《VRMMORPG: Heart of the Phantom Thief》 Login Diary Entry 1-1: (Author''s note: HI everyone~! It''s me again, Sora Sensei. While I have managed to make no progress on my other novel, I have decided to add this new one because it has helped me get a bit of my mojo back...or rather, it seemed to write itself, when all''s said and done. Also, quick warning-in case you didn''t read- this is a comedy ROMANCE. So, beware of pink flowers floating in the background. I hope you can enjoy this new story, although it may update even slower than the last one...perhaps once a month, or so. That being said, please enjoy~! end of author''s note) A bright light met my eyes as I found myself floating in a white space. Looking around, I was disoriented for a bit, before a twinkling sound brought my eyes back in front of me, and I drew back quickly in surprise. Not two inches from my face, a handsome bishounen was staring into my eyes, a contemplative look upon his face. He had long dark brown hair, and sharp eyebrows, kind of like a wuxia novel character. He was dressed all in a pristine silken white outfit with teal accents from the middle of his neck to the bottom of his boots. His dark eyes were bright with curiosity. Two golden bells hung from a red cord tied about his waist.
Upon awakening in this realm, you have been greeted by a super handsome person~! Lu-cky~ +5 luck
A window popped up in front of me. After glancing it over, I waved it aside. While I wasn¡¯t really trying to get additional luck, I would not reject free status points, after all. ¡°Hmmmm¡­¡± The Wuxia Bishie made a noncommittal sound. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure I like you, seeing as you don¡¯t look too bright¡­but lucky for you that the intelligence stat is not limited by appearances. It should be fine, I suppose, so long as you can smarten up.¡± He leaned back, a confident grin on his face. You! Who are you! Who is this B****! I wanted to yell out, but didn¡¯t. Instead, I calmed myself as I returned tit for tat. ¡°I thought the AID this time would be female.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. For future reference, AID stands for Artificial Intelligence Delegate. The AID is the personal AI helper that one receives upon first logging into the game. It cannot be changed or traded with other AIDs until the character has reached at least the base level of 250. ¡°What? People can¡¯t have male AIDs, is that it?¡± He asked, offended. My mind twitched at the un-intended reference to an old twenty-first century illness. Real mature, me. I chided myself. He sighed with a rather aggravating know-it-all look on his face, shaking his head condescendingly. ¡°My dear girl, haven¡¯t you ever heard of the term ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯?¡± ¡°So what if I¡¯ve heard of it? What has that got to do with this?¡± I growled, feeling insulted by this AI¡¯s know-it-all smarty-pants-ness. He paused. ¡°How shall I say this in a way that your puny brain can comprehend? A few days ago, it was day one of the arriving heroes in training, correct?¡± Actually, because of the time differences in the game, with a 1:8 time ratio, the official opening of the game was at midnight, six hours before she had logged on, but it would roughly translate into two days in game, yes. ¡°What about it?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, within the first twenty-four hours in-game, the option of choosing the gender of your AI was available. And do you know what each and every player chose?¡± The blood drained from my face as I realized. ¡°You don¡¯t mean-¡± He grinned wickedly. ¡°Yes. It seems you¡¯re not as dull-witted as I had first thought, if a bit slow. Every single beginner hero or heroine chose a female AID: sixty million players with female AIDs. Not a single male in the mix, either, mind you. Therefore, in order for there to be a balance of genders, after the time limit was up, and until the great imbalance was fixed, every AID after that would have to be of male gender. The rules are quite clear on this.¡± I cursed my misplaced enthusiasm. The headgear had arrived the day before, but unfortunately, in the haste to get everything set up, the game chip was misplaced, or so I thought. But after waking up in the morning to use the bathroom, I had realized that the game case was inside my youngest brother¡¯s overalls. That cheeky little toddler! He probably grabbed it while we were occupied and stuffed it into the front pocket. I only noticed the suspicious bulge in the clothing after I had come out of the bathroom. It was a good thing that it was still inside its childproof plastic cover. I shuddered to think of what would have happened had he wrecked the game chip. Having finally found it, I was so eager to start the game that I had unwittingly fallen into this predicament. Now what should I do? Login Diary Entry 1-2: Darn my reckless enthusiasm! I once more chided myself. I swallowed my resentment down and asked a question. ¡°But, I don¡¯t understand. If it was a simple question of gender, then why was it such a big deal? Is there any difference between the service of a male AID and a female AID?¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked! It is apparent to me now that your brain cells have not quite ceased working yet.