January 25, 2015.
Beijing, Chaoyang District.
Wang Li's Apartment.
9:30 a.m.
The bag appeared on her kitchen table without warning.
Wang Li had been making tea—or trying to, anyway. Her hands were still shaking slightly from the events of the past week, and the simple act of pouring hot water had become strangely difficult.
She turned around.
The bag was there.
It was small. Black. Made of some material that seemed to shift between leather and cloth depending on the angle of the light.
It looked expensive.
It looked alien.
It looked exactly like something Rimuru would leave on her table without explanation.
Attached to the bag was a note.
Wang Li picked it up.
The handwriting was elegant, precise, and somehow managed to convey both arrogance and laziness at the same time:
"Dear Doctor,
Since you've been so generous with your financial support of Tempest Café, I've decided to give you something in return. This is a dimensional storage bag. It's exactly what it sounds like.
Limitations:
1. You have to carry it. No teleporting items directly to you.
2. It doesn't preserve things. Food will rot. Ice will melt. Time still passes inside.
3. Don't try to enter it. There's no return mechanism inside. You'll just float forever in an infinite 3D space.
Advantages:
- Infinite capacity. It literally cannot be filled.
- You can store anything. Including entire buildings, if you destroy them first.
- Item retrieval system with touchable hologram interface. Very fancy.
Try not to lose it. It's worth more than your entire planet.
— R."
Wang Li stared at the note.
Then at the bag.
Then at the note again.
"Worth more than my entire planet," she repeated flatly.
She sat down.
This was her life now.
She owned a café she didn't want, was being protected by a being who looked like a teenage girl, and had just been given a magic bag that violated every law of physics she had ever studied.
She picked up the bag.
It was surprisingly light.
Almost weightless.
THE EXPERIMENTATION
She spent the next hour testing it.
The interface was simple—a small button on the side that projected a holographic display when pressed. The hologram floated in the air above the bag, showing a searchable inventory of everything she had stored.
She started small.
A spoon.
She placed it in the bag's opening and watched as it vanished.
The hologram updated: Item: Spoon. Quantity: 1. Condition: Used.
She retrieved it.
The spoon reappeared in her hand, exactly as it had been.
"Okay," she said to no one. "That's... that's something."
She tried larger items.
A chair.
The chair vanished into the bag without any visible change in size or weight.
Retrieved.
Still intact.
A bookshelf.
Same result.
Her entire bed.
Same result.
She stood in her now half-empty apartment, holding a bag that contained most of her furniture, and tried very hard not to have an existential crisis.
This violates the conservation of mass, she thought. This violates the laws of thermodynamics. This violates everything I learned in medical school.
But there it was.
The bag.
And inside it, her bed.
THE BUILDING QUESTION
The note had said she could store entire buildings.
She didn't test that.
She was curious, yes. But she was also a rational person, and destroying a building just to see if it would fit in a magical bag seemed like the kind of thing that would attract attention.
Attention she already had too much of.
THE SECOND NOTE
There was another note stuck to the bottom of the bag.
She almost missed it.
It was smaller, written in a different hand—messier, more rushed.
"Doctor!
Lord Rimuru made this for you as compensation for the café money. He said it's 'the least he can do' but I think he just felt guilty about threatening to release the tiny evil cultivator.
Anyway, I helped design the hologram interface! It took me three hours! Please appreciate it!
— The Princess
P.S. Don't try to enter the bag. Seriously. I asked Lord Rimuru what would happen and he said 'they'd float forever in an infinite 3D space' and then he smiled in a really creepy way and I decided not to ask any more questions."
Wang Li stared at the note.
The princess had helped design the interface.
That explained why the hologram was slightly... sparkly.
She pressed the button and watched the display flicker to life.
The interface was, indeed, sparkly.
Gold particles floated around the edges of the hologram like tiny stars.
At least it works, she thought.
THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION
She spent the rest of the morning organizing her life.
The bag could hold anything.
So she put everything in it.
Her clothes. Her books. Her medical equipment. Her furniture. Her entire kitchen.
By noon, her apartment was completely empty.
She stood in the center of the bare room, holding a small black bag, and felt strangely... liberated.
Everything I own fits in a bag the size of a purse.
The thought was both terrifying and oddly peaceful.
THE CAFÉ VISIT
She went to the café that afternoon.
Partly to thank Rimuru for the bag.
