Chapter 16 :Human Grindstone

▣ Broken Iron Sword

A soft and weak iron sword forged at a low temperature.

Made from single iron more suitable as a farming tool than a weapon.
The blade is broken, rendering it worthless as a weapon.

Welfare points 200

“Hyung! What do you use this for?”

“Hmm… Are you thinking of buying several and throwing them?”

Jieun pondered for a moment before asking.

Sseureung.

She pulled out the dagger at her waist and tested its weight, looking like she was about to start throwing practice at any moment, so I hurriedly answered.

“No. It’s pretty heavy to throw. The broken blade isn’t very sharp either.”

“Then why this…?”

It was a crude sword.

The cracked and broken blade, the handle roughly carved from animal bone.

Even to the untrained eye, it looked shoddy, but...

“We only use the handle part.”

“Huh?”

The handle—the part wrapping around the blade’s end so you can grip it by hand.

Even if you got the blade from the beak of a blade-beaked bird, you couldn’t just hold the sharp blade as is.

‘I was originally going to tie the blade to a curtain rod or mop handle.’

If I could use a proper handle, that would be best.

“The handle... Ah! No way, hyung, so earlier you...?”

“Shh.”

I signaled Jaehyuk to be quiet as he clapped, realizing what I meant.

He was already drawing too much attention for having taken down the blade-beaked bird alone.

Even more than during the first mission.

“I wonder what that young man bought?”

“He must have gotten a lot of welfare points. He swept it all up by himself.”

“Did he used to fight? The way he swung his sword earlier... whoa, that skill wasn’t ordinary.”

“He stabbed the sword deep! Damn, the blood of that bird sprayed all over! So cool!”

I could feel fear beyond reverence in their expressions.

If I caused a fuss about making weapons here...

‘I’d only cause unnecessary misunderstandings.’

“The blade’s beak is hidden back there.”

Jaehyuk whispered, pointing to a display near the entrance.

“Good job.”

“Shall I bring it?”

“Hmm, not here... Let’s gather it and move somewhere else first.”

“Yes, hyung.”

A place where we could use needed items but far enough to avoid crowds.

Shall we head to the office?

“Um... There’s somewhere I want to go…”

Jieun raised her hand slightly and spoke cautiously.

“Where?”

“Basement floor 1, convenience store.”

I had no idea.

That Jieun had been running around all this time in high heels.

“Ugh...”

“Nunim! Are you sure all this just needs bandages?”

“It’s fine! Just a little... ouch! It stings a bit though.”

Her heels weren’t just blistered—they were almost peeling away.

“You should have told me if it hurt.”

I said that out of concern, and Jieun smiled.

“Eunho, you said you were fine, too.”

“When did I say that...?”

“At the stairs coming down.”

Was she talking about the first time coming down from the rooftop?

I was drenched in sweat dragging her down the stairs, her legs like stone.

‘With how she’s doing now, it shouldn’t be hard at all.’

— Ding!

“Ah, lunch. It’s done.”

I took out three convenience store lunchboxes from the microwave I’d started earlier.

It was the same flavor as yesterday, but strangely unfamiliar.

Maybe because no matter how much I wiped, there was a faint metallic blood scent rising somewhere.

“Good thing the power’s not out yet.”

“Right? Even the signal still works sometimes.”

Jieun muttered as she fiddled with her smartphone.

Phone calls.

‘Come to think of it, both of them must have family.’

I thought about asking, but seeing their worried faces, I swallowed the words again.

If they wanted to share, they’d say so first.

Jieun, who had been biting her nails for the first time in a while, soon shook her head and spoke.

“When will we stop being trapped like this?”

“That’s right, nunim. It feels weird, like we’re stuck behind a glass wall.”

From what we checked on the way down, we couldn’t leave the MS Tower.

The doors and windows opened fine, but it felt like an invisible wall blocked our way.

Just like when we couldn’t get outside the exhibition hall during the blade-beaked bird mission.

‘It must be one of two things.’

Either the mission in this building isn’t over yet.

Or the mission in the other area we’re supposed to meet in isn’t finished.

But I think...

[Announcement to all MS Tower survivors.]

“The broadcast’s on!”

[Project Selection, the next mission is scheduled to start tomorrow at 9 a.m.]

[Please prepare accordingly.]

“The next mission is tomorrow.”

“Wow. Giving us this much rest time is surprising.”

It was 6 p.m. now.

Fifteen hours remained until the next mission began.

They seemed relaxed, but...

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes, we finished.”

The night was short and the to-do list long.

“Rest well, then let’s get started.”

“What? We haven’t even rested five minutes yet...”

“Five minutes is enough.”

— Snap!

I opened the shop and examined the items carefully once again.

