Chapter 9
[Additional Trait]
[Inventory(SSR)]
A subspace of one cubic meter is provided.
From anywhere in the space that touches the user's body extremities, items can be taken out and put in.
Hostile objects and living beings have restricted storage.
By speaking the keyword, you can view the inventory.
Cooldown: None
Mana Cost : 0
This is the most overpowered thing.
I don't need anything else.
Inventory.
A trait possessed by only a tiny number of A-rank hunters—and even only a few S-rank hunters.
I chose it immediately.
[Congratulations! The trait [Inventory(SSR)] has become yours!]
[Speedrun bonus! HP and mana have both been fully restored!]
I immediately tried out my new trait.
I had two staffs in my hand.
I put one of them in.
“Oh?”
Even though both were touching it, only one went in.
I put away the saber I had borrowed from Isera.
It was so long I thought it wouldn't fit, but somehow it did.
“Inventory.”
When I said that, I could see the saber inside.
It had been neatly crammed along the center diagonal, the longest way it could fit.
“A longer sword won't work.”
But I'm a magic user, so it doesn't matter anyway.
I only brought the sword for minimal self-defense.
The moment I thought of taking the saber out, it was already in my hand.
That's seriously convenient.
Is this what an inventory user's life is like?
“Cast, Bullet.”
It changed from a saber to a staff instantly, with no delay.
A small blue flash embedded itself in the wall.
Useful in combat, too.
Being able to switch weapons quickly is an absurd advantage.
Didn't I drop the staff and fumble it around in the first room?
You can get rid of that kind of delay entirely.
I tried putting my clothes in, too.
It seemed that “extremities” included the skin as well.
The instant I was stripped half-naked and then returned to being fully clothed, I cheered.
...This is Hell difficulty?
The rewards are on a whole different level.
What would it be like if I went further up?
“Hmm... maybe I'll just give the next floor a quick try?”
A rippling exit.
A single staircase had appeared awkwardly beside it.
I climbed it, entered the second floor, and the moment I stepped into the first room...
[Second Floor, Floor of Traps - Entering the First Room.]
“...Wait. Hold on, hold on, hold on!!! T-this isn't right!!!”
I was met with several thousand arrows flying toward me.
I bolted.
***
Sera and Suhyun showed exactly the reactions I'd expected.
“Hey, look at this! It's an inventory! Jealous!?”
When the saber suddenly appeared in midair and landed in Isera's hand, she was stunned.
“I, I got this as an SR trait reward for clearing Floor 20...”
“I... I didn't even get a rare trait in Normal...”
Heh heh heh. This is the taste of flexing.
I straightened my back and savored the envious stares.
“Gyaaah! That hurts!”
I got hit.
I've never even been hit by my dad!
Quiet. Besides the inventory, don't you have anything else?
“Three status-enhancement tickets, one per room. So I dumped them all into mana.”
“That comes out of the first room!?”
“It did.”
“Sometimes, though not as steadily as her basic rewards.”
Isera nodded and said.
Thinking about it, she was already stacked for Very Hard from the start.
She even has one SSR-grade trait.
“C-could it be... Suhyun is... Ah, no.”
I made an exaggerated gesture and averted Suhyun's gaze.
Suhyun smiled, biting their lip.
It was the face of someone who wanted to smack this cocky brat once.
“You don't do that anywhere else, do you?”
“Of course not...”
I thought of Karnarov's face, veins popping.
“I do.”
Yeah.
“Ah, right. Suhyun. Thanks for your help. This is a token of appreciation.”
“W-wait!? T-thank you!!”
Isera handed Suhyun an orange magic stone.
“What, that's pretty good?”
It was a pretty good magic stone.
A magic stone one tier above my red one!
Depending on purity, it varies a bit, but orange magic stones usually contain a lot of mana.
Suhyun's expression seemed to soften a little.
All things considered, magic stones were precious.
Even to get something as low as a red magic stone, a D-rank had to risk their life.
“Eugh. Let's go.”
“Good work! I should donate a magic stone too.”
I gave Suhyun a red-glowing magic stone as well.
Suhyun looked at me in surprise.
Of course, I gave them the smallest one, the one with a few scratches, but this still sells for quite a lot.
