Nawa gathered the remains of the one-horned wild rabbits that he intended to hand over to the guards, then gave the rest to White Snake.
He wanted to test the limits of White Snake's appetite, but it seemed the creature's stomach was bottomless. It devoured ten wild rabbits within minutes; not only did it show no signs of being full, but its eating speed actually increased.
Before long, almost the entire pile of rabbit carcasses had vanished into White Snake's belly.
"Ding!" A sound echoed in Nawa's head as a system window appeared before him.
[You have consumed 25 Wild Rabbits. Speed (SPD) increased by 27, Maximum Mana (MPmax) increased by 10.]
Nawa looked at the system window and frowned slightly. Previously, when White Snake ate just one rabbit, he had gained 3 stat points. But this time, even though it had consumed more than 20 rabbits, the stat gains had decreased by nearly half.
"It seems that repeatedly consuming the same type of monster causes the meat's effectiveness to diminish," Nawa muttered to himself, a hint of disappointment flashing across his face.
However, when he considered the stats he had already gained, his expression turned into one of delight. He tried moving his body and found that he was much more agile than before, and his available psychic power had also increased significantly.
Nawa set out to hunt the one-horned wild rabbits once again. With his newfound strength and speed, it didn't take long for him to amass a pile of carcasses nearly twice as large as the previous one.
He fed the hunted rabbits to White Snake again, but this time he did it slowly to observe the changes in his stats. As expected, the gains had noticeably dropped. Whereas one rabbit used to grant 3 stat points, it now took more than two rabbits just to gain a single point.
When it reached the point where White Snake had devoured over three rabbits without any stat increase, Nawa stopped. After all, these carcasses still had market value—they were too precious to be fed to White Snake for nothing.
Nawa looked at the remaining pile of wild rabbit carcasses, lost in thought.
Although a Player's equipment comes with a Dimensional Storage function—a convenient private space that can hold anything non-living, from weapons and items to these monster carcasses—it also boasts a "stasis" effect.
Since time does not flow within that space, there is no need to worry about the carcasses rotting or spoiling.
The problem, however, was the limited capacity. Typically, a Dimensional Storage is only about the size of a large suitcase, which was nowhere near enough to stuff this entire pile of rabbits inside.
Nawa felt it would be a waste to abandon the leftovers; after all, selling them in the city would fetch him a decent amount of money.
As if the Player's system had read his mind, a familiar sound suddenly echoed in his head, and a system window flashed before his eyes.
"Ding!"
[You can upgrade your Dimensional Storage space. The following fees apply:]
[Tier 1: Increase Storage Space by 100% – Requires 50 Copper Energy Crystals]
[Tier 2: Increase Storage Space by 500% – Requires 50 Silver Energy Crystals]
[Tier 3: Increase Storage Space by 1,000% – Requires 50 Gold Energy Crystals]
[Tier 4: Increase Storage Space by 2,000% – Requires 500 Gold Energy Crystals]
[Tier 5: Increase Storage Space by 5,000% – Requires 5,000 Gold Energy Crystals]
Nawa stared at the system window with a complex mixture of emotions; he wasn't sure whether to be happy or dismayed.
The function allowed him to expand his dimensional storage capacity by a maximum of 50 times its original size, resulting in a volume of approximately 7 to 8 cubic meters—roughly the size of a small storage room.
But when considering the astronomical costs, let alone the Level 5 expansion, Nawa doubted that even high-ranking players who earned massive fortunes could afford to upgrade beyond Level 2 or 3.
As for Nawa himself, he currently possessed nearly 100 Copper Energy Crystals from hunting the one-horned wild rabbits—enough only for a Level 1 expansion.
Although it wouldn't be sufficient to store all the remaining carcasses, it would still allow him to carry back several more.
After calculating the costs against the potential profit from selling those extra rabbits, it was still a worthwhile investment.
Nawa didn't hesitate to activate the expansion immediately. However, just as he was about to trigger the function, he noticed something peculiar.
(Dimensional Storage: Usage 0.25% / Remaining Capacity 99.75%)
(Pay 50 Copper Coins to upgrade Dimensional Storage to Tier 1)
(CONFIRM) (CANCEL)
"This is impossible! The internet clearly stated that dimensional storage is only the size of a suitcase! What do those capacity numbers mean?" Nawa exclaimed aloud, stunned into disbelief.
He hadn't paid close attention before because the items he had stored in the dimension were minimal—just a few personal belongings and a couple of items he had brought back from the Himmapan Stone Forest.
He never bothered to check how large his storage space actually was. But now, according to the system data, he hadn't even used half a percent of his total available space.
If the numbers displayed were correct, it would mean his dimensional storage currently occupied a volume of over 500 cubic meters—equivalent to an entire warehouse.
Once again, Nawa wondered if his Player equipment was malfunctioning or damaged.
However, when he attempted to store all the wild rabbit carcasses, they were all pulled inside effortlessly. To his surprise, the used capacity hadn't even increased by 1%.
Nawa spent a long while contemplating, unable to fathom why his storage space was so vast. He speculated whether it was due to White Snake residing within his body or perhaps a result of his 100% brain capacity.
Regardless, those were merely hypotheses. The only certainty was that he now had an abundance of storage space. With this kind of capacity, even a monster carcass as large as an elephant could be stored with ease.
Nawa's face beamed with joy.
This meant his days of struggling with heavy luggage were over. With such a massive storage capacity, he wouldn't need to return to the city frequently, allowing him to hunt for longer periods and venture further out.
