Chapter 16: Challenge, Failure (1)

“A weapon. A weapon that could make use of my cheat.”

Ever since my teammates talked about their items yesterday, my mind had been occupied with thoughts of weapon items.

To be honest, my cheat mode and skills were all focused on offense.

Tremendous strength and speed, the Weakness Detection skill and Assassination skill I acquired through quests.

Even the experiences I had gone through.

In order to make full use of those violent experiences where I destroyed anomalies out of fear…

Even if I was afraid to fight them, a weapon item suited me.

I temporarily put other categories aside and headed to the [Weapons] section.

Daggers, handguns, stun guns, etc.—they all looked relatively ordinary.

Of course, since they were in this place, there was no way these were just ordinary weapons.

I calmly started narrowing down the candidates.

First, I eliminated firearms that didn’t make use of my stats.

Things like handguns or stun guns couldn’t take advantage of my strength.

I also excluded any weapons with critical drawbacks after reading the information.

Perhaps because these were allowed for lower-ranked teams, they were all hiding some sort of trap in the details.

And finally, something caught my eye.

A sword that looked ordinary was placed on a stand along with its scabbard.

It wasn’t particularly flashy or intimidating, but it looked solid and dependable.

I checked the information on the tablet.

[Item Name: Return Sword]

Category: Weapon / Special Alloy Longsword

Description: A very sturdy steel sword forged using a special method.

Once per week, by tapping the side of the scabbard twice, the sword can be regenerated inside the scabbard.

Info 1: If the scabbard is damaged, the sword cannot be regenerated.

Info 2: The durability of the scabbard varies depending on the user.

More experiments needed for standardization.
 
– Search Team 2 Leader: The scabbard was sturdier than the sword.

– Research Team Intern: About as strong as a wooden plank.

Info 3: If the owner suffers damage exceeding a certain threshold, the Return Sword will be destroyed instead and share the damage.

“Regeneration…!”

This was it.

Whether it broke or got lost, it would always come back.

A weapon with no drawbacks, infinite durability, and no risk of loss.

It even shared the damage with me.

The once-a-week limitation didn’t matter because I had my cheat.

The only concern was that I had never swung a sword in my life.

“…Couldn’t I just use it like a blunt weapon?”

I felt like I could make it work somehow.

The scabbard’s sturdiness varied by user, so I had to check that.

There was no explanation on how the sturdiness was determined.

“I’ll take this one.”

Without hesitation, I returned to the researcher and pointed to the Return Sword.

He looked slightly surprised by my choice, but quickly processed the issuance as if used to it.

“…It’s not common to pick a weapon item as your first item.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, you’d have to go back a few years to see that…”

After finishing the process, the researcher walked into the storage room and carefully brought out the sword.

I took the Return Sword, now sheathed, and strapped it to my waist.

The scabbard kindly had a hook, making it easy to attach to a belt or pants.

Shing.

As I slowly drew the sword, the soft steel gleamed under the storage room lights.

A real weapon.

I felt a cool sensation through my fingertips—a bit of fear, but also, strangely, a sense of reassurance.

[Quest Completed.]

[Reward Granted.]

[Please Check Your Status Window.]

[Name: Kim Min-jun]

[Stats: Strength 6, Intelligence 7, Agility 5]

[Skills: Cheat Mode, Weakness Detection LV.1, Assassination LV.1, Martial Arts LV.1]

There was a new skill I hadn’t seen before in my status window.

Kindly enough, the quest gave me Martial Arts, as if encouraging me to use the item well.

I thought it would’ve been better if it had been Swordsmanship instead, but I had been the one to decide to use the sword like a blunt weapon, so I had no right to complain.

I wanted to show the item to my teammates as soon as possible, so I quickly returned to the exploration team building.

“…Huh?”

But the moment I stepped into the building, I sensed something was off in the lobby.

There were fewer people than usual, and most of them seemed to be hurriedly moving somewhere.

As I stood there blankly, a voice came through the speaker.

“Emergency! Management Area Basement Level 3, Containment Room 7, ‘The Questioning Tablet’—rapid condition change! Currently no contact with Exploration Team 12 on site! Team 15, immediate dispatch required!”

“Team 15?”

As the urgent announcement from headquarters played, I ran down the corridor toward the containment area, with emergency sirens blaring.

‘The Questioning Tablet’ was an anomaly our team had managed several times before.

It was a very stable anomaly with a low danger level, one that simply asked a short quiz three times a day—and would calm down if you got the answers right.

And now, its condition had suddenly changed.

Clearly, something serious was happening.

And Team 12, if it was them—

“Team 12! Team 12!”

When I reached the containment room, Team Leader Park Chul-woo had already arrived and was banging on the door, shouting.

But there was no reply from inside.

Instead of voices, black smoke-like mist seeped out from the slightly open steel door.

“…It’s too dark to see anything.”

Seo Ji-hyun shouted while shining a portable flashlight through the door crack.

No matter how much light was shone, the inside remained invisible.

