Ch.315315 – Shortcut

<315 – Shortcut>

“Don’t you want to see your reward?”

Sing picked up the scabbard.

Unlike Titosoga, he was easily forgotten because he listened to lectures so quietly, but Sing was also a student attending Professor Bronze’s eye-training lectures.

He experimented with changes by sheathing his sword and swinging it, then drawing it and swinging again.

And he detected a meaningful change.

━━━

<Silent Scabbard>

Grade – Rare 6

Description – Reward obtained for staying on the 39th floor of the Chairman’s mansion for more than 60 minutes and breaking through the floor. This scabbard has a special power.

Effect 1 – The power of the next strike increases in proportion to the time the sword has remained in the scabbard.

Effect 2 – The speed of the next strike increases in proportion to the time spent with the sword sheathed without using magic.

Appraisal Value – 800 gold coins, 80,000 points

━━━

The effect of the item he appraised by intuition was beyond satisfactory—it was remarkably tempting.

But it was also an item with obvious limitations.

‘If charged beyond a certain level, the scabbard would be destroyed, unable to withstand the power released when drawing the sword.’

If used without greed, it could serve as a supplementary item for enhancing strikes multiple times.

However, with a completely different usage method, it could also be used to gradually increase the power of a single sword over a very long time, turning it into a one-time lethal weapon.

On the other hand, a mediocre sword might collapse first, unable to withstand the power enhancement that accompanies its drawing.

‘A scabbard like a chicken that’s too precious to eat but too scrawny to keep.’

To demonstrate its true value, it requires a sword of extraordinary performance.

Sealing such an exceptional sword just to use it well once would lead to a continuous weakening of combat power.

The conditions for bringing out this sword’s true value are extremely demanding.

Having the mental strength to resist drawing the sword over a very long period.

Having a powerful enemy or goal worth the long patience.

Possessing other spare swords for everyday use against minor threats.

It’s a scabbard unnecessary for someone living an ordinary life.

For such a person, sealing their main weapon would mean accepting considerable damage.

If someone could survive for a long time with their main weapon sealed and still reach their sworn enemy, they might already have skills that make the scabbard unnecessary.

‘It’s a troublesome scabbard that either puts you in danger if you’re greedy, or becomes unnecessary if you achieve growth matching your ambition.’

It’s worse than a cursed item because it makes you seal your main weapon by your own will.

It was quite a fitting scabbard for the notorious Foundation to readily offer as a reward.

“Thank you. You saved my life.”

“Hehe. What did I do? I just said a few words. Since I wasn’t the one worried about you, you should thank fake Rin!”

“…”

Behind Oknodie was fake Rin, looking up at Sing with an expressionless face.

Sing didn’t know what emotions to feel toward this ghost imitating his sister.

“Thank you.”

The ghost quickly fled into Oknodie’s ring.

Oknodie’s pointed hat giggled and said:

“I scared you.”

This is difficult.

Sisters, whether past or present.

Sing’s feet stopped before taking a step toward the next floor.

-Brother. I’m satisfied just being by your side.

Sing looked down at the scabbard in his hand.

Somehow, today he no longer felt like swinging his sword.

“Do you have any special plans later?”

“Just play, eat, and sleep!”

“I’ll help you.”

Although he was falling behind Irene, the Hero, Zhang, and others who had already gone up to the next floor, he no longer felt impatience or inferiority.

At least for now, he felt that not advancing was the right answer.

* *

I take it back.

Following Oknodie was a very stupid thing to do.

“What do you think, Sing? Hidden routes are the tastiest for conquering, right?”

“Didn’t you say we’d play, eat, and sleep?”

“We’re playing right now!”

Oknodie’s play has severe ups and downs.

Sometimes she engages in gentle activities like hide-and-seek or building sand castles, but occasionally she commits acts that make you wonder if they can even be called play.

━━━

Chairman’s Mansion

B1F – Floor of Waste

━━━

A floor where broken and destroyed materials are discarded.

They’re playing in a garbage dump where all sorts of junk is piled haphazardly.

Setting aside hygiene, the danger level was no joke.

Gikik. Gigikik.

A wooden doll with twisted joints crawls along the floor, flipping its limbs.

Whoong. Whoong.

A trap hanging from part of the ceiling spins freely through the air.

