The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 212

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 212. Challenge Mode (1)
After ascending to this new position as a Special Candidate—a title I’d never heard of before—
Elisha and I stepped out of the Headmaster’s Office.
“Dale, do you have any other appointments after this?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Excellent. How fortunate.”
Elisha’s eyes sparkled as she nodded her head.
“Is there somewhere you’d like to go?”
“Didn’t the Headmaster mention that he’d prepared a new Party Training Facility? If you’re willing, I think it would be good to visit it beforehand.”
“Oh, I’d be happy to.”
I’d been curious about what level of facility the Party Training Facility would be, built with the latest equipment.
“Follow me.”
Elisha walked ahead briskly, then suddenly stopped in her tracks and glanced around.
Classes had already ended, and the sun was setting.
There were hardly any people moving about the Academy.
“Hmm.”
Elisha turned to look at me and extended her hand.
“…You want to hold hands?”
“Now that I think about it, I realize I haven’t held hands with you very often.”
I suppressed a chuckle as I watched Elisha continue speaking, her hand still extended.
Gently.
When I took her hand, a soft warmth spread through me.
Elisha seemed quite pleased with that warmth, a faint smile appearing at the corners of her lips as she turned her body while holding my hand.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Following Elisha, we arrived at the Party Training Facility.
A three-story building that boasted quite an impressive scale, befitting its purpose as a facility for parties.
‘So our party will use this exclusively.’
Currently, there were seven people maintaining a close enough relationship to know about my past life: Iris, Yurina, Camilla, Sophia, Lanez, Berald, and Elisha.
Even including acquaintances like Juliet and Albert, we didn’t reach ten people.
‘It’s certainly spacious enough—more than enough for just us to use.’
Well, spacious was far better than cramped.
“First, let’s register your access permit.”
Elisha manipulated the lock mechanism at the building’s entrance.
Ding.
[Candidate Dale Han is set with ‘Party Leader’ authority.]
When I activated my Hero Watch and held it to the lock mechanism, a clear chiming sound rang out, and the registration was complete.
“With this, you can grant access permits to whoever you wish.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s rightful compensation for your legitimate authority, isn’t it?”
Elisha shrugged and stepped into the Party Training Facility.
The construction had already been completed, and the interior gleamed with such pristine polish that it practically sparkled.
“This is the main Training Ground.”
Click.
The corridor opened into a Training Ground so expansive it made the Private Training Ground look like a closet by comparison.
It was spacious enough to accommodate the superhuman exertion of heroes without any constraints whatsoever.
Or rather, to be honest, it was almost excessively vast even accounting for that.
“It’s larger than I expected.”
“Normally, at least four or more Parties would use this space simultaneously. When we officially open, we’ll install dividing walls to partition the space for separate use.”
Ah, I see.
No wonder it felt a bit excessive.
“There are also Party training facilities here. Would you like to take a look?”
“Sure.”
“It’s a training artifact crafted with the Republic’s latest technology.”
As Elisha activated the power to the artifact mounted on the wall, holographic demon beasts materialized in the center of the Training Ground.
They possessed such vivid, lifelike movement that it was difficult to believe they were merely holographic projections.
Of course, there were inevitably translucent sections visible in places, but even so, this far surpassed the level of any training artifact currently in use.
“Grrrrowwwl!”
A ferocious roar reverberated through the expansive Training Ground.
“Does it even reproduce the sound?”
“Indeed. They’ve incorporated specialized acoustic equipment to recreate the creatures’ roars, allowing for training that more closely mirrors actual combat.”
“…That’s incredible.”
Naturally, I’d never used such equipment in my previous life, nor had I even known of its existence, so I found myself all the more captivated.
“From what I hear, it can even recreate the movements of a Ten-Eyed Demon Beast at maximum difficulty.”
“At that level, it would certainly be beneficial training for our Party’s current abilities.”
“Would you like to experience it firsthand?”
“Well, it’s not a bad idea, but…”
Honestly, at my current level, a Ten-Eyed Demon Beast wouldn’t provide much training value.
Especially not when it’s merely a holographic counterfeit.
“Heh heh. But there’s a special mode designed specifically for you, Dale.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s called Challenge Mode—apparently the Republic’s engineers created it half as a joke.”
“But you just said the maximum difficulty was a Ten-Eyed Demon Beast?”
“That’s only the maximum difficulty for ‘recreating’ existing creatures.”
Elisha’s lips curved into a sly smile as she continued.
“Beyond that lies the realm of ‘creation’ rather than ‘recreation.'”
“Ah.”
In other words.
Rather than recreating the movements of demon beasts that actually exist in reality, they’ve arbitrarily implemented creatures that exist only in the designers’ imaginations?
“That does sound intriguing.”
To think I actually created a Demon Beast that could only exist in imagination.
I found myself curious about just how absurd the creature I’d made truly was.
