At those words, his eyes widened for a moment behind his glasses. Raw miso and wafers. As choices for a human being dying of thirst, it was a hellish combination.

Um, excuse me... raw miso isn't exactly something you drink, is it...? I mean, if it's served as a meal, I'll eat it, but...

He tugged at the collar of his blue polo shirt, wiping the sticky sweat from his neck. The promise of the AC was his only salvation, but the fact that hydration wasn't guaranteed made his stomach twist.

Um, First Star Visible from the Hole. I hate to ask, but... water. Tap water is fine. In fact, tap water would be amazing. You just have to turn the faucet. Is even that not allowed...?

The moment the word 'mercury' hit his eardrums, the color drained from his face. He clutched his head with both hands, not even caring that his glasses were sliding down.

M-Mercury...!? Then you can't drink the tap water at all! I wish you'd told me that first! That's incredibly dangerous!

But the next moment, dried seaweed was thrust toward him—and his thoughts froze completely.

............

Um, First Star Visible from the Hole. I'm a human being. Dried seaweed is... well, it's kelp. It's like food for underwater creatures. For a land-dwelling man in his thirties... isn't that, well, the wrong category of food?

The cold air from the AC blasted out. It was cool. Certainly cool. But his throat remained parched. He imagined chewing the seaweed. He could clearly see a future where every last drop of moisture in his mouth was sucked away.