Alex was standing in the middle of his hotel room, arms folded and brow furrowed, but not because of the dramatic whirlwind named Trisha. That circus had ended (for now), and he was left with something even more bewildering:
A reward.
Yes, an actual reward.
Like in a game. It looks like I will receive a reward every time I complete a quest.
The sentient was whispering again. Alex looked at the status in his mind.
Name: Alexandre Cortero
Race: Human (Evolved)
Age: 30
Class: Druid
Title: Night Slayer (20% Addition to Strength, Perception, and Agility at night)
Health: 300/300
Energy: 200/200
STATS:
Strength: 18 (x5) = 90
Wisdom: 15 (x3) = 45
Agility: 12 (x3) = 36
Constitution: 12 (x5) = 60
Intelligence: 15 (x2) = 30
Perception: 10 (x5) = 40
Vitality: 12 (x3) = 36
Stamina: 14 (x5) = 70
Acquired Abilities through DNA Integration:
Extreme Durability
Reflex Vision
Strength Ratio
Acute Vibration Sensitivity
Jumping Power
Aerial Agility
Photosynthesis
Regeneration
Ancestor's Blessing: Pure Luck
Bloodline Legacy: ???
Druid Class Skills:
Elemental Control—Level 2 (Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Wood)
Wind Blade, Stone Fist, Bullet rock, Fire Ball, Entangling Vines
Forest Whisper (Passive)
Beast/Animal Taming—Level 2 (Wild Animals)
Summoning (Beast)—Level 2 (Wolf companion)
Healing—Level 2 (Heal Wounds)
Shapeshifting—Level 2 (Hawk, Raven)
Shadow Strike—Level 1
Current Mission:
"Survive. Discover the other Chosen." – COMPLETED
Reward: Appraisal Skill (Decipher and identify artifacts)
Do you accept the reward?
Alex, whose mouth was already half open in disbelief, blinked once, then twice.
He nodded instinctively. "Yes, of course—wait, what kind of—"
But before he could finish, a bright flash erupted behind his eyelids. Not in the world around him, but inside his brain. It was like someone had plugged a USB into his skull and started dragging folders in. Massive amounts of information—too fast, too much, too everything—surged through his consciousness like a tsunami. He staggered back and dropped to one knee, gripping the armrest of his hotel chair like it was a life raft.
Memories he never lived flashed through his head—images of ancient languages, lost cities, and weapons so powerful they could split mountains. The sensation was dizzying yet thrilling. It felt like he had suddenly lived a thousand lives as a wandering scholar, an archaeologist.
When the wave finally ebbed, he opened his eyes slowly.
"Woah," he gasped. "So this is what it feels like learning skills from the sentient while awake. Last time I acquired all the skills I have during the awakening, I passed out."
"That's because you couldn't handle too many skills uploading into your brain and configuring your body all at once," the sentient replied dryly in his mind, its tone just slightly amused. "Now try using your new skill on the mysterious black box you found in the cave."
Alex's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. He almost sprinted to his sling bag, which lay open on the nearby dresser. He rummaged through its contents until he found it—the small, smooth, pitch-black wooden box. Mysterious and stubborn, it had refused to open for days, mocking him silently.
Now, it felt… different.
He held it in both hands and instantly noticed something strange—there were faint glimmers along the surface, glowing lines crisscrossing the wood like threads of light. Previously invisible, these etched patterns now danced before his eyes in clear, structured language—an alien one, yes, but one his new Appraisal Skill seemed to understand like it was built into his soul.
He held the box closer, lips moving on instinct.
"Casket of At-Sael. Forged in the Vale of Echoes. Bound with void-silver and sealed with a fragment of spatial magic…"
His voice trailed off.
"That's it," he whispered. "I can… read it. I understand what it is."
He stared in awe, the words clicking into place in his mind like puzzle pieces finding their home.
Then, with a soft click, the box opened. No key. No force. Just recognition.
Inside lay a single object: a ring.
At first glance, it seemed modest—a dull, silvery band with carved etchings that shimmered faintly under the hotel lamp. But as Alex picked it up and turned it in his fingers, he realized there was nothing ordinary about it. The carvings shifted slightly as if alive, like a story was being told in silent, moving symbols.
More importantly, it called to him.
