Since Jeong-min and Jun-ki had been solely focused on their skills after their awakening yesterday, they hadn't paid much attention to their inventory.
Thanks to that, this was only the second time opening it.
Jeong-min, who had only ever opened the inventory to put his wallet in and take it out, decided to properly examine it.
"Inventory."
A semi-transparent black wall appeared before Jeong-min's eyes.
It seemed to be an inventory gate, about 1m wide and 2m tall.
Jeong-min recalled the inventory explanation that had popped up when he first opened it but had brushed aside, and brought it up again.
"Inventory explanation."
As Jeong-min spoke while looking at the air, many words began to appear before his eyes.
-The following is an explanation about the inventory.
An inventory gate, visible only to the summoner, is created with the summoning word "inventory."
The inventory gate is 1m wide and 2m tall, and objects larger than the gate's area cannot pass through it.
The interior of the inventory is a cube-shaped space with a width, length, and height of 5m.
It is enchanted with preservation magic and basic repair magic, making it suitable for storing food, and minor damage is automatically repaired inside.-
"Wow...it even has these functions...amazing?"
Jeong-min muttered in admiration and continued reading the explanation.
-To store an item in the inventory, push the desired item into the inventory gate, and it will be automatically stored.
Conversely, to retrieve an item, open the inventory gate and visualize the desired item, and it can be found immediately.
If the inventory gate is summoned and no action is taken for 30 minutes, the inventory gate will automatically be unsummoned.-
"I already experimented with putting my wallet in and taking it out yesterday...should I try other things?"
Jeong-min went to the kitchen and brought back a kitchen knife.
He gently pushed it into the inventory gate, and the kitchen knife slid smoothly into the inventory.
Jeong-min looked at the gate again and visualized the kitchen knife.
The handle of the kitchen knife peeked out from the inventory gate.
Jeong-min grabbed the handle of the kitchen knife, pulled it out, and said,
"It comes out handle-first for easy grabbing...is this a safety feature for the summoner? That's quite thoughtful, isn't it?"
Jeong-min experimented with the inventory by putting in and taking out various items besides the kitchen knife.
"I roughly understand how to use it...I should put all the things in the house in there. It's enchanted with preservation magic, so it should be okay to put everything in the fridge in there too."
Jeong-min put all the food in the refrigerator into the inventory.
After that, he began to put all the other items in the house in as well.
'Comic books...game console...I don't know if I'll ever use them again...but they're nostalgic items...'
Jeong-min picked up a picture frame on his computer desk.
The photo inside the frame, which had a crack in the glass in the corner, showed a seemingly affectionate mother and son smiling brightly.
It was a photo of Jeong-min and his mother, who had passed away three years ago.
Jeong-min stared at the photo for a moment before putting it into the inventory.
'...If I put that frame in the inventory, will the cracked glass be repaired? It said it's enchanted with some kind of basic repair magic, right?' Jeong-min suddenly thought of Cloud.
'...If I put Cloud in the inventory, would his broken leg be healed?' Jeong-min approached the hamster cage and carefully took Cloud out.
Cloud lay limp in Jeong-min's hand, breathing heavily without moving.
Jeong-min slowly pushed Cloud into the inventory gate.
[Living creatures cannot pass through the inventory gate.]
Along with the message that appeared before his eyes, Jeong-min felt resistance from the inventory gate.
It felt like he was pushing Cloud against a wall.
Jeong-min was overcome with disappointment.
"...I guess it's not possible..."
Just as he was about to lament in disappointment, Cloud, who had been touching the gate, was sucked into the inventory without any resistance.
"....Huh...?"
Jeong-min stared blankly at the inventory gate.
"Why.....why? It clearly said that living creatures can't pass through..."
Jeong-min, who was looking at the inventory gate in confusion, was startled by a sudden thought.
'Could it be.....'
Jeong-min stared at the inventory gate and visualized Cloud.
The gate rippled and spat Cloud out.
Jeong-min caught Cloud in his palm and said, biting his lip.
"I guess....he's dead..."
