TSDSE 14

Chapter 14: Killing Two Birds with One Stone (3)

Yuhwa returned immediately after handing me the item.

She said she had another interview at nine.

That must be exhausting.

Being a guild master really isn’t something just anyone can do.

With that thought, I opened the carrier Yuhwa had given me.

“…Oh ho. Look at that color.”

The Tiger’s Gauntlets, with yellow and black interwoven exquisitely in a way that literally evoked the image of a fierce tiger, caught my eye.

The Tiger’s Gauntlets, named after the Tiger clan—which possessed superior destructive power and reflexes among the beastfolk—were ancient artifacts that achieved a perfect balance between attack and defense.

Naturally, only beastfolk could wear them, and they were a [Ancient Artifact/B+ Rank] item, positioned in the upper-middle tier among ancient artifacts.

Wasn’t World Tree’s Blessing exactly this grade?

The physical ability enhancement was also roughly similar to World Tree’s Blessing.

As special options, they had [Beast’s Roar] and [Wild Instinct].

I don’t remember the detailed option values beyond that.

Since [Ancient Artifact/B Rank] and [Normal/S Rank] are expressed as having similar performance, this could be considered a superior item to the sword Pi Jinho showed as an example—[Key of the Six Worlds/S Rank].

Anyway, it’s just an insanely amazing item.

…Even if I can only use it for one minute.

“…Sh—cough.”

A curse almost slipped out without my meaning it to.

Still, I can gain one of the beastfolk’s traits.

Let’s think positively.

In the future, I’m the winner.

No, I might not even need to wait for the future.

Who knows, honestly?

Whether I’ll gain an excellent racial trait like [Blessing of the Beast King], which elite beastfolk warriors commonly possessed,

Or [Bloodline], which catfolk artisans possessed.

“…Should I just wear it now?”

If I just obtained it, it would be a real life reversal.

I’d be able to shout, “To hell with the status window!”

“No. No. Let’s get a grip.”

I overcame my desire somehow.

The beastfolk have more than ten traits that I remember.

Among them, there are also bizarre traits like [Keen Sense of Smell].

If I wore the Tiger’s Gauntlets right here and ended up with a useless trait like [Keen Sense of Smell], I might be seized by the urge to kill myself.

And I can’t exactly carry around these massive gauntlets as insurance all the time.

If this world had an inventory or subspace, maybe, but there’s nothing like that.

I can’t carry around this huge carrier everywhere either.

It’s inappropriate as insurance in many ways.

Then what should I do with these Tiger’s Gauntlets?

“The answer is the creative economy.”

I’ll put in ancient artifacts and eat ancient artifacts.

I have knowledge from the novel.

Naturally, I also know the locations of ruins where ancient artifacts slumber.

The problem was that I had no means to conquer these ruins.

How could an F-rank clear a dungeon designed for an overpowered protagonist?

But now the story is different.

I have the Tiger’s Gauntlets.

Gauntlets that grant power comparable to a B-rank Superhuman for one minute.

Using the power of these gauntlets, I can conquer the ruins near Seoul called the ‘Golden Sanctuary.’ If it’s me, it’s possible.

And with the ancient artifacts obtained from that ruin, I conquer another ruin.

Repeat this infinitely.

Doing so, traits will spring up like mushrooms after rain.

“Perfect.”

It’s a truly perfect plan.

* * *

For now, I decided to postpone conquering the ruins. No, I had no choice but to postpone it.

Conquering ruins requires at least a full day.

Weekdays are impossible because of classes.

I had no choice but to set the date for the weekend to conquer the ruins.

Therefore, I set the conquest date for Saturday, three days away.

“I’ll make a brief announcement before starting class.”

Before Wednesday’s class began, Pi Jinho spoke up, saying he had an announcement to deliver.

“As you all know, starting next Monday, the ranking battles will begin.”

So the ranking battles are finally starting.

“The first ranking tally used the simulator. Using ability test data and analyzed data from the previous sparring.”

At the instructor’s words, complaints burst out from the surroundings.

“What?”

“I was really slacking off back then!”

“How can you do that!”

