Chapter 12: Human Whetstone

“Achievement? Human Whetstone?”

I muttered to myself, wondering what this could possibly mean, when the system kindly responded.

[An achievement is earned when you produce wondrous results or carry out extraordinary behavior. Recognized as an ‘Achievement,’ you acquire an appropriate ‘Title.’]

Wondrous results or extraordinary behavior, huh.

Sharpening a weapon with bare hands must count as the latter.

[Would you like to check the effects of the ‘Human Whetstone’ title?]

“Yes.”

[Greatly increases speed when sharpening weapons with bare hands.]

[Increases your understanding of the weapon you sharpen.]

Whetstone.

A stone used for sharpening blades and such.

‘So this means I can sharpen faster than before?’

Half doubting, I moved my hands quickly.

— Scratch. Skri-skrrk. Skrrrkkkkkkkkkkk……

“Huh? Eunho? Did you use your acceleration skill again?”

“No. It’s still on cooldown.”

“What? But your hands are super fast...?”

This is for real.

The blade is sharpening at a speed incomparable to before.

“Hyung! You can stop now, right? Enough has gone into the hilt!”

Jaehyuk said, pressing his finger against the hole in the Blade-Beak Bird’s core and handle.

But as far as I ‘understand’...

“No, the core needs to be longer. Long enough to come out through the handle.”

“What?”

“Can you hand me some glue?”

— Tap! Tap! Tap!

I spread glue evenly over the now-thin blade and pushed it into the handle.

Until the blade poked through the end of the handle.

And then.

“Jaehyuk. Can you bend the part of the blade sticking out? Be careful not to hurt yourself.”

“I can do it, but why...?”

“If you only fix it with glue, it might come loose when swinging the sword. If you pull the blade out a bit and bend it like this, it’ll be safer.”

“Oh! Got it!”

Is this the title’s influence?

I ‘understood’ that glue alone wouldn’t be enough to properly use the sword I just sharpened.

“But Eunho, if you do that, the blade will touch the handle and it’ll be dangerous.”

Jaehyuk, who was struggling, finally handed me the combined sword as Ji-eun fiddled with the handle.

“Oh! Then, sister, how about wrapping it with box tape?”

It might be convenient, but it would come off quickly.

Better yet...

“Remember the leather sofa in the lobby?”

“Yeah. Eunho, you don’t mean wrapping the sword with leather...?”

The sofa where outsiders sometimes sat. Our team leader once said it was expensive leather.

‘Soft yet sturdy — perfect.’

I cut the dark brown leather into thin, long strips and wrapped it tightly around the handle.

The sword was complete.

— Ding!

[‘Blade-Beak Sword’ has been completed!]

▣ Blade-Beak Sword

A unique sword made by fitting the beak of a Blade-Beak Bird onto a handle carved from beast bone.

The joint is somewhat loose, but it has been meticulously sharpened with an excellent whetstone, making the blade’s sharpness unrivaled.

Non-tradable item

‘Did that turn out well?’

The blade definitely looks far sharper than the borrowed sword earlier.

Let me try it out…

— Swipe.

I lightly sliced the chair I’d been sitting on.

The cushion gave way smoothly, as if cutting through butter.

The gleaming sharp blade reflected the light.

I was sure just touching it would draw blood.

This level should be enough.

“It’s finished.”

I’d be able to slay monsters like the Blade-Beak Bird with this.

‘Maybe even humans….’

“Hyung! Amazing, is there anything you can’t do?”

“Right? I had no idea Eunho had this talent!”

“Well, it came out better than I expected. Then you two should buy one broken sword each, too.”

They handed me two broken iron swords, staring at the Blade-Beak Sword in awe.

At a speed faster than before, I quickly crafted two more.

Maybe I’m getting used to this.

“Do you have any daily necessities outside?”

“Yes. I barely got three backpacks filled. If I pack just canned food, we can survive for a week.”

“Let’s pack quickly.”

I chose foods that were compact, light, and calorie-dense.

I grabbed all the long-lasting things I could find, like jerky.

“Even if it’s a bit heavy, pack as much as you can. We won’t be moving soon, and the amount will decrease as we eat.”

“But how do we carry these swords? They’re pretty heavy.”

“In games, they’re carried on the back, right?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.”

[Purchase complete. Items can be stored in your inventory at any time.]

That was the message when I bought the broken iron sword earlier.

Since I got a message upon completing the Blade-Beak Sword, it seems this sword is also a system ‘item.’

“Storage.”

The sword in my hand turned translucent, then disappeared.

“Inventory, I guess. You two try it.”

“Wow, that’s convenient.”

“I’m a bit disappointed. I wanted to try carrying it on my back and pulling it out with a swish.”

Jaehyuk grumbled over a strange point, but Ji-eun comforted him gently, bringing him back to reality.

“If you actually did that, everyone around you would get hurt.”

“You could just be careful when pulling it out, right?”

“Well... Also, you can’t put it back in since you can’t see it. What if you accidentally cut your own back?”

“Th-That’s a bit...”

Ji-eun struck me as logical and thoughtful when she got the sword from the accounting team’s Lee Yeji.

I used to think she was just a nice person when we worked in neighboring teams.

“So just store it. Got it?”

“Y-Yes...”

Only then did Jaehyuk accept it, sending the sword to the inventory and starting to pack his bag.

I smiled at Ji-eun watching his back and said.

“Jaehyuk handles it well.”

“Maybe because I have a younger brother. It’s just like a little brother.”

“How old is your brother?”

“One year younger. Twenty-five.”

Twenty-five is the same age as Jaehyuk.

