Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Infinite Inventory
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A system window floated before his eyes.
Seeing in person what he'd only ever viewed on a monitor felt strange, but that wasn't the important part.
Synchronization.
Perk.
Infinite Inventory.
Park Jin-seong quickly pieced together the words from the system window to analyze his current situation.
'After breaking Chrome, it said we'd move to a new space... That must be here. Does that mean I've entered the game itself?'
It was an absurd thought.
But there was no other explanation.
'...And right now, I really have no answers either.'
A hollow laugh escaped him.
He knew better than anyone how harsh and unforgiving this world was.
'Even counting all the DAT veterans, no one's died as much as I have, right?'
Park Jin-seong felt a strange sense of pride in that realization.
'Fuck. Of all things, my class is fixed as a mage?'
Sure, his clear run character had been a mage, and he'd spent half of his four years of playtime solely on mages.
But that was possible because it was a game. You could respawn after dying.
In a situation where death was permanent, Park Jin-seong wouldn't have hesitated to pick Gladiator.
'If we'd started like this... it would've been a total nightmare.'
It felt like the sky was collapsing.
Fortunately, there was a way out.
Park Jin-seong recalled the system window he'd just seen.
'So we're not starting empty-handed.'
Infinite Inventory.
That changed everything.
Assuming it truly allowed infinite item storage, just as described.
【Infinite Inventory: Can be reshaped once into any desired form at the start. The inventory's appearance will then be fixed.】
【No matter the form, the inventory can always be opened and closed.】
The system window reappeared.
He'd wondered how an "inventory" would work. Apparently, it manifested as a portable item.
A backpack shape made sense, then.
"...No."
Park Jin-seong's mind raced.
What if a backpack got torn or broken?
Since it could be opened and closed in any form, it probably used some kind of magic or system mechanism.
'In that case, something easier to carry and protect would be better than a backpack.'
Bracelet.
The moment that thought crossed his mind—
Srrk. A black light gathered on Park Jin-seong's wrist, forming a bracelet.
【Form change complete. You can now use Infinite Inventory.】
Park Jin-seong stared at the bracelet around his wrist.
If this thing really eliminated carry limits...
'I can cover for starting as a mage... No, even better.'
The spellcrafting character that cleared the game. He could perfect it even further.
No discarding items—he could farm everything and use it all as growth materials.
* * *
【Item acquired: Skeleton Dog Bone.】
Srrk.
The Skeleton Dog bone was sucked into the air.
'Rub the bracelet twice, and a rift opens nearby. I can store and retrieve items through that rift.'
With Infinite Inventory in hand, Park Jin-seong immediately began experimenting.
He needed to figure out every way to use it.
【Items acquired: Large Stones (x4).】
【Items acquired: Wet Branches (x2).】
【Item acquired: Red Sand.】
【Item acquired: Mage's Robe.】
"This..."
Was there really no weight limit?
No, before that—the fact that wood and stones went in meant almost no restrictions on what could be stored.
Just to test, Jin-seong even stored the robe he was wearing.
"Wait, how do I get this out? ...Retrieve the Mage's Robe!"
【Item retrieved: Mage's Robe.】
Phew.
He'd nearly ended up wandering around in his underwear.
"I almost became Notderia Panty Thief instead of Notderia Ketchup Thief."
He hurriedly donned the robe spat out by the rift, muttering to himself. His gaze fixed on the rift.
"...This really is an infinite inventory, right?"
An inventory where he could store items freely and retrieve them at will!
After hundreds of DAT playthroughs, the system he'd always dreamed of... given to him as a perk!
Jin-seong stared blankly at the rift before unleashing a torrent of words.
"No carry limits at all...? I can store as much as I want with no movement penalties?"
"What about living creatures? If so, conquering the Third Tower would be insanely easy."
"Mana stones too? Scrolls obviously, potions? Even Save Orbs—could I carry those around here?"
His mind heated up.
The things he'd only imagined while playing were now real—the questions kept coming.
Where were the limits of this sub-space? How to use it most efficiently?
Which stages would it help with for sure?
"...Jeez."
Lost in endless thoughts, Jin-seong let out an unwitting chuckle.
'...What am I doing, getting all excited over one inventory? If this is all real, I could die any second.'
DAT.
A world of insane difficulty. One wrong breath could kill you.
He'd forgotten for a moment that he'd entered such a place, swept up in excitement.
The gamer instincts, honed from reveling in this DAT world down to his bones, had burst out at the sight of the inventory.
"..."
Taking a moment to breathe and regain composure, Jin-seong turned to survey the full view of the Starting Island.
Red sand.
Scattered bones everywhere.
Withered, skeletal trees.
It was a map clearly designed to ramp up tension.
'And there's one more thing I can sense.'
His gaze naturally drifted across the sea to the distant continent.
It was far enough to appear hazy, but...
The silhouette of a tall, slender tower rising from the continent etched itself into his vision.
'...That's the core of this game. The place where players and NPCs stake their lives.'
Dungeon & Tower.
The tower, the keyword symbolizing this game, stood right there.
That was why he was forcing himself to stay calm.
'This Skull Island is just the tutorial... The real game starts the moment you enter that tower.'
Over four years, he'd died there hundreds, thousands of times.
Memories flashed of collapsing in defeat, staring at game over screens.
But from now on, it might not be a game...
It could be reality.
Park Jin-seong's eyes hardened with resolve.
'Prepare. I need to prepare to survive even inside that tower.'
It was a game he'd cleared once already. No reason he couldn't.
This time, unlike the original game, he even had infinite inventory.
He had no intention of dying helplessly in that tower.
If he ever entered it, he needed to be ready to survive.
"...Can't I just loot this Skull Island first?"
Park Jin-seong recalled something he'd never once succeeded at in DAT.