Naturally, his potential earnings would increase manifold.
Then, Nawa realized he hadn't properly inspected this type of wild rabbit yet.
Since he no longer needed to spend money on expanding his storage, he wanted to invest a bit of his funds into this.
Even if it didn't directly assist in the hunt, he wanted to see what kind of monster information the system would provide—he might be missing something crucial.
Nawa gazed at one of the rabbit carcasses for a moment until the system window reappeared as usual.
This time, he selected the inspection function. The system immediately deducted 2 Copper Coins, and a detailed window displaying the information of the One-horned Wild Rabbit popped up.
[One-horned Wild Rabbit: Common Grade]
[HP: 0%]
[Commonly found in grasslands. They prefer digging burrows and nesting underground. They are non-aggressive toward humans unless provoked.]
[When attacked, they will either flee into their burrows or retaliate by charging with their sharp horns.]
[Market Price: 10–15 Copper Coins. The horn can be used as a medicinal ingredient.]
Nawa was right to pay for the information on the One-horned Wild Rabbit. Although he already knew most of the behavioral details from hunting so many of them, he had been completely in the dark about their actual market price.
Originally, Nawa had guessed a carcass would be worth only 5 or 6 Copper Coins, since the guards demanded 10 rabbits in exchange for a city pass worth 50 Copper Coins.
However, the system indicated that the price of a single One-horned Wild Rabbit was as high as ten-plus copper coins—more than triple what Nawa had estimated.
It was clear that those guards were conspiring to deceive newcomers, tricking them into hunting rabbits so they could flip them for more than double the profit.
"Ploy was right after all," Nawa muttered to himself.
He recalled Ploy's warning that the people in The Oneness were no different from those on Earth; not everyone could be trusted. But on second thought, Nawa had also gained quite a bit from this deal.
He got the location of the One-horned Wild Rabbits for free, and now he had dozens of carcasses in his possession. If he sold them all, he could earn over 5 silver coins—equivalent to 50,000 baht.
This amount of money was more than Nawa's entire monthly salary back on Earth. Not to mention, he had managed to earn this much in just half a day.
In reality, not every player could achieve what Nawa had.
If an ordinary mage were to use Fireballs to hunt these one-horned wild rabbits, the money earned from selling the meat might not even cover the cost of the energy crystals needed to restore their mana.
Nawa's success was only possible because of his skill that allowed him to absorb mana directly from nature.
For a typical mage class to earn this much, they would have to risk their lives hunting high-level and far more dangerous monsters to justify the mana expenditure, as every single attack consumed a significant amount of mana.
Once everything was in order, Nawa made his way back to the city gate to deliver the wild rabbit carcasses as required by the guards' quest.
Although it felt like a bit of a loss—since selling them himself could have potentially doubled his profit—he considered the reputation points he would gain.
Moreover, building a rapport with the city guards was an investment that made the deal worthwhile.
"You're truly impressive! To think you hunted all these wild rabbits in just a few hours," the guard said, his face lighting up with obvious delight.
The guard pulled out a thin, silver metal plate scratched with the image of a massive mountain and handed it to Nawa.
"This pass allows you to enter and leave the city three times. Additionally, you can use it to verify your identity when staying at an inn or conducting various business within the city.
Be careful not to lose it—if you do, you'll have to pay a fee to get a new one."
Nawa took the metal plate from the guard, tucked it into his shirt pocket, and gave a small nod. Just as he was about to walk away, the guard spoke up again.
"Wait a moment, traveler. You seem quite capable. If you don't mind, could I trouble you with one more matter?"
"What is it?" Nawa asked politely.
"It's nothing complicated. It's just that the alchemist from Taiban Village hasn't sent any medicine to the city for several days now.
This has caused a potion shortage, and prices have skyrocketed. For soldiers like us with meager salaries, it has become a serious problem," the guard explained.
"So, what do you want me to do? I don't have the knowledge to brew potions," Nawa asked.
"No, no, that's not what I meant. I'd just like to ask you to go to Taiban Village and check with an alchemist named Mandis to see why he hasn't been delivering potions to the city.
If it's because that greedy merchant, Simba, is lowballing him, please tell him that we soldiers are willing to buy from him directly."
The guard spoke while glancing at his comrades, who all nodded in agreement.
"The price of potions in the city has already more than doubled. If this continues, we won't even be able to afford a single low-grade potion," another guard added, his face pleading.
The reason potions were so vital to the guards was that, besides maintaining city security, they were responsible for culling monsters around the city perimeter.
This made potions essential for treating their injuries.
The soldiers weren't the only ones suffering; the townspeople were affected as well. Since most of the consumer goods in Mattehorn City were derived from monster hunting, a spike in potion prices meant higher hunting costs.
Consequently, the prices of all daily necessities were bound to rise as well.
[E-Rank Quest: Journey to Taiban Village for News from Mandis the Alchemist]
[Description: The city guards are facing a potion shortage because the alchemist from Taiban Village has failed to deliver the supplies on schedule. The guards have requested that you travel to Taiban Village to investigate the matter with Mandis the Alchemist.]
[Reward: 50 Copper Coins][Constraint: You must return with information within 1 month.]
[Reputation Points upon completion: +1]
Nawa decided to accept the quest. Although the reward wasn't substantial, he also wanted to be able to purchase potions at a lower price.
However, he didn't plan on heading to Taiban Village immediately. Even though the guards mentioned it wasn't very far, Nawa refused to be careless. After all, this was The Oneness—a place where life-threatening dangers could arise at any moment.