NOVEL NEXT Chapter 92
“Alright, how about this?”
I moved a piece with my left hand while keeping my right hand submerged in the lake.
“Ah, I see. Then, I shall move this piece to safety,” Eve responded.
We were currently playing Torcha, a popular board game in this world.
I won’t go into the details of the rules, but you can think of it as a mix of shogi, chess, and a black-and-white territory game.
“Ah…”
It seemed I had misread the board. If this continued, I would be checkmated in about ten moves.
In that case, I had no choice but to focus all my attention on reading ahead. If I concentrated, I should be able to—
“Like this… then this, this, this… and then…”
“By the way, Master.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Even as I desperately searched for a winning move, Eve deliberately interrupted my concentration.
“Are you planning to use this water for a new potion?”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t told Eve what I intended to do with it. I decided to share my primary reason for collecting the water.
“This water is a key ingredient for making Elixir.”
To cure Eclair’s illness, I needed the universal cure-all, Elixir.
And the ingredients for Elixir included several high-rank rare items.
The recipe was publicly known, and one of the more accessible ingredients was water from a Rank VII dungeon.
Normally, I had tasked Ares and the others with gathering it, but since the opportunity was right in front of me, I figured I might as well collect it myself.
“Alright, we’re moving soon, so carry the board.”
Before I realized it, the water had receded. But it wasn’t as if I had simply kept my hand submerged this whole time.
By touching the water, I had been storing it into The World, my storage dimension.
Even though I had already collected a substantial amount, it took time to reach the maximum capacity.
So, while waiting, Eve and I had been passing the time by playing Torcha.
“Sure, but you know, there’s no way you can turn this game around anymore,” Eve said, her voice filled with amusement as she moved another piece.
“W-What?! You never know until the very end!”
I gritted my teeth at Eve’s words and glared at the board, determined to win at all costs.
“Nope. No way to win.”
“Well played, Master. Good effort.”
In the end, after an intense battle, I lost.
Back in my previous life, I had no friends, so I spent a lot of time playing shogi and chess online. I thought I had a good strategic mind, and I had some confidence in Torcha too—but Eve simply did not make mistakes.
And because I was the one panicking, I made errors and lost.
“Still, this is taking forever.”
It had been hours since I started absorbing the lake’s water. I was getting bored, yet there was still so much left.
“It can’t be helped. You can only connect to The World through your right hand. And honestly, this is already a pretty fast pace,” Eve pointed out.
She was probably right.
By now, I had enough Rank VII water to last an entire year of alchemy use. But if I ever thought, “This should be enough,” that would be my downfall.
I had experienced too many situations where I regretted not collecting just a little more when I had the chance.
So I planned to drain every last drop of this lake, no matter how long it took.
…Until it hit me.
“Wait a second! I don’t need to touch it with my right hand!”
“What do you mean, Master?”
I decided to test out my new idea.
“Eve, close the passage to The World’s main room and create a fake room.”
I opened The World’s entrance and gave Eve the command.
“U-Um, alright. I’ll do it, but… why?”
Though confused, Eve obeyed.
I watched from the entrance as the interior of The World shifted and transformed.
Eventually, a fake room—one designed for others to see—was created.
It was large enough to fit two mansions inside.
“It’s ready, Master.”
“Now, open a passage in the floor and connect it to the reservoir.”
A massive hole appeared in the ground. When I peered inside, I saw it expanding deep into the earth.
“It’s done, Master. But even if we create a passage, wouldn’t it be faster to just keep absorbing it manually? Even with tools, I don’t think the speed would increase much.”
Eve seemed to think I was planning to use some kind of magic siphon to speed up the process.
“Oh, Eve… your way of thinking is limited.”
Still holding a grudge from losing at Torcha, I deliberately spoke with a smug tone.
“Then what are you going to do?”
Eve tilted her head, confused.
Internally, I prayed, Please let this work, before declaring:
“I’ll do this.”
I submerged the entrance to The World directly into the lake.
Instantly, the water began flowing into the entrance, creating a massive whirlpool.
The lake water was now automatically draining into The World.
“I see! Now the water moves on its own! Master, you’re a genius!”
I waved my hand, accepting the praise.
Of course, I wasn’t bragging too much—because if I did, Eve would just say, “Then why didn’t you do that from the start?”
These kinds of solutions only come to mind after struggling for a while.
Back in my previous life, I once spent five hours doing a task, only to discover a two-hour shortcut later. The frustration of that experience still lingered.
At least this time, that knowledge had paid off.
“Amazing! At this rate, we’ll be done in under an hour!”
The water level rapidly dropped.
According to Eve, there was still some spare capacity in The World. All that effort I put into expanding it with mana cores was finally paying off.
And before long—
“We’ve finally reached the lakebed. But… it’s a mess down here.”
I had expected neatly arranged stone tiles, similar to the floor of the dungeon.
But instead, the lakebed was rough, uneven, and unnaturally carved out—as if someone had dug it.
“Phew, now that this is over, I’d love to relax in a hot spring. Let’s get out of here, Master.”
Eve’s voice was filled with relief, but as I looked up to answer her—
“Hold on, Eve. There’s something we still need to do.”
“W-What now? There’s no water left. Don’t tell me… you want to take the soil home too?”
I chuckled at her exasperation and pointed.
“Look over there. Next to the central island—I see an entrance to something.”