Outside of the power increase, the most remarkable thing about this level up was, just as Lala had predicted, the appearance of a new function: the Backpack.
[Upon reaching level 30, you have unlocked the "Backpack" function]
[Backpack
Class: Integrated function of the Gaia System.
Description: Gaia tries to maintain balance among all Lords at the start. To achieve this, it equalizes their initial strength and blocks the entry of external items. This prevents powerful players from gaining unfair advantages and protects weaker ones from falling behind due to others' external resources.
However, now that you have reached this level, those rules are no longer relevant. Enjoy carrying resources between worlds and taking advantage of others' lack of access to them.
Effect: Grants access to a secondary inventory with space for up to ten items, available in any world.
Note: This space is bound to the Host. Even if the system experiences interference, it will remain accessible.]
"Exactly as I expected," thought Kaito. As the system described, this would have broken the balance at the beginning of the game, but for a Lord of his level, it no longer mattered much.
The true advantage, of course, lay in the opposite: not bringing things from the real world into Gaia, but taking them out.
"Did you unlock it?" asked a voice very close to him.
Kaito turned and found Lala practically glued to his side, staring ahead with curiosity, as if she could also see the system screen.
"Yeah, I unlocked it already," he replied, gently pushing her aside.
"Good, then..."
"Wait, I want to do something first," interrupted Kaito.
Moving things from Gaia to the real world, the possibilities were endless.
Although his first thought was about taking money or a magical item, the truth was that even if he brought a wand into the real world, he would not know what to do with it.
Fortunately, under his command he had the perfect person for this, a true capitalist at heart, a natural-born merchant with high-society connections and a sharp mind for business.
He quickly sent a message to Kaguya explaining the new function, then turned back to Lala.
"Done. What were you saying?"
"I will give you my tools, and you will bring them into Gaia. Tell me your location."
"Location? I live in Sugi..."
"Coordinates."
"Do you seriously think I know my house's coordinates?" said Kaito with disdain. "Hold on a second."
Without letting her respond, he changed form and disappeared, reappearing on the couch in his house, where he had last logged in.
"Waaa!" exclaimed a surprised voice beside him.
Kaito turned and met a familiar gaze.
"Sora? What are you doing here?"
"Watching TV," she replied flatly.
"You know what I mean."
He stared at her in silence until Sora sighed, giving in.
"Well, with all this Lord stuff, almost nobody keeps going to school after turning eighteen. And the younger ones are obsessed with Gaia, the Lords, the guilds... Not only that, but even the authorities care about it now. If something related to a Lord happens in your family, they let you skip school."
Kaito processed her words until reaching the key point.
"Are you using me as an excuse to skip class?"
"It's not an excuse, you're a Lord!" protested Sora.
"I'm a Lord who doesn't need his little sister skipping school."
"Doesn't matter, I already know everything from this year and the first year of high school. I'm top of my class and have perfect grades. Going is just a waste of time."
"You... well, fine," sighed Kaito, resigned. After all, she was right, Sora really was a genius who didn't need classes.
"By the way, do you know our house's coordinates?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Hmm? Latitude 35.7016° N, Longitude 139.6168° E. Why?" she replied, slightly confused.
"What exact point?"
"Should be right in front of the door," answered Sora.
"Perfect." Kaito was about to leave, but added, "Someone's coming over, try not to look so lazy."
"Who...?" She didn't finish her sentence, Kaito was already gone.
...
"Latitude 35.7016 north, longitude 139.6168 east," said Kaito the moment he returned to the pink-haired girl.
"Hmm, Earth coordinates. Converted to spatial ones, that's X 27,000,000215, Y 50,000134, Z 10,000052. Got it."
Without another word, Lala vanished, imitating Kaito's teleportation.
Kaito watched her for a second and muttered, "So childish," before disappearing as well.
---
"You changed that fast?" asked Kaito when he saw his sister now sitting elegantly, wearing completely different clothes.
"Of course. When are the guests arriving?"
"They should..."
Ding-dong.
"...arrive right now," finished Kaito.
Sora went to open the door. As soon as she did, a pink-haired girl with an air of nobility smiled from the other side.
