However, disappointingly, I still couldn’t enter and check the rankings or chat yet. They were locked.
[Rankings: Combat power rankings for determining the Tower conqueror. You can check the rankings of all Hunters on the continent, as well as view only the possessors’ rankings separately.]
[Currently locked. You can check interim rankings once every week.]
Well, even if I checked the combat power rankings now, only the characters’ initial stats would show. I already know all the initial stats.
‘Then what about the chat?’
The rankings honestly didn’t matter much for now, but the chat was very important.
To be able to contact other possessors remotely. I can’t even imagine how many variables will arise from this chat going forward.
Moreover…….
‘Maybe I can find out what Kaline and the Archer, whose conquest route went awry from missing Belsus, are up to without lifting a finger.’
I pressed it with anticipation, but well, things couldn’t possibly resolve that quickly.
[Chat: You can exchange messages with possessors. There is no limit to the number of chats, but it only opens for one hour each day between 8:00~9:00 PM.]
Well, if the chat had been active, the possessors would already be chattering and notifications would have come…….
Looking out the window, the sun was still bright. What I just gave Belsus was also lunch.
Although the farm is my own subspace, it reflects reality’s time, weather, and seasons exactly as they are, so I could estimate the time the same way.
‘Then for now…… there’s nothing to do except self-development.’
While thinking, I finished dusting the cabin. Experience points went up bit by bit.
After battling with the fireplace that endlessly produced soot, I vigorously wiped my face with a cloth and came out of the cabin again.
Belsus had just set down his dishes on the ground and with suddenly peaceful eyes, was slowly looking around, seemingly searching for the homeowner.
I approached and first checked the finished dishes.
‘He ate every last drop of juice.’
Somehow the plate surface is too clean and shiny, but I should absolutely pretend not to notice. I need to quickly wash it under running water.
“Thank you so much.”
The mercenary, who ate greedily and sloppily while losing his reason, and still had no pride to feel shame even after filling his belly, offered me his thanks.
“Well, yeah.”
Suddenly embarrassed, I was at a loss for words.
Come to think of it…… when was the last time I sat facing someone who wasn’t from the company like this?
I suddenly felt unbearably awkward. Was I always this lacking in social skills? Looking Belsus in the eyes felt so awkward I could go crazy.
People are already unfamiliar, but moreover, to suddenly see a game character in reality, as a real thing before my eyes…….
Belsus was the first to break the silence.
“Did you eat?”
Is that the first thing to say right now? Is that bastard in a position to care about my meal?
He must have dozens of things to ask me, yet a bastard who just ate and wonders if I ate too…… I don’t know. Is he Korean?
“I’ll take care of myself.”
When I said it curtly, Belsus didn’t ask further.
“Where is this? It doesn’t seem like a normal space.”
Now he’s finally asking a proper question.
“My Hunter ability. Have you heard of subspace? It’s a designated space that only you can open and enter. It doesn’t exist in reality.”
If this were a game and the Belsus route, he would have had to face the ‘Doctor,’ another origin character, at some point, so he would have learned then.
But right now I’m the only one, so I have no choice but to explain.
Upon hearing it was subspace, Belsus’s composure crumbled slightly. Wariness flashed in his eyes as if he’d heard he’d entered my body.
“……I haven’t heard of such a wide space. Much less that a well could exist.”
“I’m a bit unusual.”
Subspace. An extremely rare ability on the continent. But that doesn’t mean it’s one of a kind. Was it the setting that one appears every few decades or so?
However, my space is particularly wide. It even keeps expanding. Even up to the end I saw in the game, it kept growing, so what I saw probably wasn’t the limit.
Even then it was almost a 330-square-meter field.
Belsus’s face, scanning the surroundings with his eyes here and there, was strangely blank. His gaze was somewhat entranced.
……Is it a feeling of envy? No, this bastard is too much of a sucker to even harbor negative emotions like ‘envy.’
