I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

The golden three-day holiday after the midterms has come to an end.

I returned just yesterday from being dragged to the Royal Palace, and I barely got any rest because I had to dive into tackling the suddenly appeared Rift.

Fortunately, there was still the weekend left, but in my opinion, a peaceful rest this weekend seems impossible.

“Ah, Rudion! I’m over here!”

In front of the Student Cafeteria, I see Seria cheerfully waving at me.

She must have been waiting as always.

It’s really strange; I’ve been trying to come a bit earlier since I feel bad making her wait, but nothing seems to change on her end.

The early arrival time is now nearing 30 minutes, so how early does she have to come?

Anyway, today I had something to do.

It was to check out the inventory that was unlocked while tackling the Rift yesterday.

After returning to the dormitory, I tried experimenting alone, but honestly, there was only so much I could figure out from a cramped room.

So today, I planned to slowly pick apart the functions and possible uses of the inventory with Seria’s help.

However… for some reason, there was someone very familiar standing next to her.

“Good morning, Rudion.”

“Chairman, what’s going on?”

“I came to have breakfast, but since Seria is standing here, I thought I’d check in. I spoke to her briefly, and it looks like you both have plans, right?”

“Well, sort of…”

“Could it be a date?”

What? I never expected a question like that to come from Alkiné.

“It’s not that.”

“Then can I join you?”

It wasn’t exactly that kind of gathering, so I lightly declined, but Alkiné said it with a tone like she was just waiting for this very moment.

Whatever they had going on, if they needed help, I’d offer it. That’s what I said, but she seemed somewhat eager to tag along.

Things are really strange today. Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?

‘Ah, maybe she wants to return the favor?’

Well, thinking about it, she did help me out a lot.

If we trace back the root cause, it all started because of my distorted twist on the original story. But in the end, I was the one who helped and resolved the situation too.

“Aren’t you supposed to come and draft that report later anyway? Let’s just go back together after we’re done.”

“…Can’t we at least rest a little on the weekend?”

“Why are you out here if you want to rest?”

…Maybe this was less about returning a favor and more about wanting to put me to work.

Still, I didn’t feel like refusing. It’s simply out of guilt.

Later, when I heard the full story, I realized Alkiné was almost in big trouble if she had been even a bit late.

What would have happened if she had stayed at the Royal Palace for just one more day? Just imagining it sent shivers down my spine.

And considering that I was partly to blame for provoking Diggerus… well, you get the point.

No one knows it’s my fault, so I could just feign innocence, but I couldn’t shake off the guilt.

“Fine, I’ll join you. Seria, is that okay?”

“…Yes, it’s fine.”

And thus, Alkiné joined the inventory research committee.

Alright then… first things first, we need to have breakfast.

I met Seria in front of the Student Cafeteria for this very reason.

We could have met near the dormitory, but due to some sketchy incidents regarding the dorm in the past, I tended to be a bit careful.

Lately, Seria’s fandom seems to be growing, and if I give them any reason to report me again, I’d end up with pesky troubles.

Honestly, this is something Seria is more sensitive about, so I don’t need to worry too much, but…

“What are you thinking so deeply about? Let’s hurry inside.”

If I keep hanging around like this, I feel like I’m going to end up in a troublesome situation sooner or later.

Well, we are students of the Academy, so maybe it won’t be a big deal.

Snapped back to reality by Seria’s words, I headed inside the Student Cafeteria.

“Alkiné.”

“Hmm?”

“Can we talk later?”

“Why…?”

“Don’t play dumb. It’s obvious.”

“…Alright.”

With me taking the lead, Seria subtly kept her distance and had that conversation with Alkiné, but I couldn’t hear it since they were whispering.

*

As I mentioned before, there are a lot of unused… or rather, undeveloped areas on the Academy grounds.

And if you search those places well enough, you can find spaces that can be used like open grounds.

“I think this spot is good.”

After finishing our meal, we took a leisurely stroll in the nearby forest to settle our stomachs and found a rather spacious area with not many trees.

It wasn’t located too far, so maybe that’s why there were traces of someone having visited now and then, but it was ultimately remote. I didn’t think anyone would come by anytime soon.