Starting Island. There were definitely items here too.
At the start, without a bag, you couldn't take anything out.
His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
"Let's loot it all. Starting with everything here."
* * *
The moment you kill a Skeleton Dog, the tutorial ends, and you're qualified to head to the continent.
All gamers rush straight out to continue playing on the continent.
'No need for that now.'
But Park Jin-seong chose to stay on the island.
If he could use inventory from the start, he should take every single item here.
All of them.
'Still, the system windows are applied totally differently from the game, huh?'
As he walked the Starting Island, Jin-seong realized a few things.
For one, unlike the game where explanations popped up everywhere the cursor hovered, this place was different.
A status window did appear. But that was it.
'No system windows explaining time flow or anything related—they're all gone.'
Only two things were visible.
System windows when using inventory, and Park Jin-seong's own status window.
Judging he could only see those two, he pressed on.
'Can it store living things? Can't test now, but I have to check eventually.'
Suppressing his twitching gamer instincts once more, Jin-seong moved forward.
[All beginnings happen here.]
"It's exactly like in the game."
Deep inside the Starting Island.
A single stele greeted Jin-seong.
'Was it around year two after DAT launched?'
Gazing at the stele, Jin-seong dredged up old memories.
Players had scoured this island top to bottom, suspecting hidden secrets.
But they'd all given up in the end.
No way to take discoveries outside.
'So even the stuff they found... ended up as pie in the sky.'
How long had he walked?
Jin-seong discovered a beautiful flower field hidden by trees, identical to what he'd seen in game screenshots.
"Found it."
Venturing deeper, Jin-seong cracked a slight smile.
Beautiful flowers emitting a faint blue glow, blooming amid green blades of grass.
"Soul Flowers."
So named because the blue flower at each petal's center resembled a soul.
At the same time, a valuable mid-game crafting material.
Normally, you'd just admire them and leave.
"Who's first?"
Not this time.
Park Jin-seong rubbed his sub-space bracelet, opening a rift.
He had an inventory now. An infinite one with no carry limits.
"Ah, of course, I plan to pick them all anyway."
Not a single one left behind.
* * *
Squish!!
Jin-seong crouched on the ground, carefully digging up each flower like a farmer tending his field.
Ripping them out roots and all would work.
But he had to avoid damaging the petals.
"No auto-absorb for nearby items?"
Park Jin-seong glanced at the bracelet and asked casually.
Since entering the game, he'd been alone. Still struggling to accept this as reality.
Without chatting to the bracelet, the anxiety was hard to bear.
"..."
No response, naturally.
"Yeah, can't rely on you alone. Even in-game, you needed magnet items to pull stuff in."
Ugh—
About an hour in.
His back was starting to ache, but no time to rest.
Park Jin-seong knew this island wasn't permanent.
He'd once tested what happened if a character never left.
'The island sank with the character... Death log popped, and I had to remake.'
Park Jin-seong shook his head.
Delay too long under the guise of prep, and it could happen again.
Shururuk—!
He kept gathering Soul Flowers and storing them in inventory.
Tap the bracelet for a rift, toss in a flower—pop! In it went.
'This is definitely cheat-tier.'
A wry laugh escaped.
Park Jin-seong, who knew the DAT system inside out, appreciated it most.
Just how overpowered infinite inventory was in this game.
"Inventory. From now on, you're Ketchup Thief 2nd Gen."
"..."
No way he'd leave such a cheat item nameless.
Jin-seong smirked.
"What? Don't like it? Not just anyone can use this name. It's got history—I've used it since starting this game."
"..."
"Feel honored. It's the name of a hero who saved this world once, you know?"
"..."
He recalled the spellcrafter character he'd played.
Likely, that character was gone, replaced by him entering the game.
"You keep my items safe, and I'm good. Especially these flowers... If I can take them out, it's jackpot central."
His sole conversation partner, Ketchup Thief 2nd Gen.
Jin-seong talked to the sub-space like a madman while picking the rest.
"Mages have pretty hard limits in this game. Especially the spellcrafter I used... Barely anyone touched it, it was that bad."
Spellcrafter.
A mage subclass unique to DAT.
Spellcrafter sounded nice, but it was just making and using scrolls—with mediocre performance.
In a game where farming was limited by bag space.
"Youngs always struggled with resources. To fight, you burn resources making scrolls. Who'd do that?"
"..."
"Yeah. Right. I did. I went and did it. Saw potential. Looked like good builds could work."
Ways to minimize resource use while crafting scrolls.
And how to use them to conquer the tower.
Park Jin-seong had seen that potential. Cleared the game.
"...Fuck. Shouldn't have seen that damn potential!"
And now he was inside the game.
"What kind of bullshit hardship is this?"
Damn it...!
Should've just leveled a Gladiator or Rogue like everyone else!
Laments spilled out naturally.
Who knew the game's end led to this.
Good mood from the cheat inventory soured as reality sank in—over and over.
Ssk—
Swish—
Still, his hands didn't stop pulling Soul Flowers.
What choice did he have?
Even for the tower, he needed survival aces up his sleeve.
"...Hm?"
Digging for roots, Park Jin-seong's hand paused.
Thud. His fingertips touched something hard.
"A stele?"
Same color and texture as the black stele he'd seen entering the woods.
Something stele-like buried underground.
"...What a crazy game."
Park Jin-seong chuckled wryly.
Plenty of users had dug up this Starting Island. He'd researched it thoroughly himself.
Even so, a hidden stele he'd never seen.
Pondering briefly, he began excavating the surrounding dirt.
Just in case. If it was something undiscoverable in-game... only findable inside.
He had to check.
'It might be related to how I ended up in this game.'
Park Jin-seong's hands quickly caked in dirt. After frantic digging, the stele's bulky form began to emerge.