There Are Many Kinds of Blades
There truly are all sorts of blades in the world. Kitchen knives made for cooking. Fruit knives designed for peeling fruit. Even bread knives crafted to slice loaves and butter knives meant to spread it neatly. But if you asked people to pick the most threatening blade of all, nine out of ten would choose a sword. After all, they were originally created as weapons for killing… so perhaps it was only natural.
“Are you truly certain about this?”
When I picked up the wooden sword, the knight Von Gregory looked at me with clear concern.
“Even now, if you apologize, I can persuade the soldiers to forget this ever happened. If a guest of the Tower is injured under my watch, how could I possibly face your companions?”
But because its purpose was what it was, a sword forged as a true weapon was that much harder to wield properly. In other words, for someone like me—who knew absolutely nothing about swordsmanship—to defeat a trained knight through sheer bravado would be nearly impossible.
“It’ll be fine,” I replied calmly.
I wasn’t worried at all. I had no issue with the fact that more than a dozen soldiers had rushed out like a pack of wild dogs after my single remark, If anyone has a problem with what I said, step forward. Nor did I mind the murderous rage burning in their eyes.
After all, the concept of a “difference in skill” only truly applied in fights between humans. No matter how much a person trained or bulked up, they could never defeat a fully grown adult gorilla.
Status window.
The stats were difficult to gauge precisely. Still, with numbers like these, I was confident I could trip a real gorilla, lock in an armbar, and make it tap out in under five seconds.
Still, there’s no harm in being cautious.
I recalled what the rabbit had told us right before we entered the Tower.
“The moment you step inside the Tower, you’ll be able to strengthen your stats using coins!”
The ability to raise your stats with coins. Of course, the requirement of actually spending them made the word “ability” a bit debatable, but since having more coins meant you could grow endlessly, it might as well be a power in my case.
I’ll invest 3,000 coins into Agility.
You are using 3,000 Coins on the stat ‘Agility Lv.15.’
Agility Lv.15 → Agility Lv.19
Remaining Coins: 10,000 C
“Oh?”
The soldiers, who had no way of knowing about my change, seemed to think my exclamation was nothing more than empty bravado.
“It’s too late for regrets now.”
“Hey, rookie! Looks like you just got here, but I hope this incident knocks some sense into you!”
“Now that you’ve got a little power, you think you’re hot stuff, huh? Time to flatten that arrogance of yours!”
Faced with their bloodthirsty taunts, I simply shrugged and answered lightly.
“Do as you please.”
At my words, Von Gregory let out a deep sigh and took several steps back. Immediately, the soldiers of the first floor swarmed around me.
I was curious.
I wanted to know exactly what level these soldiers were at and what real swordsmanship looked like. It wasn’t mere curiosity—I needed a baseline for the Tower I would have to climb. I also wondered how my own strength would measure up here.
Of course, I had heard that Park Jocheol had rejected the knight’s guidance the moment he reached the first floor and started a massive fight, but I still wanted to confirm things for myself rather than rely on someone else’s experience.
“Begin!”
The moment Von Gregory gave the signal, the soldier at the front walked toward me with a relaxed grip on his sword.
“We may have come out in force, but we won’t stoop to attacking you all at once.”
Encouraged by the soldiers’ laughter, the man who stepped forward raised his blade.
“Haa!”
Then came the downward strike.
But I, who had been waiting with some tension, felt utterly let down.
What is this?
The attack was far too obvious. The very act of lifting the sword high and charging forward was practically screaming, I’m about to do a downward strike! Please dodge it nicely!
Naturally, I didn’t get hit.
Whoosh.
Yet from the other soldiers’ perspectives, the first man’s strike must have looked decent.
“Oh, he dodged that.”
“The rookie’s not bad.”
Even Von Gregory nodded, murmuring that I seemed somewhat useful. The sheer transparency of the attack left me frowning without realizing it.
“Tsk. Getting cocky after dodging one hit…”
Uh, no. I wasn’t getting cocky.
The fallen sword swept in diagonally, aiming for my chin. But once again—
Whoosh!
“Ooh! This is getting interesting!”
“Guess it wasn’t all bluff!”
