Transcendent Warrior with a Dimensional Shifting Inventory

2

*Thud-thud-*

I hurried down the stairs and stepped out of the dormitory building.

Then, I surveyed across the street.

There it was, the refrigerator I had seen earlier.

I had been anxious that someone might have taken it in the meantime, but fortunately, it was still there.

Quickly crossing the street, I stood in front of the fridge.

I thought I was never meant to have it, yet here we were, connected in such a way.

“From now on, you’re mine!”

*Heave-ho-*

I lifted the refrigerator with a grunt.

It was a small two-compartment fridge, just over a meter tall, so it wasn’t too heavy.

Minhyuk returned to the dormitory with the refrigerator.

Before bringing it into the room, he set it down in the hallway and meticulously wiped off the dust with a mop.

Upon opening the fridge compartment, it was spotless, not a trace of kimchi brine or anything.

It seemed the previous owner had cleaned it before discarding it.

The freezer was clean as well.

But something was stuck on the inner wall.

It was a palm-sized piece of paper covered with indecipherable symbols.

“A talisman?”

I had heard of people attaching talismans to refrigerators to increase their food fortune.

Of course, Minhyuk didn’t believe in such superstitions.

Without hesitation, he peeled off the talisman.

At that moment,

*Zap-*

A strange sensation ran through the hand that touched the talisman.

It felt like a mild electric shock.

But it couldn’t have been a real shock.

The fridge wasn’t even plugged in yet.

But there was something else odd.

The talisman he was holding had vanished.

It might have slipped from his hand with the zap, but it wasn’t on the floor either.

“Where did it go?”

Deciding it wasn’t important, he resolved to look for it later or not at all, and proceeded to test the fridge first.

He brought the refrigerator into the room and plugged it in.

*Whirr-*

The sound of the compressor came to life.

Listening to it, there seemed to be nothing amiss.

—

I hope this captures the essence of the original text while preserving the line breaks and atmosphere. If you need any further assistance, feel free to ask!

After waiting for a while, I touched the heat exchanger and felt a cold chill.

The refrigerator was in good condition.

It was worth the effort to carry it here.

Having confirmed that it worked well, Minhyuk cleaned the inside and outside of the refrigerator once more.

It’s an item that stores food going into our mouths, so it must be kept as clean as possible.

‘It’s all done!’

Now, all that was left was to deal with the refrigerator he had been using originally.

Minhyuk carried the broken refrigerator down to the first floor.

Entering the management office, he found the landlord grandfather tapping on a calculator at his desk.

He glanced at the refrigerator and asked,

“What did you bring that here for?”

“It’s broken.”

At Minhyuk’s reply, the grandfather’s expression hardened in an instant.

“If it’s broken, you should fix it yourself! Why bring it here? Is this a repair center?”

“Aren’t the dormitory’s items supposed to be fixed by the dormitory if they break?”

“Why would that be the dormitory’s item? The person who used that room before left it behind.”

Minhyuk had been curious about how the landlord grandfather would react, and it turned out to be just like this.

It was rather a good thing.

He would make sure to clarify things beforehand to avoid any disputes later.

“So, a refrigerator isn’t a standard fixture in the room?”

“That’s right! You catch on quick.”

“Then, if I dispose of this and get a new refrigerator, it’s 100% mine, right?”

“Of course.”

“And I can take it with me when I move out?”

“You can, but… why bother taking it with you? Leave it for the next person to use.”

“No, I will definitely take it with me!”

“Do as you wish…”

.

.

.

The broken refrigerator was promptly taken away by the collection truck that happened to arrive.

Minhyuk returned to his room.

Gurgle-

His stomach was in an uproar, demanding food.

It was past dinner time, and after carrying heavy things back and forth, he was extremely hungry.

He was too famished to cook anything elaborate.

‘I’ll just boil some ramen.’

There was ramen available for free in the communal kitchen.

Previously, they provided rice and kimchi for free, but after an incident where the dormitory residents all got food poisoning from it,

they stopped providing perishable food and only offered packaged ramen for free.

Instead of the one-per-person-per-day rule for ramen that used to be, now they offered it without limit.

So, to save money, I lived off ramen for every meal for a while.

But after living like that for a few months, I could feel my body wearing down.

That’s when it hit me.

When all you have is your body,

how foolish it is to ruin it just to save a few pennies on food.

So, I try to restrain myself from eating ramen and make an effort to eat well.

Even when I occasionally have ramen, I at least boil it with an egg.

Minhyuk opened the carton of eggs he bought today.

The sight of thirty round eggs lined up like soldiers in a parade ground was pleasing to see.

He put all the eggs in the refrigerator.

Click-

He closed the refrigerator door.

“Ah, right.”

He forgot to set aside an egg to eat right away.

Just as he was about to open the refrigerator door again to take out an egg,

Flash-

A flash of light burst before his eyes.

The light was so bright that he couldn’t see anything.

Sssss-

After a moment, the light slowly began to fade.

As it did, the objects around him started to become visible again.

But the surrounding scenery was oddly out of place.

“What, what the!?”

Grass was growing lushly beneath his feet.

Looking around, tall trees were densely packed in every direction.

“Good heavens!”

He, who had just been in his tiny studio room, now stood in the midst of a dense forest.

