portable home and a hole in reality (chapter 16)

A/N incoming time skip (i promise also check out the auxiliary chapter)

----------------------

"Fuck," Oliver couldn't help but curse as he rose from his seat, clutching the shell in his hand. As he perused its options and read its descriptions, he found himself even more astonished. "Touched by the wild magic of the world tree," he chuckled in disbelief, a sense of wonderment coursing through him. His mind drifted to the possibilities—what if other items shared a similar connection to the world tree's magic? A sword, a wand... the mental speculation danced briefly before he shook it off. "No use dwelling on what-ifs, buts and maybes," he reasoned, a smile breaking across his face.

"An entire room inside this little thing," he marveled, eyes widening in disbelief. The possibilities of what he could store in this portable treasure trove set his imagination ablaze. Almost bouncing with excitement, he observed another detail: it was passive. This discovery catapulted him into elation. Deciding to explore further, he entered the shell, now akin to the size of what he assumed to be a regular room.

Inside, the space was illuminated as if it were broad daylight, mirroring the time outside. "Follows the same time zone as the world outside, huh?" he mused, gazing around in awe. Exiting the shell, he approached a set of large military crates. His hand reached out to touch them, testing whether the shell worked by touch alone. When he willed them inside, nothing happened. Puzzled, he wondered, "Do I also have to get inside?" To his surprise, the crate followed suit. "Huh, okay," he mused as he repeated the process with the other crates.

[Name: Oliver]

[MP: 0.32/3.32(1 MP lasts for 1 minute, 1 MP can be recovered every minute)]

[Skills:

Option: You can grant one item a single option, and depending on either the item's history, production method, use, or significance, it would receive a different option. But it can only receive 1 option, with a 70% chance of failure. Current grade: F, level: 1 (131/1,000) cooldown: 24 hours.]

-Scene Change-

Thirty minutes later, within the shell, Oliver surveyed the transformed space. Three military crates sat beneath a large plant table—an enchanted planter that dominated one entire wall. The remaining three walls housed his workbench, bookshelf, nightstand, coolers, fridges, generator, smelter, and bed. The rearranged setup made the room feel a tad cramped, prompting Oliver to remark, "Though it's a bit snug, there's no worry about anyone stealing from me." Feeling a sense of pride in his new secret hideout, he muttered, "Well, my own portable hideout."

Exiting the shell, he examined it in his hand, contemplating what to do with his former hideout. Now that the shell provided a significant advantage in mobility, he no longer needed to return after each shift, reducing the risk of compromising his identity if someone were to follow him.

"Well, it could still act as a decoy," he mused, the excitement still coursing through him. "Nonetheless, I'm happy—especially now that I've got a portable hideout." Still feeling giddy, he left the underground hideout, eager to explore. The night air was cool against his skin as he stepped into the dimly lit streets, a sense of liberation accompanying him on his journey.

-Scene Change-

In the late hours of the night, within a museum, a security room hosted two guards. One, a burly man with short brown hair, donned a blue uniform. He sat with his feet on the desk, engrossed in a pizza feast while enjoying a humorous cartoon on his phone. The other, a leaner figure, scrutinized the CCTV, observing the silent halls of the museum bathed in an early-night tranquility.

Amused by his partner's distraction, the larger guard chuckled and teased, "Maybe if you paid half the attention to your wife that you're giving the screen, she wouldn't have cheated on you with dicount thor from the dollar store" This earned a groan from the smaller guard, who retorted, "Shut up. At least I am doing my job, instead of watching porn cartoons " The bigger guard corrected him with a grin, "It's called adult cartoons, and it's perfectly legal." As they bantered, the smaller guard noticed a peculiar occurrence—the brief disappearance and reappearance of an item on a pedestal.

"The hell?" Startled, he looked at the screen again, finding the item intact. "This is weird. I'm going to go and check," he declared, rising and grabbing a flashlight. "Just don't go and beat your meat or something," joked the bigger guard, earning a backhanded light slap from his departing companion. In the main hallway, the smaller guard inspected every corner, stopping at an ancient pocket watch with dark coloring and alien symbols. After a few seconds, he dismissed it as his imagination and moved away. Unbeknownst to him, the watch vanished. Not far from the museum, Oliver, donned in his sleek suit and stylish dark glasses, created a small illusion to deceive the guards as he successfully stole various artifacts.

The final piece was the dark pocket watch, held in Oliver's hand. "Another successful job," he thought while descending from the rooftop. Glancing at his floating screen, he had already recovered the single mana spent on the active options of his glasses as he seized the watch. However, as he held it, the watch quivered for a moment, and unexpectedly, Oliver felt his mana being drained. Bewildered by the unactivated options, he began to utter, "What the hell is go—" Before he could finish, he knelt involuntarily, gripping the pocket watch. "Wha—" His mana continued to drain, and he sensed something shattering. Assuming it was the already broken watch, he turned around only to witness reality itself collapsing. A hole appeared in reality, distorting the surroundings. As the fabric of reality broke, Oliver gasped, "Oh, shit," witnessing a red figure emerge next to the shards of reality—a woman with brunet hair and a red dress. Her hands and eyes glowed red as she stared at Oliver, an enigmatic presence in the distorted reality.

‐------‐---------‐------------

A/N now who is ready for an adventure???

PS: guess the woman at the end