The three golden days of holiday I got after the midterm exams are over now.
I just returned yesterday after being dragged to the palace, and I couldn’t even rest properly because I immediately started dealing with the rift raids that suddenly appeared.
Luckily, the weekend was still left, but in my opinion, even with the remaining weekend, I wouldn’t be able to rest comfortably.
“Ah, Rudion! Over here!”
In front of the student cafeteria. I can see Seria greeting me cheerfully.
As always, it looks like she was out early, waiting for me.
What’s really strange is that even though I’ve been trying to come a bit earlier because I feel bad for always making her wait, nothing seems to change. The time I come earlier is now getting close to 30 minutes, so how early is she actually coming out?
Anyway, today I had something to do.
It was to check the inventory that was unlocked after raiding the rift yesterday.
After returning to the dorm, I tried experimenting with it on my own, but since I was doing it alone in my room, there were limits to what I could find out.
So, today, I planned to take Seria’s help and slowly explore the functions and uses of the inventory.
But for some reason, there was someone else standing beside her—someone very familiar.
“Good morning, Rudion.”
“President. What’s going on?”
“I came to have breakfast, and when I saw Seria standing here, I talked to her for a bit. It seems like you two have plans, am I right?”
“Well, I guess…”
“Is it a date?”
What? I didn’t expect such a question to come from Alkine.
“It’s not like that.”
“Then can I join in?”
Since it wasn’t really a plan like that, I lightly denied it, but Alkine said it as if he’d been waiting for me to say so.
I don’t know what’s going on, but if they have something to do, I said I’d help. He said it in a way that made it clear he was subtly eager to join.
Today is really weird. Why is this person acting like this all of a sudden?
‘Ah, maybe he wants to return a favor?’
Well, even so, he has helped me quite a bit.
If I think about it, this happened because I messed with the original story, but in the end, I was the one who helped solve the situation.
“Anyway, don’t you have to come later to write the report? Let’s go together after we’re done.”
“…Can’t we rest a bit over the weekend?”
“Why would you be out here if you wanted to rest?”
…Maybe he’s not trying to return a favor, but rather trying to get me to do some work.
Still, I didn’t really feel like rejecting it. It’s not like I could.
After hearing about it later, I learned that if I’d been a little later, Alkine would’ve really been in big trouble. Just imagining what might have happened if he’d stayed one more day at the palace sends a chill down my spine.
And I can’t help but feel guilty since it was partly my fault for provoking Diggers.
No one knows it was my fault, so I could probably just shamelessly go along, but it didn’t feel that simple.
“Alright. Let’s go together. Is that okay, Seria?”
“…Yeah. It’s fine.”
So, Alkine joined the inventory research session today.
Well then… first things first, breakfast.
I met Seria in front of the student cafeteria because we were going to have breakfast.
We could have met closer to the dorm, but there was some unease due to a previous incident involving the dorm, so I preferred this spot.
Lately, it feels like Seria’s fanbase is growing, and if I gave them any reason to report us again, things could get troublesome.
In fact, Seria was more sensitive about this than I was, so I didn’t really need to worry… but still…
“What are you thinking so hard about? Let’s go in.”
The problem is, if I keep hanging around like this, eventually annoying things will happen.
Well, they’re all students from the academy, so maybe I don’t need to worry too much.
I snapped back to reality when I heard Seria’s words and headed into the cafeteria.
“Alkine.”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s talk later.”
“Why…?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. It’s obvious.”
“…Alright.”
Seria, who sent me ahead, kept some distance and had a quiet conversation with Alkine. But since they were whispering, I couldn’t hear them.
As I’ve mentioned before, there were many unused… or rather, undeveloped areas on the academy grounds.
And if you dig around in those places, you’ll sometimes find areas that could be used like empty lots.
“I think this place will be good.”
After we finished our meal, we took a leisurely walk around the nearby forest to digest, and found a fairly spacious area with few trees.
It wasn’t too far away, so there were some traces of people having visited, but it was still a secluded spot. No one was likely to come by soon.
Alright, let’s try it out. A demonstration of the inventory.
First, I’ll need to explain it briefly.
