Chapter 10: Preparation (1)

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 10: Preparation (1)

I woke up from a damp bed.

Tick. Tock.

[06:13]

I checked the time and found I’d woken up earlier than expected.

It seems yesterday’s promotion ceremony and my reflection in the mirror had quite an effect on me.

'...I need information, after all.'

Who was the owner of this body?

What was the ultimate goal of the head office?

Ultimately, I have no choice but to complete the promotion ceremony if I want to gather information.

'No, I shouldn’t think about that now.'

Instead of wasting time on unsolvable problems, it was wiser to consider how to grow stronger.

I got out of bed and stretched lightly.

Other than the fact that I hadn’t slept much, I didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable.

Although it was cold, the water was running, and when I opened the closet, there was always a change of clothes available.

After getting ready to head out, I walked into the waiting room.

The waiting room, which I reached after crossing the hallway, was empty.

Well, it was early in the morning, and after all, it was just yesterday.

We were given a full day of rest, so there was no reason for anyone to be in the waiting room.

I approached the stone slab and opened the administrator’s privileges.

Immediately, I opened the item shop.

[Shop (LV. 1)]

[Food]

- Hard bread and water (1 point)

- Soft bread and water (3 points)

- Cream bread and milk (5 points)

- Cheap sandwich (7 points)

[Available points: 70 points]

Food can only be obtained by consuming points.

'...I currently have around 70 points?'

I’d worked hard over the past two days, so I was willing to treat myself to some cream bread.

'Including myself, there are 12 people in total. That’s 60 points…'

This would use up nearly all my points for one meal, but that was fine.

There was magic that made idle employees voluntarily earn points.

I bought the food without hesitation.

[You have purchased cream bread and milk.]

[Remaining points: 10 points]

The bread and milk materialized in front of me.

Exactly 12 of each.

I sat down and ate one of them.

The cream tasted especially sweet since I had only been eating plain bread and water for the past three days after being placed here.

"Ah! Is that cream bread?!"

I turned my head at the familiar voice.

There stood Mari, eyes shining.

"Is this the food we’re going to eat today?"

"Yes. Come take one."

"Yay!"

Once given permission, Mari trotted over to me.

Then, she plopped down next to me.

"Thank you for the meal!"

Mari took a bite of the cream bread and widened her eyes in surprise.

[Mari’s loyalty has increased by 10.]

Seeing how much she enjoyed it, I thought it might be a good idea to build a cafeteria soon to improve employee welfare.

While I was thinking that...

[Training Grounds (LV. 1) have been unlocked.]

[Blacksmith (LV. 1) has been unlocked.]

The training grounds and blacksmith were unlocked.

I decided to check the blacksmith first.

[Blacksmith (LV. 1) - Inactive]

- There is no blacksmith assigned.

To use the blacksmith, we first need a blacksmith.

Since none of our staff had blacksmithing skills, we couldn’t operate the blacksmith for now.

But that was okay.

'We can just request it from the head office.'

Even though this was our first inspection, all our employees were already above rank 8.

Plus, we were managing two creatures.

With this, we sdre bound to leave a good first impression.

'As long as nothing has changed system-wise.'

Even if we couldn’t recruit a blacksmith, we could send a few employees to the head office to learn the skills.

So...

"Every employee’s qualitative growth is important..."

Mari, who was munching on her bread, mumbled at my words.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Never mind. It’s just something."

I waved my hand at Mari, who tilted her head in confusion.

'It's still too early to tell her about the head office.'

Mari glanced at me suspiciously but soon focused on eating her bread again.

Next, I checked the training grounds.

[Training Grounds (LV. 1)]

- Injuries do not heal here.

- Training in various skills is enhanced.

In the waiting room, all kinds of injuries are healed.

In contrast, in the training grounds, injuries don’t heal.

I remembered conducting various experiments with this feature in the past.

But the key point wasn’t that.

'The key is that training is enhanced.'

Skills can be divided into those gained innately and those acquired through practice.

Sixth sense and farsight fall under the former.

Weapon skills and crafting techniques fall under the latter.

'All employees need to possess skills.'

The training grounds offered better results than randomly swinging a sword or training recklessly.

'There’s nothing better than the training grounds to grow stronger quickly.'

The head office would be visiting in two days.

Before then, it was best to develop the company as much as possible.

Of course, I would need to confirm that the training grounds work the way I think they do...

"Administrator."

Mari, who had already finished her bread, smacked her lips with a hint of regret.

I thought she might ask for more bread, but that wasn’t it.

"That new creature over there, that’s a kobold warlord, right? Do we need to manage it?"

Mari pointed to a newly erected building beside the [Kobold Assault].

Though she seemed carefree, she was surprisingly observant.

She had already grasped the general workings of this place.

'She’s quick-witted.'

To resolve Mari’s curiosity, I decided to give her a bit of information.

"No need. Our weapons don’t work on kobold warlord anyway."

The warrior’s skill is a tough body.

Weapons of D-rank or lower don’t affect it at all.

Mari had experienced it as well, so she knew exactly what I was talking about.

"That’s true."

"So, until I get some good-grade weapons, I’ll just leave it alone."

"...Wait, is it okay to leave it like that?"

Of course, it wasn’t okay.

An unattended creature will eventually escape.

If a creature we can’t handle manages to escape, it could cause significant damage to the company.

