'So many places to make a challenge and they choose the desert,' thought Gen just after Dehji had disappeared, 'Well complaining won't solve anything, I better start looking for this thing I don't know what it is at once. Now how am I supposed to explore this desert? The best strategy would be to start from a corner and cover the desert little by little, but it seems that Dehji left me in the middle of the desert.'

Gen then started to look around thinking, 'I'd better pick a side and focus on going that way until I reach the end of the desert. That way I can better organize myself to explore the entire desert. Now, which side should be the best? ah, I got it, I'll go in the direction where the sun is on one of my sides, because then at no time will I have to walk towards it.'

Gen then thought after positioning himself with his back to the sun, 'Now which way do I choose, right or left?' Gen then took the scarf he put on his face and held it up high and waited. After a few moments the scarf flew to the left, Gen then thought, 'It seems that the wind is coming from the right. Let's go to the left then, so I can avoid eating sand,' and then he started to walk to the left.

After a few minutes of walking Gen began to think, 'How will the people react to not seeing me for a year? I bet Stanley will be worried after a couple of weeks, and maybe he'll even organize a group to look for me. Lapis will probably be very sad, and think the worst, but her family will certainly help her with this. Marco, on the other hand, will probably say that I knew the risk I was taking and that this kind of thing happens every day, but inside he will be just as sad or maybe even worse than Lapis, hahaha.'

'Balkan and Miss Anna on the other hand will probably be unconcerned, they took me in when I arrived in town, and they know I won't fall that easy. As for Lina ..., so much could happen that I don't even know, maybe she will be sad and cry for me, pfft, yeah, as if. Maybe she will come looking for me, just so she can kill me with her own hands, hahaha. Or maybe she believes that I didn't die and is waiting for me to come back, to make my life a living hell, which is quite possible.

Gen then touched his lips and thought, 'Just remembering the kiss I gave her makes me break out in a cold sweat. I don't know what came over me at the time, it was like it wasn't me. I think that because I had put up with her teasing me for so long, I had reached my limit. Thank goodness I got out of there on the spot, otherwise who knows what would have happened. On second thought, it might be good to spend a year here so that she forgets about it and doesn't hit me so much when I come back. It might even be that she'll end up missing me, and will give me a welcome kiss when I'm back, hahahaha.'

Ahh, a year..., that's a long time, I'll miss them. During this year that I'm here, the only person I'll have to talk to will be Dehji.', Gen started to remember the conversations he had with Dehji so far, and after remembering he felt a shiver down his spine, and thought, 'Yeah, looks like it's going to be a long year. I'd better not even think about it, or I'll lose my motivation.

After that Gen continued walking in the same direction for a few hours, until at one point he stopped and thought, 'I'd better stop and rest a bit.' He then started to look around, thinking, 'Is there any shadow around here?' After looking for a while and not finding any shadow, Gen gave up and thought, 'Looks like there isn't any shadow around here. To tell the truth, I don't remember seeing any shadows all this time, how strange.

Marco, on the other hand, will probably say that I knew the risk I was taking and that this kind of thing happens every day, but inside he will be just as sad or maybe even worse than Lapis, hahaha.'

'Balkan and Miss Anna on the other hand will probably be unconcerned, they took me in when I arrived in town, and they know I won't fall that easy. As for Lina ..., so much could happen that I don't even know, maybe she will be sad and cry for me, pfft, yeah, it seems. Maybe she will come looking for me, just so she can kill me with her own hands, hahaha. Or maybe she believes that I didn't die and is waiting for me to come back, to make my life a living hell, which is quite possible.

Gen then touched his lips and thought, 'Just remembering the kiss I gave her makes me break out in a cold sweat. I don't know what came over me at the time, it was like it wasn't me. I think that because I had put up with her teasing me for so long, I had reached my limit. Thank goodness I got out of there on the spot, otherwise you know what would have happened. On second thought, it might be good to spend a year here so that she forgets about it and doesn't hit me so much when I come back. It might even be that she'll end up missing me, and give me a welcome kiss, hahahaha.'

Ahh, a year..., that's a long time, I'll miss them. During this year that I'm here, the only person I'll have to talk to will be Dehji.', Gen started to remember the conversations he had with Dehji so far, and after remembering he felt a shiver down his spine, and thought, 'Yeah, looks like it's going to be a long year. I'd better not even think about it, or I'll lose my motivation.

After that Gen continued walking in the same direction for a few hours, until at one point he stopped and thought, 'I'd better stop and rest a bit.' He then started to look around, thinking, 'Is there any shadow around here?' After looking for a while and not finding any shadow, Gen gave up and thought, 'Looks like there isn't any shadow around here. To tell you the truth, I don't remember seeing any shadows all this time, how strange.