“Hehe. Well then, go ahead and tour the other facilities first, then give it a try.”
“Understood.”
“If Dale passes the Challenge Mode… hmm, yes. I’ll grant you a ‘special reward.'”
Elisha’s eyes sparkled as she wore a meaningful smile.
“What kind of reward?”
“It wouldn’t be fun if I told you everything from the start, would it?”
Elisha shrugged and turned her body away.
“Follow me. I’ll show you the 2nd Floor.”
The 2nd Floor of the Training Ground was equipped with chairs and tables that could seat several people, along with simple cooking facilities.
“The 2nd Floor is a break area. You can prepare light meals if you just buy ingredients from the Convenience Store.”
“That’s nice.”
I’d always found it tedious to pack lunch boxes or make trips to the Cafeteria, so this was convenient.
“And one more thing.”
When Elisha manipulated a device on the table, an image appeared on the wall of the break area.
“This is… the 1st Floor Training Ground, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
Elisha nodded and continued speaking.
“The 2nd Floor is equipped with facilities that allow you to watch and analyze training footage recorded from the 1st Floor Training Ground.”
“Oh, this is really excellent?”
After training, my Party members and I could gather on the 2nd Floor to watch the footage and discuss our shortcomings and areas for improvement.
“Well then, let’s head back down now.”
“Huh? What about the 3rd Floor?”
“The 3rd Floor is still empty—no equipment has been installed yet.”
“I see.”
So construction wasn’t completely finished.
“Later, it might be good to think with your Party members about what kind of facilities to set up on the 3rd Floor.”
“Haha. I’ll think about that later. By the way….”
As I looked around the 2nd Floor, I realized there was one essential facility missing from the Training Ground.
“Where are the Shower Room and Changing Room?”
Since this was a training facility, a Shower Room and Changing Room were absolutely necessary.
“Hehehe. I was just about to show you that.”
“Ah, so they’re in the basement, I take it.”
“Correct.”
But why would they put the Shower Room and Changing Room in the basement?
It was standard practice to build them on the same floor as the Training Ground for convenience.
“Hmm.”
Elisha wore a meaningful smile as she watched me tilt my head in confusion.
“You’ll understand once you see it directly. Why I’ve prepared shower facilities in the basement.”
“…?”
I descended to Basement Level 1 following Elisha.
The moment I arrived in the basement, what greeted me was a division into male and female sections….
“A Hot Spring?”
Are you serious?
They’d built a Hot Spring beneath the Training Ground?
“It’s not a true Hot Spring, despite the name. It’s just a Bathhouse where water is heated for bathing.”
“…Is that why it was built underground, Professor?”
Now that I thought about it, I’d heard something like this before.
Water was far heavier than one might imagine, so most bathing facilities were constructed underground.
“Well? Are you satisfied with this?”
“It’s beyond satisfactory, Professor.”
A sprawling Training Ground with cutting-edge equipment, comfortable rest areas, and a Hot Spring.
This facility was so luxurious it could rival the training grounds used by top-tier active heroes without any shame.
“Yurina would absolutely love this if she saw it.”
Yurina had something of a training addiction about her, so seeing this facility would surely make her eyes light up.
“Hmm.”
Upon hearing Yurina’s name, Elisha’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Speaking of which, how has Yurina been lately?”
“Pardon?”
“I haven’t heard anything about her since the incident.”
“Ah.”
Now that she mentioned it, Elisha had been too busy conducting the aftermath investigation to know what had happened with Yurina since then.
I cleared my throat awkwardly.
I offered an uncomfortable smile.
“Well… she’s doing well. She’s overcome the trauma from her first kill quite nicely.”
“Hmm.”
Quite nicely, I said.
Elisha’s eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.
“Has she?”
“Pardon?”
“Playing dumb again, are we? Look, this time—did you actually do it properly?”
“No.”
She was being far too direct.
“It’s just that….”
“Don’t tell me you couldn’t even take the opportunity I handed you on a silver platter?”
“….”
It was true.
The fact that I could connect with Yurina this time was because Elisha had stepped in personally and actively set the stage for it.
“Well, it worked out. Thanks to you, Professor.”
“Hmm… is that so?”
Professor Elisha frowned, seeming uncomfortable about something.
“What’s wrong?”
“No… well, it’s not my place to say anything, given that I set this up.”
Professor Elisha averted her gaze from me slightly, her tone turning curt.
“Seeing Dale’s vacant expression just twists my insides for some reason.”
“….”
Wait, when did she push me forward? And now she’s like this?
“In that sense… let me tell you what that ‘special reward’ I mentioned earlier is.”
She drew closer to me and whispered near my ear.
“If Dale successfully completes the Challenge Mode, I’ll let you experience the Hot Spring facilities directly today.”
Of course.
“With me, that is.”
Professor Elisha smiled mischievously as she spoke those words.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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