You Better Smile While You Can

"Oasis!!!"

Holding their enthusiasm, Jiwan and the Class Rep didn't rush forward, and instead waited for me.

My senses expanded. No unnatural Qi or MaQi around. Scanning with MaQi was much harder for me, since I didn't have as much experience with it, but it was something I had to get used to.

We approached carefully. My companions were happier than me, and I couldn't blame them. An oasis in this desert. Mushy, weird green leaves, plenty of water, surrounded by hardened mineral soil, and a tint of red and blue viscous liquid spread irregularly on the ground.

Red and blue viscous liquid?

Monster blood…?

We instantly raised our guards, communicating with signs instead of words. As we got closer, the source of the viscous liquid became clear: dead bodies. Small, red furred, strikingly cute with long tails, and adorned with strange yet carefully tailored clothes.

I frowned. They were none of the species I knew.

"My god!" The sight was extremely shocking to the cute thing's lover Class Rep.

A closer look revealed most wounds were caused by sharp, razor-like blades, and some blunt trauma with pointy spikes.

"Did the demons kill them?" Jiwan asked.

"No. Look at the wounds. Those were most likely the work of species with weapons or tools. See those strange marks? Those are footprints, so most likely humanoids. Keep your guards up."

We searched for more details, and further, near the water, found a couple more bodies. They were not like the others.

"Those are humans!"

"Weird. They don't have any visible wounds," The Class Rep said.

I nodded, "My guess is that they died because of the water."

Jiwan: "Oh god… we can't drink this water either?"

"I told you, didn't I? This mineral soil is harmful to us. The water runs through it. It wouldn't be weird for it to carry its properties. It's the same as poison. Those poor people drank it."

Class Rep: "Maybe other humans got angry and killed the cute looking things?"

I shook my head, "Unlikely. Tools from our world are useless. That means those were tools from a new world. Besides, Old Earth Humans are the weakest species right now. Even those cute looking things wouldn't be easy to kill."

"Wait, look, they also killed this human with the same wounds." We found a corpse behind some vegetation, the same razor-like patterned wound on its back. Seems he tried to hide but was found and hunted down. Having checked the entire area, whoever did this was no longer around.

Jiwan: "Damn… so we came this far, but this water is useless?"

"I already knew we couldn't use this water. I didn't know about those species, but…" I never saw them before, which means they disappeared, because of the demons, other predators or more sinister reasons.

"But?"

"We came here for the vegetation. We can make rope out of those plants and grass. Also…" I pointed to the corpses, "It hasn't been long since they died. I'm not sure if they aren't poisonous, but..."

"I'M NOT EATING THEM EITHER!" The Class Reps shouted right away.

I facepalmed, "Chill, I know. We are taking their clothes."

Jiwan: "What?!"

Class Rep: "Take things from the dead?!"

"Here's the thing. Those clothes are from another world. They won't disappear or lose durability. Our clothes will. Unless you want to travel butt-naked, there isn't any other solution right now."

The Class Rep became red, thinking about us running around naked, while Jiwan had this "maybe it's not that bad, after all" silly look.

Class Rep: "You pervert!"

Jiwan: "No, I… I…!"

"Jiwan, take their clothes. I'll dig some graves. Class Rep, gather some grass and fiber. We need them to adjust the clothes to our size."

With their assignments, my companions tried to forget we looted dead corpses. It didn't bother me. I would do almost anything to survive. It wasn't the first time either. The things I had to do in the past…

I weaved the clothes together skillfully, making rope with the plants and fiber around. Skills learned from experiencing tough times. Survival skills. One of the fundamental teachings of the Old Earth Northern Army. Only through being resourceful did humans survive long enough for our potential to shine.

With some work, our weapons finally looked proper for handling. I even improvised some small bags.

"Whoa, you look like a pro, buddy. I Didn't know you had this kind of skill."

I smiled. After you spend many years running from place to place, trying to survive, skills like these were a must.

"How come I'm better at this than you?" Jiwan didn't forget to tease the Class Rep. She was the slowest out of us.

Class Rep glared menacingly, "What, since I'm a woman, I need to be good at stuff like this? Please."

Jiwan: "I... I... didn't mean it like that…"

Whoa. It still made me speechless how Jiwan was powerless in front of this woman. This fool really liked her.

"Here, done." I showed them the patched clothes. They were nothing amazing, and quite weird looking with all the patches I had to do, but they were surprisingly comfortable and durable.

"What material is this? It doesn't feel like anything I've seen before," The Class Rep said.

"No idea. This was very well done," the handiwork that would be useful in the new world.

We were finally clothed, rested, and armed, "We will keep heading northeast."

As we left, I noticed some more marks going away from the oasis.

"Drag marks. Signs of struggle. More footprints, a lot of them. Some look like humans. See how they kept going? They dragged away more people. Over there... wheels marks on the ground. Let's follow it. Be careful."

"Okay. Now that I think about it, how long has it been since we left?" Jiwan asked, "It feels like a long time, but the night hasn't fallen yet. It doesn't even feel like time is passing right now, the sun hasn't changed at all."

"Don't even try to guess," I shrugged. "Time is screwed up as well. Don't you remember? It was night when everything happened, but why did it suddenly become day? And it still is."

"Maybe the earth isn't rotating the way it should?" The Class Rep said.

"Maybe. Maybe we're finally living the dream of flat-earthers," I joked. We all had a good laugh. The thing was, I wasn't even sure if it was a joke anymore, with all the crazy worlds popping in and out.

Jiwan facepalmed, "Geez, is anything even the same as before?"

I smiled, "Yes. Death is the same wherever we go, buddy."

"I bet women are also the same-"

The Class Rep punched him in the back, "What do you mean by that?!"

Exactly that, I bet Jiwan thought, "Let's keep going!"

It was crazy how we could still smile. I wasn't against it. In this world, you better smile while you still can.