Chapter 145: Lesser Relics and the Cleaner
KWAK!
A thick cloud of dust rose the mont I landed.
The sharp pain scraping my knees was a bonus.
Woooong—!
[You have cleared the “Disaster Response Breakthrough Training.”]
“Phew.”
They even simulated a full road collapse, despite using a subspace.
This academy really did operate on a different scale.
I handed the jointed mannequin on my back over to the waiting instructor.
“Here is the civilian.”
As the instructor manipulated a tablet, lines of light appeared across the mannequin’s surface.
Images of various body parts were displayed along with text.
It calculated the impact and showed which areas would have been injured, and how severely, if it had been a real human.
‘Ahem.’
It was a little embarrassing.
Bruises all over were a given, and sowhere along the way the ankle had twisted.
I thought I had carried it fairly safely, but apparently not quite.
“There was almost no impact from external factors.”
The instructor spoke while examining the data.
“However, you handled the civilian too roughly. Throwing them into the air, riding demonic beasts while carrying them on your back… injuries occurred during that process.”
The instructor’s expression was complicated.
The kind of face that said he was not sure where to even begin criticizing.
Then the overall tric was calculated.
[Survival Rate: 89%]
The confird survival rate was 89%, which was very high.
There were many injuries, but most were minor.
From the standpoint of survival, there was no major issue.
“Rember this. Your thod was dangerous. What if sothing had gone wrong after throwing the civilian? What if you had missed? Their life would have been at risk.”
“Yes, sir. I will keep that in mind.”
“Your score itself is good, but in a real situation, the civilian might protest being thrown, regardless of surviving.”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
I nodded without complaint.
It was not an entirely wrong criticism.
If it were a real person, emotional factors would matter as well.
I understood that much.
But understanding did not necessarily an agreeing.
‘To be blunt, they lived because of it.’
I did not think my choice had been perfect.
But I was certain it had been the safest option in that mont.
The survival rate proved that.
There was no point arguing further with the instructor, so I let it go.
Then, a clear yet oddly arrogant voice echoed in my mind.
[To be saved and yet argue over montary discomfort.]
It was the White Deer.
[The obstinacy of lesser beings. To value pride over life—how foolish.]
For the first ti today, I agreed with the White Deer.
That was exactly my point. If soone saved your life, you should be grateful. What was there to argue about?
In any case, both ti and survival rate placed
among the top perforrs.
The training concluded quite satisfactorily.
“Well done. It was an unconventional approach, but impressive nonetheless. If you wish, you may stay and observe later cadets. There is much to learn from watching others respond.”
“I will head back first.”
I bowed quickly and turned away.
I had no interest whatsoever in watching how others ran.
There was sothing far more important.
‘Ti to open the rewards I did not check.’
I had left rewards unexamined after exiting the Tower of Transcendence in a hurry.
Returning swiftly to my dorm room, I pulled out the hidden items.
[Random Lesser Relic Exchange Ticket x2]
Two bronze-colored tickets emitting a faint glow.
Rewards from clearing the First and Second Trials.
The targets were lesser relics and artifacts.
‘If it were a selection ticket, no problem. Random is a sha.’
Among lesser relics, so were useful and so were not.
A good pull could sell for more than mid-tier equipnt or be quite handy.
Bad luck could net sothing worse than items sold at a general shop.
Still, the odds were not terrible.
Most were passable.
[Use Random Lesser Relic Exchange Ticket? Y/N]
Of course I would use it.
Following the prompt, I tore the tickets apart.
Pa-at!
The two tickets scattered into sparkling dust, forming two shapes in midair.
[You have obtained the lesser relic “Steel Mountain Bear Hide Bracelet.”]
[You have obtained the lesser relic “Azure Willow Butterfly Necklace.”]
One was a thick, black leather bracelet.
The other was a necklace suffused with a clear blue glow.
[Steel Mountain Bear Hide Bracelet]
[Crafted using the hide of the Steel Mountain Bear, a phantasmal beast whose body is covered in muscles like steel. Increases the wearer’s defensive capability.]
[Azure Willow Butterfly Necklace]
[Contains the wings of the Azure Willow Butterfly, a phantasmal beast that feeds on pure dew and magic power deep in the forest. Increases magic power recovery speed when worn.]
‘These are decent.’
Rewards from the Tower of Transcendence tended to involve phantasmal beasts.
The tower itself was centered around beasts managed by the White Deer.
That was why so lesser relics were nothing more than decorative junk with little value.
I had avoided the worst-case scenario.
Even as lesser relics, relics were still relics.
I imdiately put on the Steel Mountain Bear Hide Bracelet.
‘Oh.’
The mont I wore it, my skin tightened.
This must have been how the defense boost applied.
Instead of an abstract increase in toughness, my skin itself had hardened.
I pinched the flesh on my forearm.
‘Tough… is that the word?’
The soft feeling was gone, replaced by a toughness like real bear hide.
There was even a springy resistance.
It felt like my outer skin had beco a protective layer.
This was how relics worked.
They carried mysterious power, though the exact chanism was unclear.
‘I should use this one myself.’
Selling the bracelet would not fetch much anyway.
There were plenty of items on the market that served similar purposes.
Even standard suits had built-in protection, and countless companies churned out defensive gear.
