesterday.
I really prefer increasing my mana capacity until I can stay in an empty alternate dimension for an hour, but I can't handle my life of just drinking water every day.
I want to eat something!
Even if I'm being reckless, it doesn't matter. If I have to endure the headache, that's fine. It's preferable rather than just continuously living by only drinking water!
I have a plan. I'm going to rush into the neighboring room, open it, and then look for any batteries I can use to power up my induction stove. If I don't find any, then any food out there that I can immediately eat is also a better alternative. As for my return trip. I'll just jump back to the original dimension to my starting point. Even if I'm in another place, I can choose whether to appear in my current location in the alternate dimension or pop back into my starting point since entering the alternate dimension.
I don't want to open my door in the original world. The blockage I made will make sure that it will be hard for whoever is on the other side to get to my room. If I take it away, then I'll have to be wary whether someone's in my room while I leave it alone.
Instead of doing that, I'll just decrease the obstacles blocking the entrance to my door and then finally enter the alternate dimension and fully open my door before enacting my plan. By doing that, I will still have time to roam around the dark hallways, enter a room, and get a cursory glance before jumping back into my starting point.
This is a great plan!
I quickly start making preparations by pulling out the drawers, cabinets, and tables blocking the way to my entrance.
____________________
When I have removed all of the blockades, only an empty wardrobe remains obstructing the door. Then I prepare myself. I can not simply leave my room in my pajamas. I take anything I deem suitable to wear, resulting in winter attire that covers my complete body and shoes that are comfy for my feet. After that, I emptied one of my backpacks and took only a single water bottle and cup of ramen, as well as a kitchen knife, in case something unexpected happened during my dive. I also bring a flashlight since, unlike my room, which has several electric lamps to illuminate my room, outside is visibly dark.
Now feeling quite ready, I took a deep breath.
"Okay."
After calming my beating heart, I use my power once more. The usual weightless sensation on my legs while a feeling of my upper body being yanked forward by an unknown force was already a familiar sensation to me. After blinking for a moment, I immediately moved my legs and pulled the empty wardrobe away from the door. Unlike the time when I was being careful to move the blockades away, lowering any noises I made to hide my location from any monsters who might potentially be lurking outside my room, this time I just unceremoniously pulled it away and didn't care when it tumbled on its side to the path on my entrance corridor.
Right now, I need to be fast. This alternate dimension doesn't have any monsters or even any living beings around it, so even when I feel quite nervous, I know in the back of my mind that no one is behind my entrance door.
So after the wardrobe had been pulled away, I immediately grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and then pushed it open. Cold air hit my cheeks as the faded white wall met my eyes first. A deafening silence rang in my ears, and the echoes of my breathing made me a bit nervous.
The grumble of my stomach quickly reminded me of my impending crisis. I'm doing this to eat something!
So I shook off my fear and stepped forward.
I pointed my flashlight forward and then walked briskly towards the neighboring room on the left. My footsteps echoed in the dark hallways as I rushed towards the room next door. When I arrived in front of the door to that room, I reached my hand to the doorknob and tried to twist it open and push.
"Hm?"
I didn't hear the familiar click when opening a door, and pushing it doesn't work. It felt like I'm pushing a wall instead of a door.
... Right, if I recall correctly, it's been three months since the person staying here has left. Empty rooms are always locked by the staff of this building.
If I just have the keys to this door...
Whatever, with this door being locked, I immediately move to the next door. Unlike my neighboring room, this door is already open. I open it wide and point my flashlight forward.
"Eeep!"
I flinched at the human in front of me but quickly realized that it's just a mannequin leaning on the wall. I calmed my beating heart, taking a few deep breaths, before immediately entering as I felt a subtle pressure in my head.
I don't have time to linger. My mana is running low!
Each room has the same 1DK design in it, and so I move with a surety in my steps. As I walked past the entrance and into the kitchen, I noticed a few scattered clothes around. Most of them seem to be used in cosplay, like maid uniforms, nurse uniforms, and even something I highly suspect as a magical girl uniform. I didn't check clearly as I don't have time.
