The Pocket Dimension and the Suspicious Artifact

Leon’s eyes fluttered open, and the first thing he saw was a lush, dense forest. He stood right in the middle of a space packed tightly with trees. He blinked once, then twice, staring blankly around him as the realization settled in—he was standing in the heart of a forest.

Almost immediately, he noticed something strange. It was hard to breathe. The air felt heavy, almost oppressive. “Hmm?” But that wasn’t all. After drawing in a breath and letting it out, an oddly refreshing sensation washed over him. His mind felt clearer, sharper. It didn’t take long for Leon to realize this space was overflowing with mana—so rich that even someone who hadn’t properly awakened to it could feel the difference.

Breathing in heavy air made his head feel clearer? There was no other explanation unless the mana density here was extraordinarily high.

‘Did I enter the space inside the orb?’

Leon thought about leaving for a moment. In an instant, his consciousness flickered, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back inside the dormitory.

“Whoa…”

A chill ran down his arms at the bizarre phenomenon. He returned to the orb’s interior once more and began walking slowly, trying to gauge just how vast the forest was. He walked in one direction for a full hour, yet there was no end in sight. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to confirm its size by simply walking, he stepped back outside.

The number on the orb had decreased.

He had spent one hour inside the orb’s space. ‘So the number represents time!’ Each time he completed a quest, he was granted a certain amount of usable time within the orb.

Leon immediately began running various experiments with the orb. First, he wanted to test whether only his consciousness was being pulled into the space. He flicked a copper coin above his head and instantly entered the orb. After waiting about thirty seconds inside, he came back out.

Tap—

The sensation of the coin landing on his head left Leon with a puzzled expression. He had tossed the coin to see if his physical body would disappear into the orb, but the result was completely different from what he expected. He had clearly spent more than thirty seconds inside, yet the coin fell the moment he returned. That could only mean time flowed differently inside.

Leon checked the time in reality, then entered the orb’s space again. He sat down in the middle of the forest and began practicing the basic breathing method. He had two things to verify: exactly how differently time flowed here, and whether quests would progress inside this space as well.

After spending an hour filling his surroundings with steady inhales and exhales, Leon opened his eyes and exited the orb. Only one minute had passed in reality. In other words, while one minute passed outside, a full hour had gone by inside the orb.

As for the quest…

Unfortunately, it hadn’t progressed at all. It seemed only training done in reality was recognized. Completing quests granted him time inside the orb, but the training itself had to happen in the real world. That made sense—if training inside the orb counted, it would essentially be duplicating time.

Leon was more than satisfied. Even this much would multiply his training efficiency by several times… no, by several hundred times. Just days ago, he had been agonizing over the fact that he couldn’t even find a proper place to train mana. Now, that problem was solved.

He flicked the copper coin above his head once more and entered the orb. After another hour of training, he came out. Only one minute had passed in reality. Leon scanned the floor, searching for the coin that should have already fallen. When he lifted his hips, he found it lying underneath him.

From this, he confirmed that his actual physical body was entering the orb.

Having grasped the orb’s abilities to a reasonable degree, Leon began revising his training plan.

In the quiet library, Leon sat cross-legged on a chair, eyes closed, breathing steadily as he tried to sense mana. Naturally, he felt nothing. Compared to meditating inside the orb’s space, the difference was almost despairing.

Of course he continued training in reality to fulfill his daily quota, but that wasn’t the only reason. The tiny, pathetic amount of mana he could sense here still had a subtle effect. The results weren’t immediate, but after struggling with that sense of futility in reality and then moving into the orb, the contrast made his senses far sharper. He still couldn’t quite grasp it, but the important thing was that he was beginning to feel like he could. His instincts told him he would soon be able ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to perceive mana properly.

Three days had passed since he began alternating between training in reality and inside the orb. As he habitually spun the daily reward gacha at the end of his routine, Leon suddenly shot up from his seat when the spinning wheel stopped.

“It came!!!”

The rush of dopamine hit him like a wave. It wasn’t quite as good as a Light and Darkness dual-attribute body or the legendary Six-Attribute Constitution that could wield all basic elements, but a Three-Attribute Constitution was still an exceptional talent. Since attribute constitutions were treated as a form of innate talent, this directly raised his aptitude for mana itself.

Leon immediately selected Apply. It had been a while since he felt excited to check his status window.

Since he hadn’t awakened his mana yet, his rank and mana quality didn’t appear. But just seeing the attribute constitution made a wide grin spread across his face.

‘I can finally say with confidence that I possess the talent of a mage, not some ordinary nobody!’

