Luke opened his inventory and tapped the latest item he'd received after slaying the spider.

[Aracna's Leggings – (Uncommon) Description: Light, flexible pants crafted from the hide of Aracna, the spider guardian. Reinforced for durability without compromising agility. Enchantment:

[Spider's Leap (Uncommon)]: Grants enhanced jumping capability. Requirement: Level 10+ in any class or race.]

He tapped [Equip] without hesitation.

The rugged, worn trousers from his adventurer set shimmered out of existence. In their place, sleek, form-fitting black leggings snapped into place—smooth, flexible, surprisingly comfortable.

He glanced down, flexed his legs once, then nodded in quiet approval. "Not bad."

Light. Mobile. Zero restriction. The fit was perfect.

Satisfied, he turned toward the altar. Charlie was still standing near the spider's corpse, sword raised, motionless. She hadn't lowered her guard—not even with the beast lying broken at her feet.

Luke stepped up to the pedestal. Floating above it was the treasure.

A necklace. A single blue gem suspended in midair, pulsing faintly, like a heartbeat frozen in glass.

He reached out. Fingers brushed the surface—

[Mission Complete]

[Reward Received]

A long breath left his chest.

Finally. Weeks of false leads. Ruined churches that led to nowhere. Ambushes. Dead ends. All of it, leading here. To the real thing.

The Invention of Artemis.

He stared at the now-empty pedestal, then opened his inventory. The necklace sat there—its glow soft, steady. Almost... alive.

A thought crept in, quiet but undeniable.

If I'd found this place a few weeks ago... I would've died. Simple as that.

But now? Now he was strong enough. Strong enough to fight something that once felt impossible—and walk away breathing.

Luke tapped the item. The tooltip unfolded, and his eyes widened.

"...It's Unique?"

[Artemis Invention (Unique) Description: A prototype crafted by Samael, the Inventor. 'A gift to help you on your journey. Good luck. It was collecting dust in my workshop anyway.'

PS: I am not liable for any discomfort it causes. – Samael

Enchantments:

[Spatial Storage (Rare)]: Grants access to a pocket dimension where items can be stored. [Artemis]: (???) Requirement: Soulbound]

"What the hell...?"

Luke squinted, reading the description again. Then again. There was a message embedded in the item. Personal. Deliberate. That wasn't normal.

Did the Inventor actually leave this for whoever found it... or did the System generate it specifically for me?

His gaze dropped to the enchantments—and stopped. "It's a damn storage item."

He tapped [Equip]. The necklace shimmered into existence around his neck, cold against his skin. The moment his fingers brushed the gem again, a flicker of light surged behind his eyes.

A room appeared inside his mind. Square. White. Empty. No walls, no doors, no windows. Just... space.

The vision collapsed the instant he pulled his hand away. "That was... weird."

He bent down, picked up a pebble from the cracked floor, then pressed his fingers to the gem once more. The room bloomed back into existence—silent, waiting. Luke brought the pebble close—

It vanished. No sound. No flash. Just... gone. When he focused, he could see it now sitting in the center of the mental room, like a thought placed on a shelf.

Luke blinked. "Holy shit."

For a moment, he just stood there, stunned. Processing. "If ordinary people back on Earth got their hands on something like this..."

Storage items weren't just useful. They were world-breaking. Food. Weapons. Medicine. Or grenades. The possibilities were terrifying.

He exhaled slowly, letting the adrenaline settle. For the first time since arriving in this world, he finally had a place to keep everything. His gear. His tools. His supplies. And maybe most important—his two precious health potions.

But then his eyes narrowed. There was something else. Another enchantment.

[Artemis]

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It sat just beneath [Spatial Storage], plain as day. But no description. No activation key. Nothing.

He focused on it. Tried mentally prodding. Willing. Even whispering the name aloud. Nothing. Frowning, he crossed his arms. "Might be locked. Or... conditional."

Whatever it was, he wasn't unlocking it today.

Luke adjusted the collar of the necklace, then turned toward Charlie. She stood by the spider's corpse—silent, still. Her sword was lowered now, but her presence remained sharp, coiled like a spring that hadn't fully relaxed.

With a tired breath, Luke flashed a crooked smile. "Alright. Let's get out of here."

His gaze drifted one last time toward the altar. "I just realized... we killed a monster. Inside a church." He paused. "Pretty sure that's not how blessings work."

***

Night had fallen. The bell rang out in the distance—low, cold, unmistakably the midnight toll.

Luke didn't slow down. On the road back to the Haven, he kept testing the necklace. Fruit. Pebbles. Branches. Anything he could grab. One by one, each item vanished into thin air, swallowed by the pocket dimension.

Storage. True storage.

He didn't have to choose anymore between essentials and extras. Now he could carry everything. And the space inside... was bigger than he'd ever imagined.

But testing revealed a few important limitations. First—the necklace had to be equipped. If it held anything inside, it couldn't be unequipped. Second—Charlie couldn't interact with anything stored inside.

Soulbound.

Just like his kukris and their magnetic return, the necklace responded to him and him alone. His. Completely. Which, honestly, made it perfect.

He pushed the tests further. Killed a few monsters along the way. Stored the meat inside—the blood didn't spill, the cuts didn't rot. Inside the pocket dimension, time simply... stopped.

Then came the furniture.

A chair? Check.

A single bed? Shockingly, yes.

Wooden cups, cracked plates, salvaged junk from abandoned homes? All of it.

Piece by piece, he was building a house. Inside a necklace.

All he needed now was a water barrel. Fill it with purified water, seal it, drop it inside. And just like that... he'd be ready to survive the Wild Zone for days without setting foot near civilization.