Among all kinds of waste from various floors, Oknodie fearlessly rummaged through the junk, knocking down anything that came at her.

“Hey. You’re getting dirt on your sleeve.”

“It’s fine! I have butlers and maids!”

“So your premise is that it doesn’t matter if you get dirty.”

“Swords exist to see blood, right? Clothes exist to get dirty!”

“I’d like your butler and maid to hear that confident assertion.”

So what business does she have in this garbage dump?

In this dirty, dangerous, and suspicious place.

It’s not a good place for a child to play out of curiosity.

There’s a decisive difference between this place and the various facilities of the Academy.

Facilities designed to create dangerous environments to enhance growth always have <Instructors> standing by.

Ready to intervene at any time if necessary.

This place is different.

From the moment butlers and maids descended underground, surveillance was completely cut off.

Not because it’s a dirty, lowly facility, but because it’s dangerous enough to be restricted.

“Have you ever thought about it, Sing? Why the Tower of Training exists?”

“To test and evaluate the skills of intruders, I suppose.”

“For what purpose?”

“To cultivate skilled individuals to the Foundation’s taste.”

“This place wasn’t originally a facility controlled by the Foundation!”

It was a thought-provoking story.

The tower wasn’t created by the Foundation.

The tower existed first, and the Foundation became involved later.

This place isn’t really a mansion after all.

The Chairman and butlers act so brazenly and confidently that it seemed people could actually live in such a place, but it was all an illusion.

“A training facility that existed before the Foundation took control, in such a remote place… At least it wasn’t created by someone or some organization in recent times.”

There’s no country or organization with enough resources to exert influence in such a remote place.

We’re in a cold war era now.

Peace is maintained for now, but no one knows when that peace might end.

“This place exists for heroes to grow!”

“What?”

He had thought it was a relic of an old era.

But going that far back in time?

As he was taken aback, Oknodie showed him some junk.

“Look carefully. There’s a mana stone embedded here, right?”

A fragment of mana stone embedded in broken weaponry.

As time passed, the fragment gradually diminished until it dissolved into the air and disappeared.

“It’s mana dissolution. The Floor of Waste takes discarded waste from each floor, dissolves it, and converts it back into resources for reassembly!”

“You’re fearless. With this level of dissolution power, even the mana possessed by people would gradually decrease.”

“It’s fine! I have lots of mana!”

It’s not just about you being fine.

Well, I have plenty of mana too.

Sing gradually understood what she was trying to say.

“Mana dissolution. I’ve never heard it mentioned even at the Academy. Is this evidence of the ancient technology from the hero cultivation era?”

“Yep!”

“Let’s say that’s true so far. So why did your ‘Papa’ occupy this facility? And what are you trying to gain in this dangerous underground?”

“Players only look for one thing. A shortcut to growth!”

“…?”

“Think about it. If the Foundation occupied the facility, they’d be conquering floors much higher than what students use, right?”

“I suppose so. Even the butler named Jona has strength comparable to professor-class.”

“Then the test equipment on floors conquered by such strong individuals would be smashed too, right?”

Chilling.

The flow of this conversation gives off a very dangerous smell.

Sing tried to cut off the conversation, regretting having asked the question, but Oknodie puffed up her cheeks like a squirrel with a mouthful of acorns.

No choice then.

Accepting that he was already in too deep, Sing gave up as Oknodie continued with a bright smile.

“So, if we find high-floor waste among the waste from the Floor of Waste, interesting triggers open up.”

A magical armor that looked hundreds of times more dangerous than an ordinary wooden doll.

Oknodie pulled out a full-body armor larger than herself that made metallic sounds when tapped.

She boldly led the way holding the armor.

“Now, let’s go down!”

“What else is below this?”

“After collecting waste, you have to throw away what needs to be thrown away and recycle what can be recycled, right?”

━━━

Chairman’s Mansion

B2F – Floor of Recycling

━━━

A facility where various equipment operates along hundreds of massive lines.

Oknodie placed the magical armor on one of the lines and slipped inside it.

“Come in too, Sing! There’s plenty of room for both of us!”

“…That armor, if we get inside, don’t tell me…”

Oknodie nodded with a bright smile.

“We’ll be transported to the <Floor of Living Armor> on the 69th floor!”

They could go directly to the 69th floor of a tower where even ordinary butlers with instructor-level strength only reach the 50th floor.