The desert stretched on like it had a personal vendetta against their sanity. Aryan stood at the edge of what should've been a cliff but was just more sand, squinting like his eyes could somehow rewrite geography.
"Okay, so hear me out," Aryan said, turning to his boys. "This whole vibe right here? It's giving desert energy, yeah? But then you got mountains over there, AND greenery? Like, who designed this continent? A sophomore with a geography exam due tomorrow?"
Vikas was already shaking his head. "Bro, stop. You're tripping. If there's even 2 kingdoms in this place, I'd be shocked."
"Two? Nah," Aryan said confidently. "There's gotta be like 4, maybe 5. This is too big to be anything else."
Ayush, who'd been quietly observing the absolute barrenness around them, finally spoke up. "Yo. Real question though. Which direction are we even supposed to go? It's literally gonna be dark soon, and I'm pretty sure it's already like 7 PM."
They all paused. Looked around.
The silence was deafening in the worst way possible.
"Bro," Aryan whispered, his confidence visibly cracking. "As far as I can see... there's literally nothing. No villages. No kingdoms. No NPCs. No civilization whatsoever."
Vikas's face went pale. "Did that boatman actually just finesse us?"
"He didn't finesse us," Ayush said slowly, his eyes narrowing. "He finessed us twice. Bro quoted us an insane price, right? And THEN he took us to the completely wrong location. That's not a mistake. That's a strategy."
Aryan winced. "Yeah... my bad for trusting him, but we scammed him too."
The guilt was hanging over them like a dark cloud when Vikas suddenly perked up. "Wait. Actually? We're out here, might as well find somewhere decent to camp. We can regroup tomorrow. It's not ideal, but it beats dying out here."
Aryan nodded. "Fair. Let's find some high ground, set up camp, grab some rest—"
That's when Ayush's expression shifted. Like he'd just remembered something absolutely unhinged.
"Yo, so... about that," Ayush said casually. "Remember that place where you had that whole incident? The accident spot?"
Aryan's eye twitched. "Why are you bringing that up right now?"
"Because I went back there," Ayush continued, completely unbothered. "Right before the dungeon reset. And I had a few minutes left, so I was like... why not recruit some creatures as soldiers?"
Vikas said, "Okay, but like... how many?"
"Well," Ayush said, scratching the back of his neck. "I could only grab some before my mana tapped out. But... they were kind of really powerful."
Dark silhouettes summoned around them like something straight out of a horror movie. Aryan still couldn't quite process this—massive ogres. Twelve feet tall, muscular, and absolutely terrifying.
Vikas said, "You can summon THIS many?!"
"Ummmm yeah," Ayush shrugged. "Bro, they're just... really good."
Aryan felt his soul leave his body. "Ayush. You're giving me actual trauma right now. Real talk."
Ayush, completely unfazed, actually started laughing. "Anyway, so like... where are we sleeping tonight? Because I'm lowkey exhausted, and these shadows are actually pretty good cover."
Aryan: "You know what? I don't even have the energy to yell. Let's just... find a spot. Preferably surrounded by your army."
Ayush: (grinning) "Now you're thinking strategically!"
As the trio settled into their camp, surrounded by creatures that should not exist, Aryan couldn't help but say, "We went from getting scammed by a boat guy to being homeless right now."
Vikas said, "We are not homeless. We just don't have a house."
"That's called homeless, bastard," Aryan said.
Ayush just stared at the sky and said, "Nah, bro. We got homeless in another world? Hell naaahhh. I never imagined that we were going to be homeless like this in another world." He looked up at the stars and continued, "Where is my harem? Where are the girls?"
Aryan said, "Don't get false hope. You ain't getting any girls."
Ayush just watched him while making a disgusting face.