Chapter 4: One step forward
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Arriving at the CBD, the street lights are as bright as day. People are still busy on the streets or in shops even though the moon still hangs in the night sky. At the center of the neighborhood, a giant metal circle stands erect. Its center was filled with brilliant blue Raw Magic light, surrounding the circle was a halo of magical characters. Setting foot in front of the ticket gate, a strong wind hit Joker and Jarek as the circle lit up. The next second, countless groups of people walked out from inside the circle.

“So this is Portal?” Jarek looked up in bewilderment at a scene he had never seen before.
"Right." Joker gave his and his companion's passports to the ticket collector. “This vehicle has helped humans make the entire solar system habitable more than a decade ago.”
“Wait, humans have conquered the solar system!” Jarek's eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he heard that.
“…Are you hiding at Earth's core?” The black haired boy glanced with concern. “And do you have money?”
“Is this enough?”

The blonde girl held out her hands. One hand holds a few gold bars, the other holds a 10-carat diamond. Both Joker and the man checking the passport were also stunned for a moment.

“…You pay later when you're done.”

Joker sighed and took out his phone, he placed it on the scanner on the table to pay for the ticket. Then both of them got their stamped passports back and went through the baggage check gate. It only took 5 minutes for the two to be allowed to go in front of Portal without any problems. As they walked through the gate, light filled both of their eyes and then went silent. On the other side of Portal, the city of Bloemfontein - the capital of southern Africa appeared before our eyes. This place is also full of high-rise buildings and busy streets despite the fact that it is still dark. Of course, this is not the place Jarek came to. After Joker completed immigration procedures, Jarek immediately flew into the sky and carried the boy out of the city.

“…It's cold.” After a while, Joker's teeth chattered together. After experiencing the hot desert, he forgot that the night temperature in Africa is as low as a refrigerator!

“Put it on~.” Jarek quickly put a coat on the boy.
“How many places will we need to cross?” Joker tried to put on his jacket while being held by his waist in mid-air.
“About five places.” The blonde girl had vines growing on her hips. They make a swing and a safety belt for the Joker.
“What exactly is wrong with that place and what should I do?” The boy put on the jacket and zipped it up more conveniently than before.
“Go there and you'll know right away.”

Jarek spoke reassuringly. The two spent more than half an hour in the sky and then landed in a small village with rudimentary huts. Looking inside the tent, the villagers, as thin as skin and bones, were all asleep. Jarek woke them up and asked Joker to prepare food and drinks. Many of them have different symptoms, from fever, headache, jaundice, and abdominal pain. Witnessing the condition of those people in distress, it made him feel disgusted by the scene of people dying, the stench of disease, waste, and death. Following that feeling of disgust was a painful feeling in his chest. Diseases that he had only ever heard of, he now had to see directly that those living witnesses were suffering.

 

Right now, hungry people get food and water from Joker, sick people get medicine from Jarek. The villagers spoke in a language Joker couldn't understand. He could only use Google Translate to roughly understand that they were saying gratitude. Jarek naturally had no communication problems at all. She can talk very warmly with people. Many of them knelt down as if standing before a god. Looking at their relieved smiling faces, Joker felt the weight in his chest lighten.

After giving dry food, water and medicine, Jarek showed the villagers the way to the city to find better help. Even so, they refused, because they could not leave their ancestral land. The girl with blonde hair pursed her lips tightly and closed her eyes. She couldn't help but feel bitter when the villagers chose that difficulty over their lives. Jarek reluctantly left the cars, fans, refrigerators, induction cookers, and solar-powered cooking utensils with them and left with Joker on her wings.

“… Since you can create both plants and animals, why can't you create milk, fruit, eggs, honey, and grains?” Joker wondered as he sat on the vine swing.
“I can make organic creature parts, but I can't make them in large quantities like you can make large amounts of water and ramen.” Jarek laughed to hide his gloomy expression, pointing at her long, shiny hair. "The remaining energy and organic resources when I recharge, I store them into the length of my hair."
“It explains why you almost died in the dream and your hair was shorter than it is now.” The young man took out his phone, opened the map application and gave it to Jarek. ”What other places will we need to go to, mark them for me?”

“Um…” The girl held the phone and observed for a moment then clicked on each place on the map of southern Africa. After a few minutes, she returned the phone to Joker. “What are you planning to do?”
"I sent an email to inform the authorities here and Australia. They will send help soon." Joker pressed the phone for a moment then put it away. “For now, please help the master of nightmares ease the pain of illness and hunger. So that they can wait for better help.”
“ …Thank you J, Without you, it would have been difficult for me to save them.” Jarek said with a shaky voice. She wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes and smiled with relief. ”Perhaps you came to Dream Desert because its owner was looking for someone like you.”
“I just did everything in my power, as well as repaying the help I received from you.” Joker took deep breaths to try to stay awake. He looked up and directed his gaze towards the girl. ”Why are you trying so hard to help them? Despite them going against your good intentions?”
“Seeing those whose efforts are rewarded and those in need receive blessings is better than the other way around, right?” The girl looked down at the Joker and replied.
“Except for the bad and harmful people around.” The boy shrugged and replied with the corner of his mouth slightly raised. “If those people are punished, it will be a lot of fun.”
“That's right.” Jarek raised his eyes and looked at the gentle moonlight with a distant look. ”I can see that people who try to live well are closer to their dreams than my wishes.”
“I see…”

Joker heard that and took a nap. In a few seconds of silence, the black-haired boy pieced together Jarek's expressions. When I remember the way she screamed in panic the moment she saw him being killed by a monster, her joy when she found out he was still alive, her enthusiasm when she taught her how to harness her power, and she was almost about to cry when she saw what happened. The villagers are suffering. Although he still doesn't know much about this mysterious person, at least now, Joker believes that Ms. Jarek is not a bad person.

