The Hidden Secret Warehouse of the Jibchak Family.
In this place, countless items hidden away by Trash were on display.
Of course, since these were personally collected items, it was narrow and shabby compared to the former Royal Treasure Storage, but that place was on a whole different level, so we can disregard that.
Perhaps to create some atmosphere, it was decorated in a way that gave off a museum vibe.
One difference from a museum, though… was that there were no protective cases?
It was originally a place he frequented alone, so that was to be expected. He probably never thought someone like me would break in here.
Thanks to that, it was quite convenient for me as a thief.
Anyway, the reason I came all this way was, of course, that there was an item I thought I absolutely had to get my hands on.
‘Technically, it’s not an absolute necessity…’
The item I could acquire here wasn’t some outstanding weapon or armor to cover my stats. In a way, it could be considered a convenience item.
So it wasn’t essential.
Just like I had been doing so far, with evasion and parrying, and utilizing the inventory I had recently gained, I could manage most situations.
But convenience is a case of the more, the merrier. Regardless of its performance or utility, it was beneficial to acquire this item first.
However….
“What the hell? Where did it go?”
I couldn’t see the item. It should definitely be here.
There were cases when items were missing. This included starting items that were already taken.
But I had never seen the protagonist having this, so it should be here… where on Earth did it go?
…I don’t know. Time’s running short, so maybe I should just grab something to cover my clothing costs.
I stuffed everything displayed in the secret warehouse into my inventory. Since there wasn’t a whole lot, I could put it all in pretty quickly.
I checked as I packed, but, as expected, there were no useful items.
…Speaking of which, it’s only been a day since I said I wouldn’t steal, and already I’m like this.
If I were to make excuses, there were words to say.
These were things Trash had illegally acquired and obtained through auctions on the black market.
He hid them in places like this because he wasn’t exactly proud of them. If these dirty items could cover the costs of Seria’s heart, it wouldn’t be a loss for Trash, would it?
Even disregarding that, Diggus was involved in this mess, so as a father, I could let this slide as a little hush money.
‘In the end, it all loops back to excuses.’
Still, I had no intention of returning the items.
Since I had come this far, there was no turning back, and if I uncovered their sneaky dealings, the family would soon collapse as well.
The moment I had stuffed all the items into my inventory, Trash and the knights started pouring in.
With so many of them cramming into this narrow space, it seemed the escape route was completely blocked.
However, nobody was able to act recklessly.
In this small, enclosed underground area, if a commotion broke out and things collapsed, they would all be buried alive.
Trash, too, halted any further magic, merely glaring at me.
“…What the.”
Yet, after a moment of panic, he regained his composure and began questioning me.
“Where did all the stuff that was in here go?”
“It was empty when I came in.”
“Don’t lie.”
“How do you know if it’s a lie?”
“Then tell me. How can you prove that there was nothing in here?”
“Nothing’s here now, right?”
“That doesn’t prove anything!”
This guy really doesn’t get it.
Well, I mean… I did steal it, but I thought he’d at least have some retort.
Who knew he’d be this stubborn? Did I underestimate the Jibchak family too much?
“Hmph, so you intend to lie to the end. It’s useless.”
It didn’t seem like anything I said could change Trash’s mind.
Should I just try to escape? Just when I was thinking that, Trash tossed his bangs back as if trying to cool down.
He had quite a hefty build, but as he lifted his bangs with his short arms, it naturally pulled on his sleeves.
As a result, a bracelet he was wearing came into view.
“…Oh, that.”
And that was the exact item I was looking for.
Thank goodness. It really was here.
But why the heck are you wearing it? In the game, it was just tossed in the warehouse.
…Upon reflection, it did sound more unreasonable for it to be just stored away. There’s no way he’d leave such a good item lying around.
So, he probably had been using it to commit even more dastardly deeds. I need to grab it quickly.
Then… for now.
“There’s no way to escape.”
Saying so, I raised my hands as a sign of surrender.
“Liar. Capture him at once!”
I thought I could lure them into a false sense of security and execute a surprise theft, but before I even had the chance to make a move, I was immediately exposed.
Well, it makes sense since he’s wearing that bracelet.
Even so, landing a hit in this narrow space should be easy.