Alright then, shall we start? The inventory demonstration.

First, I should lay down the basics.

“I gained a new ability while tackling the Rift…”

“Again? Is it another useless ability?”

Hey now, Seria. Don’t interrupt and just sit tight.

Every time I see that snake pattern, it just makes me smirk.

“Another one? What else could there be?”

“I recently learned some weird stuff. It’s a bit long to explain, but at the very least, think of it as a useless ability.”

“Now you’ve piqued my curiosity even more.”

“Um, excuse me? That’s not the important part right now.”

I continued my explanation after cutting through their chatter about useless abilities.

Well, it really was just about being able to store items, but I wandered around the idea of calling it an “inventory” since I thought they might not get it at first. It seemed to accept the term “personal space storage” just fine.

As soon as she heard the explanation, Seria perked up as if she realized something.

“Is that why the sword you always carried is now missing?”

“Exactly.”

The sword that was always hanging at my waist was quite annoying.

It had already been stored away in the inventory.

Having carried it around for a long time, I was somewhat accustomed to it, but more than that, the comfort of not having to carry it around gave me a good feeling. Less baggage is certainly better.

I didn’t even worry about forgetting what items I had stored.

Surprisingly, there was a system interface that mirrored the inventory from the game!

I could even organize it all nicely according to my own preferences.

‘This is totally a game.’

In truth, everything up to the dodges and parries felt like a game too, but being able to visually observe it made such a big difference.

At that moment, Alkiné slyly asked a question.

“Having a personal space storage ability is one thing, but I don’t quite get it. Can you show us how it works?”

“Of course.”

That was the whole reason I had gone to this secluded place.

I casually retrieved my sword from the inventory.

The sword that disappeared out of thin air appeared with a poof, leaving Seria and Alkiné quite bewildered.

“…Does it just come out from nowhere? What on earth is the principle behind it?”

“Do I look like I would know?”

“Using that in front of Grain would cause chaos.”

…Oh? Come to think of it, I’m curious. How would Grain react to this?

He might just act nonchalant like with dodges and parries, but until I show him, I won’t know for sure.

But that can wait for later; right now, it’s about the inventory.

It made total sense that they were so shocked.

A personal space pouch, while it has a visible space within, is still just a pouch. You’d have to rummage through it every time to pull out or put something away.

It could fit more items and lighten the weight issue somewhat, but in the end, it was still a burden.

But the inventory was different. The entire action of taking things in and out was skipped, and the result simply appeared out of nowhere.

This is absolutely beyond common sense.

But isn’t that pretty standard in games?

Think about it; when characters change equipment in a game, they don’t have to fumble around changing clothes or digging through bags, do they?

Once again, with dodging, parrying, and now highlighting the inventory as a system that defies common sense, I felt pretty thrilled.

At that moment, Seria, who had been observing me, quietly spoke up.

“…You seem to be enjoying yourself. But is there something more you plan to do? You didn’t bring us all the way out here just to show us this, did you?”

True. If I was just going to use the inventory storage, there was no need to create such a gathering.

The real reason for coming to this remote place… was to experiment with how far the inventory functionality could be pushed.

‘It may seem like game-like functionality, but in the end, it’s reality.’

Even though the inventory itself was quite a game-breaking feature, I wanted to explore if there were different ways to use it.

“Seria, can you create a magic sphere and float it for me?”

For example, I wondered if I could put something other than items into the inventory.

I approached the magic sphere made by Seria.

Alright, the first experiment begins…

Boom!

“Ah.”

Just as I tried to put the magic sphere into the inventory, it exploded.

I flew backward and crashed into a still-standing tree, momentarily losing consciousness due to the unexpected impact.

“Rudion?!”

“Seria! What on earth did you do?!”

“I don’t know! I was definitely maintaining it stably…”

Amidst the fading consciousness, I could hear their panicked conversation.

The first reason I fainted in this world was because “the magic I tried to put in the inventory exploded.”

‘This is hilarious.’

I might have brought this on myself, but it was quite ridiculous.

I was definitely too carefree about it. I’ll have to be a bit more cautious next time.

Thus came to an end my great first experiment—an absurd failure.

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