The Convenient Ring
The information was mixed with both good and bad luck (5).
“What? No contact with the Matteo group?”
In Seong Yura’s office.
Her expression crumpled completely.
It was the report from the maid that had completely blindsided her.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
The maid suddenly froze.
She carefully checked Seong Yura’s mood.
When Seong Yura got angry, it was never just a scolding.
Her cruel personality was something the villains themselves would click their tongues at.
“No regular contact, and the emergency network is unreachable as well.”
“No contact means either something’s wrong or they’re dead, right?”
“Most likely.”
“Haa.”
Seong Yura let out a light sigh.
Why exactly was there no contact with Matteo?
Loxanne and Kim Deok-oh would never threaten Matteo.
Plus, they had even sent two more underlings just in case.
The force wasn’t that great, but they should have been able to handle Matteo’s weaknesses perfectly.
Even if monsters jumped out of the forest, the Matteo group could surely deal with it.
‘…No way they ran away?’
No, no way.
That didn’t make sense.
After all, there was no reason for them to run in the first place.
Even if they failed the mission a little, they wouldn’t choose to flee.
So had something completely unexpected happened?
“What are the chances that Loxanne and Kim Deok-oh took down the Matteo group?”
“Very low.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
Seong Yura nodded to herself without adding anything else.
Even Matteo alone could take down two people, and they had sent two extra subordinates just in case—then what?
And if, by some miracle, they had actually taken them down, it was still strange that there was still no contact.
Matteo would have been able to flee easily, and even if Loxanne’s personality was to kill anyone, she wouldn’t have done it.
“Ah, damn it. First, loosen up the kids and search the inside of the mountain.”
“Understood.”
“Loxanne… no, leave her alone and send the kids to Kim Deok-oh for interrogation instead.”
“Yes, understood.”
With a gesture from Seong Yura, the maid bowed once and walked out slowly.
The unexpected incident had somehow made her irritated.
‘No way they actually died, right?’
It was a little too precious to lose someone here.
‘Monsters, monsters… thinking they died to some monster in the forest just doesn’t make sense.’
Was there some other reason?
Maybe the person who helped Loxanne?
If that was the case, they wouldn’t be left alone.
Absolutely not.
***
“Whoa, the hard work paid off. The subspace ring, huh? It’s amazing!”
I blinked my eyes sparkling.
Look at this brilliant ring.
The subspace ring.
I carefully caressed the subspace ring like it was gold or jade.
“According to the item encyclopedia, it says you can open another space and store items, but… when I actually used it, the feeling was completely different.”
I looked up at the empty space in front of me.
Above the empty space that was a little distance away.
A black line cracked like a jigsaw puzzle.
It was like a single crack running through transparent glass.
When I tossed a pen inside it, it disappeared with a *shing*.
It had been sucked into the subspace.
‘In the game it was just a simple inventory expansion, but in reality it’s implemented like this.’
The difference between the game and reality.
In the game it was only for slightly expanding the inventory, but here it wasn’t.
You could open one single space and store multiple items.
I hadn’t expected the usability to be this broad.
‘Not bad at all.’
With this ring, I could open a subspace around the user.
The space split like a knife, almost straight, and I could freely put in or take out whatever I wanted through the gap.
‘It’s really nice that I can just think of the item I want and pull it out.’
To take out the pen I had just put in, I thought about it, and the pen popped out of the gap in the cracked space.
Really convenient.
‘Plus, I can open a subspace anywhere within a six-meter radius.’
Six-meter radius.
Within the user’s six-meter radius.
Anywhere.
‘Well, opening the subspace entrance is a bit slow… but it can still be used for attack purposes, right?’
For example, if I opened a subspace entrance on the ceiling and poured the desired item straight into someone’s head, wouldn’t it work like a mass weapon?
Ah, of course, a six-meter drop wouldn’t bother a monster, but humans are different.
Imagine getting hit by a bowling ball.
p>It would hurt, right?
