Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Hitori looked at the walls of the cafeteria. He wanted to get out of it as soon as possible, but not unless he finished his breakfast.

He got up after five more minutes, dumped his plate, and left the cafeteria. He saw that seat in the corner of the courtyard. His hand automatically went to the inner pocket of a jacket he was not wearing.

He realized it was summer and he did not have the jacket on him anymore. The argument with Reon yesterday gave him trouble sleeping. He helped himself with his self-created cigarettes and filled the room with smoke so much that he had to open the door and window in the middle of the night.

Hitori sighed and took a seat under the tree in the corner. "Why did she have to…?" he asked himself. He went for the inner pocket again, but when found nothing, he groaned.

He looked around and noticed he was the only volunteer in the courtyard. The rest were still eating breakfast. And he even saw a few volunteers eating breakfast with their juniors.

Hitori wanted a cigarette badly. He got off his seat and walked to the cafeteria. Only if I can get my hands on a piece of paper, he thought.

So in the search of a piece of paper, Hitori opened the courtyard's wooden door. He saw the handle on which a girl had knocked his head yesterday. He ignored it and opened the door wide when he saw a group approaching him.

The group volunteer, Mono, raised his head and stopped in front of Hitori. His grin faded and a smile appeared. "Oh, Hitori, are you going in?"

Hitori met his eyes with Mono and nodded. He tried to slip past through the eight to ten students who had the same expressions on their faces– not pleased with your interruption, thanks.

"Oh, hey, I was thinking how about we take the tour together today? I mean, it would have been hard for you yesterday."

"Y-Yeah, yeah, whatever, sure," Hitori said and finally pushed through the crowd.

Mono watched him as he walked into the cafeteria, then walked out of the cafeteria. "Where is he going?" he wondered.

Mono decided to wait for Hitori to arrive, if he does not, then he will go ahead with his juniors without waiting for him. Because Hitori did look like he was in a hurry, or something urgent came up.

Hitori dashed through the hallways. Thankfully, they were empty and he could pick his pace running down the corridors. He took sharp turns and only he knew where he was headed.

He saw windows and maps on the way inside the school building. Then he saw benches, wooden chairs, and desks in a room. A blackboard and a duster. He was in the classroom wing of the building.

Hitori paused when he arrived in front of his locker in the wall. He chanted the keyword– his game name– and the locker opened. He went through the yellow pages and a few textbooks about magic and Japanese grammar.

At the end of the pile of his books was a mini diary. A diary he used to carry around his sophomore year. He carried it to note great strategies or defense ideas on the way.

Being obsessed with gaming, he always thought about gaming, and hence random ideas clicked at random times. He needed a diary, he later realized.

He flipped open the diary and examined its page. The width of the page was wide enough to roll into a cigarette and long enough to fold into a long-lasting cigarette that would last enough to satisfy and calm Hitori.

He glanced around, then tore a page off the diary. Since the coast was clear, he ran to the Men's Washroom. He entered a stall, locked the door, closed the toilet seat, and sat over it. While he made himself comfortable, he held the page in front of him.

Hitori rolled the end critally close to each other, it is necessary for the perfect cigarette. After he finished rolling it into a cigarette, he held it tightly in between his two fingers.

Hitori lightened the end, then blew the flame. Smoke came from the tip as ashes fell on the white marble flooring. Hitori tried to smile, but before he could, he shoved the cigarette into his mouth.

He held the butt in between his teeth and inhaled the smoke. For the first time, he left the smoke reach his lungs– not just the lungs– but the deepest parts of his lungs. It was satisfying, as if water filling into a man who has been thirsty for around thirty days.

Hitori was enjoying his smoke, it had reached halfway when he heard someone above him.

"What are you doing?" Hitori panicked. He jumped from the seat and banged against the wooden wall.

"God, damn it…" Hitori sighed. He saw a boy staring at him from over the stall. Then Hitori recognized the person. He had brown hair and green eyes, and a dark feel about him.

"I saw smoke coming from the stall, but could not smell any tobacco. What are you even smoking? Does that even gets you high?"

Hitori crushed the cigarette against the wall, then flushed it down the toilet. "I do not do it to get high," Hitori replied.

He opened the door and walked to the sink. The nerd climbed down from the stall's wall with ease even when he was half as tall as the wall.

"Then why do you do it for?"

Hitor washed his hands. "Nothing to do with you," he said, "I was not doing drugs, that is all that matters."

"You do it because…" the nerd said and trailed off.

Hitori put his hand against the wall, a warm wave dried his hand in an instant.

After a long pause, the nerd continued, "...it gives you the feel."

Hitori stopped. He turned to the nerd. "How do you know that?"

"I know that. And we are late again, because of you this time, but we will miss the lunch. I guess we should hurry back to the group."

Hitori stared at him for a while. Then nodded. "Yeah, you are right. I am sorry."

The nerd took the lead. He is not a shy guy, then why is he the outcast? Hitori wondered. He followed the nerd out of the toilet.

Why does he know about my reason behind smoking? But Hitori had no way to find out.

"Can you teleport?" Hitori asked.

The nerd turned and shook his head.

"I will tell you." Hitori stretched his hand and to his surprise, the nerd grabbed his hand instantly. They exchanged glances. "Imagine the place you want to go to. Create it in your heart, then supply your mana, as you do with your wand, to my hand. Understand?"

Hitori closed his eyes and waited for the nerd's response, but he received an order. "Uh, open your eyes, we are here…"

Hitori frowned. 'Not possible,  he thought. But when he opened his eyes, he saw his seat in the corner under the tree.

He looked around and found Mono smiling at him, his group glaring at him, and other volunteers leaving the courtyard.

Then he looked at the nerd. "But… we were supposed to be in the cafeteria…"