“I gained a new ability while raiding the rift this time…”
“Again? Is it another useless ability like last time?”
Hey, Seria, don’t be so rude and stay still.
I can’t help but laugh whenever I see that snake emblem.
“Again? Was there something else?”
“Recently, I learned some strange ability. It’s a bit long to explain, but you can just think of it as a useless ability.”
“Now you’ve got me curious.”
“Excuse me? The important thing isn’t that right now.”
I interrupted their conversation about useless abilities and continued explaining.
Well, it’s just that I can store things.
Since I thought they wouldn’t understand if I said “inventory,” I referred to it as a personal dimensional storage, and it seemed like they accepted that explanation well.
As soon as they heard the explanation, Seria asked as if she’d realized something.
“So that’s why the sword you always carry around wasn’t visible?”
“Exactly.”
The sword that I always carried at my waist was quite a nuisance.
It had already been stored in the inventory.
Having worn it for so long, I had gotten used to it, so it felt a bit empty without it… but the comfort of not having it was greater.
As expected, it’s better to have less baggage.
I didn’t have to worry about forgetting what I had stored.
Surprisingly, there was a system interface exactly like the one in the game for the inventory.
In fact, I could even organize it neatly according to my preferences.
‘This is just like a game.’
Actually, everything so far, like dodging and parrying, has been like a game, but seeing it visually like this felt quite impactful.
At that moment, Alkine casually asked.
“So, I understand the concept of a pocket dimension ability, but I don’t quite get it… Could you show me how it works?”
“Of course.”
After all, I came to this secluded place just to show this off.
I casually took the sword out of the inventory.
When the sword, which hadn’t been there before, suddenly appeared from thin air, both Seria and Alkine looked quite puzzled.
“…It just comes out of thin air? What’s the principle behind it?”
“How would I know?”
“If you used this in front of Grain, it’d be a huge problem.”
…Huh? Now that I think about it, I’m curious. How would Grain see this?
It might be no big deal, like dodging or parrying, but I wouldn’t know until I show it.
Well, I’ll figure that out later, but for now, let’s focus on the inventory.
It was only natural that they were surprised.
A pocket dimension is just a space that’s larger than it appears, and just like a pocket, you’d have to keep rummaging through it every time you put something in or take something out.
You could fit more stuff in, and the weight issue was somewhat alleviated, but in the end, it was still a lump of baggage.
But the inventory was different. The process of putting things in and taking them out was completely skipped, and only the result would appear.
It was a completely unrealistic experience.
But honestly, isn’t this kind of thing normal in games?
After all, in a game, characters don’t change clothes by themselves, or take swords out of bags and reorganize them, right?
With dodging, parrying, and now the inventory, it was really nice to see how these game-breaking abilities were applied.
At that moment, Seria, who had been watching me, spoke up.
“…You seem to be enjoying yourself. But do you have anything else to show? You didn’t bring me all the way out here just to show this, did you?”
That’s right. If I was just going to use the inventory to store things, there was no need to create this kind of situation.
The reason I brought everyone to this secluded place… was to experiment with how far the inventory could be used.
‘Even though it’s like a game function, it’s still reality.’
In fact, since the inventory function itself was overpowered, I could use it just like in the game, but I wanted to explore if there were any other ways to use it.
“Seria. Could you create a magic orb and try to levitate it?”
For example, I wondered if I could store something other than items in the inventory.
Seria approached the magic orb she created.
Alright, let’s begin the first experiment…
Boom!
“Ah.”
As I tried to put the magic orb into the inventory, it exploded.
I was thrown off and crashed into a nearby tree, briefly losing consciousness due to the unexpected shock.
“Rudion?!”
“Seria! What did you do?!”
“I don’t know! I was keeping it stable…!”
Amidst the fading consciousness, I heard the panicked conversation.
The reason for my first fainting spell in this world being ‘the magic I tried to store in the inventory exploded’ is just hilarious.
‘This is so funny.’
It was my fault, but I felt pretty foolish.
I was too careless. I’ll have to be more careful next time.
With that thought, my consciousness faded away.
Thus, the great first experiment ended in an absurd failure.