¡± He replied with a smirk. I struggled to keep from rolling my eyes. Can you just stop with the insults and continue the explanation, please!? He seemed to sense my impatience. ¡°The female AID has several functions that are different from the male AID. One of them is the ability to turn into a piece of equipment, such as angel wings that bestow flight, a magic wand that reduced mp costs for spells, or a learning weapon which would grow along with the owner. Another is a passive increase by 5% in gaining the goodwill of the townsfolk, as well as a 10% increase in the likelihood of obtaining a powerful pet.¡± My liver almost turned green with envy when I heard this. Learning weapons are the kind of thing most gamers drool over. Since they grow with the owner, there is no need to keep searching for new weapons. Instead, one can just focus upon leveling up and finishing quests. The passive increase and likelihood weren¡¯t bad either. But, surely there was something the male aid could do that balanced things out on my end, right? I looked expectantly at my AID. ¡°Wow. That sure does sound pretty sweet.¡± I said. ¡°But surely, there are things that only the male AID can do which would make them a desirable companion as well, right?¡± Seeing how he was so high on his horse, I promptly used my go-to method for dealing with narcissists: empty flattery. The AI inclined his head graciously. ¡°Good. I can see that your head is on straight. There are indeed functions which only the male AIDs are able to initiate. First, instead of becoming a piece of equipment, we can directly aid you in battle, although our level will only be as high as yours.¡± Like a kind of doppleganger? That doesn¡¯t sound too bad. I thought to myself. But, my hopes were dashed with his next sentence. ¡°However, to balance this, those who have male AIDs are 50% less likely to be able to capture a pet. Moreover, the male AIDs cannot assist you forever. There is a time limit. Before you approach the limit, if you toggle our assist off, then time will slowly be added back to the assist summons. The more you level up, the longer we can help you, but when the time limit is reached, or if we are defeated, then we are placed under God¡¯s protection dome and you cannot summon our help for one hundred minutes. ¡° I did some quick calculations. ¡°But, wait, that¡¯s an hour and forty minutes!¡± I replied. NOOO! NOT MY FLUFFIES!!!! I inwardly cried. Well, it only said by 50%, right? I should be grateful it¡¯s not 100%. There¡¯s still a chance, my pets! He nodded, laughing a bit through his nose. ¡°Yes, yes it is. But I know that time flows differently where you come from, so let me help your slow brain along. It¡¯s only an hour and forty minutes in this world. In your own world, it would be roughly about twelve minutes.¡± What was that about my brain!? I¡¯ll let you know I¡¯m a straight A-minus high school student, you know! I retorted in my head. Blinking, I realized that his face was super close again, observing me with unblinking half-closed eyes. I flinched backwards, ¡°Wha-what are you doing?¡± I asked, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under his stare. Then he poked my forehead. ¡°Don¡¯t frown. It reflects badly upon me. And the perfect me should not ever be seen as anything less than perfect!¡± I was speechless for a moment. I¡¯ll frown when I freaking want to frown! I thought as I set an even deeper frown on my face just to make my point. He floated backwards with a sigh. ¡°Suit yourself.¡± A small blue bird flew over and perched upon his shoulder, chirruping into his ear. He inclined his head sideways as if he could understand it... After delivering its message, the blue bird flitted away out of sight. ¡°It seems you are more lucky than you realize.¡± He said. ¡°The immortals that reside in the higher worlds have decided to bestow upon you a weapon, as a bonus for being the first to have a male AID. One random weapon will be added to your inventory alongside the usual beginners set.¡± I blinked. Okay, having a male AID kinda sucks, but I get a free weapon out of this? Sweet! I was already imagining what kind of badass weapon I¡¯d be getting. He clapped his hands, startling me from my reverie. ¡°My words are important. Pay attention to the great me.¡± He stated. I refrained from snorting, as I was sure that he would connect my actions to a pig¡¯s, and I was convinced that he would not spare me his harsh words. I did raise an eyebrow, quizzically, though. ¡°Name.¡± He states. and a blue box popped open in front of me. ¡°It¡¯s rude to ask for someone else¡¯s name without introducing yourself first.¡± I retorted. ¡°How you call me is unimportant. Stop this pointless discussion.¡± He replied. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s pointless.¡± I replied, once more playing upon his pride. ¡°A person¡¯s name is very important. Even you should have something that other people refer you by, aside from the mediocre ¡®AID¡¯ that everyone should be calling their AIDs.¡± I gave the finishing blow as I raised a hand to my mouth in mock surprise. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, the great and perfect you doesn¡¯t even have a name?¡± His sigh of exasperation was music to my ears. What came next, though, I did not expect. ¡°Fine. Since you refuse to continue without hearing the great me¡¯s name, I have no choice. It¡¯s Ryuu.¡± Ding! A blue box appeared in front of me.