Had he teleported?

It was something that made no sense at all.

Minhyuk tried to stay as calm as possible and retraced his recent memories.

It had happened the moment he reached for the refrigerator door to take out an egg.

Could the insulation of the refrigerator really be that bad?

Had he been electrocuted and passed out?

Was he now dreaming while unconscious?

Minhyuk pinched his cheek hard.

The pain was sharply felt.

Rustle-

Rustle-

He took a few steps and the sensation of stepping on grass was also vividly felt.

This was definitely not a dream.

‘What on earth is it then?’

Looking down, he noticed something odd about his attire.

He was sure he had been wearing flip-flops,

but now he was barefoot.

Even the clothes he had on were different.

He had been in a blue tracksuit, but now he was dressed in a coarse, sack-like garment.

The change wasn’t limited to his clothes.

The muscles in his forearms had grown monstrously bulky.

Feeling an odd sensation on his shoulders and back, he reached to touch and found hair.

His short hair had turned into long locks.

And they were red.

He felt his face with his hands.

His nose bridge was incredibly high.

Unable to see his reflection, he couldn’t be sure, but he was certain he had transformed into a completely different appearance.

‘What in the world is happening?’

Just as Minhyuk was failing to grasp the situation unfolding before him,

Grrr-

An ominous sound came from behind.

Turning his head, he saw a large beast approaching.

It had ash-grey fur, yellow eyes, and white fangs.

A wolf.

But unlike any ordinary wolf, this one had a long horn protruding from its forehead.

As far as Minhyuk knew, no such species of wolf existed on Earth.

He didn’t know what the creature was, but one thing was clear: it was exuding a murderous intent towards him.

Grrr-

It seemed ready to pounce at any moment.

‘Ah, this is driving me crazy!’

Suddenly, letters appeared before Minhyuk’s eyes.

＜You have encountered a One-Horned Direwolf.＞

The message overlaid the scene in front of him.

It was as if he was wearing augmented reality glasses.

＜Defeating the One-Horned Direwolf will reward you with 10 seconds of return time.＞

＜Current return time: 0 seconds＞

He understood that the wolf before him was the ＜One-Horned Direwolf＞…

But return time?

He had no idea what that meant.

He wasn’t wearing glasses or contact lenses, so how could letters appear out of thin air?

But he had no time to ponder deeply.

Growl-

The wolf gaped its jaws wide and lunged at Minhyuk.

Caught in a situation he had never faced before, Minhyuk was seized by terror.

His mind reeled, and his vision narrowed.

Unconsciously, he raised his arm towards the attacking wolf.

Then, the beast bit into Minhyuk’s forearm.

Thud-

The wolf’s fangs pierced the skin and burrowed into the flesh.

A severe pain assaulted him.

Reflexively, Minhyuk swung his other arm, striking the wolf’s torso with his fist.

Thump-

A heavy sensation traveled through his wrist.

He had thought a punch would be ineffective, but that wasn’t the case.

With a single punch, the wolf was knocked away.

However, the creature quickly regained its posture and charged at Minhyuk again.

This time, Minhyuk did not panic but calmly stared down the wolf.

Then, its movements became clearly visible.

It wasn’t that the wolf’s speed was slow.

‘Is my dynamic vision that good?’

Seeing the wolf’s movements clearly, he could also accurately predict its trajectory.

Minhyuk clenched his fist tightly.

And he thrust it precisely into the nose of the wolf as it leaped towards him.

Thump-

Crash-

Struck squarely in the face, the wolf collapsed.

This time, the blow was significant enough that the creature couldn’t immediately rise and writhed on the ground.

Seeing this, Minhyuk felt confident he could finish off the wolf with his own strength.

A sizable rock caught Minhyuk’s eye nearby.

He swiftly ran to it and picked it up.

And this time, Minhyuk was the one to charge at the wolf.

“Die, you cur!”

Thump-

Thump-

He hammered the rock down onto the head of the fallen wolf.

After several strikes, the wolf’s skull shattered, scattering brain matter in all directions.

Shudder-

The wolf, which had been convulsing, eventually lay still, completely dead.

Then, a message appeared before Minhyuk’s eyes.

＜You have defeated the One-Horned Direwolf.＞

＜As a reward, 10 seconds have been added to your return time.＞

＜Remaining Return Time: 10 seconds＞

For slaying the wolf, he was rewarded with ‘Return Time.’

The wolf was already dead, but Minhyuk did not relax his guard.

Another beast might appear from anywhere to pounce.

With a rock smeared in the wolf’s blood in hand, he crouched low and remained vigilant.

Time passed in this state.

Fortunately, no other beast appeared.

Sigh-

Only then did Minhyuk let out a long sigh.

With the tension gone, the pain in his forearm, forgotten for a moment, returned.

Drip-

Drip-

Fresh blood flowed from the bite wound, dropping in beads.

‘Do I need a rabies shot?’

Bitten by a beast, something had to be done.

But there was no hospital or pharmacy to be found here.

Minhyuk looked at the message floating before his eyes.

＜Remaining Return Time: 10 seconds＞

Perhaps ‘Return’ meant escaping this world to go back to the original one.

‘Let’s find out.’

Minhyuk murmured softly.

“Return.”

Flash-

A flash of light sparked before his eyes again.