 

“So does J have any dreams, ambitions, or goals?” Jarek bent down with an excited smile.
“… I'll tell you some time.”

Joker blinked a few times, he neither refused nor accepted. The two of them continued their long night journey in the cold and dry southern Africa. To alleviate the suffering of unfortunate people in this place.

--- Two days later, morning at Joker's house, Noble Park, Australia---

“ …Looks like the Africa thing is okay.”

Joker sat on the bed in his room, one hand hovering over the laptop, the other hand holding a cup of hot cocoa milk. He just raised the toad to drink, looking at the news on social networks. The villages that were not on that map have now become projects to build small neighborhoods. The villagers were treated promptly so there were few casualties. The people all talked among themselves that two divine messengers came to help.

“If God Gruumsh came and dealt with us like in the epic, we would be fine for a long time.”

Joker sighed as he leaned back on the mattress. After that long night, he never saw or heard from Jarek again. A feeling of regret arose in him. He himself had been lost for a long time and then that strange girl was like a guiding light. The way she came and went was like a dream, appearing without warning in her sleep and then disappearing when she woke up.

"Knowing that, I said thank you properly..." He looked at the ceiling, sighing sadly.

Knock knock knock

“…Huh?”

The sound of knocking on the door brought Joker back to reality. He sat up and left the room, quickly walking to the door to see if any uninvited guests had arrived.

“Hi, J~.”

Opening the door, the blonde girl made Joker regretfully say hello with an optimistic smile.

“…What is your problem this time?” Joker suddenly asked reflexively.
"Let's just say hello, from now on we are neighbors so we will see each other for a long time." Jarek handed over a basket containing cookies, milk tea, and game discs. “This little gift, and if you need anything else, just let me know ~.”
"…Huh?" Joker blinked a few times then accepted the gift bag, his mouth unable to close. "How? From when?"
"I just bought the house next door. I just helped the previous owner choose a house and move the house the other day." Jarek gave him a thumbs up with a grin.
“Um…” Joker tried to take a deep breath to calm down in the silence. You organize the information that suddenly needs to be absorbed and choose the words to say.” Thank you for the gift… as well as for making me stronger.”
“It's nothing, I bothered you.” Jarek held out his hand.” I hope we can get along with each other from now on.”

“…Joker Zone is my full name.” The boy reached out his hand to shake. “My name is like a joke so it's not convenient to say it.”
“Nice to meet you, Joker~.” The girl grabbed Joker's hand and shook it a few times before stopping. "By the way, do you mind if I come in and play?"
“There aren't many things here so it will be boring.” Joker shrugged, he stepped back to let Jarek enter.
“Oh, no TV?” Jarek put his shoes on the shelf and looked around the small living room with nothing but wooden cabinets, refrigerator, and stove.
“I only use my laptop and phone.” Joker put down the gift bag and went into the bedroom. He came back and gave Jarek the latest handheld game console. “By the way, do you mind if I get a refund for the Portal ticket?”
“Pay with gold bars or diamonds?” She picked up the game console. The other hand shows a 1kg gold bar and a 50 carat diamond.

 

“…Please sell it or go to the bank to exchange it for me, otherwise transfer money or cash.” Joker frowned and then let out a sigh, again.

---At an apartment building, London, England ---

A spacious bedroom with a large screen TV on one wall, below it are game consoles from old to newest, on both sides are shelves containing books, movie discs and games. On the other side of the wall is a large sofa, on the opposite side is a table with a computer on it.


“…Eh?”

A young man woke up on the bed in the middle of his bedroom with surprise. He sat up and examined his hands and entire body, all covered in black and white armor. He lightly tapped the part of his face covered by what looked like glass but was so hard that it was difficult to make a sound. Touching the smooth armor and helmet, it reminded him of the armor of warriors from the future. Moving around in the strange armor was not stuffy, hot, cumbersome, or heavy. This strange armor is like his second skin, extremely comfortable when moving.

“… A few days after a strange surreal dream, here I am in this cool armor…” He stood up and went to a mirror on the wall to take a closer look at himself. “Maybe… the wish I made in my dream has come true!”

He leaned forward in front of the mirror and looked at himself, his voice unable to contain his excitement.

“But, even though I created this shape, it's quite similar to some games I play…” the boy started to stand up straight, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “But… what can I do?”

Beep beep

“Um…”

A device-like sound rang out, accompanied by a human voice. The boy suddenly turned around and looked towards his bed, a little girl and a young woman were lying next to his bed!

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