You have unlocked your AID¡¯s name. Your AID will henceforth be referred to as Ryuu by NPCs.
¡­Huh? Was this game actually so well-made that even the AIDs had names? And I thought I had found the perfect counter for his rudeness earlier. Oh well. There will be time for that later. ¡°My name aside, please enter a name.¡± Ryuu urged, impatient to be done with this. I eyed the blue keyboard that popped up. Hmm¡­Should I go with KrtcyKat^9000, or FluffiesRule¡­nah. I read a light novel about the deities in a game getting pissed off at the name the gamer chose and cursed him with bad luck. I¡¯ll go with something that sounds refined¡­and slightly elegant. I quickly typed it in, tapping the blue window that felt smooth like glass. Another blue box popped up in front of me.
You have chosen the name Jade. Do you wish to confirm?
I rolled my eyes and tapped the ¡®yes¡¯ button.
Confirmed: Your name is now Jade. Name is unable to be changed, although one may accumulate any number of aliases.
Noticing that the word ¡®aliases¡¯ was in italics, I tapped on it, and another blue box popped up.
Aliases can be acquired by doing good or bad actions while disguised to the point where the face can¡¯t be seen. If the sight of you switching to your alter ego is witnessed by an NPC you will either lose the alias, or it will be permamently added to your name, so try not to do anything stupid.
Whoah. Even the text is giving me flack. Who says I¡¯m going to do something stupid! It¡¯s as if you have already assumed that I can¡¯t do anything successfully!If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. After I waved the box away, another box popped up.
For paying close attention to the subtle differences around you, you have unlocked [appraisal] Analysis of the status of others is now made possible. Range and quality of information increases with each subsequent level. +2 wisdom +2 intelligence
Well, it was a far cry from Google-sensei, but I¡¯ll take what I can get. ¡°For now, let¡¯s get your character customized. ¡° As soon as Ryuu said that, a row of examples from the different races appeared from the white background behind him. After briefly sweeping over the row, I discovered that all except for five races were greyed out, or blacked out completely. ¡°Why are some of the races grey?¡± I asked. Mister Narcissist sniffed and replied ¡°It¡¯s because they don¡¯t meet my standards.¡± I stared at him, wishing I could brain him. YOU DISCARDED RACES WITHOUT MY APPROVAL BECAUSE THEY DON¡¯T MEET YOUR STANDARDS!????!!¡± This is a seriously screwed up AID. Please get me another one. I struggled to keep my voice even. ¡°You did this without consulting me?¡± I asked in my calm warning voice, I was pretty sure my face was twitching, though. ¡°Of course!¡± Ryuu replied smugly. ¡°I knew that unless you were a true idiot, you would also agree with my standards of which races were the most competent.¡± I am going to complain! I am seriously going to complain! What¡¯s up with this! I thought as I refrained from grinding my teeth. An AID making choices for their master was unheard of! Moreover, it was just plain. Downright. Rude! ¡°If it¡¯s all the same with you, I¡¯d still like to see if my opinion matches yours.¡± I replied, using a bit of ego-stroking. ¡°Could you just open them up for me to look so that I too might acknowledge your prowess in choosing what pleases me?¡± If you don¡¯t let me look, then I will make life hell for you. ¡°Of course!¡± Unaware of the hidden threat underneath my oiled words, he readily agreed to do so, and the greyed out characters now had color. ¡°Look and see how the best AID of them all handles things. Testify to my perfection~¡± He laughed. Ignoring Mister Creepy, I proceeded to examine the now unlocked characters. No to trolls, goblins, giants, or lizardmen. I get the feeling that if I became them, I would feel guilty for how many of their kin I¡¯ve slaughtered in my old games. That, and they¡¯re totally ugly. Who would play someone like that? The dwarf is too short, so it¡¯ll mess with my sense of balance. Hmmm¡­the spirits seem interesting, but being incorporeal would really weird me out. It would appear that Mr. Hateful was right. In the end, I only seriously considered the five races that were not greyed out beforehand. ¡°Thank you for your patience. You have indeed chosen well.¡± I said to him. A smirk brightened his face. ¡°Since you have said so, there¡¯s no further need to keep the rest of these out.