The best part? It was organized. Every time he touched the gem, the mental room appeared—white, clean, frozen. With a thought, every item rearranged itself. Perfect order. A base. A moving stronghold. A home.

A grin tugged at his lips. Yeah... this was game-changing.

That's when a voice pulled him back.

"You're almost healed, Mr. Luke."

Thiara.

He walked through the Haven's makeshift infirmary, his ankle still aching from the spider fight. He had pushed it too far, twisting it one time too many. Even with Basic Blood Regeneration, some injuries just needed time. Especially the ones you couldn't see.

That healing skill was only good for simple wounds. Scratches. It didn't fix internal injuries, organs, or bones. It was just enough to close surface-level cuts, and Luke wasn't about to complain. Claw marks, scrapes—they vanished. And the pain went with them. Honestly, that was already a win in his book.

His ankle was sore and, with luck, just strained. But odds were, it was a real injury. And with a healer right there, he wasn't about to waste the opportunity.

Thiara's fingers glided over his ankle, glowing faintly with purifying light. "Being an Explorer... must be terrifying," she murmured, offering a gentle smile. "Getting attacked like that... I'd be scared out of my mind."

"Even with healing powers?" Luke asked, brow raised.

She blinked, surprised. "Of course! It still hurts, doesn't it?"

He nodded slightly. He understood now. Not everyone was built like him. Even he wasn't always built like him. Fear was constant. The trick was pretending otherwise.

A quiet moment passed between them. Then Luke tilted his head. "You like apples? Cherries? Bananas?"

Thiara blinked, confused. "...Huh?"

He opened his palm and touched the necklace. A handful of fresh fruit appeared—out of nowhere.

Thiara gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth. "A storage item...? That's... that's incredible." Her eyes widened. "And... the necklace is beautiful."

Luke smiled, offering her the fruit. "All yours."

"B-but that's... that's a lot..."

"If I had coin, I'd pay you for the help. This is the least I can offer. And now that I've got this thing..." He tapped the necklace. "I can bring back more. A lot more. If you ever need anything... just ask."

Thiara hesitated. Hands fidgeted at her sides. Eyes flicked down, then back up. "Anything...?"

"Anything," he repeated, steady.

Her cheeks pinked. "If you ever find... pillows. Blankets. Maybe a hairbrush? Or... sewing needles..." Her voice dropped, almost embarrassed. "I'd be... really grateful."

Luke gave a slow, thoughtful nod. "Consider it done."

***

As Luke neared his tent, the air changed.

Shouts. Footsteps. Steel unsheathed. Tension thick enough to taste.

He stopped mid-step. Something was wrong.

People were moving fast—blades drawn, heading toward the center of the Haven. A crowd had already formed.

Luke slipped into the edges of the circle and scanned faces. Familiar ones. Allison near the front. Angelica standing tall among the restless, jaw tight.

"How long has it been there?" Angelica asked, voice clipped, tense.

"Less than an hour," Johnny answered, breathless. "I couldn't believe it when I saw it. We have to try."

Luke edged closer, leaning toward Allison. "What's going on?"

She didn't look away, just tilted her head slightly. "A Reward Event."

That made him blink.

"A chest," she whispered, "right on the border of the Safe Zone. Technically Wild Zone… but no Midnight Wardens spotted."

Johnny stepped forward, practically vibrating. "It's in the ruins near the frontier. Could be anything—healing potions, real food, seeds... Stuff that could change the Haven."

Angelica's jaw worked, clenched, grinding through the decision before it even fully formed. "It's risky."

Paul stood silent, arms crossed, watching.

"But it's at the edge," Jonathan pressed. "Not deep in the cursed city. At the very least, we scout it."

"And if a Midnight Warden shows up?" Angelica asked.

Silence. Heavy. Absolute. Everyone knew what that meant.

But... it was a chest.

"This one's fair game," Johnny said quickly. "Bartholomew won't claim it—it's outside Safe Zone bounds. We're not stealing from Bastion."

His words came faster now, tinged with frantic hope. "It might have potions. Seeds. Hell—eggs. If we find eggs, we could raise chickens. You know why Bastion thrives? Stuff like this. This could move us forward. More crops mean fewer deaths. Less risk for everyone."

Jonathan checked the horizon, nerves tight. "We've got minutes to decide. If Bartholomew's men—or worse, Marshall's—get there first, it's over. This is the first real chance we've had in years to claim a chest." He met Angelica's eyes, steady. "So... what's it gonna be?"

Silence.

Her hand ran back through her hair, jaw locked. "Damn it..."

The entire circle held its breath.

Angelica closed her eyes. One breath. Calculating. Weighing. Then opened them. "We go."

Relief cracked through the tension—half-smiles, breathless exhales, subtle fists tightening with hope.

But Angelica's hand shot up—sharp, commanding. Instantly, the relief shattered.

"However..."

Every eye snapped back to her. Frozen.

"We move with full caution. No rushing the chest. We check every corner, every shadow. If we even think we hear a Midnight Warden..." She swept her gaze across them, locking eyes one by one. "We pull out. Doesn't matter if we're ten feet from it. Doesn't matter what's inside. Understood?"

A wave of nods. The tension shifted. Less fear now. More focus. More edge.

Johnny was already sprinting, pointing the way. Angelica fell in behind him. The others followed—blades drawn, bows ready, steps crisp and silent.

Luke felt it. Deep in his legs. A twitch. A pulse. A need to move.

"You coming?" Allison asked, already moving.

"Obviously."

They broke into a run. Silent. Measured. Controlled. Heading toward the edge of safety—toward ruins wrapped in fog and danger.

And in Luke's mind, one phrase echoed, steady as a heartbeat.

Risk and Reward.

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