Everything I had was already in my inventory, so I’d appear to be unarmed, and they wouldn’t be too vigilant.
I rushed past the knights converging on Trash.
He didn’t look troubled at all and smoothly slipped backwards in response, but I managed to snag a hold of his clothes somehow… and immediately shoved the bracelet into my inventory.
“…!”
“Oh, this is bad.”
Trash’s clothes got pulled into my inventory as well.
At this point, I wasn’t even surprised.
“My, my relic!”
Seeing he didn’t care that his clothes were gone, it didn’t seem necessary to give them back, so I decided to run away.
I dashed past Trash, who was now stripped down to his top half, heading towards the exit.
Of course, some knights were standing there to block me… but I had known this would happen since the moment I came in.
Naturally, there were ways to overcome this, which was why I had crawled in here.
‘Blocking with their bodies means nothing to me.’
In fact, the absurd strengths of game characters become even more pronounced when crammed into tight spaces.
Even if everyone was piled together and unable to move properly, I was free to maneuver!
Of course, if I stood still or acted normally, I wouldn’t be able to move either, but hey, I had evasion, right?
Evasion, which overrides attack judgments, was also effective against crowds.
If I rush towards a spot with even just a bit of room…
“What?!”
Even a narrow gap through which my body won’t fit can be easily passed!
About five or six knights began moving hurriedly to chase after me, but maybe because they were pressed together to block the exit, they ended up colliding into one another instead.
Since Trash couldn’t get through that mess either, I managed to escape the secret warehouse and slip outside.
I could hear the sound of chaos and delayed footsteps behind me, but I had enough time to make my escape.
As I ran at a decent pace, I took off the bracelet from my inventory and put it on.
With that, I had achieved my basic purpose for coming here.
[Ring of Exploration]
[For you, who is in the dark about the world.]
[Searches for a designated target.]
I already knew the functionality of the bracelet, so I decided to test it right away.
[Rudion]
[Strength: 17]
[Stamina: 8]
[Agility: 21]
[Magic: 11]
[Traits: ■■■■, Good for the body and tastes good]
[You are happy to have obtained the desired item.]
As I used the item on myself, a quite familiar system window popped up.
That’s right. Exploring is, quite literally, a feature to view information.
Until now, I couldn’t see others’ stats or item details, but with this, I’d be able to see everything.
I was already familiar with my own stats, so I just took a quick glance.
My stats were still stuck at those initial values… and what’s up with the traits?
[■■■■]
[■■■ ■■■■■. ■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■.]
Reading the trait description in detail was even more of a mess.
No wonder Trash was suddenly flustered earlier—it must have been because of this.
If you saw this without any prior knowledge, you’d definitely be surprised.
However, I could instantly recognize what this was.
Ultimately, I only had one trait besides the ‘Good for the body and tastes good’ I got from failing the draw.
[Irregular]
[This is an experimental feature. Please be cautious so that actual players do not obtain this trait.]
‘Checking the character count confirms it’s accurate.’
Currently, all these features like evasion, parrying, infinite stamina, game-like vision, inventory, and so on… were all provided by the trait ‘Irregular.’
It seemed that this item struggled to recognize that trait properly.
Maybe it was corrupted because it’s not a feature that’s supposed to exist?
Well, it doesn’t matter much. Honestly, I wasn’t really interested in this aspect anyway.
To me, such information isn’t significantly impactful given I know a rough measure of my strength and traits better than anyone.
The true merit of ‘Exploration’ was, in fact, in the next part.
[You are happy to have obtained the desired item.]
Right here.
This function described the target’s thoughts or emotions based on my perspective.
With this, I could quickly figure out whatever the other party was hiding or plotting a betrayal.
Trash’s conviction that I had stolen from him, as well as understanding my false surrender, was all thanks to this ability.
Even setting that aside, simply knowing what another party is thinking or desires carries significant weight.
You could wonder whether it’s okay to read others’ thoughts, but as long as I try to use it reasonably, I’m sure it’ll be fine. After all, it’s not like I’ll use it for anything bad like Trash does.
Alright, then… Now that I’ve stolen all the items, shall I go handle whatever they’re plotting?
Avoiding the noisy commotion behind me, I began to dash towards my next target.
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