Pi Jinho smirked at the complaints.

“This is merely the result of running a simulation. In the end, everyone will find their rightful place, so don’t complain too much.”

Every word was correct.

Those who rise by luck eventually find their place and fall.

“Then I’ll announce the ranking results.”

With Pi Jinho’s words, the rankings appeared on each tablet PC.

“Ooh!”

“Whoa!”

At that moment, exclamations erupted from everywhere.

“The first-year overall rank 1 is Cadet Shin Jia. She achieved overwhelming victories against all students in the sparring simulator.”

[Rank 1: Shin Jia]

Shin Jia’s name was at the very top.

“Ah, and there’s one more rank 1 in our class.”

A familiar name was also at the very bottom.

“Kang Seoyul. Congratulations. You’re rank 1 from the bottom.”

[Rank 498: Kang Seoyul]

My name.

“…Should I be happy about this?”

I made a bemused expression.

“Cadet Kang Seoyul’s archery and dagger skills are outstanding. But in the end, those absurdly low stats held you back.”

As expected.

“I analyzed the data from the spar with Cadet Choi Jihoon, and the result was that with Cadet Kang Seoyul’s current strength, you can barely deal any damage to cadets with Durability C or above. Because of that, you lost every simulation. The fact that your stamina is F-rank also played a part.”

Every word struck my bones.

“Kik kik.”

“With my durability, I could fight that one with my eyes closed.”

Oh yeah?

Keep them closed, then.

I’ll pierce your groin.

“How can the two top scorers be such polar opposites?”

“Why~ They’re both rank 1, aren’t they?”

The surrounding cadets’ pitying gazes turned toward me.

“…”

Grrrr—

At that moment, Shin Jia’s murderous gaze swept toward the surrounding cadets.

“Kuhm.”

Under that chilling gaze, everyone quietly turned their heads away.

Once the gazes toward me disappeared, Shin Jia beamed brightly at me.

Her expression was like a puppy asking, “Did I do well? Please tell me I did well!”—so I couldn’t help but smile.

‘Thank you.’

When I mouthed my thanks, Shin Jia’s smile grew even brighter.

Honestly, I wasn’t offended by the other students’ gazes.

I would have acted the same as them.

They’re all gentle souls aspiring to be Superhumans, so there was no outright criticism.

Rather, it filled me with motivation.

They’ll get crushed by an all-F-rank in the ranking battles and think, “Ah. I shouldn’t have run my mouth back then~”

You’re all dead.

“You’ve got good eyes.”

Instructor Pi Jinho looked at me with an amused smile.

“?”

Why is he looking at me like that?

“Then, lastly, I’ll announce the scheduled sparring dates for the ranking battles.”

The tablet PC screen changed.

I scanned through the ranking battle schedule packed from next Monday onward.

Where am I?

I found my name immediately.

And for good reason, my name was—

[Monday, April 27, 2021, 12:30 PM]

[Rank 498: Kang Seoyul VS Rank 497: Kim Minhyuk]

—at the very top.

…I’m first?

* * *

Wednesday, after classes ended.

I was training in a private training room.

Or perhaps it’s more accurate to call it an experiment rather than training.

*Sweeeesh!*

The sound of an arrow cutting through the air rang out as it embedded itself between the eyes of a dummy.

[Training has ended.]

With the end, the training ground AI’s voice rang out.

[Maximum range: 2,472m. Accuracy: 100%. Overall evaluation score: 10/10]

The elf racial trait ‘Guardian of the Bow’ seems to be functioning normally.

“Then next…”

It was time to test ‘Path of the Wind.’

I drew the dagger from my waist and gripped it. At that moment, the World Tree tattoo turned red.

“As expected.”

As I suspected, Path of the Wind appears to be a trait that only activates when holding a dagger.

I had expected this, since the elves with this trait in the novel all used daggers.

Now that I know the activation condition, it’s time to check its power.

“I’ll change the training mode.”

[Please select a training mode.]

“Monster extermination mode.”

[Changing to monster extermination mode.]

With those words, the training room began to transform.

[Please set the monster type and number.]

“One Blood Wolf.”

