The Whetstone's Edge
It sparkled. "Oh!" I discovered an item underneath the workbench. What is this? It looked like an ordinary brick. I scanned it with the app immediately.
◈ Sharpening a blade with this whetstone amplifies its cutting power for a set duration
"Oh, it was a whetstone?" I checked its properties right away. Sharpening the blade with the whetstone amplifies cutting power for a certain time? I couldn't quite grasp what the effect meant. Sharpening a blade with a whetstone already makes it sharper, doesn't it?
"What did you find?"
"Heh, an E-grade item." I showed her the whetstone.
"Wow... Jaeha, your luck is seriously..."
"I told you, I'm pretty lucky. Hehehe."
"Still, how do you keep finding items every single time...? Even after all the hard work I put in..."
Sia suddenly started digging at the ground.
"What do you think? If you want to borrow some of my luck, you'll have to stick with me, right? We can even go to the big hospital together."
"I'll think about that."
Tsk. She still wasn't falling for it. For now, I decided to sharpen the hand axe's blade. First, get it wet.
I'd seen hunter videos about sharpening blades with whetstones. Scrape, scrape, scrape. The sharpening itself wasn't difficult. Fifty strokes on one side, fifty on the other. Then thirty each. Finishing with ten strokes per side.
Oh, it's sharpened perfectly.
For my first attempt, the result was excellent. The blade felt smooth, without any roughness. I tested it by lightly tapping a cutting board.
Crack!
"Whoa!"
It split in two? This went way beyond merely being sharp. So this is what amplifying the cutting power meant. At this level, it was fair to say the item's grade had effectively been raised.
The only concern was that the whetstone was a consumable. But this is an item. Unlike a regular whetstone, repairing it at the shop would restore it to brand new. It could be used infinitely.
Hehehe.
To think I'd hit the jackpot like this in a restaurant. I wondered what we'd find in the shopping district.
As we were leaving the jokbal place, People? I spotted human silhouettes near the entrance to the shopping area. I glanced at Yu Sia to ask her opinion, but she grabbed my arm and pulled me into a store.
"Even if we run into them, let's just greet and keep moving."
"Why? Weren't you planning to join up with other hunters?"
Was there a reason to change our plans?
"It's safer for just the two of us now. We can make use of Stealthy Strike."
"Ah, I see."
In an assassination-style approach, fewer people were safer. More bodies would only create extra noise.
"It would cause problems when we find the exit, too."
"That's true."
The capacity could fill up again like last time.
"Still, it's good we encountered other hunters. They'll speed up the clearing of the shopping district."
"True. Then let's hurry ourselves."
"Yeah, let's go."
As we approached the shopping district, the other group seemed to notice us and stopped. I waved my hand widely in greeting. They waved back. They were probably glad to see us. Clearing everything on their own must have been overwhelming.
I pointed inside the large sports apparel store. She nodded. We carefully entered, avoiding the broken glass.
"Grrrrrk."
"Grrrrr."
I identified the zombies' positions and signaled their locations to Sia with hand gestures. From the left where she had entered came the sound of a heavy blow. She had taken one down.
I approached the zombie in front of me and brought the axe down.
Squelch! Its skull crushed like tofu.
Shit!
I barely caught the collapsing zombie before it hit the floor. My stomach dropped. I had nearly woken the others. If I had let it fall! Just imagining it sent a chill down my neck. Why is it this sharp?! The cutting power was on a completely different level from the light tap I had used to test it. With this, I might even be able to take on a Stage Two zombie. Not that I had any intention of trying.
After that, I adjusted my strength and finished clearing the rest. Then—
Crunch.
The sound of glass shards being stepped on came from behind. A hunter stood there, waving his hand as if in greeting.
What the hell? These insane bad manners!
There were unwritten rules among hunters: wave to signal no hostile intent when you meet, don't carelessly scan another person's items, don't pass aggro onto others, don't enter a building another party is already clearing. Following someone in late was especially taboo. You might mistake them for a zombie and attack, or the noise could draw more. Above all, you never knew if they'd stab you in the back.
Instead of returning the greeting, I took a combat stance. The hunter quickly stored his weapon in his subspace bag, raised both hands, and backed out of the store.
Why the hell did he follow us in? Heat rose in my chest. Clean up first. Sia was clearing the place alone, so I needed to help quickly.
Once the store was cleared—
"Hey there."
The same hunter walked back in.
This guy is really pissing me off. I approached without storing my weapon.
"What do you want?" My words came out sharp.
"Ah, nothing much. Want to team up?"
"No thanks. We'll manage on our own."
"Ha, seriously. Sorry about following you in earlier. I was just trying to help clean up, but damn, you're one prickly bastard."
What was this? Was he picking a fight?
"Our party's got four people. Team up and we'll farm way faster. Shall we start here?"
What the hell had this guy heard?
"I literally just said we'll go by ourselves."
"Huh? By yourselves? Hahaha."
He pulled a weapon from his subspace bag.
"We reached this shopping district first. If you're going to be this uncooperative, then get lost."