Gen then thought, 'Well, if there isn't any shade around here, we'll just have to sit right here in the miserable sun,' and so he sat down. He then took his canteen, and started to drink some water, and after a few minutes he stood up, thinking, 'I guess there's no point in stopping to rest, it's so hot that maybe I'm even worse off than before. I'd better get on my way.

Gen then thought, 'Should I change direction? Better not, I've come so far, it's not because I haven't found anything that I need to change my strategy,' and so he continued on the same path.After more than a few hours of walking in the same direction, Gen still saw nothing that caught his attention, much less the end of the desert, and then thought, 'How big is this desert? It's not possible that it's the size of a normal desert, right? Because if it is, you can forget about a year, it's going to take me at least four years to go through it all.

He then continues for a few more hours, until at one point he notices a black dot on the horizon and thinks, 'Finally something different in this sea of sand. If all goes well, that's what I've been looking for,' Gen then started walking towards it, and after a few more hours he didn't seem to get any closer, he then thought, 'It looks like I'm a long way from that spot. From the amount I've walked, it looks like it will take me at least five days to get there. Well at least it's a start.'

Gen then was about to continue towards the point, when suddenly Dehji appeared beside him and said, "Hey Gen, did you enjoy your day in the desert?", "Dehji, why are you here? It hasn't been a day yet, the sun isn't even out yet.", "And it won't be. One part of the challenge is to endure this sun on your body. But anyway, are we going back? or do you want to start another day of challenge now?"

Gen on hearing this said, "No way. I have a year in here, I don't need to be in such a hurry, let's go back.", "Ok, then come," said Dehji and then walked through a door that appeared out of nowhere. Gen followed him, and after going through the door he reached the room that gave access to the other parts of the place. He then started toward the kitchen thinking, 'I'll finally get something decent to eat today,' but before he could enter Dehji stopped him and said, "I know you must be starving, but you can't go into the kitchen like this.

Gen then looked at himself and saw that he really did have sand all over his body, and then said, "You're right, I'd better take a shower.", "I know I'm right. Now get going before my nose falls off," said Dehji covering his nose. Gen then went towards his room and took some clothes from his backpack.He took it to the bathroom, and when he went in there his eyes widened.

Gen looked around, and said, "What is this? Why is this bathroom so big? It's easy enough for about twenty people to take a shower at the same time. Gen then took off his clothes, and got into the water, and as he got into the water he said, "Wow! The temperature is perfect. It's hell to spend a whole day in that desert, but at least the accommodations are good, in fact they are even exaggerated.

Gen then dried himself on a towel that was already in the bathroom, and when he finished he said, "Even the towel is warm, later I have to congratulate Dehji.", Gen then put the clothes he took with him to the bathroom, and then left the room towards the kitchen. When he got to the kitchen Gen saw Dehji eating, and then asked him sitting down in front of him, "What are you eating?", "Nothing much, just a bread with cheese and ham. Would you like one?", "Sure.", "Ok, there's bread on the right, and the cheese and ham are on the left, behind the fruit, be my guest.", "Oh, I thought you were offering to make one for me.", "Pfft! Don't make jokes now Gen, I have food in my mouth. Hahaha, but anyway, that was a good one."

Gen frowned with what he said, but put it aside and asked, "Dehji.", "Yes?", "I wanted to ask you why everything here is so out of proportion. The bedroom, the bathroom, the training room, even this kitchen. It doesn't seem that these things were made with one person in mind. Was it common in the old days to have several people here at the same time?", "It wasn't that common, but it did happen sometimes, that more than one person stayed here at the same time, but that's not why everything is so exaggerated. Why is it like this then?", "It's your fault.", "My fault?", "Yes. When you enter that dark room that we went through before you got here, you are analyzed, and then these rooms are created based on your standard of normality.", "Normality? I guess you had some mistake then, because I've never seen anything like that in my life."

Dehji was about to say something, but stopped in the middle as he looked into Gen's eyes, and said, "That's right, there must have been some mistake. Well, you'd better rest after you eat, you must be dead from the challenge and your trip here.", "I really am.", "Well, enjoy your rest. You have one day before you have to enter the challenge again.", "One day there, one day here, hmmm, at least that's fair.", "Yeah. Well I'm off, Good rest.", "Thanks."

Dehji then left the kitchen and thought, 'fair, pfft. I want to see you say that after tomorrow, hahaha.'