Leon, who had been pacing restlessly in the dormitory lounge, immediately entered the orb’s space. He sat down in a cross-legged position without hesitation.

He drew in a breath, focusing on the air entering his body, carefully following the flow of air swirling inside him. After concentrating on his breathing for a long time, Leon opened his eyes.

‘It’s definitely different.’

The awakening of his five senses had dramatically heightened his concentration. He continued training for another six hours. He still hadn’t awakened his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mana, but he now felt certain it would happen very soon.

Leon exited the orb’s space. The number displayed on the orb read 43. He had been using six hours each day. At first, he had considered dumping all ten hours at once, but he decided to save some for when his efficiency could improve even further.

He slept in reality. While sleeping inside the orb offered better time efficiency, the mana density there was so overwhelmingly superior that he didn’t want to waste any of that precious time on sleep.

“Oh, right.”

He had been so excited about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the reward that he hadn’t checked properly. There was a change in the quest window.

The general quest remained the same, but a new breakthrough quest had appeared. Its description made it clear that he was very close to awakening his mana.

Leon decided to change his reward type as well. Although many better constitutions were still available, he felt it was time to look at other options. He chose an elixir. If he drew a useless constitution, he would simply discard it, but no matter how mediocre an elixir was, it would still be an elixir. At his current beginner level, it would surely be helpful in some way.

He briefly considered a spellbook but decided it wasn’t urgent yet. A low-grade spell that his three-attribute body could handle? He could simply borrow one from the old magic library where he worked. Even if they were outdated compared to modern magic, they would be plenty useful for someone who had just awakened their mana.

Of course, to read the books in the library, he would need permission from the old director.

After returning to his dormitory room and falling asleep, he went to work the next morning and immediately sought out the old man. He knocked on the door, and the director opened it right away. He had never once allowed Leon inside his room.

“What is it?”

“I came to ask for permission, sir.”

A look of confusion crossed the old man’s face. Leon hadn’t made a single request in the past few days. Asking for permission out of nowhere must have seemed sudden.

“May I read the spellbooks in the old magic library? Of course, I mean the ones on the first floor. I won’t go anywhere near the second floor.”

“……”

The old man stared at Leon for a moment, then smiled kindly.

“You must have been bored with nothing to do.”

“Ah… yes.”

The old man stroked his chin for a moment before speaking.

“If you do one favor for me, I’ll let you read them. I’m even willing to give you contribution points. How about it?”

“What kind of request is it?” Leon asked cautiously.

“I thought you’d accept right away, but you’re surprisingly careful. Hmm… it’s not really a request. More like a simple errand. If you go out the main gate and head left along the outer edge, you’ll come across a mountain managed by Widia. Just pick a few of the herbs I mention and bring them back. It’s a safe area, so even you should be able to handle it.”

Leon had been considering investigating the mountain first before accepting, but he quickly dropped the idea. Being overly cautious right now wouldn’t help him. It might even make him look suspicious.

“Understood. If you write ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it down, I’ll gather them. By when do you need them all?”

“They’re easy to find near the entrance, so two days should be enough. Oh, and you understand this is something you’ll have to do after your work hours, right?”

Leon nodded—he had already expected that. The old man told him to wait a moment and went back into his room. About five minutes later, he returned and handed Leon a piece of paper. On it were the names of several herbs and simple sketches.

“These are ingredients for an elixir, so be careful when harvesting them. Take everything from the roots to the leaves.”

Receiving the paper, Leon thought that a mountain used to grow elixir ingredients would indeed be quite safe.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Leon turned to return to his original spot. As he did, the old man’s eyes, which had been watching him leave, grew calm and cold. The kindly smile that had been on his lips hardened into a stiff line.

At that moment, Leon turned back around. He had realized that if the herbs were for making an elixir, he would probably need some kind of verification from the old man. The director’s face quickly returned to its previous gentle expression.

Leon stared at the old man’s face for a moment. But he didn’t linger and spoke casually.

“I think I’ll need a verification slip.”

“……I’ll give you a token.”

“Understood.”

Leon turned away again. The old man no longer watched his retreating figure and simply went back into his room.

After finishing work, Leon spent two hours on mana awareness training before leaving his room around the time the other dormitory residents were returning. For the next two days, he planned to reduce his sleep and focus on gathering the herbs.

He briefly regretted accepting the request after realizing it would take quite a bit of time over those two days. But that regret quickly faded. If he couldn’t use the old magic library, he would have to change his reward system. And more importantly… a good idea had occurred to him.

The space inside the orb, where mana was incredibly dense. What if he grew herbs there?