¡± He waved his hand and the greyed and blacked out characters disappeared from the display. This is strictly conjecture, but I believe that one of those races had to have been Dragons. I wonder how the race would be unlocked. Would it be after a subsequent game update? Or by means of a chain quest? Whichever way it was, if the dragon race gets unlocked, I am totes gonna buy another chip so I can play it. Which is another thing: you aren¡¯t forbidden from playing secondary characters. You just need to add the specialized expansion chip in order to play a secondary character. The only thing is¡­that secondary character will always be considered as a companion of your first character. If fact, if you switch back to your first character, the second one will switch to computer mode and become like an NPC, following you around, kinda like D*nkey K*ng. But the expansion chip is twice as expensive as the game chip, and I was wiped out with just buying the gear and the game, so there was no way I could include the expansion chip. Back to my choices, the only ones left were the five races: Humans, Beastmen, Elves, merpeople, and demonkin. I decided to use the method of elimination and choose whatever is left. [Appraisal]-kun was very helpful in giving me interesting little tidbits here and there. Now, why merpeople was not a part of beastmen, I really didn¡¯t know, but perhaps it¡¯s because there is both a beastman kingdom and a merpeople kingdom? Or maybe cold-blooded animals aren¡¯t considered beasts, since mermaids are half- fish---I seriously got a chill down the back of my spine. I get it, I get it. Mermaids are not half -fishies, I GET IT. But I¡¯m bad at swimming¡­and singing¡­and being half-exposed¡­so¡­. Pass! The Demonkin were also interesting, appearing to be sculpted humans with bronze skin and horns sticking out the side of their heads. One can gain the summoner class under this race¡­Maybe I¡¯d be able to get a fluffy after all! Nah, probably not. It¡¯d probably be stuck with just a bunch of grotesque demonic monsters instead. Moreover, those horns seem to be a racial weak point. Pass! Ooh! Elves! I always wanted to try having pointy ears! As usual, their specialties are archery and nature magic¡­it seems like there¡¯s a subclass that can become an enchanter of sorts, but in terrains that are bereft of greenery, their racial traits begin to work against them, and they become super squishy. If I¡¯m going to be bustin¡¯ fire-breathin¡¯ dragons¡¯ behinds, (cough*includingRyuu¡¯s*cough) I¡¯m gonna need something that won¡¯t become homesick at the first signs of fire and brimstone! Pass! Beastmen: ¡­when you cannot obtain a fluffy, the next best thing is TO BECOME A FLUFFY!! Well, I was really tempted by the fluffy ears and the tails, but Beastmen¡¯s tails is another weak point. There were many different kinds of beastmen too, which was totally appealing. Ah, I was so undecided! I was about to choose beastmen, when I realized the horrors of being surrounded by people who wanted to pet you. Eek! NO! I want to pet, I do not want to BE petted! PASS! So, in the end, I can only chose human, huh? Oh well, better get this over with. ¡°I choose human.¡± I said confidently. ¡°Really? You¡¯re sure? You can¡¯t take it back once it¡¯s set, you know?¡± He asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± I replied. All the others except for the human model vanished. I stared face to face with my doppleganger. ¡°Here¡¯s the part where you can make adjustments to height, width, color, shape, anything you want. You want to try being thin? Instantly beautify? How about making a gamble with our randomizer? Unique and undiscovered character are just waiting for you to find.¡± He read this like it was lines from English class or something, in a complete monotone. Something about changing my face to something fake irked me. Actually, it was just too much work, and I wanted to start gaming already so I just waved my hand. ¡°Don¡¯t bother. I¡¯m fine with my own appearance.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± He asked, surprised. ¡°You heard me.¡± I replied. ¡°No changes. Fine as is.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Was his noncommittal reply. What is it? Are you saying I¡¯m ugly? What are you gonna do about it, huh!? I should have chosen something revolting just to annoy him-upon second thought, it¡¯s not worth it. That part where the revolting person would be me is really undesirable. I am lucky I did not have this thought earlier, whew! That would have been a huge mistake on my part. I feel like my personality will quickly cause me to cause harm due to anger, if I don¡¯t restrain myself. A blue screen appears in front of my doppleganger.
