Wealth Swallowing Snake

Deban woke up a few hours later, drenched in sweat and feeling thirsty from the stifling heat.

"Well, that was a much longer nap than I planned," he muttered, stretching his limbs. Surprisingly, he felt remarkably comfortable, a sensation he had never experienced upon waking up before. The heat, though intense, was still bearable.

Rummaging through the backpack with supplies, looking for water to quench his thirst, Deban made a startling revelation about his current state.

"It seems my original body didn't make the trip with me to this new world. I must have inhabited someone else's body during the transmigration!"

As he drank water from a leather sac he found in the backpack, Deban examined his new form with a gulp.

Without a mirror, he couldn't see his complete reflection, but he observed enough to understand his appearance. Donned in loose but worn out comfortable robes that allowed unrestricted movement, his entire body was covered from his shoulders down. He was wearing what looking like sandals which exposed his toes.

Deban scrutinized his arms and legs for any peculiarities. They appeared scrawny, akin to those of a teenager somewhere between 13 and 17 years old—similar in age to his previous body. His black hair, with a straight and smooth texture, was visible as it sometimes obstructed his eyes.

Apart from the odd tattoo on his left wrist, everything else seemed normal. The tattoo, a simple black ink depiction of a snake consuming its own tail, was small enough to comfortably fit within his slender wrist.

For a brief moment, it glowed in a rainbow hue, catching his attention.

"What the heck was that?" Deban exclaimed, bewildered. He wondered if the original owner of the body was part of a sect or religious group that had tatoos like this or what the significance of the glowing snake on his wrist could be.

With a chuckle, he thought about the online novels the orphans would discuss at the orphanage. Deban never had the opportunity to read them himself, but he overheard captivating tales of magical worlds and characters when the other kids would share their excitement with each other.

"I wonder if this tattoo is my unique transmigrator power. Maybe I might not have to abandon my treasure after all." Deban said to make himself feel better as he grinned, his imagination running wild with the adventures that awaited him in this new magical realm.

Spurred by an unknown instinct, Deban went up to the statue with the sea of coins and picked up a coin, then rubbed it against the tattoo on his left wrist, half-expecting something extraordinary to happen and half-expecting nothing. At first, nothing happened and Deban almost cursed his poor fate.

But suddenly and to his surprise, the snake tattoo glowed again, spinning around and heating up, causing the coin he held to vanish instantly as the snake spun, devouring its own tail. Shocked and captivated, Deban stared at his wrist in disbelief, wondering what he had just witnessed.

"Now I'm really going crazy. Did I really get transported to a world of magic? Will I gain special abilities like the protagonists in those novels the other orphans always talked about?" Deban mused to himself.

While he never had the chance to read those novels, he listened intently to their conversations whenever he could. The prospect of possessing his own unique powers thrilled him.

With a broad smile, Deban repeated the action, making more coins disappear with a flick of his wrist. He continued experimenting, storing the coins in his mysterious subspace tattoo. To his relief, he found that he could retrieve them as well. Excitement washed over him as he realized the potential of this ability. "A subspace for storage!" he exclaimed.

Expanding his trials, Deban stored food, water, and even one of the bodies from the temple floor, discovering that non-living things could be safely contained within his subspace. The limitation became apparent: he could only store a handful of coins at once, and they needed to be physically connected in some way.

Deban pondered the possibility of improving his newfound ability in the future.

Interrupting his musings, Deban turned to address the enigmatic voice that had brought him to this world. In other words, he stared into nothing and talked to himself out loud like a mad person, "Hey, mysterious voice, now would be a great time for an explanation and some guidance!"

He waited for a few seconds, but only silence greeted him.

"Still the silent treatment, I guess," he sighed, disappointed.

Deban shifted his attention to the massive statue of the goddess surrounded by the sea of coins. "You wouldn't ignore me like the mysterious voice, would you, my beautiful goddess?" he playfully asked, stroking the part of the statue within reach. He plucked another coin and stored it away, confident in the statue's benevolence.

Continuing to gather the coins in batches, Deban noticed that the process consumed his energy, leaving him fatigued despite the absence of physical exertion. Frowning, he believed this to be another limitation of his ability.

"So, there is a slight energy cost each time I store something. I wonder what other restrictions this power has," he pondered, planning to replenish his energy with a satisfying meal of jerky and dried fruit then take a short nap before resuming his task.

Before he settled down for the nap, Deban looked around the temple, momentarily losing himself in the mysteries of the temple and the bodies littered all over its floor. He still had no idea how his new body got here and what it was doing before he inhabited it.

He also didn't know what happened to all the other unlucky bodies on the floor. With a sigh, he resolved to swiftly collect the remaining coins and depart from the temple before his sanity dwindled further.

He kept on eating until he was fully sated from indulging in jerky and dried fruit. Deban then lay down to rest, intent on regaining his energy before he completing his coin-gathering mission.