Blue light slowly coalesced and began taking the form of a one-meter wolf.

“Its teeth are like blades.”

Blood Wolf.

The most common monster inhabiting Seoul, a canine monster that travels in packs of at least five to ten. Not particularly strong.

[Would you like to begin training?]

“Ah, before that, could you lower its durability to about E-rank?”

[Durability rank E. Applied.]

“Okay. Then begin.”

At that moment, life returned to the blurry eyes of the Blood Wolf.

“Grrrrr!”

It even drooled.

That’s fake, right?

It’s so realistic.

I won’t actually die if I get bitten, right?

With such idle thoughts, I gripped the sword—not too tightly.

*Ziiing—*

At that moment, distortion occurred in my vision again.

The scene I saw when sparring with Choi Jihoon.

Back then I was too flustered to understand what it was, but now I know.

I am currently reading the ‘Path of the Wind.’

“Grrrrr!”

With the beast’s roar, the wind split left and right.

The Blood Wolf must have charged, causing the wind to change direction.

Judging by the movement of the wind, it’s not that fast.

*Whoooosh—*

At that moment, the wind blew.

A wind different from the natural kind—an anomalous wind.

It was showing me the path I should take in red.

This is the Path of the Wind.

Read the wind, grasp the optimal movement, and instantly present the response.

I moved my body and dagger in sequence along the path indicated by the red.

*Fwoooosh!*

It was merely three steps of movement.

It was merely a single thrust.

[Vital point hit. Target confirmed dead.]

[Training has ended.]

That light motion led the Blood Wolf to death in a single strike.

“…Really?”

Of course, I had set its durability to E.

With my strength, I wouldn’t have been able to pierce the Blood Wolf’s hide, so it was an unavoidable choice.

Anyway, the important thing is that I dealt with a Blood Wolf—whose stats would have been unchanged except for durability—in a single strike.

Path of the Wind is seriously overpowered.

Even with the penalty of only activating when holding a dagger,

With this level of performance, it’s more than worth it.

[Would you like to continue training?]

“No. Let me rest a bit.”

[Transitioning to standby mode.]

I plopped down on the floor.

“Ah. Out of breath.”

Is there any way to do something about this pathetic stamina?

Catching my breath, I reviewed today’s experiment results.

The trait ‘Guardian of the Bow’ obtained from [World Tree’s Blessing] is a racial trait that greatly increases bow proficiency when holding a bow and provides movement bonuses while moving.

The trait ‘Path of the Wind’ obtained from [Forest’s Tranquility] is a type of dagger technique that allows one to read the path of the wind when holding a dagger.

And I learned one more thing.

‘When the second trait activates, the tattoo’s color changes.’

From green to red.

That’s not all.

Looking closely, the tattoo’s shape had changed slightly.

If the previous tattoo was like a withered tree, the current tattoo had fuller leaves and was more lustrous.

It must gradually change each time I acquire a trait from the same race.

For now, I’ve grasped the traits.

Then next is time to experiment with my ability.

I opened the box Shin Jia had handed me.

What happens when I hold a normal item without race restrictions for a long time?

That was the experiment to find out.

Judging coolly, I doubt anything will happen.

It’ll probably just show an error after one minute and end.

And for good reason—there’s nothing to gain from normal items.

Just because an item has a high strength requirement doesn’t mean my strength will increase.

Of course, if that happened, it would be a jackpot, but…

“That can’t be.”

I set aside my expectations and grabbed a random item from the box.

A necklace with ornate decorations.

“Could you start a timer?”

[Timer activated.]

[00:01]

Now I just need to wait one minute.

Ready to throw it away the moment an error appears.

[00:53]

I waited while bracing for pain.

[00:59]

And now, preparing to throw the item—

[01:10]

Huh?

“…?”

But contrary to my expectations, astonishingly, nothing happened.

[02:11]

Still, just in case, I decided to keep holding it.

Maybe the timing was different.

[10:38]

Ten minutes passed like that.

[20:21]

Even after twenty minutes, the item remained quiet.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Could it be that normal items don’t have a wearing time limit?’

I stared intently at the necklace in my hand.

…Really?