It was still pathetic. I simply pulled my chin back slightly, and the blade brushed past my nose by a hair’s breadth. Of course, it only looked close from the outside; I had calculated the distance and evaded with minimal movement.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sword kept flying at me. Honestly, calling it “flying” felt too generous. The attacks were so predictable they made me wonder if he was going easy on me.
After this went on for some time, I grew disappointed by the chilled Fighting Spirit and finally launched my own attack.
Just a light tap to the side…
Shwaaaack!
CRASH!
“Gack!”
A horizontal swing with one hand. I hadn’t put any real thought into it, so I assumed he would block it easily. But the result was far too anticlimactic.
The soldier struck by my wooden sword was sent flying sideways. He clutched his ribs and crawled across the ground.
“Huh…?”
“What?”
When the first fighter went down without landing a single blow, the other soldiers stared at me in a daze. But I quickly spoke up, worried the spar would end too soon.
“Is this the level of the Tower’s first floor?”
It was a localized provocation meant to keep things going so I would have time to destroy the statue.
“Just come at me all at once. This is a waste of time.”
However, humans tend to freeze when faced with a shocking sight. Even my wide-area taunt failed to move them. So I used my trump card.
“Scared?”
“Uraaaaagh!”
“You’re dead!”
“This is for Derek!”
The legendary phrase no man could resist. The ugly revenge match that followed only ended once the statue of the child in the center was completely destroyed.
“Ughhh…”
“W-water… please…”
“Ow!”
Leaving behind the groans of the soldiers who had charged me first, Von Gregory looked at me with a bitter smile.
“Sir Gregory, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize there was a statue here.”
I apologized to Von Gregory while internally celebrating the success of my plan.
As I thought, he didn’t know either.
My hypothesis had been correct—those trapped in the illusion and steeped in brainwashing could not perceive the statue. The proof was how Von Gregory’s mouth had clamped shut the moment I claimed I hadn’t seen it. He clearly hadn’t noticed the statue himself, so what more could he say to me?
“No, it’s fine. It’s not as if a statue like this is necessary in the training grounds. Still… I suppose I must report this to my superiors.”
At his words, I widened my eyes.
“You’re going to report this?”
“……? Isn’t that obvious? It was made with the kingdom’s funds. For budget processing…”
He seemed genuinely confused why I would ask something so obvious. I offered my opinion as carefully as possible.
“No, I’m saying there’s no need to report that the statue was broken.”
“Hm?”
“You said yourself that you didn’t even know there was a statue here.”
“……That is true, but.”
I stared directly into his questioning eyes. Then, with the confidence of someone stating the obvious, I pressed my point. Bluffing was, after all, a battle of momentum.
“Then why report it at all?”
“What?”
“Think about it. Wouldn’t it be disloyal to bother His Majesty—who is so busy with state affairs—with news that a statue whose existence no one was even aware of has been damaged?”
“I-is that how it is?”
Von Gregory’s eyes darkened as his ears perked up. Ah, so you also find taking responsibility burdensome?
“Let us pretend this never happened, so the people’s taxes are not wasted. Why would a training ground need a statue anyway? It’s not as if its presence increases our national defense.”
“N-now that you mention it, you’re right!”
I glanced at the soldiers who were still rubbing their bruises. Everything I had just said was complete nonsense. What truly mattered was avoiding responsibility for the statue. For ordinary soldiers earning meager wages, damaging a luxury item belonging to the royal palace would be a bolt from the blue.
“I-it does seem that way!”
“I-I agree as well!”
“R-right! It was just taking up space…!”
Of course, I was the one who had smashed the statue, but the dozen-plus soldiers who had turned our spar into a brawl nodded furiously in agreement.
Just as the training ground grew noisy, Han Gamin—who had escaped her abnormal status after the statue’s destruction—whispered quietly.
“Working in HR at a major corporation really isn’t something just anyone can do.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Of course it is.”
At Han Gamin’s genuinely impressed expression, I shrugged and quietly slipped my hand into my pocket. My fingers brushed against the Memorial Piece that had come from the statue in the training ground. It was a bead far larger than the ones from the statues in my room. Like the previous two Memorial Pieces, the curse had already vanished from it. Now I only needed one more.
