Arthur sat on the edge of the hotel bed, fingers interlocked, foot tapping restlessly against the polished floor.
His eyes were fixed on the empty air before him.
Every second stretched.
'Come on… finish already.'
In his mind, only one thought echoed:
'I hope it's at least something powerful…'
The room remained silent.
Then—
A ripple passed through the air.
Light burst into existence before his eyes, lines of glowing text stacking one after another.
Arthur's lips curved into a slow, sharp grin.
"…It's done."
His heart thumped.
He straightened his back.
"Alright, system," he said aloud, excitement leaking into his voice. "What did you get for me?"
The windows shimmered.
[ EXTRACTION PROCESS COMPLETED ]
[ TARGET : LUCAS EVAN IMPERIUS ]
[ SYSTEM TYPE : ASCENSION SYSTEM ]
[ ONE CORE FUNCTION ACQUIRED ]
Arthur leaned forward, eyes burning.
Then the next line appeared.
[ ACQUIRED ABILITY : SACRIFICIAL INVENTORY ]
Arthur's mouth twitched.
Once.
Twice.
"…Sacrificial Inventory?"
A dry laugh escaped him.
"…What was I expecting," he muttered. "This system really is trash after all."
A beat passed.
Then the system's voice snapped back, sharp for the first time.
[ At least read carefully what you obtained before calling me trash, you weakling of a Host. ]
Arthur's brow twitched.
His mouth opened—
Then closed.
He exhaled and refocused on the glowing text.
"…Fine," he said flatly. "Sacrificial Inventory, huh."
He crossed his arms.
"Explain. What does it mean?"
The windows rearranged themselves.
[ Sacrificial Inventory is not a mere storage function. ]
[ It is a bound dimensional vault, permanently connected to the Universal Shop—The Nexus Archives Treasury where every System in existence are connected, and from which their hosts purchase items. ]
[ It can store any non-living object. ]
[ Weapons. Artifacts. Materials. Energy constructs. Skills, crystals. ]
[ Living beings cannot be stored. ]
Arthur blinked.
"…Anything that isn't alive?"
[ Correct. Unlike standard inventories, it has no category restrictions, no preservation decay, and no weight or volume limit. ]
Arthur let out a low whistle.
"That's… actually decent."
A pause.
Then another line appeared.
[ Additionally— ]
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"…Additionally what?"
The system's tone sharpened, almost smug.
[ You may SACRIFICE any item stored within it. ]
[ In exchange, you will receive Exp and Attribute Points proportional to the item's value. ]
Arthur froze.
"…Say that again."
[ You may SACRIFICE items you do not need. ]
[ They will be converted into EXP and Attribute Points. ]
For a moment, the room felt unreal.
Arthur stared at the floating words as if they might vanish.
"…You're telling me," he said slowly, "that I can turn artifacts… skills… *anything I own*… into raw growth?"
[ Correct. ]
His breath hitched.
His chest tightened.
"…That's insane."
The implications crashed into him all at once.
Every system he will devoured.
Every artifact he will own.
If he didn't want it—
He could sacrifice it.
Turn it into levels.
Into strength.
Into stats.
Arthur leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
A soft, breathless laugh escaped him.
"My dear brother," he murmured, eyes glinting with predatory light,
"I didn't know you were this useful…"
His lips curved upward.
"I really hope we meet again soon."
After calming himself down.
Arthur stared at the floating windows for a long moment.
As he dismissed each one by one.
Then he spoke carefully.
"Pleaae…Please tell me that you've also managed to secure all the items inside his inventory."
The room went silent.
Not even a system prompt appeared.
Arthur's eye twitched.
Once.
Twice.
"System," he said slowly, his smile stiff. "I am asking you a question here."
A pause.
Then—
[ W-Well… that's where the problem lies, Host… ]
Arthur's heart sank.
The system continued, its tone hesitant.
[ Technically, we forcefully extracted the inventory function from another System through an extraction link. ]
[Obviously The Ascension System resisted. ]
[ Most of the items stored within were destroyed during the severance. ]
Arthur froze.
A single tear slipped from the corner of his eye.
It fell.
Dropped.
Hit the floor.
The system hesitated.
[ …Are you crying, Host? ]
"I'm not!" Arthur snapped, turning his face away. "And you're useless after all, you weakling of a system!"
[ A-Alright, you're not crying Forgive me for asking. ]
A beat.
[ Also… you did not let me finish properly. ]
Arthur's eyes lifted.
[ Despite the collapse, I managed to secure as much I could, artifacts, and items and potions.
I managed to secure is also quite usefull. ]
Arthur swallowed.
As he said " I knew you had in it you system, I am proud of you."
The room fell silent again...
As the voice came again as if in disbelief saying [ But you were belittling me just a few....]
Arthur cut it off "Oh my look at the time, we should hurry.
Let's Bring out what you've got."
The system went quiet again.
As arthur said.."Open the inventory."
Space beside him tore open.
A black slit appeared in the air—
Then exploded outward.
Essence cores poured out.
Artifacts clattered across the floor.
Low-rank healing potions.
Stamina recovery potions.
Health recovery potions.
Skill book's—from F-rank to S-rank.
Weapons, rings, cloaks, charms, strange glowing objects of unknown purpose.
They came like a flood.
Arthur was buried.
"G-GAH—!"
He screamed as the avalanche swallowed him.
"System, you bastard! Are you trying to kill me?! Remove all of this!"
[ Calm down, Host. You were the one who asked to see them. ]
The system's tone sounded almost amused.
With a ripple, the flow stopped.
Arthur clawed his way out of the pile, panting heavily, hair disheveled, arms full of glowing junk.
"…You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he growled.
[ Whatever do you mean? I merely complied with your request. ]
Arthur clicked his tongue but said nothing.
He finally looked around.
The entire room was filled.
Artifacts glittered across the carpet.
Skill books lay stacked against furniture.
Crystals and stones shone like stars scattered on the ground.
His breath caught.
Then—
His eyes landed on the pile of essence stones.
His lips trembled.
"I'm rich…" he whispered.
Then louder—
"I'm fucking rich!"
His hands shook as he picked one up.
"These are high-grade essence stones… Even one of these can sell for at least a *million* dollar each…"
He looked up sharply.
"How many are there?"
[ According to my calculations… at least one thousand, Host. ]
[ I had to abandon the remaining five thousand. ]
Arthur's soul nearly left his body.
"…Five thousand…"
His knees almost gave out.
He clenched his fists.
Then forced himself to breathe.
"…It's fine," he muttered. "Don't be greedy. This is already insane. A perfect start."
His gaze shifted to the potions.
He picked up a vial labeled Fatigue Recovery and uncorked it.
He drank.
Warm energy spread through his body instantly.
The heaviness in his limbs vanished.
His breathing steadied.
His eyes brightened.
"…We can make a fortune selling these too."
He looked around.
"How many potions do we have in total?"
[ Including all types… seven hundred fifty-seven. ]
[ I also lost— ]
"Don't you dare say it," Arthur cut in.
[ Tch…Fine. ]
With a gesture, Arthur stored the potions and essence stones back into the Sacrificial Inventory.
The room cleared.
Only artifacts and book's remained, scattered across the floor like the spoils of a conquered world.
Arthur stood in the center of it all.
Breathing slowly.
Smiling like a king who had just claimed his first treasure hoard.