Chapter 23 – System Secrets
Cael walked toward the Sludge Devourer's corpse, still breathing heavily, the Abyssal Blade dripping with dark slime. The black-armored knight followed in silence, alert for any new movement in the sewer.
But halfway there, Cael stopped abruptly. His eyes narrowed, his expression shutting down like a slammed door.
"Wait a minute..."
... ?
"You've had an inventory this whole time!?"
Silence.
Uhm... technically, yes.
Cael turned toward thin air, frowning as if staring down a ghost. He raised a finger, indignant.
"And I had to 'earn' it!? I nearly became dragon mush, almost died burned by a fire wolf, got chewed on by a sharp-toothed fairy... and only now do you decide to mention I have an inventory!?"
You didn't ask.
"I DIDN'T ASK!? That's like... standard! Any game has an inventory button! You should have said that in the first chapter!"
You were busy dying. I thought it would be insensitive to interrupt.
"...You gave me a sword, armor, a grimoire with a mass destruction spell—and I carried all of that on my back like an idiot! Do you know how many times my back almost gave out!?"
Yes. Statistically speaking, three and a half times.
"And the worst part..." Cael rubbed his forehead, exhausted. "The worst part is that I had to earn the inventory. As if it were a prize. A... late birthday gift."
Look on the bright side. Now you can store all the slime you want!
Cael stared at the air in silence.
Do you want me to show you the consumables tab? It even has cute little labels. I can also do sorting by rarity, like shiny background colors and everything.
"And what else are you hiding, huh? A secret mount? A 'quit game' button? An 'easy mode'? Are you waiting for me to face a boss while legless to tell me I can fly, is that it!?"
Spoiler alert: maybe.
The black-armored knight watched from the side, visibly confused.
"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice muffled by his helm.
Cael blinked.
"Huh? Yes. I... I was just thinking out loud."
The knight nodded slowly.
"This place does that to people."
Cael took a deep breath, looking up at the filthy, dripping ceiling.
"Right. We'll talk later, 'System.' For now... show me this damn inventory."
With pleasure! Inventory opened. And please: don't forget to give your items cute names. I like that.