For biological creatures, if they were not managed, they usually escaped after two or three days.

‘A day has passed already, so it’ll try to escape in as early as two days.'

Or in three days at the latest.

However, I wasn’t worried.

"I’ve already taken all the necessary precautions. Don’t worry about it."

If it escaped in two days, I’ll just push the responsibility onto the employees sent from headquarters.

Even if it escaped in three days, it would be fine.

‘By that time, I’ll have already secured weapons good enough for the Kobold Warrior.’

I didn’t achieve world rank #1 for nothing.

I stood up.

Mari followed suit.

"Huh? Administrator, where are you going?"

"Ah, I’m heading to the new training ground."

Mari pointed to the cream buns lying on the floor and asked,

"Then, what about these cream buns? Are you just going to leave them here?"

Sure, if I leave them here, some of the employees might end up starving.

But waiting around for the employees to show up would be the pinnacle of inefficiency.

‘Hmm, isn’t there any reliable employee…?’

An employee who wouldn’t rebel against me and was trustworthy…

…

There is.

-Swish.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

When I lifted my head, Mari was smiling brightly.

I smiled back and patted her on the shoulder.

"You can stand guard. One bun per employee, okay?"

For a moment, Mari’s gaze wavered.

"Huh... what?! But, I also have my personal time, you know?"

Of course, I didn’t say there would be no compensation.

"If you guard them well, I’ll buy you an extra cream bun."

I said that as I bought more cream buns.

Mari immediately stood at attention when she saw the cream bun in my hand.

"I will guard this place! You can leave with peace of mind!"

It felt a bit like leaving the fish to a cat, but she was smarter than she looked, so she would probably handle it well.

Probably.

I handed Mari the cream bun and milk and headed off.

The training ground wasn’t far from the waiting room.

[Training Ground (LV. 1)]

The training ground was larger than I expected when I opened the door and entered.

In one corner, there were practice swords and straw dolls for training.

[All physical and mental growth will accelerate.]

I closed the message that popped up in front of me.

‘Alright, what should I test first?’

Even though it said growth would accelerate, I needed to experience it myself to see what kind of effect it would have.

‘The limit for a 7th level was 39...’

In that case, checking the physical stats, which grow the fastest, made sense.

I moved to the center of the training ground.

Before getting serious, a light stretch was necessary.

Not that I knew how to stretch properly, so I just gave my body a quick shake.

Then I got down on the floor and started doing push-ups.

"Nineteen... twenty."

Even after doing 20, my body felt light.

I rested for about 30 seconds and then went straight into the next set.

"Twenty-nine... thirty."

Despite increasing the number, it was still manageable.

‘If this were my old body, my arms should be shaking by now…’

I didn’t know what kind of physical law was at work here.

One thing was clear: here, anyone, regardless of age or gender, could become stronger.

After doing push-ups, squats, and other bodyweight exercises for a few hours…

Ding-

[Strength +1]

Finally, the message I was waiting for appeared.

"It’s definitely effective."

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and sat down on the floor.

‘Training in the waiting room didn’t seem to do anything...’

But here, my physical abilities improved effectively.

I think I have an idea why.

‘In the waiting room, injuries heal quickly, don’t they?’

Muscles grow through the process of tearing and healing.

You can't tear your muscles if you train in the waiting room.

"Time to head out and let my body recover, I suppose."

My body was exhausted, so it was time to go outside, recover, and come back for more training...

Just as I was about to stand up with that thought in mind.

[Khan's loyalty has increased by 10.]

[Yon's loyalty has increased by 10.]

[Hyeok's loyalty has increased by 10…]

[Tommy’s loyalty…]

The employees' loyalty had increased.

‘They must have finally returned to the waiting room.’

These messages were proof that everything had gone smoothly.

‘All that effort of giving them hard bread paid off.’

Now that they’ve tasted the cream, they’ll never go back to that hard bread.

[Sixth Sense has been activated.]

As my skill activated, I sensed movement near the entrance to the training ground.

At least five.

No, maybe more.

‘Well, well?’

They probably had nothing better to do and wandered toward the new building.

But since I was training inside, it seemed they didn’t dare enter.

‘This is perfect.’

No need to go looking for the employees.

I seized the moment and muttered to myself, making sure my voice reached the entrance.

"Ah, this is a problem. If all the employees rest today, I won’t have enough points..."

I heard murmuring from outside.

They took the bait.

I deliberately paused and waited a bit.

Then, after what seemed like the right amount of time, I muttered again.

"Looks like we’ll have to eat hard bread for a while longer."

As soon as I finished speaking—

Bang!

The door to the training ground flew open.

It was Khan and the other employees.

"Administrator! We… We have nothing to do. Can you please give us some work?"

Their expressions weren’t exactly eager to work.

It made it seem like they were being forced to ask.

I tried to hide my smirk and waved my hand dismissively.

"Oh? No, no. You guys should rest. I told you to rest."

I’m someone who sticks to my word.

But if they insist on working…

Well, I won’t stop them.

But I hope they understand one thing.

"Administrator! It’s just… time is passing so slowly. Please, let us work."

Khan and the others approached me and knelt down.

Some even grabbed onto my pants.

I reluctantly pretended to give in and encouraged them.

"Ah… well, you’re right. There’s not much to do. So, you really want to work?"

"Yes!"

I clearly told them to rest.

But they’re the ones voluntarily asking to work.