Ch.7171. Shame Varies by Individual

When people lose consciousness, they also lose their sense of time.

You know that experience where you doze off for a moment and suddenly a lot of time has passed? That’s why drowsiness is the most dangerous thing when using public transportation. If you’re not careful, you might end up somewhere far beyond your destination.

…So how long was I unconscious? And what happened while I was out that led to me using Alkine’s lap as a pillow?

I was confused and just stared blankly for a moment, until Alkine flicked my forehead.

“If you’re awake, move.”

“Yes, right away.”

Finally coming to my senses, I hurriedly got up. Then I looked back and forth between Celia and Alkine.

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out how I ended up with my head on Alkine’s lap. I mean, if it had been Celia’s lap, I could have understood, but Alkine? What was that about?

But Celia and Alkine just gave me strange smiles without any intention of explaining, so my questions remained unanswered.

I had no choice but to move past that issue… but suddenly I felt a wave of embarrassment as I remembered what I had just done.

‘I got too excited.’

I should have considered the potential dangers, but I acted too recklessly in my excitement to experiment with something new. As a result, I ended up passing out from an explosion that wasn’t even that powerful.

It’s not that I have a particularly strong sense of pride, but I’ve been working hard to maintain my image as an experienced player, and fainting so pathetically doesn’t exactly help with that.

So I decided to look elsewhere for a moment to collect myself.

“Hmm, the flowers are pretty.”

“What are you suddenly talking about? What flowers are you…”

“No, right here. Don’t you think these flowers, imbued with nature’s colors, are beautiful?”

“Ludion. That’s just grass.”

“…Isn’t that a bit too harsh?”

“If I humor you with this kind of thing, there’s no end to it.”

Was that so? Come to think of it, maybe that’s true.

But normally she would have played along a little. I think she knows I’m embarrassed and is deliberately doing this.

In that case, I have no choice but to be even more shameless.

Leaving Celia, who seemed to have no intention of humoring me further, I began earnestly evaluating the grass growing on the ground.

Then suddenly, my eyes met with Alkine’s, who was still sitting in the same position she had been in while providing her lap as my pillow.

…Was it a bit much to act this way in front of Alkine? Unlike Celia, we haven’t spent that much time together…

As I was thinking this, Alkine casually stood up and spoke.

“It’s alright, Ludion. My mother used to say that men remain children even when they grow up. So I understand.”

“…President. Are you making fun of me right now?”

“Was it that obvious?”

Great. I don’t have anyone on my side.

Though it’s my fault things turned out this way, so it’s not like I should expect any.

“Sigh. It’s my fault for acting carelessly. Feel free to criticize me all you want!”

“Huh? What did you do wrong that deserves criticism?”

“I was wondering the same thing. What have you been so embarrassed about?”

I had decided to just accept it… but their reactions were completely different from what I expected.

“The things Ludion usually does are much more embarrassing, you know? I was just teasing you a little because it was cu— I mean, funny to see you get embarrassed over something so minor.”

“That’s right. Celia is correct. This kind of mistake can be dismissed as an accident, but your usual behavior borders on eccentricity.”

It seemed they had just been teasing me after noticing my embarrassment.

…What? Was I the only one who thought it was embarrassing? I was acting all weird for nothing.

Of course, embarrassment is subjective, and I still feel ashamed about making such a silly mistake… but if no one else thinks much of it, making a big deal out of it would just make me look foolish.

There’s no point in dragging this conversation on, so I should change the subject.

First, let’s summarize the results of the recent experiment.

“I’m going to stop the experiment with storing mana. I didn’t expect it to explode like that… it’s dangerous.”

“Exactly. It’s fortunate you only stored a small amount of mana, or it could have been much worse.”

“Similarly, I’m abandoning the experiment of putting the President’s mana sword in there.”

“You were planning to try that too?”

Well… I thought it might be helpful to store everything I possibly could.

Even now, I’ve packed all sorts of things in there.

The most recent item I put in was a fork I stole from the student cafeteria.

I suddenly remembered parrying with a fork at the Imperial Palace and thought it might be useful.

…But thinking about it, would items with mana in them explode if I tried to put them in? In games, those kinds of items went in just fine.

I can’t try it right now, but I don’t think items that could be stored in inventory in games would explode.