Name: Jade Class: Rookie
Level: 0 Title: ------------
HP: 100 MP: 144
Stats: Points:
Strength 10
Defence 10
Vitality 10
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 12
Agility 10
Dexterity 10
Charm 10
Luck 15
Bonus Stats: 10
Skills:
Beginner¡¯s Luck: Lvl 0 No death penalty and double experience points up to Lvl 10. This skill is lost upon reaching level 10.
Appraisal: Lvl 0 Unlike [Inspect] one does not have to be in contact with an object, monster, NPC, or player, in order to know its stats. Range is dependent upon level Range: 0 (you have to touch the object to appraise it.)
After fiddling around with the stats, I decided to put two points each into Vitality, Wisdom, Agility, and Dexterity. After finding out that Charm and Luck cannot be raised, I placed the last two points into Vitality, bringing my mana up to 168, and my HP up to 140, making me a bit less squishy than regular newbies. After confirming my stats, the blue box disappeared. Oh, it seems that my stats are being displayed to Ryuu, for a blue box also appears in front of him. He stares at it, running his eyes over the numbers, calculating some things. Then he swiped his hand and the box disappeared. Ryuu then looked at me, hard, as if trying to see through me. After several moments of silence, He cleared his throat. ¡°Well, now that that¡¯s finished, you will find yourself in the kingdom of humankind momentarily¡± The character merged with me, and a light column sprung up around me. I saw my AID had said something, but I couldn¡¯t hear what it was. ¡°What?¡± I said, but was transported away before he could repeat it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the now empty white space, the AID sighed, having missed his timing. ¡°¡­ See you there¡­Milady.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End Login Diary Entry 1 Login Diary Entry 2-1: I found myself blinking my eyes open in the village square. The realistic graphics were sure the latest! Even the realistic play of light alone was enough to elicit my admiration, and I¡¯ve seen quite a few of the newest MMORPG¡¯s okay? In other words: Virtual Reality is the best! The grass realistically swayed in the slight breeze. The grain on the wooden boards nearby, the crunch of dirt underfoot, the smell of new hay coming from a nearby hay-wagon: it was so real! The NPC¡¯s movements were also quite lifelike, to the point where I almost thought they were players. But of course, they weren¡¯t players. So far, most-if not all- players were still wearing their original Neetware, as I like to call it. Equipped with the same kind of ordinary shirt and pants, it was as if they were wearing some sort of special uniform or something. If this were a real other world, then I would put this as a plot to distinguish the newcomers from the natives. But, oh well. Oh wait, we were categorized as ¡®heroes in training¡¯ correct? Then maybe it is a well-covered plot. As I was considering these things, I heard another ding as a blue box again appeared before me.
Intelligence +1
I jerked my head back in surprise, but who doesn¡¯t like free stats? I smiled. I knew it¡­You were probably awarded stat points in accord with what you did the most. But what if the reason why I got that stat point was because I was right about the big plot- ¡°You know, most people would have considered you quite rude by now.¡± A familiar voice came from behind me. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m feeling rather generous today, seeing as it¡¯s your first time out and about.¡± I turned about with a start, already trying to keep my face from twitching. Yep. As expected. It was the Drama Queen Narcicist, Ryuu. I sighed. ¡°Yes, it is rather disappointing to compare yourself to the great me, isn¡¯t it? Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get used to it eventually.¡± He replied. What god did I offend to get stuck with this one? I thought silently. Sure, when he¡¯s quiet, his appearance is quite flawless, but when he opens his mouth¡­the results are cringe-worthy. If he had a background, he¡¯s probably some stuck up prince or a commoner that rose too quickly from rags to riches and let it get to his head.
