The apartment was quiet when they stepped inside.
Afternoon light filtered through the thin curtains. The air carried the scent of warm broth and leftover rice — a contrast to the bloodied memories still fresh in Akira's mind.
Yuna dropped her bag by the door, watching her brother cautiously.
"You okay now?" she asked.
Akira nodded, eyes distant. "Yeah. I just need… a little time alone."
She frowned. "You're acting strange."
"I'm fine, Yuna. Just—don't disturb me for a bit."
Before she could argue, he was already down the hall.
His room.
Still cramped. Still filled with books and weapon polish. He locked the door behind him, tossed his new jacket aside, and collapsed onto the bed, his arms over his face.
His body ached. Every joint. Every cut. But something else pulsed underneath.
Something deeper.
Something... alive.
"What happened in that Gate?" he muttered.
He closed his eyes—and the memory returned in a violent flash.
> The beast. The death blow. His scream. The smoke.
"INVENTORY!"
Power erupting. His hands moving like they'd done it a thousand times.
His eyes snapped open.
"That word... I said Inventory… right?"
He sat up.
A wild thought took hold.
He took a deep breath. "Alright. If I'm going crazy, I'm going all in."
He raised his hand.
"INVENTORY."
Silence.
Then…
A soft vrrrrrrrmmm.
The air in front of him shimmered like disturbed water. A tear in space blinked open — red-tinted and swirling at the edges like embers of a dying fire. It hovered mid-air, humming with power.
Akira's mouth fell open.
"…What the hell…"
Tentatively, he reached forward. His hand disappeared into the swirling portal — no pain, no resistance. It felt like dipping into warm mist.
His fingers brushed metal.
He gripped.
Then pulled.
SHRING—!
Out came the first blade — that same curved, deadly weapon from the battle.
He reached in again. Pulled the second.
Twin blades, perfectly balanced, humming faintly with Zeir.
"Unreal…" he whispered. "I didn't dream it."
He laid them on the bed, eyes still wide.
Testing a theory, he placed them back into the portal.
They slipped in smoothly, like falling into water.
Next, he grabbed an empty glass bottle from his shelf and tossed it in. Then a shirt. Then a small pouch of leftover Zeir shards.
After a minute, the hole pulsed once and sealed shut with a hiss.
He blinked.
"…Gone."
He stood still, heart pounding.
Then again—"INVENTORY."
The portal reopened.
Every item was still there.
The swords. The bottle. The shirt. The pouch.
He pulled them out, one by one, and laid them on the floor like a kid discovering magic for the first time.
He exhaled. Sat on the edge of his bed, trembling slightly.
"This... is insane."
He leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
"Storage magic... personalized. I've read about it, but it's supposed to require incredible Zeir control. Only top-tier hunters can manage that…"
He stared at his hand.
"No one ever taught me. I didn't study this. It just... came to me. In that moment."
He thought of the void. The Zeir storm. That massive core of energy just out of reach.
Whatever this was, it wasn't normal.
But it was his.
A long silence stretched before he whispered to himself:
"I have to be smart about this."
This wasn't just about showing off or testing cool tricks. Not now.
This was the start of something bigger.
"I'm not just surviving anymore."
He stared at the closed Inventory portal, his reflection faintly visible in its shimmer before it vanished again.
"I'm going to master this… and I'll use it to climb. To protect Yuna. To save Dad. And maybe…"
He glanced toward the bloodied jacket still folded in the corner.
"…maybe to find out why this power chose me."
---
Later that night, Akira sat at his old laptop, its screen cracked at the edge.
He typed quickly, researching survival kits, dungeon tools, and hunter utilities.
His cart filled slowly — not with weapons, but smart gear:
A collapsible water purifier — vital if he ever got trapped without a way out.
A pocket heat block — for surviving freezing zones inside unstable gates.
High-calorie nutrient packs — better than the stale bread he usually packed.
A compact field light — powerful, rechargeable, and able to pierce dungeon darkness.
He paused at the last item: a black wristband with a single red gem. It wasn't for survival or defense.
But it caught his eye.
> "Emotion-link pulse reader. Monitors mental focus and heart rate to help with Zeir alignment."
He clicked Buy.
Minutes passed.
As the screen faded into order confirmation, he sat back and whispered with a quiet fire in his chest:
"I'm ready for you… monsters."