Since it was useful to , I might as well keep it.
Then the other one.
I picked up the Azure Willow Butterfly Necklace.
A cool fragrance brushed past my nose.
‘This one will sell for a decent price.’
I could not use it.
Boosting magic recovery was pointless when I had no magic pool to recover.
But the world was full of magic-using awakened individuals.
To them, a relic that increased magic recovery—especially a phantasmal-beast-type relic with minimal side effects—was sothing they could never have enough of.
‘Even as a lesser relic, it is valuable.’
The sales route was already prepared.
I opened my laptop and typed in a familiar address.
[Blind Auction]
An anonymous auction house operated by MacGuffin.
[Access authorization required.]
Normally, entering through standard routes was impossible.
But for , it was not a problem.
I took out my press badge and held it up to the screen.
It was scanned imdiately.
It was a strange position called “Cleaner,” but it still granted access to various MacGuffin systems.
[Identity verified.]
The ssage I had been waiting for appeared.
Confidently, I pressed the enter button.
Ding!
[Access denied.]
“What?”
My brow furrowed.
Access denied, out of nowhere? Why?
A mont later, another ssage appeared.
[Account access restricted.]
[Reason: Insufficient work quota.]
‘Quota?’
I stared blankly at the monitor.
An explanatory ssage appeared beneath it.
[MacGuffin]
[Recent cleaning activity insufficient.]
[To restore facility access privileges, perform “Contaminated Zone Cleanup.”]
[Remaining quota: 1 session.]
‘Ah.’
So cleaners had to clean.
I had forgotten that little detail.
***
[Entering “Erased Data Processing Facility.”]
‘Right now, seriously?’
I went straight to Zero Tis and logged into MacGuffin World.
I had wondered how to enter the facility—apparently, logging in simply abducted you straight here.
“Beep-beep!”
A sharp shout assaulted my ears.
A hedgehog wearing a cleaner uniform and armband spotted
and imdiately began pointing and yelling.
Roughly translated, it ant, “Why are you dawdling, you idiot! Move it!”
Strangely enough, ever since I gained the Cleaner class, I could understand the MacGuffin hedgehogs.
Cute SD hedgehog appearances paired with rough construction-site old-man speech—it was quite a sight.
Sighing, I looked around.
“Ugh.”
The mont I inhaled, my face twisted.
Under dim lighting, black filth oozed down damp walls.
A stench like sewage mixed with burning plastic filled the air.
In that revolting environnt, hedgehogs dressed like
bustled about with mops and tools.
At so point, a mop had appeared in my hands.
“Beep!”
With the foreman hedgehog’s shout of “Get moving,” I started scrubbing.
Splat—squelch—
Every ti the mop dragged across the floor, it made a wet, nauseating sound.
‘Ugh.’
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
To think the Cleaner class MacGuffin forced on
would co back to bite
like this.
‘Just let
use it. Would it kill you to let
do it for free?’
Grumbling, I scooped up black sludge pooled in a corner of the drain.
Apparently, maintaining auction access required performing this cleanup once a week.
A tenacious, damned system.
But there was no helping it.
I could not hawk relics on the street.
Pawn shops would lowball .
Official exchanges required confird identities, leaving records.
That left the black market, but getting involved there could lead to expulsion, not just trouble.
Compared to that, Blind Auction was ideal.
Fully legal, fully anonymous, low fees, no aftermath.
The only downside was the physical suffering.
‘Still, slling this every week is a bit much.’
Maybe I should just take so risks and use mimicry to go to the black market instead.
I was starting to seriously consider it.
As I scrubbed mindlessly—
‘…Huh?’
My hand froze while scooping sludge.
Among the sticky data residue, fragnts of text remained, not fully erased.
[…told them already. Picked up so scraps, but really…]
[Blind money, who would care anyway…]
‘Embezzlent?’
Picked up scraps. Blind money.
It reeked of corruption.
Clearly traces of hastily deleted data ant to erase evidence.
Co to think of it, this place had that setting.
When data was permanently deleted from servers connected to MacGuffin, the residue flowed here.
MacGuffin handled final erasure.
Once it passed through here, the information literally ceased to exist.
Which ant not only useless discarded data ended up here, but also information people desperately wanted gone.
‘Mostly dirty secrets of adults, I bet.’
Things they did not want audit teams or patrols to see.
I considered checking further, just in case it was useful—
[…funny…]
[…salvation…w…n…]
Unfortunately, the key proper nouns were already too corrupted.
There was no way to identify who was involved or which departnt it was.
“Damn it.”
I stood up and stretched, letting it go without hesitation.
‘Using dirt to manipulate others is cowardly anyway.’
I was not giving up just because it was hard—this was purely a matter of conscience.
Absolutely.
With the distraction over, I was about to return to cleaning—
Gurgle—
A disturbing sound ca from above.
Looking up, I saw an old drainage pipe overhead bulging violently, like a snake that had swallowed sothing.
“Wait—no way.”
A bad feeling struck—
PUWHAK!
With a deafening bang, the joint burst.
A waterfall of black, sticky filth poured straight down onto .
‘……’
From head to toe, drenched in sludge, I stared blankly into space.
As I said, I do not like swearing.
But sotis, situations make it impossible to hold back.
‘Damn it.’
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