To my disappointment, however, I still couldn't enter and check the rankings or the chat. They were locked.
[Rankings: Combat power rankings to determine the Tower Conqueror. You can separately check the rankings of all Hunters on the continent, as well as the rankings of the transmigrators.]
[Currently locked. You can check the interim rankings every week.]
Then again, even if I could check the combat power rankings right now, it would only show the characters' base stats. And I already know their base stats anyway.
'What about the chat, then?'
While the rankings were essentially useless at the moment, the chat was incredibly important.
To think I could remotely contact the other transmigrators. I couldn't even guess how many variables this chat feature would create going forward.
Besides...
'I might be able to find out what Kalain and the Archer are up to, now that their strategy is ruined because they lost Belsus, without having to lift a finger.'
I tapped it with anticipation, but well, things were never going to work out that easily right away.
[Chat: You can exchange messages with other transmigrators. There is no limit to the number of chats, but it is only open for one hour daily, between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM.]
Makes sense. If the chat had been active, the other transmigrators would have already been blabbering away and sending notifications...
Looking out the window, the sun was still bright. What I had just fed Belsus was lunch, after all.
Even though this farm was my own personal subspace, it perfectly reflected the real world's time, weather, and seasons, so I could easily keep track of the time.
'Then for now... I guess there's nothing else to do but work on self-improvement.'
While lost in thought, I dusted the entire cabin. I gained a bit of experience points here and there in the process.
After wrestling with a fireplace that produced an endless amount of soot, I scrubbed my face with a cloth and stepped back out of the cabin.
Belsus had just set his plate down on the ground. With his eyes now looking drastically more peaceful, he was slowly glancing around, seemingly searching for the owner of the house.
I approached him and checked the empty dishes first.
'He licked up every last drop of vegetable juice.'
The surface of the plate was suspiciously clean and glossy, but I decided to pretend I didn't notice. I should wash it in running water right away.
"Thank you so much."
Having ravenously devoured the food in a disgraceful frenzy, losing all reason, the mercenary, who clearly lacked the pride to even feel ashamed now that his belly was full, offered me his thanks.
"Well, sure."
Suddenly feeling awkward, I lost my words.
Come to think of it... when was the last time I sat face-to-face with someone who wasn't a coworker?
I suddenly felt unbearably self-conscious. Were my social skills always this terrible? Trying to meet Belsus's eyes made me feel so awkward I thought I'd go crazy.
Real people were already unfamiliar to me, let alone seeing a game character brought to life right in front of my eyes...
Belsus was the first to break the silence.
"Have you eaten?"
Is that really the first thing he should be asking? Is he really in a position to be worrying about my meals right now?
He must have dozens of questions he wants to ask me, yet simply because he had a meal, he's wondering if I ate too... I don't know. Is he Korean?
"I'll take care of myself."
Since I cut him off firmly, Belsus didn't press the matter.
"Where are we? This doesn't seem like a normal place."
Finally, a normal question.
"It's my Hunter ability. Have you ever heard of a subspace? It's a designated space that only the owner can open and enter. It doesn't exist in reality."
If this were the game and we were following Belsus's route, he would eventually have to face another Origin Character, the 'Doctor,' and he would have found out about it then. But since I'm the only one here right now, I have no choice but to explain it to him myself.
Upon hearing the word 'subspace,' Belsus's composure cracked slightly. A vigilant glint entered his eyes, as if he had just been told he had stepped inside my very body.
"...I've never heard of one being this spacious. Let alone one that could contain a working well."
"I'm a bit of an anomaly."
Subspace. It was an incredibly rare ability on the continent. However, it wasn't exactly one-of-a-kind. Wasn't the lore something like one person manifesting it every few decades?
It's just that my space is exceptionally large. Moreover, it keeps expanding. Even up until the last time I saw it in the game, it was still growing, so what I knew probably wasn't even its final form.
Even back then, it was a massive field spanning nearly 3,500 square feet.
Belsus's face, as his eyes scanned his surroundings, was strangely blank. He looked almost spellbound.
...Was he feeling envious? No, this guy was too much of a pushover to harbor a negative emotion like 'envy.'
Like gazing at an unscalable mountain, or admiring a beautiful mural in a museum he had snuck into. That was what Belsus's eyes conveyed.