"It's magical," Alex said excitedly, raising it to eye level. "I can sense… a hollow. No—a space inside the ring."
"Yes," the sentient replied, its voice tinged with smug satisfaction. "It is a spatial ring. You can now store anything you want in it. Congratulations! Your dreams have come true."
There was a slight sarcastic lilt in its voice, but Alex barely noticed. His brain was already sprinting through possibilities. "Wait—how big is the space? What's the limit? Could I fit a tree in there? A bike? A—"
"One hundred cubic meters," the sentient interrupted. "And no, you can't live in it like a genie."
Alex laughed and leaned back on the hotel bed, still twirling the ring between his fingers. He couldn't stop grinning. He felt like a kid who'd just been handed the keys to a secret room in a video game—one that came with infinite backpack space.
"Okay, okay. How do I use it?" he asked, still buzzing.
The sentient spoke again, "Wrap your consciousness around it. Then… enter."
Alex hesitated. Enter… the ring?
He took a breath and focused. Slowly, almost reluctantly, his thoughts curled around the ring like fingers clutching a doorknob. And then—click.
The world shifted.
He gasped.
He wasn't transported physically—his body still stood in the hotel—but his awareness was now inside the ring. It was like peeking through a transparent portal into an entirely different room. A square chamber roughly ten meters by ten meters, plain but orderly, with wooden cabinets lining the walls and empty racks awaiting their contents.
It was a portable walk-in closet.
It was glorious.
Alex practically danced. "It's real. It's freaking real!"
He grabbed his travel bag and, without overthinking, shoved it at the ring like he was stuffing a turkey.
"That's not how it works," the sentient sighed in his head. It had the tone of someone who had explained how to open a jar of pickles twelve times already.
"Hold the item. Then think about placing it inside while your mind is connected to the ring. To retrieve it, focus again, but this time, picture pulling it back out."
Sounds easy enough," Alex said.
Alex followed the instruction, and poof—the bag vanished. Not into nothingness, but into that neat little pocket dimension waiting inside his ring.
"HOLY—okay. Okay. I actually did it," he whispered. "This is awesome."
"You're welcome," the sentient replied flatly. "Don't forget to breathe."
One by one, he loaded his belongings: clothes, shoes, diamond-filled bags, even the katana and dagger he'd taken from the cave. He arranged them neatly, sliding knives into drawers and folding shirts like a retail clerk with obsessive-compulsive tendencies. He even practiced taking things out and putting them back in, like a child playing with a brand-new toy chest.
Finally, he gave in to temptation. He turned to the hotel's bedside lamp and whispered, "Sorry, housekeeping," and tried to absorb it too.
Success.
He did the same with a chair. Then the coffee machine.
Then the bed.
He was about to try the complimentary slippers when guilt poked him like a persistent mosquito. With a groan, he reversed it all, placing everything back in their original positions.
"Okay," he muttered. "No need to get kicked out of the hotel for stealing a throw pillow."
He sat down, triumphant. A spatial ring. A real one. Every gamer's dream. He could live out of his own storage space like a mobile wizard with infinite carry weight. He was in the middle of mentally listing what else he needed to buy—a camping stove? Rope? A tent? A car, "Will it fit inside?"
He pulled the ring close again and examined the design. "Whoever made this… they weren't just powerful. They were way ahead of their time."
When there was a sudden tap-tap-tap on the window.
He frowned. Bird?
He was on the fifteenth floor.
He stood, walked cautiously to the window, pulled the curtain aside—
—and nearly screamed.
Outside, hanging outside the window with just a hand on the wall and smiling like it was a common thing, was Trisha.
Alex was confused at first, then he remembered that she is also an Awaken just like him. Naturally, she has her own special abilities.
"Holy shi—!" He yanked the window open and grabbed her by the arm. "What are you doing?!"
"Climbing," she said coolly, sliding inside with all the elegance of a rooftop gymnast in leather. "It's time."
He stepped back, breathless. "Time for what? A flying lesson?"
Trisha gave him a wicked smile. "Time to elope."
Alex stared.
She stared back.
And for a moment, the room went very quiet except for the sound of his racing heartbeat and the echo of absurdity ringing between them like church bells.
"You've completely lost your mind," he said flatly.