"I'm Lala Satalin Deviluke, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said with a slight bow.
Sora froze for a few seconds, completely stunned, until she felt her brother's hand on her shoulder.
"Stop spacing out," murmured Kaito.
Lala giggled playfully, showing she was only teasing, before returning to her usual expression.
"Ah, Takayama Sora, nice to meet you."
"Likewise, Kaito's little sister."
"Alright, come in, let's talk inside," said Sora, stepping aside.
Inside the living room, Kaito and Sora sat together on the couch, while Lala sat across from them with the table in between.
Lala pulled out a device and placed it in front of Kaito.
"Is this...?" he asked, curious.
"Hehe, don't be too surprised, but this is..."
"D-Dial. All your inventions and tools are digitized inside, and you can summon them instantly," completed Kaito.
"Y-Yeah..." Lala's excitement deflated. "You're no fun, Kaito. Anyway, this isn't my real one, just a synced copy. I keep the real one with me all the time. Like you said, all my inventions are stored inside. And while I can't use them directly to help you, not until you reach planetary level, I can at least use my tools."
"W-Wait, inventions? Planetary level? Who exactly are you?" interrupted Sora, who had been listening without understanding much.
"I'm Lala, Kaito's new subordinate, and also the princess of..."
"In short, a Sub-Lord under my command and a genius inventor. You don't need to know more," interrupted Kaito before she could finish.
"Why not?"
"Because no," replied Kaito casually.
"Ugh," grumbled Sora, crossing her arms. "Then, Lala, show me one of your inventions!"
"Of course," accepted Lala immediately, excited. But when she looked at her 'phone' her expression turned gloomy. "Kghh, all my inventions, I lost them."
"Huh? You lost them? How?" asked Sora, confused.
"It's all Kaito's fault," she muttered under her breath.
"My brother? What did you do this time?"
"Nothing," replied Kaito calmly. "It was her fault for cheating." He looked at Lala. "You lost all of them?"
"Most of them, but I still have a few left. Ah, I found an interesting one."
Lala pressed a button, and from her device came an object shaped like a maraca, made of translucent crystal, with tiny star-like lights floating inside a black, weightless space. It looked ethereal, almost magical.
"What do you think? It's called Eureka-issimo."
"'Issimo'?" repeated Sora, raising an eyebrow.
"It's Italian. The greatest inventors on Earth come from Italy," Lala replied proudly.
"That's ridiculous. And just saying 'issimo' doesn't make it Ita..."
"What does it do?" interrupted Kaito, seeing the argument going nowhere.
Both girls looked at him. In some ways, Lala and Sora's personalities were far too similar.
Lala was a childish genius, Sora, though not as prodigious, was brilliant by human standards but tended to act immature at home. Still, unlike Lala, she knew when to behave, and her mind was sharper than she let on. However, the similarities and contrasts between their personalities meant that if he didn't intervene, they would probably argue for hours, so he cut in.
"Just use it and you'll see," said Lala.
Sora took it, hesitating for a second as she looked at her brother. Seeing his nod, she shook the maraca.
The "stars" inside clashed, emitting a crystalline sound. The next instant, Sora felt as if she were suspended in the center of the universe, surrounded by infinite light and constellations.
Kaito and Lala watched her freeze in place, her eyes gleaming strangely.
Suddenly, she began to mutter,
"I see it...the truth of the universe...God...death...fragments of divinity...the tower...the stories...the original protagonist...time...Gaia...I understand...the truth of the universe is..."
At that moment, her eyes returned to normal.
"Ah, me? What happened?" she asked, confused.
"Amazing, right?" said Lala with a smile. "Eureka-issimo shows you the truth of the universe for a few seconds, then makes you forget it. Gazing at the truth is dangerous, our minds can't handle it. So Eureka-issimo lets you see just as far as you can, and then erases the memory."
"And what's the point of something like that?" asked Kaito, puzzled.
"Your mind gets overstimulated trying to process all that information. Now that you've forgotten it, your brain will stay in that state for a few hours, during which it basically functions at five hundred percent," Lala explained proudly.
"So basically, it's a kind of doping," concluded Kaito.
"But a really cool one," added Lala with a grin.
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