Ren, filled with excitement, summoned a spear with a crimson-red shaft into his hand. The weapon appeared upright before him, allowing the young man to fully admire its beauty.
"Whoa... Is this a four-star weapon?"
Ren gazed at the dark red spear. Near the tip, the forged metal twisted like tendrils coiling around the blade's edge, making the spearhead look even more elegant and intimidating.
"If I showed this to everyone, what kind of expressions would they make?"
Ren's thoughts had a childlike tone-like a kid who just got a new toy from their parents and couldn't wait to show it off to their friends.
Of course, having never had a normal friendship before, he didn't exactly know what that felt like. Still, he hoped to see a surprised reaction from Exusiai or Croissant. But that was only a fleeting emotion.
Because if they asked where he got this kind of weapon from... he wouldn't be able to answer. So it was better to first find a believable source-like a reliable weapon shop-before telling them anything.
After admiring the weapon to his satisfaction, Ren thought he'd try to move it to get a sense of its weight.
'Hmm? Why isn't it moving?'
Suddenly, Ren noticed something odd-his right hand, which was gripping the spear, couldn't pull it toward him. He tried using both hands instead.
'I-I can't move it at all!'
Ren used both hands to push and pull the spear, but it wouldn't budge, as if it were anchored to the ground. But Ren knew that wasn't the case.
Even though the spear seemed stuck to the ground, he could still feel its weight shifting slightly. It wasn't that the spear wouldn't move-it was that he didn't have the strength to move it.
'How heavy is this thing?'
From appearance alone, the spear looked like it shouldn't weigh more than twenty kilograms. But Ren felt like it had to be at least two hundred.
His face turned pale. If the weapon hadn't appeared upright when summoned, it would've dropped straight onto his hand-and probably shattered his arm.
'Could this weapon... be something people from this world aren't even supposed to use?'
Ren had never considered that before. Spellbooks had normal weight-maybe double that of an average book-but still manageable with one hand. This spear, though... if it was designed for the people in Genshin's world, then weight couldn't be judged by Earth's standards.
He did know that this world had many races far stronger than ordinary humans-especially Croissant's race, which could lift cars or carry hundreds of kilos without breaking a sweat.
Even the physically weakest race like Exusiai's Sankta could lift over a hundred kilograms if they really tried, though they weren't as naturally strong as the others.
But Ren didn't even know what race he was. So he had no idea what he was capable of.
He was pretty sure that this body wasn't the same as the one from his old world. Even though they looked alike and had worn the same patient's gown at first, he could feel subtle differences-like paler skin and the complete absence of surgery scars he once had, as if they'd never existed.
Still, Ren didn't care much about his former body. Right now, this was his body. He didn't have any foreign memories like those protagonists in novels. That made him feel justified in claiming this body as his own.
Maybe that sounded cruel to the body's original owner, but Ren wasn't the kind of kind-hearted person who'd give it up, not after tasting the joy of living again. In fact, he cherished this second life more than anything-even if it meant taking something that wasn't his.
'Forget that for now. The real problem is... how am I supposed to use this spear?'
Ren shook those thoughts away and turned his attention back to the weapon in front of him.
He stared at the spear thoughtfully, then came up with a clever idea. He coated his hands with geo energy until they became large stone gauntlets. Then, instead of using pure strength, he gripped the spear and used the geo energy to lift it.
'It's up!!'
Ren stared in awe at the spear lifted effortlessly in his stone-clad hands.
He gave it a few test spins and felt the gusts of wind from the massive weight. He was certain-if this thing hit someone in the face, it'd be like getting hit by a truck.
But because of its weight, he had to constantly maintain the geo energy around his hands. That meant it was impossible to use other geo abilities-like summoning stone pillars or creating shields-at the same time.
Simply put, if he wanted to wield this spear, he'd have to give up using any other abilities simultaneously. And since he had no combat experience, that pretty much made him a novice with nothing but a fancy weapon.
'If I really want to use this in a fight... I'll need a higher imitation stat-or better control of elemental particles.'
Still, Ren was overjoyed just being able to wield such a cool weapon, even if it was only during training. He was so content that he didn't notice he had let the spear slip from his grip due to a miscalculation with his geo control.
BOOM!!!
The crash was so loud it shook the entire house as if a truck had slammed into the front door. Ren fell to the floor from the shock, staring at the cracked dent on the ground in front of him, mouth agape. If that had landed on him, some bones would definitely be broken.
At that moment, he heard voices shouting and people stomping down the stairs from the upper floor.
"What happened?! Are we being raided again?!"
"Which idiot woke me up from my pile of gold?! I'm gonna smash them with my hammer!"
Ren closed his eyes in shame before quickly stashing the fallen spear back into his storage space and rushing downstairs.
There, he saw everyone in his agency fully armed in their pajamas-ready for battle. Even Texas and senior Sora were there.
Seeing them like that made Ren feel even more guilty. He confessed to everyone that he had accidentally dropped something, which caused the loud crash.
But after hearing the explanation, none of the four women scolded him. In fact, Croissant and Exusiai burst out laughing. The two of them patted Ren on the shoulder encouragingly, then whispered:
"Not surprising, little bro. I was just like you at your age..."
"Exactly! Big sis totally gets how wild teenage hormones can be! Just don't push yourself too hard next time, okay? You are a guy after all~"
Their whispers were loud enough for Sora and Texas to hear. The two turned their heads aside, pretending not to react, but their expressions betrayed them-Sora's face turned red like an apple, while Texas silently bit into her Pocky stick... her ears twitching slightly like a confused puppy.
Ren felt a vein bulge on his right temple. For the first time, he truly wanted to whack those two coworkers of his.
But thankfully... he managed to force a smile.
"Thanks for understanding..."