“What on earth is happening…”

Han So-ra muttered in a worried tone. And just then—

“One person… One more person is needed…!”

From beyond the darkness, a faint but clear voice—Ra-hee’s—was heard.

She was inside.

“Are you in there?!”

Team Leader Park urgently called out, but there was no further response.

He tried to throw the door open, but hesitated, afraid the dark mist would flood out.

He frowned deeply.

“How are we supposed to enter and assist in a situation like this…?!”

At headquarters, the broadcast was repeatedly calling for support for Team 12.

I quietly raised my hand.

“I’ll go.”

“Minjun, did you get the item?”

“Yes.”

“…It’s dangerous.”

The team leader glanced at the sword on my hip, and Seo Ji-hyun tried to stop me.

If one of our team had to enter that darkness, I was the one with the best chance of survival, judging by my items and stats.

And, unusually, I also felt confident this time.

I had acquired a new item, and the slate asking questions wasn’t the type of anomaly that scared me.

I raised my return sword and said,

“It’s fine.”

“…Team leader, what about support from the upper-level exploration team?”

“They’re on assignment, so we can’t expect anything right now…”

Hearing the team leader’s response, Seo Ji-hyun looked down at the floor, then looked back at me.

“…Be careful.”

“Okay.”

Beyond the door, pitch-black darkness surged like a tide.

I took a deep breath, drew the sword at my waist, and stepped into the darkness.

An oppressive pressure weighed down on my entire body, and my vision was completely cut off.

In the pitch-black void where I couldn’t see even an inch ahead, I instinctively moved forward with my sword raised.

At that moment, as if it were a lie, the darkness suddenly cleared.

“…What is this…”

What lay before my eyes was not a containment room.

It was a strange space, decorated like a game show set.

The walls around me were smooth, and in the center stood a podium with two buttons.

One red, one blue.

Above the podium, a large LED display was flashing.

[Challenge: Hold up a 100kg barbell for 5 seconds]

[Red button: Challenge / Blue button: Give up]

[Fail counter increases by 1 after 2 give-ups]

[Success: 0/10 Fail: 0/10] [Give-ups: 0/2]

[Reward after 10 successes / Punishment after 10 failures]

[Start Participants: 5/5]

“…Challenge?”

I was speechless with confusion.

What on earth is going on?

“Minjun oppa!”

At the familiar voice, I turned my head and saw Rahee and a young male teammate I didn’t recognize slumped in the corner, looking dazed.

Both looked utterly exhausted and terrified.

Two middle-aged people were collapsed nearby.

“Rahee! Are you okay? What happened?”

As I approached, the male teammate beside her clung to me and spoke desperately.

“I-I’m sorry… It was supposed to be an easy one where you just solve three quizzes a day… But suddenly the questions got way harder, and when I got all three wrong, the room turned into this…”

He couldn’t speak properly and was choking up.

Rahee supplemented his explanation with a trembling voice.

“The anomaly suddenly glowed… and then the room changed into this space. Then that display appeared and told us to press a button…”

“…What about those two who collapsed?”

“They tried to use an item on the wall to escape… but the attack bounced back at them…”

Looking closely, I saw a pen on the ground near them.

Was it the pen I’d seen before?

I turned my gaze to the display.

The slate had transformed into that large LED screen.

It felt like a completely different anomaly.

The whole space did too.

Like a quiz show, only the area with the buttons and where we were standing was brightly lit.

The rest was surrounded by walls.

‘Would breaking that display solve everything?’

Maybe because I had a sword in hand, that was the first thought I had.

But that would probably be the last resort.

Considering the others had their attack reflected, who knows what might happen if I struck it.

The display showed [Participants: 5/5].

Rahee had said they needed one more person—this must be why.

[All participants are present! You may now begin the challenge!]

A loud voice rang from the display.

It was unnervingly cheerful, almost flippant.

[Challenge: Hold up a 100kg barbell for 5 seconds]

[Red button: Challenge / Blue button: Give up]

“100 kilograms… isn’t that incredibly heavy?”

“Ah, well…”

Honestly, it seemed like a pretty high weight.

I couldn’t say for sure if I could lift it, since I didn’t know the exact numerical value of my strength.

Still, it seemed doable.

[Challenge accepted!]

As I pressed the red button, the display lit up, and a large barbell suddenly dropped from thin air.

Thud!

Clatter!

“Ugh!”

Someone let out a small shriek at the sound of the 100kg barbell hitting the ground.

“M-maybe we should’ve just given up…”

The male explorer muttered in fear.

Even I was a little surprised at the size of the barbell.

But I trusted in my cheat.

The strength that had bisected and pierced anomalies—I trusted in that.

I sheathed my sword, cautiously approached, and grabbed the barbell.

“Hrgh…?”

Before I could even apply full force, the barbell lifted with ease.

I stared blankly at it for ten seconds, then lowered it back to the ground.

Thud!

[…Challenge succeeded.]

[Success: 1/10 Fail: 0/10]

[Reward after 10 successes / Punishment after 10 failures]

The display voice now sounded slightly deflated as it logged the first success.