My brain felt like it was melting. My grip tightened on the hand axe. I never expected someone to start a fight in a place like this. I couldn't let myself get baited by such cheap provocation. Keeping my cool as best I could, I said, "We came all the way here clearing zombies with this shopping district as our goal. Let's each do our own thing. Quietly."
Crunch. Crack.
Three more people entered behind the hunter.
"Woo-sung, what are you doing? If the clearing's done, we need to start farming."
"Oh, there are other hunters here."
"Hello."
The hunters greeted us with cocky attitudes. How had these punks even reached the second floor? Their gear looked pretty decent. Some of it might even be items.
How annoying. Neither fighting nor simply backing down seemed like a good option.
"Please leave. We cleared this place first."
"Oh dear, we only came to ask if you'd like to go together."
"Did Woo-sung start shit with them again?"
"This idiot causing trouble again."
"What the hell? He started it first."
They were putting on an entire show by themselves.
"Excuse me? Did this guy say something offensive?"
"We entered first, but he followed us in."
The relatively normal-looking one asked, so I answered.
"Ah, come on, that's not a big deal."
"No, I was trying to help clean up and the bastard got all pissy."
"That was a bit much! We were offering to help."
Listening to them made my blood boil. Just as harsh words were about to fly out of my mouth—
"Jaeha, let's just go."
Sia stepped forward and stopped me.
"Sigh, fine. Let's go."
We left through the broken glass wall, avoiding them.
"Wow, what the hell? He's walking around with a girl? Is this even the tower?"
"Ah, so that's why he acted so tough?"
Barking voices followed us from behind. What third-rate delinquents were these?
"Hey! You there!"
They shouted loud enough to echo throughout the shopping district.
These crazy bastards!
Whoosh— Crash! They even threw a beer bottle.
"Haha, no need to be so scared. We've already cleared the area. Come here for a second."
The one with the best gear gestured at us.
"What should we do?" I asked Sia's opinion first. After all, I was just the passenger on her bus. I couldn't act however I wanted.
"We can't just let this slide. If they come at us, we'll subdue them."
"Good."
With permission granted, we approached them again.
"Hey, miss? Don't we know each other?"
Know each other? I looked at Sia.
"What do you want?" she answered indifferently.
"It's been a while. I thought we could go together."
"I already told you. No."
Sia pointed at me. "Besides, I'm with him now."
"Ah, so you got yourself a boyfriend in the meantime?"
"Kekeke, that boyfriend doesn't look like he'll last long. Break up with him, break up."
"Flag-bearers never last long anyway."
It didn't seem like this would end quietly.
"Last warning. We have zero intention of teaming up, so stop picking fights and go your own way."
"Whoa! Sis, you've got some temper, huh?"
"Scary eyes!"
"Going with us is way safer, you know?"
Sia glanced at me, then said, "Seems like they can't understand words."
I nodded. "The best medicine for mad dogs is this."
When I pulled out the baseball bat, one of them sighed.
"Sigh, seriously. I told you to play nice."
"You guys pulled weapons first."
They drew their weapons too. But—
"Wow, bladed weapons? Are you insane?"
I had taken out a wooden bat intending to teach them a moderate lesson, but they pulled out kitchen knives with clear killing intent.
"Jaeha, we can't hold back. Stay back."
Sia, now thoroughly pissed off, pulled out her hammer.
"The girl won't attack, so stay behind me. I'll just discipline these idiots."
"Better clench your teeth."
Without even a hint of her approach—
Crack!! The hammer shattered his arm.
"Kyyyyaaaaaaaagh!!!"
"Huk!"
"You crazy bitch! Shut him up!"
"Oh shit! The scream's too loud!"
Sia, having crushed the arm, grabbed my hand.
"Run!"
We started sprinting. Before long—
"Huh?! Sia?"
"Stay still."
She hoisted me onto her back and ran. Soon after, enormous roars closed in from every direction.
Groooooooooar!
Khaaaaaaaaak!
Kweeeeeeeeeeeek!
The giant cries tightened around the shopping district like a noose. Before the second wave could hit us—
"Krwoooooooooar!"
"Kweeeek!"
"Khaaa!"
We barely made it back to base. Thanks to our silent footsteps, the incoming horde hadn't detected us. Good thing I prepared this place in advance. I hadn't chosen this spot as our base for nothing. I'd gathered furniture and steel plates to camouflage the entrance.
We climbed to the second floor, hid ourselves, and watched the swarm heading toward the shopping district. Looks like those guys ran away. The still-slow zombie horde was pouring toward one side. But they wouldn't survive. Even if they ran, they'd keep pulling aggro. They'd have to flee for their lives.
"Sigh, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I got heated and ended up doing it anyway."
"Is that something to apologize for? I feel totally refreshed."
It was enough to make me laugh. But had Sia gotten angry for my sake? If so, it was a little touching. She wasn't the type to show her strength first like that.
"Did you know him?" He had acted like they were acquainted.
"We only ran into each other once on the second floor. I don't even know his name."
As expected. Sia wouldn't associate with trash like that. She was the type of person who ran away like a cat the moment someone approached. Well, we wouldn't be seeing them again.
Ever.