Like looking at a mountain he can’t climb, or like secretly viewing a beautiful mural in a museum he snuck into. Belsus’s gaze was like that.
‘You must desperately want it too. A space like this.’
A secret space no one else can invade.
It’s the dream that Belsus, who was lying in the slums without any plan from being too exhausted, forgot to hope for long ago.
Just from eating one meal, Belsus looked remarkably revived.
First of all, he didn’t have a face like a dying corpse. Light returned to his black eyes that had been turbid like ink, and though his face was gaunt, he had much better color than a few minutes ago. Soft strength seemed to radiate from the ends of his dark eye corners.
Even with shaggy hair and a filthy state, even emaciated, his stature looks brilliant. Game characters are different after all. His skin is also fair.
‘What does Belsus think of me?’
A person who suddenly recognized him on the street, said to save them, picked him up into a strange space. And a person who gives him food.
Belsus doesn’t show hostility, but he’s actually a bastard who doesn’t really know what hostility is…… Still, it’s not reassuring.
The anxiety from being unable to grasp the other person weighs down on me. To resolve my anxiety, I wanted to use my ability to Read Belsus’s thoughts.
‘Not yet.’
But I restrained myself.
I already used it four times today. Only one use remains now, and I need to save this for emergency situations. I held back firmly.
Belsus’s mouth opened.
“May I dare to ask one thing?”
He’s definitely going to ask something serious.
I reached a tense state where I had to be careful with every word like during a job interview. But outwardly I pretended to be calm.
“Dare to try.”
“You haven’t skipped lunch, have you?”
How long is this bastard going on about food?
“I told you I ate! When you were lying down.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief. What you made was so delicious that when I came to my senses, I’d eaten it all. Thank you for not reproaching me.”
What is he even saying? Only a sucker would spout such nonsense.
“There was a lot of food, so I wondered if you strained yourself when you don’t have much……”
Belsus said while looking around at the crumbling cabin and the brown field where seeds had just been planted.
This bastard…… In this capitalist society, he doesn’t know how well-off it is to have your own house and land even if it’s like a ruin.
The nerve to look down on it when he’s going to freeload here. I know this sucker doesn’t mean it that way, but I bristled. It was like the garbage dump owner getting indignant when called a garbage dump.
But that was only for a moment.
“How did you know my name?”
Belsus finally started a somewhat cautious conversation.
—Belsus. There’s a sniper chasing me.
To catch Belsus’s attention, I deliberately called his name even though it was our first meeting.
Though it’s something I prepared for, hearing it from Belsus’s mouth amplified my anxiety even more.
Belsus must definitely suspect me of being a bounty hunter. Let’s face it. Belsus is a sucker, not a fool.
I opened my mouth without drawing it out long.
“I know about you. I also knew your ability is Reading. Because my Hunter ability is also Reading.”
Up to here. I closed my mouth.
Belsus was observing me, barely even breathing. It could be called a surprised look.
That moment.
Briefly, it felt like my hair stood on end. Like a slight static electricity rising, or like suddenly discovering bloodshot eyeballs staring at me from between bushes—a chilling feeling.
I couldn’t not know. I’d felt it once before when rescuing Belsus earlier.
‘Belsus used Reading.’
Just now, this person before me…… stole my thoughts from me.
Maybe because I also have the Reading ability, when someone uses Reading, a sensation is transmitted to me. I can know the moment Belsus uses Reading.
People generally hide the truth in their heads and say something different out loud when lying.
Belsus used Reading the moment I answered, trying to read my true feelings.
The eyes steadily gazing at me were honestly deep. Like a black lake about to spill black water into me at any moment.
‘……No. He didn’t catch on. He probably couldn’t read much. I only told the truth.’
I calmly steadied my mind.
At this point, the precautions I read in the blue status window come to mind.
[Rules]
[All possessors must not disclose any information related to possession to their partners.]