Ah, of course, heroes and villains wouldn’t die, but if it hit the back of the head precisely, maybe it would at least knock someone out?
‘From what I’ve tested so far… living creatures can’t be fully sucked in, the subspace interior doesn’t seem to have time flowing, the ejection speed when spitting out items is pretty slow, and I still don’t know the capacity… hmm.’
It had only been a short time, so I couldn’t test much, but overall I was satisfied.
Most importantly, I could now carry a lot of items I couldn’t normally carry around, so I gave myself a huge point.
With this subspace ring, I could even bring in dangerous items inside the academy.
Thinking about the villains who would cause chaos inside the academy from now on, that was still a relief.
‘Well, then…’
I slowly turned my gaze to the other side.
‘Time to level up a bit.’
Next, I detached the relic from the sword pommel—called the Tears of the Moon.
Then I dropped it into the pre-prepared mixture with a *pong*.
The mixture was the items I had asked Yu Seolhyeon to prepare. It was a mix of today’s delivered elven powder, the water of life, the blessing of the moon, and so on.
It was one of the settings in the game, but when you do this, the Tears of the Moon would shoot out a green light and enter a kind of reinforcement state, fully activating its original performance…
‘Oh, it really glows!’
The Tears of the Moon started scattering green light particles in the mixture.
According to the item encyclopedia, when you swallowed the Tears of the Moon in this state, it would directly attach to your body.
In the game it would probably just be a simple enhancement and snap-on, but in reality…
‘But can I really swallow this…?’
The moment I thought about it, I got nervous.
Looking at the gem sparkling like a jewel, I felt some relief, but the fear was stronger.
What if it was swallowed and something went wrong?
I hesitated for a moment, but then seemed to gather my resolve and slowly pulled the gem out of the mixture.
Thinking about the future, I needed to become stronger anyway.
According to the settings, the proper way to use the Tears of the Moon was to attach it directly to the body, not to other items.
Probably.
“Ah, I don’t know, maybe I’ll die?”
I muttered the male will’s top line and gulped down the Tears of the Moon.
And…
“Ugh, ugh…!”
I suddenly felt like vomiting what was inside, but before long I felt an unknown energy swirling inside my stomach.
The energy slowly flickered across my whole body and then settled quietly.
‘Eh? Is it okay?’
I cautiously raised my mana while feeling the unknown energy, intending to use the Tears of the Moon.
To my surprise, pure mana gathered at my fingertips!
‘Whoa, mana control is way easier than before!’
I went to the kitchen and grabbed a small knife.
Then I blew in mana and a *fwoo* sword qi formed.
I stared at the constantly flickering mana.
The sword qi looked much clearer and sharper than usual.
In the past, because my mana amount and control weren’t good, creating sword qi was awkward.
But thanks to the Tears of the Moon, my mana efficiency had improved a lot.
I wasn’t a swordsman, but since I could make such clear sword qi, condensing mana into an arrowhead would probably be even better.
‘With a relic attached to the sword, could I also do something like sword qi projection?’
Sword qi projection was a dream technique for normal swordsmen.
It was a forbidden technique that required extreme training in mana condensation, acceleration, and release.
But with the help of the relic on my sword, I could mimic it.
And this time, since I had directly attached it to my body, I could probably use it the same way.
‘Let me test it once.’
I quickly leaned a cutting board against the wall.
Then I cautiously raised a tiny amount of mana.
Just enough, I thought, and flicked it out…
Oh? It actually works?
*Crack!*
A small sword qi flew out and split the cutting board into two.
Even the wall behind it cracked.
“So even with other weapons, I can now release this much mana control?”
It seemed I had become someone who could use sword qi projection!
Ah, of course I couldn’t do actual swordsmanship and could only use sword qi projection with 100% relic power.
Well, so what?
To become strong when I’m weak, I have to actively use relics.
This isn’t a game, it’s reality.