“Then, for real, bye! I don't think I'll be back for a while!”
“It would be better if you didn't.”
Suhyun said, looking as if something had just occurred to them.
“That hurts a little when you say it like that.”
“It's not because I dislike you. It's because you've been entered into the database. It's the Korean record. You'll draw attention.”
“Is that really such a big deal?”
The moment I said that, Suhyun covered their face with one hand and let out a long sigh.
“What am I supposed to do with this kid...”
Isera had a similar reaction.
“You don't know how persistent the guilds are. I'll anonymize it for you, so if this saves you trouble later, you can repay me.”
“Sure, whatever.”
I snorted and turned around.
I wanted attention, but not from the creepy old men in the guilds.
When Isera graduated from the training center and cleared Floor 20 on Very Hard.
From small and medium hunter guilds all the way up to the country's biggest guilds, they were all over her like crazy.
If they help, that's appreciated.
Now, it's time to go back.
“I said I'd buy you a meal.”
“Oh, then we have to eat.”
***
So we went to a hotel buffet and stuffed ourselves with an expensive meal.
A meal even more expensive than that would have taken too long.
Instead, I thought about using my inventory to pull off a food-smuggling trick.
When I asked Isera for an airtight container, I got hit.
And then I ran to the supermarket.
“Kyaaaah! I forgot the curfew! Run!”
To be exact, Isera was the one running.
Since I run slower than Isera, it was better for Sera to run with me tucked under her arm!
When I arrived at a warehouse-style mart with a name everyone would recognize, I headed straight for the instant-food section.
“Grab it! Just put it in first!”
I'd already decided what to buy.
After packing the inventory full, I went to the meat section, got a whole slab of meat for Gomi, and headed for the mountain.
***
When I came into Reinhardt from the forest, afternoon classes had just ended and everyone was heading to the student cafeteria.
I headed for the dormitory.
The haul was pretty good.
First of all, because I dumped the Floor 1 rewards entirely into mana, I could boost my mana to about seven times its original amount.
It wasn't much, but at least firing off a few dozen basic attack spells was easy.
But the looks people were giving me were a little strange.
“...That kid is the first-year, right?”
“I heard she broke through the security net and escaped on her own. Doesn't that mean she's pretty skilled?”
“Does that even make sense? It's just a rumor.”
“But she really is disgustingly pretty. I wish I could live with a face like that.”
“Then why don't you talk to her?”
“Th-that's...”
“Why?”
“It's embarrassing.”
Hah.
Memories of what I had experienced after my body changed were coming back vividly.
Even in the other world, I got this kind of reaction when I went out on the streets or visited the Hunter Association.
Of course, now that I'd thrown a tantrum at the Hunter Association and rumors had spread, all that remained was a ghost story.
Then someone spoke to me.
“Are you Student Yumia?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Then come with us to the Student Guidance Office right now.”
“Eh.”
***
The guidance office looked like a miniature courtroom I had seen somewhere before.
The guidance director was right in front of me, and professors were seated around the edges.
“Student Yumia. Do you admit to escaping campus without permission and violating the dormitory curfew?”
The stern-looking guidance director, Reina, looked at me and said in a firm voice.
...Is the guidance director a student?
“Yep.”
“Since the escape itself is handled as a minor disciplinary matter, we'll finish with a 3-point penalty and three days of bathroom cleaning. Is that acceptable?”
Several professors who had come to observe also nodded.
Hmm. So this is how it ends.
Not too bad, I guess?
Cleaning bathrooms is no big deal...
“And as aggravating factors, property damage, unauthorized entry into the eastern forest, and jamming a faculty member during the escape and causing injury, I will impose a 10-point penalty and seven days of bathroom cleaning.”
“What? No, that was their own fault for not handling their mana properly...”
I tried to object, but the professors nodded right away, and I was stuck with the punishment.
This is unfair. So unfair.
“And please follow the dress code as well. It's loosely regulated, but the cloak and tie bearing Reinhardt's emblem are mandatory.”
...There was a dress code?
I don't have money.
With that, the punishment was finalized, and the professors withdrew like the tide.
'Damn it. Next time, I definitely won't get caught.'
“Ah, I'm hungry.”