Partly to ask questions.
Mostly because she was hungry and the café apparently served excellent pastries.
The café was busy.
Wang Li pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The smell of coffee and fresh bread hit her like a physical force.
The princess was behind the counter, wearing an apron and looking frazzled. Her silver-blue hair was dusted with flour, and there was a smear of chocolate on her cheek.
"Welcome to Tempest Café!" she said, her voice slightly too bright. "What can I get for you?"
Wang Li blinked.
"Princess?"
The princess's customer-service smile faltered.
"Oh. It's you."
She looked around, as if checking for witnesses.
"Don't tell Lord Rimuru I'm working the counter. I'm supposed to be learning how to make croissants."
THE CROISSANT INCIDENT
Wang Li sat at a table near the window.
The princess brought her a cup of tea and a pastry that looked suspiciously misshapen.
"I made the pastry," she admitted. "It's supposed to be a croissant, but the dough kept... doing things."
Wang Li examined the pastry.
It looked more like a bread pretzel that had given up halfway through.
"I'm sure it tastes fine," she said.
The princess's expression brightened.
"Really?"
"No. But I'm trying to be polite."
The princess's expression fell.
THE OWNER ARRIVES
Rimuru emerged from the back room.
He was wearing an apron over his usual androgynous outfit, and his silver-blue hair was pulled back in a small ponytail.
He saw Wang Li and smiled.
"Doctor! You got the bag."
Wang Li held it up.
"I did."
"How do you like it?"
"It's... impressive."
Rimuru's smile widened.
"I know. I made it myself."
The princess made a sound of protest.
"We made it! I designed the interface!"
Rimuru waved a hand.
"You picked the color scheme. I did the actual dimensional engineering."
"That's not fair!"
"It's completely fair. You don't know how to fold space."
THE THANKS
Wang Li set the bag on the table.
"I wanted to thank you," she said. "For the bag. And for... everything else."
Rimuru sat down across from her.
"You're welcome. And thank you for the funding. The café is doing well."
He glanced around.
"Though I think the princess needs more training. Her pastries are... creative."
The princess crossed her arms.
"I'm learning!"
"You're experimenting. There's a difference."
THE QUESTIONS
Wang Li had questions.
She always had questions.
But today, she decided to focus on the practical ones.
"The note said the bag doesn't preserve things. That time still passes inside."
Rimuru nodded.
"Correct. It's not a stasis field. It's just a pocket dimension with infinite capacity."
"So if I put food in there..."
"It'll rot. Ice will melt. Medicine will expire."
Wang Li frowned.
"That limits its usefulness."
Rimuru shrugged.
"Every magic item has limitations. The trick is working within them."
He leaned back.
"You can still store non-perishable items. Documents. Clothes. Weapons, if you ever get any. Entire libraries, if you destroy them first and then store the pieces."
Wang Li's frown deepened.
"Why would I destroy a library to store it?"
"I don't know. Some people just like destroying things."
THE WARNING
The princess had gone back to the counter, leaving Wang Li and Rimuru alone.
Rimuru's expression grew more serious.
"About the bag," he said. "There's something I didn't put in the note."
Wang Li tensed.
"What?"
Rimuru leaned forward.
"The third limitation—the part about not entering it—is very real. The space inside is infinite. Not figuratively. Literally infinite."
He paused.
"If you go in, you won't be able to find your way back. There's no exit mechanism. No return button. Just endless three-dimensional space, stretching in every direction forever."
His golden eyes met hers.
"You'll float. And float. And float. And eventually, you'll stop thinking entirely."
Wang Li felt a chill run down her spine.
"I wasn't planning to go inside."
"Good. Keep it that way."
THE INTERRUPTION
The café door opened.
A customer walked in—a young woman with pink hair and blue eyes.
Wang Li didn't recognize her.
But Rimuru's entire body went still.
For just a fraction of a second, something flickered in his golden eyes—surprise? Recognition? Fear?
Then it was gone.
He stood smoothly.
"Welcome to Tempest Café. What can I get for you?"
The pink-haired woman smiled.
It was a warm smile. Gentle. Familiar.
"Just a cup of tea, please. Whatever you recommend."
Rimuru nodded.
"Coming right up."
He moved behind the counter.
Wang Li watched him.
She had never seen him move that fast without using supernatural speed.
Who is that woman?
She didn't know.
But she had a feeling she was about to find out.