Chapter 85

‘A universe beyond the door…?’

A universe. That didn’t sound ordinary at all.

I pulled up the skill description and took a closer look.

This skill… was EX-rank.

I’d thought the inventory was already a Cheat Skill, but this was on an entirely different level.

‘You could think of it as an inventory with infinite capacity—but the difference is…’

Unlike an inventory, which can only store objects, people can step beyond this door as well…?

And while time stops for anything placed inside the inventory, in this “universe”…

‘Time flows the same as in reality… right?’

That’s insane.

In other words, it’s a portable lodging facility I can summon anytime, anywhere! Now with a farm included!

‘Judging by the description, it looks like I can transfer entire sections of the corrupted forest and even the lake….’

What should I do? There are still plenty of areas that haven’t been fully purified… Would it be okay to move them?

“Hmmmm….”

I hesitated for a few seconds, then decided to be greedy.

I could just transfer it first and purify it diligently afterward, right?

It would be a shame to lose the forest’s resources….

‘And I want the lake view too. I could probably fish there.’

Okay.

The moment my resolve hit one hundred percent, I boldly pressed YES.

And then—

A scroll the color of the night sky suddenly unfurled in midair.

Fwoosh—!

What had been tightly rolled spread wide, revealing a clearly drawn map across its surface.

At a glance, it was obvious—it depicted the farm and the surrounding area.

‘Nice. Simple enough.’

I moved my finger without hesitation, tracing over the map.

The farm and the surrounding land. The forest… and finally, the lake….

A line of blue light followed the path my fingertip carved.

‘Alright. This should be enough.’

‘What? No—wait.’

I can’t move people!

And monsters too—if there are any included, exclude them.

‘Ah, Ninabel and Nigel too…!’

Fortunately, the system quickly reflected my will.

‘Alright, let’s do this!’

I pressed YES with confidence, though the sheer scale of it made me a little nervous.

Still… it should be fine.

So far, none of the skills the system gave me had ever gone wrong….

‘Even taming Lycian… in the end, that turned out to be nothing to worry about….’

Fwaaaash!

From beyond the wide-open white door, a net of blue light shot outward.

The luminous mesh shimmered brilliantly as it spread, covering the farm, the house, the surrounding land, and the forest.

It looked as though the Milky Way had descended upon the earth.

“Wow….”

A breathless exclamation slipped out of me at the mystical, beautiful sight.

The others, too, stared in shock and wonder.

“W-What in the world is happening…?”

“Waaah! That’s amazing! It’s so pretty!”

Nikke, especially, bounced up and down like a rabbit in delight.

I smiled fondly at the adorable sight—just as the space caught in the net began to be sucked inward through the door.

In an instant.

Like a vacuum cleaner swallowing everything whole.

And then….

My eyes went wide at the astonishing message.

‘Then… does that mean I could bring in hundreds, even thousands of people?’

But the area I transferred probably couldn’t accommodate that many….

At this point, I was overwhelmingly curious about what lay beyond that white door.

A universe, it said… Could it resemble the hidden shop I’d visited twice before?

‘Ah, I want to go inside already!’

But first, I needed to explain to everyone what had just happened.

Because the space that had been transferred through the door was now… completely empty.

The farm. The house. All gone.

Even the distant forest had turned into a barren plain.

The guild members stood frozen, their faces stiff with confusion as they looked around.

I spoke to them calmly.

“Don’t worry, everyone. I gained a new ability… and I just tried using it.”

At that, Dante’s gaze fixed on me, something unreadable in his eyes. He glanced at Lycian, then asked carefully,

“If I may ask… what exactly is the principle behind your ability, Miss Muriel? How does it come into being?”

I chose my words carefully. To be honest, even I couldn’t fully explain the “principle.” I could only speculate about the system, or some ‘higher-dimensional being.’

But there was one thing I knew for certain, so I decided to start there.

“Well… the source of my ability is divine power. It’s granted by God, so I don’t know the details either.”

“Hmm…. I can indeed sense divine power from you, Miss Muriel….”

Dante stroked his chin, looking puzzled, and continued.

“Even so, it must be considered an unprecedented ability. Truly… if possible, I would love to study it.”

His eyes flashed with a dangerous gleam. Like a mad scientist.

Startled, I stammered, “S-Study is a bit….”

Dante instantly dropped the serious expression and laughed brightly.

“Haha, I’m joking. What nerve would I have to try studying you, Miss Muriel? I only have one life.”

“H-Haha….”

His gaze slid sideways—to Lycian, standing next to me.

I glanced over as well. Lycian was glaring at Dante as if daring him to keep talking if he had a death wish. One corner of his lips curled upward.

‘S-So terrifying….’

Without realizing it, I shrank back a step. Lycian immediately caught my shoulder and pulled me right back to his side.

Then he lowered his head slightly, looking down at me with a soft, melting smile in his eyes.

‘You fox…!’

Such blatant pretense!

“If I dared to be rude to Miss Muriel, I’d die at His Highness’s hands. I’m not insane.”

At Dante’s words, Lycian replied coolly,

“You’re well aware.”

“Of course I am. We’ve known each other for years….”

“…….”

A strange silence settled between them.

Dante cleared his throat. “Ahem,” then spoke again.

“In any case, please ignore what I said, and perhaps explain that white door for us, Miss Muriel?”

At that, my eyes widened.

“You can see this door?”

“Yes, quite clearly.”

“The rest of you too?”

“Yes….”

“I can see it!”

“I see it as well.”

Finally, I turned to Lycian. He nodded in affirmation.

‘The door to the hidden shop didn’t seem visible to others… but this one is.’

Is it because I’m the owner…?

Either way… since everyone was curious, I figured I should explain.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Well, you see….”

About a minute later, after hearing the explanation, the guild members gathered around me again.

They circled the white door, examining it from every angle and marveling.

“You can move entire sections of space…? That’s incredible….”

“I’ve never heard of an ability like that. As expected of the Saintess.”

“So the house and farm are inside there?”

At Daphne’s question, I smiled brightly and replied,

“Yes, I moved the forest and the lake too. It’s more convenient to gather resources if they’re right next to the farm….”

“So that’s why everything around here turned into a barren field?”

“Yes… I didn’t expect it to look quite like this, though.”

Just then, Nikke cut in eagerly.

“Muriel unnie! Can we go inside and look around?”

“Of course we can. Come on, let’s go!”

“Waaah~!”

So we postponed returning to the branch for the time being and decided to explore beyond the white door together.

It seemed that only the owner—me—could open it. No matter how others pushed or pulled, it wouldn’t budge.

I grasped the pure white doorknob and carefully turned it.

Beyond the open door lay a familiar sight—the ordinary house and vegetable garden I’d seen every day.

But the moment I stepped inside, I realized this space was subtly different from reality.

‘The sky….’

I lifted my head and stared blankly upward.

I’m not dreaming right now… am I?