The moment Jeong-min pushed Cloud into the inventory, his last breath must have been drawn.
"I'm sorry, Cloud...I interfered with your final moments, which should have been peaceful, with my pointless actions...I'm sorry...I'm really sorry..."
Jeong-min stroked Cloud endlessly and grieved.
******
Cloud's body was placed in a small box and stored in the inventory.
He wanted to bury him somewhere, but he couldn't think of a suitable place.
He planned to hold a proper funeral for him when he had the chance later.
After putting the box containing Cloud in, Jeong-min stored all the other items in the house in the inventory as well.
"If I just throw everything in like this...I won't even remember what I put in later..."
Jeong-min wiped the sweat from his brow and muttered after putting everything except the large furniture into the inventory.
"I've put in most of the things...food is the problem."
It would be good to buy some at the supermarket and put it in the inventory, but due to the hoarding frenzy, all he could see at the supermarket were empty shelves.
Jeong-min had also bought some food in the hoarding frenzy, but it was only a small amount, so he felt very lacking.
"I should look into the Awakened Guild and try to get more food..."
Jeong-min lay down on the bed.
He turned off the lights and looked at the ceiling, thinking.
'Can I...survive...'
He remembered Cloud, who had died in his palm.
Jeong-min squeezed his eyes shut and thought.
'No...I will survive...I definitely will...'
Jeong-min tried to comfort and reassure himself, and then he fell asleep.
The next day.
Jeong-min left the house early.
He searched for Awakened Guilds in the area and contacted the one he thought would be the best, making an appointment for a membership interview.
"Yuseong Billiards...ah, there it is."
Jeong-min walked towards an old commercial building.
At the entrance of the commercial building, several workers were busy with construction.
They were installing an iron door at the entrance and reinforcing the exterior walls with iron plates.
Jeong-min asked the workers for permission and went inside, heading up to the second floor where the billiards hall was located.
When Jeong-min opened the door to the billiards hall, a man who looked to be in his forties greeted him.
"Ah, you're the person who contacted us. You're here early." The man shook Jeong-min's hand and said.
"I'm Kim Yu-seong, the Guild Master of Yuseong Guild."
Jeong-min shook Yu-seong's hand and said.
"I'm Choi Jeong-min. It's nice to meet you."
Jeong-min was led by Yu-seong to a sofa in a corner of the billiards hall.
Yu-seong sat down on the sofa and said to Jeong-min.
"You want to join our Yuseong Guild...hmm...coming all the way here...you probably got rejected from a large shelter, right? Am I right?"
At Yu-seong's blunt question, Jeong-min's face turned slightly red, and he stammered.
"Ah...that..."
"There's no need to be embarrassed. This guild was created with the idea that we, who have been rejected by shelters, should band together and survive. But that doesn't mean we can just accept anyone. You understand, right?"
"Yes...I understand."
"Good...then can you tell me about the skills you possess, Jeong-min?"
Jeong-min told Yu-seong about the skills he possessed.
Yu-seong was surprised that Jeong-min was a Triple-grade Awakened, and he was also surprised by the content of Jeong-min's skills.
"None of your three skills are combat-related...that must be very disappointing for you. If you had even one proper combat skill, you might have been able to get into a large shelter..."
"..."
"Hmm...I have a few questions. The [Spatial Movement] skill, you said you can move with one person? How many times can you use it?"
Jeong-min hesitated and answered.
"Well...the skill consumes a lot of mana. Right now...I run out of mana after using it once..."
"Hmm...once...once..."
After thinking for a moment, Yu-seong asked Jeong-min again.
"That [Base Designation] skill, you said. Is the gate that opens after designating a base used exclusively by you, or can others use it as well?"
Jeong-min stared at Yu-seong, who was asking the same question as the person in charge of Shelter [Daesung], and gave the same answer in a subdued voice.
"Well...since I can only designate a base once...I haven't designated one yet...so I don't know. About using the gate..."
"Hmm...so you're saying you won't know until you try it..."
Yu-seong thought for a long time and then said to Jeong-min.