'You must desperately want one too. A space like this.'
A secret sanctuary no one else could intrude upon.
For Belsus, who had been lying in the slums without any plans, utterly exhausted, it was a dream he had long forgotten how to hope for.
Having eaten just a single meal, Belsus's appearance had improved remarkably.
For starters, he no longer had the face of a dying corpse. The light had returned to his previously murky, ink-black eyes, and though his face was still gaunt, he had much more color than just a few minutes ago. A gentle strength seemed to emanate from the deep corners of his eyes.
To think he could look this radiant even with shaggy hair, covered in grime, and painfully emaciated. Game characters really are built differently. His skin was pale, too.
'What does Belsus think of me?'
Someone who suddenly recognized him on the street, asked for his help, and scooped him up into a weird subspace. And then fed him.
Belsus wasn't showing any hostility, honestly, the guy barely even knew what hostility was... but I still couldn't feel at ease.
The anxiety stemming from not being able to read my opponent was weighing me down. To alleviate this uneasiness, I felt the urge to use my ability to Read Belsus's thoughts.
'Not yet.'
But I held myself back.
I had already used it four times today. I only had one use left, and I needed to save it in reserve for an emergency. I gritted my teeth and endured the urge.
Belsus opened his mouth.
"May I dare ask you a question?"
He was definitely about to ask something serious.
I reached a state of tension where I felt like I had to be careful with every single word, much like being in a job interview. But outwardly, I pretended to be calm.
"Go ahead."
"You didn't happen to skip lunch, did you?"
How long is this bastard going to obsess over food?!
"I told you I already ate! While you were lying down."
"Is that so? What a relief. The meal you made was so incredibly delicious that, before I knew it, I had eaten it all. Thank you for not rebuking me."
What the hell is he talking about? Living up to his title as a pushover, the sheer scale of his nonsense is on a different level.
"It was a large amount of food. I was worried you might have strained your meager circumstances..."
Belsus said this while glancing around at the crumbling cabin and the brown dirt field where seeds had only just been planted.
This punk... He clearly has no idea how wealthy someone is to own their own house and land in a capitalist society, even if it looks like a ruin.
To think he's looking down on me when he'll be freeloading here from now on. I knew this softhearted fool didn't mean it that way, but it still ruffled my feathers. It was like a junkyard owner getting mad when someone calls their property a junkyard.
But that annoyance was fleeting.
"How did you know my name?"
Finally, Belsus was initiating a somewhat serious conversation.
[Belsus. There is a sniper chasing me.]
To grab his attention, I had intentionally called out his name, even though it was our first time meeting.
I had prepared myself for this, but hearing it directly from Belsus's mouth amplified my anxiety.
Belsus was undoubtedly suspecting me of being a bounty hunter. Let's face facts. Belsus may be a pushover, but he's no idiot.
Without pausing for too long, I opened my mouth to respond.
"I know who you are. I also knew that your ability is Reading. Because my Hunter ability is also Reading."
That was it. I closed my mouth.
Belsus was observing me, practically holding his breath. It could certainly be called a surprised look.
At that moment.
It was brief, but the hair on the back of my neck stood up. It felt like a faint shock of static electricity, or that terrifying sensation of suddenly noticing a bloodshot eye staring back at you from the bushes.
There was no way I couldn't recognize it. I had felt it once earlier when I was scooping Belsus up.
'Belsus just used Reading.'
The man standing right in front of me had just... stolen my thoughts.
Perhaps because I also possessed the Reading ability, I could feel it when someone used it on me. I could tell the exact moment Belsus activated it.
Usually, when someone lies, they hide the truth in their mind while spouting something else from their mouth.
The moment I answered him, Belsus had used his Reading to uncover my true intentions.
His unblinking eyes, staring steadily at me, were unnervingly deep. Like a pitch-black lake about to surge forward and flood my very soul with its dark waters.
'...No. I'm not busted. He probably didn't manage to read much. I only spoke the truth.'
I calmly steeled my nerves.
Right around now, a warning I had read on the blue status window popped into my head.
[Rule]
[All transmigrators are strictly forbidden from disclosing any information related to transmigration to their partners.]
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