In a place where level-ups aren’t possible, getting strong quickly is best by relying on items.
“Stamina consumption… seems lower than before?”
Indeed, stamina consumption had decreased a lot.
A few months ago, I would pant after using a relic once or twice.
I had worked so hard not to breathe hard when using sword qi projection in front of villains.
This time, even though I had only lightly used it like a quick snack, I could tell my stamina consumption had dropped dramatically.
‘Plus, with the Tears of the Moon directly attached to my body, I can survive a few magic hits, right?’
I could probably absorb a few of them.
Even if I couldn’t absorb anomaly abilities, there was nothing wrong with absorbing magic.
‘At this point, it’s pretty satisfying. The hard work paid off.’
I chuckled and sat on the chair for a moment, looking up at the ceiling.
‘Thinking about it, I’ve been busy lately—hunting the long-armed monkey at the academy, clearing the Yeongdeung Mountain dungeon, getting close to Yu Seolhyeon, farming items at Yukseong Mountain, and so on… quite a lot of things.’
Right after entering the academy, I could get a lot of benefits by constantly running based on game knowledge.
But the worry that one of my reckless actions might turn into a storm later still lingered.
As the saying goes, the butterfly effect.
Perhaps many things had already changed because of my actions.
‘Many things changed…’
I had been moving within a range that wouldn’t interfere with the important story flow in the game.
Because I was wary of the story changing in directions I didn’t know.
My one advantage was information.
If the story changed and the information I had became useless, too many variables would appear.
Then it would become harder and harder to respond.
That was far too fatal for me.
‘I hadn’t interfered with the important story flow much, but many things had already changed.’
Whether in a good or bad direction.
Many things had twisted and changed.
This place was a dynamic reality, not a passive game.
‘Ah, speaking of which, is that event coming up soon?’
One of the story events—the Stalker Incident involving Jin Soyeon.
According to the game, it was an event where the stalker who fell in love with Jin Soyeon would cause something, and the male protagonist would handle it somehow and gain affection.
‘If the event happens, what should I do…?’
I lowered my head and thought for a moment.
It wouldn’t help much if I got involved myself, and the male protagonist, Lee Siwoo, would probably handle it well on his own.
So it would be better not to get involved if I wanted to raise the intimacy between Soyeon and Siwoo.
But…
‘Thinking about how Soyeon would suffer because of the stalker, it’s a little…’
Imagining Soyeon suffering made my heart ache.
After all, Soyeon was my childhood friend.
I didn’t want to see her suffer.
‘Ah, right. Maybe I should secretly handle it or interfere in a way that helps Siwoo? I can just give the credit to Siwoo for resolving the stalker.’
I nodded to myself and left my thoughts.
‘Ah, never mind. I’m tired today, so I’ll think more about it tomorrow. First, clean up this mess and go to bed.’
After roughly cleaning the messy living room, I dragged my feet toward the bedroom.
But there, the sword with the Tears of the Moon detached from it was visible.
That sword…
It was a pretty famous sword, but I wasn’t a swordsman.
To be honest, it was nice to have, but not having it wouldn’t matter.
‘Maybe I should just give it as a gift to Soyeon?’
It seemed like I hadn’t been taking care of her enough, and since she was a swordsman, she could probably handle that sword much better than I could.
I would get another usable sword later anyway.
‘Okay, I’ll give it to Soyeon as a gift.’
With that thought, I tossed the sword into the subspace.
Then, yawning, I lay down on the bed.
***
Somewhere in Seoul.
“Eh? Wait, what’s this?”
The Vigilante blinked.
The location of the sword was completely untraceable.
Why suddenly?
“Damn, they trained the dog in the Chungnam area just now, and now I can’t even detect it?”
The Vigilante looked depressed.
I couldn’t even tell the exact distance with this sword sheath.
Why was detection suddenly not working?
I had come all this way…
I just wanted to retrieve the sword…