As that thought occurred to me, I became curious about something.

“Celia, would mana explode if you tried to put it in a spatial pocket?”

“It depends on the conditions. The connection to the spatial pocket is structured with mana, and the material that establishes the spatial pocket is very vulnerable to interference.”

“Right. That’s why we can’t take them on Rift explorations.”

“Oh, speaking of that, there was a theory in a paper published the other day about maintaining spatial formulas in Rifts…”

…I’m not that curious anymore.

I didn’t realize it was this technical. Games don’t explain things in such detail.

“…Did I hear that wrong? What’s the prerequisite for implementing that method?”

“You need to be able to cast at least three spells simultaneously, and have the mana control ability to supply different speeds of mana to each spell.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I can do it.”

“…Ludion, I’ll rely on your abilities from now on. I look forward to working with you.”

Alkine, who initially seemed interested, soon reached the same conclusion as me.

Celia, though clearly disappointed, agreed that it was probably more efficient this way.

…I don’t think efficiency was what we were talking about.

Besides, when did she find time to read academic papers?

I knew she had an incredible passion for magical knowledge.

She’s the perfect example of a talented genius who enjoys putting in effort.

But “the other day” would have been when she was at the Imperial Palace.

The thought that she was reading the latest academic papers even there is a bit intimidating.

Anyway, I should bring the conversation back to its original topic.

“What I wanted to know was whether you can store items containing mana in a spatial pocket.”

“By items containing mana, do you mean things like magic stones or mana adjustment tools?”

Well, I was thinking more along the lines of magic swords or dragon hearts… but I guess they’re similar?

“Mana that’s bound to a substance has a completely different nature. It’s like… a grain? The structures are such that they can’t interfere with each other, so those kinds of items can be put in spatial pockets without any problem.”

“…Oh, so that’s how it works? I thought magical tools had separate safety mechanisms.”

“To create safety mechanisms, you’d need to apply the theory I mentioned earlier.”

“On second thought, that was an incredibly foolish idea.”

She says so. It seems this isn’t common knowledge, as even Alkine looks like she’s learned something new.

Enough with the theory. What’s clear is that my inventory shares many similarities with spatial pockets.

The main difference might be that while spatial pockets are fragile and prone to breaking down, my inventory is practically invincible.

The explosion that occurred when I tried to store mana was probably the result of my inventory winning the battle against the mana.

Good. My head feels clearer thinking about it this simply after listening to Celia’s theoretical exploration.

“Let’s set aside the spatial pocket discussion and continue with the experiment.”

I decided to return to the original purpose of testing my inventory, as digging deeper would likely lead to a solo lecture from Celia.

Actually, I had already tested the things I could do alone.

Simple tricks that were possible in the game, I mean.

If I had to name the most important inventory tricks, they would probably be Quick Swap and Cancel.

Quick Swap is exactly what it sounds like—a technique for rapidly changing the item you’re holding, and it’s basically the foundation of inventory tricks.

Cancel is an application of Quick Swap.

Whether it’s delay cancel or cooldown cancel, it’s all about using Quick Swap at the right timing.

Unlike Quick Swap, which simply changes items, Cancel requires precise timing, making it quite a high-level technique… but that part wasn’t a problem for me since I was well-versed in it.

I couldn’t test it directly since I didn’t have suitable weapons, but given that Quick Swap works, I think Cancel probably would too.

Well… of course, Quick Swap doesn’t increase damage or anything, and there’s not much benefit to canceling delays and cooldowns outside of PvP, so it’s a trick that’s rarely used unless you’re in PvP…

‘That’s only true from the perspective of a protagonist who keeps growing stronger.’

For me, it’s like rain during a drought. I need to make good use of it.

I’ve gone off on a tangent, but all of these are basically applications from within the game.

However, the reason I gathered everyone today wasn’t for these game elements, but to find out how far they could be applied in reality.

Even my failed attempt to store mana was part of that.

And what I’m trying to experiment with now is quite dangerous.

Yes, dangerous.

The experiment to see if I can put equipment someone else is wearing into my inventory could lead straight to a criminal route if used incorrectly.

But come on… it’s not like I’m trying to cancel with Quick Swap, I just want to put things in my inventory. What could go wrong?