To avoid any mistakes, I ran several mental simulations.

[Would you like to purchase 1 ‘Broken Iron Sword’?]

“Yes.”

With a cheerful ding, a translucent shape gradually took clearer form.

A handle long enough to hold with both hands, and a broken blade leaving only about palm-sized length.

[Purchase complete. Items can be stored in inventory anytime.]

“Will this work?”

“Yes. This sword—just the handle, or the hilt—you insert a blade into it.”

I ran my fingers over the smooth handle and felt a slight gap.

To put in a new blade, the old one had to come out first.

“Jaehyuk, can you pull this out?”

I found a pair of work gloves hanging in the corner of the convenience store and handed them over.

Jaehyuk nodded cheerfully.

“Yes! I’ll try.”

“Sorry for always asking.”

“No problem! Gotta do something.”

Then came a long stretch of groans and grunts.

Though he answered cheerfully, it was tough, and he even poured the remaining mission reward into brute strength.

Just as I was about to ask if he needed help—

— Clang!

The broken blade came loose from the body and fell to the ground.

“Next then...”

“Ah! Hyung, wait!”

“Huh? Why?”

Jaehyuk hurriedly stopped me as I picked up the blade’s beak.

“T-this... the beak won’t fit into the handle!”

The hole in the handle where the broken blade had been was about two finger joints wide.

Trying to insert the whole blade’s beak was obviously impossible.

“I’ll file the blade down. Like a candle wick.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Jaehyuk’s eyes went wide, and Jieun tilted her head, glancing around the convenience store.

“Is there a tool for sharpening knives here?”

There is. Tools.

“Mission reward.”

[Select mission reward.]

“Skill reward 3 points to enhance Petrification skill.”

The problem was that the ‘tool’ was my finger.

[Enhance Petrification skill from Lv.2 to Lv.5.]

[Select additional application targets: right middle finger, ring finger, pinky, left thumb, sword...]

“Right middle, ring, and pinky.”

I enhanced all right-hand fingers.

That should be enough.

[Skill enhancement complete.]

“Eunho, you’re not seriously planning to file this all by bare hand, are you?”

“I am.”

“Is that even possible...?”

“I’m the finger that can pierce walls. Smoothing a bird’s beak is nothing.”

Honestly, it felt more like stone than bare flesh.

“But it will take some time. You two go out and gather daily necessities meanwhile.”

Besides the convenience store, the basement floor had plenty of other shops.

Mostly restaurants, but there’d be useful stuff if we searched.

“You mean food?”

“Food and water are most important, but first, we need to get bags. As big as possible.”

“Oh, I saw a backpack on the way here!”

“I’ll get emergency medicine too. There’s a pharmacy around the corner.”

If this were a game, this building might be the beginner’s starting point.

Basement 1 was full of convenience stores and restaurants, with a company cafeteria in the middle, and on the rooftop, a cafeteria filled with bakeries.

But the mission wouldn’t go on only in this building forever.

So we needed to prepare.

“But Eunho, are you okay alone?”

“I’ll be fine. I have skills.”

“Still, if anything happens, shout.”

Ignoring Jieun’s worried words, I activated my skill immediately.

“Petrify.”

[Using skill.]

It felt stiff, like putting my fingers into solidifying cement.

It was hard to move each joint flexibly, but instead—

— Scritch.

Gripping the blade’s beak tip with my fingers, I rubbed it and heard the sound of sharpening pencils as fine powder came off.

‘Diamond from the Abandoned Mountain Range.’

I didn’t know where the Abandoned Mountain Range was, or what kind of stone that diamond was.

But it was definitely not an ordinary rock lying on the roadside.

‘Then I’ll use the acceleration skill too...’

Sharpen the beak with petrify, but stretch 1 second into 10 seconds with acceleration for efficiency.

That was my plan.

“Accelerate.”

— Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.

“I’m off! If you get tired, take a break!”

“Hyung! Have a drink each!”

— Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.

“Eunho! We’re back!”

“Oh? Hyung! Still at it...?”

— Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.

So...

“Huff…”

I didn’t expect it to be this hard.

“Eunho, you’re sweating...”

“Ugh, hyung! Want me to open some ice cream for you?!”

My arms, especially shoulders, ached like they were on fire.

If I rubbed weakly, it wouldn’t sharpen properly.

“Eunho, you look really exhausted...”

“I’ll help! I’ll wear gloves and try rubbing!”

“N-no thanks...”

While repeating petrify and accelerate as soon as the cooldown ended, sharpening the blade,

a system alert sounded.

[Congratulations!]

[First achievement unlocked: ‘Sharpening a weapon with bare hands’!]

[You have earned the title ‘Human Grindstone’.]

Huh?