Chapter 6
Now, let's test the Skills I've acquired.
That said, the only ones I can really test are Body Enhancement and Item Box.
All right, just how much have my physical abilities improved?
Strength is "13." Its original value was "3."
That's simply four times as much. Faster than Red.
"Oh, now that I think about it..."
I move into the kitchen.
In front of me is the refrigerator.
This thing is seriously heavy.
"Heave-ho..."
I casually wrap my arms around the refrigerator and try lifting it.
"Whoa... It doesn't feel heavy at all."
I manage to lift it with ease.
Man, if I'd had this Skill, moving would have been so much easier.
This refrigerator is pointlessly huge, just barely fitting through the door and the outside walkway.
Oh, but it has casters. Pretty cool, huh?
"Ngh! Water's dripping! Cold!"
I hurriedly let go.
Ahh, I'm soaked.
I change clothes.
I move on to the washing machine, the heaviest appliance in my home, and try lifting it.
I can lift this one too... though not quite as easily.
Amazing... It used to be so heavy that it took two people just to move it.
Next, I try lightly jumping.
I can easily touch the ceiling.
Seriously?
Getting carried away, I try jumping a little harder this time.
Thud.
I ended up trying to kill myself with that jump. Ouch.
There's a hole now.
Next, I take out a spoon and grip it in my hand.
Squish.
Whoa... Even an esper would be shocked by that kind of brute force...
My own strength freaks me out.
"Hmm, it feels like my physical abilities have improved across the board. This is incredible."
Hahaha, I can feel the power surging through me!
Just kidding.
All right, I've tested my physical abilities. Next, I'll test 'Item Box.'
As I just tested, 'Item Box' is an ability that lets me store things I'm holding or touching.
A fantasy staple.
Alongside Appraisal, it's one of the genre's two ultimate cheat abilities.
Whether or not you have these two makes a huge difference in how overpowered you are in another world.
There are even novels where simply having this Skill lets the protagonist build a harem.
It's a Skill that guarantees victory. Probably.
So, I'll test how much I can store at Level 1.
For now, I decide to store everything I can, one thing after another.
As a result, I managed to store almost everything I owned in Item Box, including clothes and underwear for changing into, gloves, cold-weather gear, my futon, erotic doujinshi, used konjac, a table, a washing machine, dog food, and so on.
It seems I can store a considerable amount even at Level 1.
Insanely useful. Is this thing a god?
Damn, this is kind of fun.
It's a huge emergency, but I can't get enough of this fantasy vibe.
"Ah, I should've made a list of the things I stored..."
I put in so many different things that I don't remember all of them.
I only realized something so obvious now.
≪Would you like to display a list of the stored items?≫
Then, a voice echoed inside my head.
Huh? There's a list?
When I mentally answered yes, something like the status screen floated up before me.
"Whoa, it's displayed in the order I stored everything..."
Apparently, they're listed from top to bottom in the order I stored them.
It even has a vertical scrolling function.
When there are multiple copies of an item, they're displayed as ×number.
For example, with plastic bottles:
Water 500 ml ×3 bottles
Tea 2 L ×1 bottle
They appear like this.
They're properly sorted by type.
Insanely useful. Is this thing a god?
"At least this means I don't have to worry about forgetting what I've stored."
Man, Item Box is amazing.
I can see why it's a staple of other-world stories.
I wondered how well it preserves things, so I tried boiling some water, putting it in a thermos, and storing it.
After some time passed, I took the thermos back out.
It had gone lukewarm.
Hmm, so it doesn't have an insulation or time-stop function?
Well, it's only Level 1, so maybe its functions will improve as it levels up.
Either way, this is an incredibly useful Skill.
It seems I can apply it in various ways when taking things in and out, too; when I mentally willed something to appear in my hand, it appeared there just as I'd intended.
As for things too large to fit in my hands, they seem to appear in front of me.
Also, when storing something, it seems I can store it from a short distance away as long as it belongs to me.
I'm not sure exactly what qualifies as "my property," but I'll just have to keep testing it.
Incidentally, its effective storage range is about one meter.
I imagine that will expand as it levels up too.
All right, I've more or less finished testing my Skills.
What should I do now?
Should I eat and take a nap for now?
No, no. What good would escaping reality do?
I can still hear monsters shrieking outside, along with the screams of people I don't know.
Maybe because of the Keen Ears Skill, my hearing has improved, so I can hear them loud and clear. It's scary.
Hmm, what should I do?
Should I go outside, or barricade myself in here?
"But even if I barricade myself in, what about food...?"
There isn't much in the refrigerator worth eating.
A few slices of bread and some eggs, several kinds of vegetables and fruit, natto, seasoned meat, and pickles.
Other than that, there's only a few cups of ramen and a small amount of dried food meant to go with alcohol.
The water still works, but if the supply gets cut off, I'll be out of options.
"Oh, right. I should fill some empty plastic bottles with water for now."
I have a few dozen plastic bottles I'd set aside to throw away on recycling day.
They should still be usable if I rinse them out.
I fill them with water and store them in Item Box.
I need to secure at least a minimum supply of drinking water, just in case.
I manage to store twelve two-liter plastic bottles.
"I should store condiments and frying pans too. And rice."
Even without an electric rice cooker, I should be able to manage with an earthenware pot or a mess tin.
So I store the rice too.
"And I should put the dishes in there too."
I store all the dishes kept in the cupboard.
I can fit this much in even at Level 1. And the astonishing price? One point.
Come on, everyone, go get Item Box right now!
"Hmm, I really should go outside, huh...?"
I could barricade myself in here, but if one of those orcs—or something—breaks in, I won't have anywhere to run.
More than anything, I have far too little food.
It would last a few days at most. If even more monsters gather around me during that time, I'm screwed.
More than anything, the fact that I can't use electricity is a serious problem.
I have no way to gather information inside my home.
Even taking the risks into account, it would be wiser to go outside, join up with other people, or gather information.
At worst, I can run away as soon as something happens.
The Skills I've acquired are the real deal.
Besides, compared to the monsters, I have the advantage of knowing the terrain.
If I focus on running away, I should be able to avoid dying, at least.
"Now, something that could serve as a weapon..."
Though, what do I have?
I don't have the standard baseball bat or some indescribable crowbar-like thing people always have in situations like this.
"...I guess this is the only option."
I hold the kitchen knife I use to make meals.
It was the only thing I had that could serve as a weapon.
Well, there's no point wishing for something I don't have.
A classic murder weapon in suspense stories. It's highly lethal.
In a sense, it's the ultimate weapon for killing, having sent countless adulterers to their graves.
Besides, a kitchen knife isn't the only weapon I have.
"Hmm, but walking around with a kitchen knife in one hand makes me look incredibly suspicious..."
No use worrying about that now.
With the kitchen knife in one hand, I open the front door.
All right, time to venture into the outside world.