"Hmm...I don't think it'll work out. I've been thinking about how to utilize Jeong-min's skills, but...I guess I'm not smart enough to figure it out. Of course, I think its utility will be enormous in the future...but what we need right now are combat personnel who can be used immediately. It seems useful...but I don't think it's worth kicking out other confirmed members to accept you."
"Ah...."
Yu-seong's eyes were filled with pity at Jeong-min's sigh, but he spoke firmly.
"Awakened who couldn't get into guilds with large shelters are knocking on the doors of small guilds like ours. But as you can see, space is limited...so we can't just accept everyone. That's why we have no choice but to pay more attention to whether or not they have combat skills or useful skills. Please understand."
Jeong-min listened to Yu-seong's words in silence, nodded, and got up from his seat.
After exchanging greetings with Yu-seong, Jeong-min walked out of the Yuseong Guild building.
Jeong-min tried to shake off his depression and took out his smartphone again to look for other guilds.
And that evening.
Jeong-min, who had been rejected by all three other guilds he had visited, returned home with his shoulders slumped.
*****
Jeong-min was climbing the neighborhood mountain with the spring.
Normally, there would be quite a few people exercising on the hiking trail leading to the spring, but because of the unsettling atmosphere these days as the [Trial of God] approached, there were no people exercising.
When Jeong-min arrived at the spring, he first opened the status window.
[Choi Jeong-min
Strength: 9
Stamina: 10
Agility: 9
Intelligence: 6 [MP:10/10]
Skills Held: Base Designation(Lv.1), Spatial Movement(Lv.1), Clairvoyance(Lv.1)]
Looking at his stats, Jeong-min thought.
'Compared to the certified stats posted on social media...they're just average stats. Neither low nor high...
I should try to raise these stats as much as possible...and repeatedly use the skills to increase proficiency.'
Vibration
Jeong-min closed the status window and took out his vibrating smartphone.
"Oh, Jun-ki."
[Yeah. Where are you?]
"I'm here at the spring. You know where it is, right? I'm going to train here."
[....Are you really going to give up on joining a guild?]
Jeong-min answered Jun-ki's worried question.
"It's not like I gave up. What am I supposed to do when they won't accept me?"
[But if you keep knocking on other doors...]
"It's okay, it's okay. What's the point when it's obvious they won't accept me? I'm just going to survive on my own. My skills are optimized for escaping alone anyway."
[......]
At Jun-ki's silence, Jeong-min joked.
"Hey, don't worry. Do you think I'm just any Awakened? I'm a Triple-grade Awakened, you know. You know my Base Designation skill, right? I'm going to make the most of that too."
[....Where are you going to designate as your base?]
Jeong-min sighed briefly at Jun-ki's question."Actually... that's the problem. I thought it was safe, so I was going to use the Base Designation skill, but if the [Trial of God] starts and it turns into a place swarming with monsters, it'll be a total bust... So... I'm not going to use it for now. I think it's better to use it after the [Trial of God] starts and I find a safe place."
Jun-ki's sigh could be heard over the receiver.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm going to repeatedly practice the Spatial Movement skill as much as possible to increase its proficiency and be able to use it more often. If I can use it multiple times, escaping in dangerous situations will be a piece of cake, right?"
After a moment of silence, Jun-ki said to Jeong-min.
[...Okay, I understand for now. Train as much as you can. If you run around a lot, your Stamina and Agility stats will increase, and if you exercise by lifting heavy things, your Strength stat will increase. If you keep using skills and repeatedly consume mana, your Intelligence stat will increase... Keep repeating these things and raise your stats a lot, okay?]
"Got it. Don't worry. I'll raise my stats higher than yours."
[Whatever... Oh, and call me when you're done training in the evening. Let's meet up for a bit.]
"Okay. I'll call you when I'm done."
Jeong-min, having finished his call with Jun-ki, stretched his body and said.
"Yeah... anyway, it's a world where I live alone. Let's not rely on others and try to survive on my own. I can do it! Let's go, let's go!!"
Jeong-min, who shouted timidly at the spring where no one was around, looked around and became timidly embarrassed.