Remembering her brother, a flicker of worry crossed Ji-eun’s face, and she started fiddling with her smartphone.

“Your brother must be smart, right?”

“Yes! He’s been sharp since he was young. He’s still studying now.”

“Then he’ll be safe. To see him again, you have to survive first.”

Only after hearing that did her briefly gloomy expression revive.

“Thank you, Eunho. I think I’ve survived this far because of you. And now you’ve even made me a sword.”

“No, it’s just the beginning.”

This is only the beginning.

Ji-eun must know it’s too early to thank me for saving her.

“I hope I never have to use this sword…”

She muttered while staring at the blade shining icy blue.

A blade sharp enough to slice soft flesh with just a brush.

“That won’t happen, right?”

“...Let’s rest for now.”

AM 8:30.

There were thirty minutes left until the mission started, but I’d already come down to the first-floor lobby.

Usually, this place would be packed with people commuting to work, but not now.

The spacious lobby and the streets beyond the glass doors were both empty.

Only the three of us were moving.

“We don’t know where the next mission will be held. Let’s wait here.”

“Why the lobby, hyung? Wouldn’t it be faster to wait on a middle floor, no matter where in the building it starts?”

Jaehyuk’s question was met with a nod from Ji-eun.

He had a point.

Assuming the next mission is also in this building.

“We might have to go outside the building.”

“Outside...?”

There were thirteen people left inside.

If we were going to fight among ourselves, there would be no need for a long break until the next mission.

Since we were all gathered, we could’ve proceeded immediately after the Blade-Beak Bird mission.

“If the enemies are inside, just take the elevator. No one will fight over it anymore.”

They were all ‘deleted.’

The two nodded, understanding.

“You guys! Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. You’re up early.”

“Well, I’m used to it.”

Coincidentally or not, the security guard and some survivors gathered in the lobby.

AM 8:50.

Ten minutes before the mission started.

The announcement played as usual.

[Attention MS Tower survivors.]

[The next mission will begin at 9 a.m. Please move to the designated safe zone.]

[Area movement restrictions are lifted.]

Zzzing—

The space vibrated; the building’s glass walls blurred as if washed by rain, then cleared.

Unnoticed, the barrier enclosing the building since the mission began finally lifted.

“We’re finally going outside.”

“Yeah, but... where is this?”

The map that filled the view showed a much wider area than yesterday’s.

Wide roads too many to count lanes, even wider railroad tracks, and a vintage building between them.

“Seoul Station.”

More precisely, the plaza in front of Seoul Station.

“We can get there in ten minutes.”

If I went alone, about five minutes.

Since it’s my daily commute, I was almost certain.

Normally, it would take a while crossing the wide road, but now there were no traffic lights.

— Tap!

I opened the large glass door and ran out.

Cars were left haphazardly across the lanes.

“It looks like there was a mission here, too!”

The traces of hurried movement because of the sudden mission were obvious.

People who abandoned their cars and fled.

Cars that lost their drivers, crashed into nearby stores.

Corpses pinned against walls by vehicles.

“...”

Unlike the ‘deleted’ people, the corpses and pools of blood remained intact.

Moreover, the further I went on the main road, the more wrecked buses and cars piled up—some had collided into fences and bent badly.

Arriving at the road in front of the station, the scene was unbelievable—and something I didn’t want to believe.

“What on earth...”

Buses lined up in the middle of the ten-lane road.

Some appeared to have been burned, still emitting thick smoke.

The road was marked densely with melted tire marks.

“This must have been the safe zone…”

A circle was drawn in the center.

Instead of the vanished green circle, there were flesh-colored and red circles formed by people who tried but couldn’t enter.

Fragments of chaos and horror.

“Ugh…”

I barely dragged the hesitant Jaehyuk across the road, who was choking back nausea.

「03:47」

Our circle in front of Seoul Station caught my eye.

Also, a middle-aged man sitting calmly amid the carnage.

‘Homeless?’

A survivor from the Seoul Station mission?

The man had long hair and a beard crusted with dried blood, looking more beast than human.

‘But why is there only one?’

Surely there were many at Seoul Station.

As I scrutinized the man with a bad feeling, others started arriving.

“Huff... Finally made it.”

“Waaaah! Scary!”

“Don’t cry, Yura. Dad’s here.”

The homeless man, three schoolgirls in uniforms, a father with his young daughter, a man in uniform.

And the thirteen of us from MS Tower.

‘Twenty in total.’

Different ages, genders, and clothing, but one thing was common.

All wore expressions mixing fear and determination, waiting for the next mission.

[Attention Seoul Station area survivors.]

AM 9:00.

The mission began.

[Project Selection: The next mission is a TF mission, where assigned individuals will work as a team.]

“TF?”

TF stands for Task Force.

A temporary team formed by members selected from different departments to complete a specific task.

In other words, this mission is a team battle…

“It’s important who you end up teaming with.”

I quietly said to the two beside me, but suddenly the people from MS Tower glanced my way.

[The mission consists of three rounds. Any TF failing to meet the objectives each round will be fully ‘deleted.’]

[Defeat enemies and accumulate achievements.]

“Fully deleted if we don’t meet objectives...”

“A sudden goal?!”

“What enemies? There’s nothing here!”

Failing to meet the target means being ‘deleted’—a performance pressure literally involving lives.

The atmosphere chilled.

A tension so thick it seemed visible wove among the people.

[At mission start, the four nearest individuals will automatically be assigned to the same TF.]

Then the final announcement played.

“The four nearest...?”

All twelve pairs of eyes turned to me simultaneously.

[Mission start.]

They charged.

“Hey, young man!”

“Team up with me!”

“Damn it! I’m teaming with you!”