My stomach had emptied out.
I should go to the dorm and eat whatever I brought.
So I opened the dorm room door.
“...Yumia?”
Aris was in the room.
Her big blue eyes turned toward me.
But... the mood was a little off.
I edged closer and sat down demurely.
It felt like I shouldn't touch her.
“I'm back.”
“Where have you been all this time?”
“...Aris?”
“I think Yumia is someone who acts freely.”
Aris said calmly, but there was a faint trace of anger in her voice.
Aris puffed out her cheeks.
“Still, can't you tell your roommate where you're going? I went looking for you because I thought something had happened.”
...I got scolded.
That hit a pretty sore spot, too.
Yumia had been pretty helpful, always grabbing bread for me in the student cafeteria or lending me class materials.
But I guess she was upset because I ran off without saying anything.
“Hmm... sorry.”
“Then that's fine. So where were you really? I asked the professor in charge of first-years, but she just said nonsense and...”
“Who's in charge?”
“Professor Karnarov.”
“Eek.”
So it was Karnarov.
“Anyway, these are yesterday's arithmetic class materials. There's homework too.”
The class materials were just arithmetic problems at about middle-school level.
The homework was more of the same.
“This is easy. My grades are going smoothly...”
“Ah, and there was something Professor Karnarov asked me to pass along.”
A very heavy book was placed in my hands.
...?
[Basic Magic Circle Studies]
It was a book.
A very thick book, too.
It had clearly been used a lot, because it was almost in tatters.
The notes were packed so densely it was like there was a comment on every line.
A note was attached to it.
[This is to make up for your absence.
Instead of your original assignment, you will solve all of Chapter 1's practice problems by next week.
If you can't, you should be prepared for your grades to take a hit.
By the way, for someone like you, these are problems you should be able to learn entirely on your own, so don't worry too much.]
I could tell at a glance whose handwriting it was.
Chapter 1?
It was a section that took up a significant chunk of this thousand-page book.
And there were over 100 practice problems!?
Should I throw it?
What happens if my grades are bad?
Of course! If you have too many failing marks, you repeat the year and can't move on to the next course!
Kraaagh...
Looks like I'm stuck writing lines.
The silver lining was that this would help lay the foundation for magic circles.
It apparently went beyond merely fixing a few numbers or runes on a magic circle and even let you draw one yourself.
That's what the introduction said.
Well, it would help if I did it. I guess.
Aris and I opened to the first page and buried our heads in it.
“Hmm... I'm supposed to understand this...”
I don't understand it.
No, there are too many words I don't know.
Kraaagh. If I were in the modern world, I could've at least run AI and looked up the words I didn't know...!
“Why did Professor Karnarov give us such a hard assignment...?”
An assignment to practice Basic Attack Magic ten times and report on my progress.
Since I couldn't finish it in a day, I had to do twenty repetitions.
And it was an assignment to submit according to the First Magic Assignment format, but I had no idea what that was.
“Gyaaah. There are too many things to do...”
“Hmm... I don't understand parts of it either... Do you understand it, Yumia?”
“How could I? Can you understand it, Aris?”
“Our home tutor taught me... I came after covering up to second-year material.”
...So that was advanced study, huh.
How did I even manage to get second place?
At least the notes in the middle provided some explanations, so I was barely able to piece it together.
“Could it be... you came here knowing nothing about magic?”
“And?”
“...Um... where are you from, Yumia?”
“Gyeonggi-do?”
I answered without thinking.
“Don't you have any luggage, Yumia? You always seem to wear the same clothes. You'll start to smell if you do that. You should have them washed.”
“Ah, right. I should unpack.”
“...Where exactly is this luggage?”
“Hmm... want to follow me?”
I headed to the room used as a storeroom.
Aris followed behind me.
“Should I unpack here?”
Aris's luggage was neatly arranged off to one side.
By contrast, my luggage was basically the socks I'd tossed aside earlier.
“Oh, and make sure you properly put the socks in the laundry basket...”
“Got it, got it.”
I put away the socks and pointed into the air with my index finger.
—THUD!
A one-cubic-meter pile of luggage dropped to the floor in an instant.
“Eee... Eeeeeeee!??”
Aris's face was instantly filled with shock.