After entering the kitchen, I immediately look at the top. Not seeing any batteries that I can use for my induction stove, I immediately move on and look at the pantry and drawers of the kitchen.
"Ugh..."
I only have a short time left. The headache is getting worse!
I open everything as fast as I can, not seeing anything but empty shelves. It looks like whoever has been staying here has taken everything they could get before leaving.
I don't have time!
Not wanting to experience extreme migraine, I stopped whatever I was doing and willed myself to return to my starting point. I welcomed the sensation of weightlessness on my lower body as my body was yanked backward by a mysterious force. The mysterious pressure in my head lightened up as I blinked my eyes and noticed that my surroundings quickly changed from the darkened kitchen into the front view of my wardrobe, blocking the entrance to my door.
"... Ugh..."
I feel a sense of lethargy. It's a slight side effect of depleting my mana by more than half. Taking a rest will naturally recover it.
I walked towards my dining room and sat there, opening one of my water bottles and then sipping on it as I thought about my first brief dive.
... It's a failure.
Well, it's not like I can do so much with only a minute. Taking off the wardrobe already took at least ten or twelve seconds of my time. I'll have to be faster!
"Six minutes..."
I set a timer on my phone and then laid my head on the table while waiting for it.
____________________
My next attempt at looking for food goes for the better. I go to the same room I'd left awhile ago and go straight to the bedroom. I haven't seen anything that I can eat, but I do see something that will help me greatly.
"A generator!"
It's a bit bulky-looking box, but it's the one I'm looking for. With just a cursory glance, I assume it's the type that needs oil to work. Unfortunately, there are no cans or bottles of oil around this room, but there are some remnants of oil within its fuel tank. I immediately carry that generator with both of my hands and then jump back to my starting point.
After opening my eyes, facing the wardrobe blocking my entrance door, I quickly put the generator I'm carrying into my bedroom before spending a lot of time putting all of the blockades back to my entrance.
"Great! Now that I have a generator, next is solving the oil issue!"
There is a pitiful amount of oil within its fuel tank, so I need to refill it.
Thankfully, with my powers, I can just duplicate this generator. Though I want to have a generator that is filled to the brim with oil, I decided to make a duplicate and pour the contents of its fuel tank into one of my empty water bottles.
After that, I put that empty generator as another obstacle to my entrance door while I duplicate the bottle filled with fuel for the generator. First I duplicate it and then fill a single bottle up. Then I duplicate the filled bottle until I have ten bottles of it. After that, I put all of the bottles in one of my drawer containers as a makeshift container for it and then duplicate that repeatedly until I have bundles of them.
Now, with a lot of oil in my hand, I managed to refill the fuel tank of the generator, and because I don't want to do that tiring process again, I duplicate the refilled generator.
This took me all day, but now, with a generator in my room, I can finally use my induction cooker and water heater.
"Finally!"
I have been waiting for this!
The aroma of the cheap factory-made noodles smelled so pleasant to my nose. The aroma of its artificial beef flavoring felt like a gourmet set for me. The egg I have boiled also looks delicious. Just putting it in my boiled instant ramen made it look tantalizing!
"Thanks for the food!"
I cannot wait anymore!
I quickly used the disposable chopsticks and then started eating!
"Mhmm!~"
Delicious! This is the taste I have been craving for!
Finally, the taste of civilization came back!
I won't have to sustain myself with only water!
Truly, I am grateful for my fortunes that I get to have such a feast!
In this apocalypse, food is a luxury, and I can use that luxury whenever I want thanks to my powers!
With food, water, and electricity in my possession, I am essentially set for life. So long as I become patient, I can just grind up mana by throwing knives out of my window.
I don't have to worry about anything anymore!
This is the best!
That night, I spent my entire time eating a lot of instant ramen and eggs.