Intelligence +1
¡­I like this game already~! I thought, the corners of my mouth turning up. ¡°If you¡¯re quite finished daydreaming, my young charge, there are things the great I must have you complete before the day is done. Follow me.¡± He whirled about, causing his robe to flutter in the breeze a bit more than most. Seeing as how I didn¡¯t know my way around, I reluctantly followed him down the streets. Soon, I realized that if I was going to keep up, I had better put more effort into it. He turned this way, then that, swiftly moving through the crowd of people in the marketplace. Did I forget to mention that the marketplace was literally C.R.O.W.D.E.D. with people? I had to squeeze between people who were only a hand¡¯s width apart from each other, apologizing the whole time. Ryuu, that hateful person, was slipping through these people like he was a ghost, except, none of the surrounding neets seemed to notice him. Huh. What is he, some kind of ninja?! Finally, I managed to escape the crush of the crowd and pursue his back, unhindered. Somehow, even though he was faster than me, I always managed to keep him in my sights. Perhaps it was because he stopped and talked to the villagers every now and then, blending in like a true local. Huh! Neets couldn¡¯t see him, but locals could? I grinned as I had just discovered a possible way to tell apart neets from locals in the future.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Still, I felt just a touch of admiration, seeing that AIDs could fit so flawlessly into the game system. I thought they¡¯d be just like a computerized android. I never thought the AIDs would act so familiar with their surroundings. This new gaming system is super sweet~! Ryuu stopped in front of a slightly larger thatched wooden house with a stone wall surrounding it, rather like the old fashioned English country houses that can still be seen in preserved villages here and there. But I am getting off track. A strong-looking man stood at the gate entrance, holding a spear. He was obviously a guard. Is that really necessary? I mean, any good parkour person is gonna be able to scale that wall. There¡¯s plenty of ivy and stuff growing on it, after all. I wondered as the man moved forward to block us. ¡°HALT! Who goes there!? Only authorized people may come inside to see the mayor!¡± He barked out, making it clear that he was not going to let us by. So does that mean we have to somehow acquire authorization? Sounds like the intro to a beginner chain quest. I was going to turn around, when Ryuu began to interact. I waited, since it was likely he¡¯d help me get information on where to get the authorization that I¡¯d need. Ryuu simply laughed. ¡°Go play guard elsewhere, Little Kuma. Is your father in?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s in, but somehow he¡¯s been bombarded with being called upon by all the new heroes-in-training. There were even a few people who were trying to wheedle free stuff from him, calling him a ¡®hard boss to defeat¡¯ or something like that. Therefore, I decided to guard the gate and make sure they have a document with a legitimate reason first before they can enter, to give my father a chance to rest.¡± Little Kuma, who was by no means little or bear-ish in appearance, took an attitude of respect towards Ryuu. Hmm¡­It seems that he can hold a normal conversation without bragging about himself with others... Then why is he that way with me? I wondered, noticing the absence of ¡®the great I¡¯ and ¡®you puny mortals¡¯. Not that he¡¯s ever said anything like ¡®you puny mortals¡¯, mind you-it¡¯s just that he gives off that kind of overconfident, extremely narcissistic vibe, there. ¡°I see. I was going to ask him about something, but, as I thought, maybe it would be better for us to come back later so that he can rest?¡± Ryuu asked, a considering expression upon his face. ¡°No no, if it¡¯s Ryuu-sama, then he¡¯ll be more than happy for your presence, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Little Kuma glanced over at me. Ah, he said ¡®sama¡¯. Little Kuma, you must not be fooled! He is only a super narcicist! ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, suddenly feeling like I was being judged by my appearance, which made me tense up slightly in mild resentment. There¡¯s no way he could have heard my thoughts, right? Ryuu put his hand upon my head. Oy oy! That is my head, you! It is not an armrest! ¡°Oh, so she does speak! I was sure that she must have been a mute, seeing how most of the heroes-in-training just love to talk.¡± Little Kuma said, in mild surprise. ¡°This one, here, is my personal charge. She is also a hero-in-training, but has yet to be registered with the village. She may seem a bit dull now, but she¡¯s surprisingly intelligent for someone who just arrived.¡± Ryuu said. ¡­Eh? Was that just¡­ a compliment!? Maybe he really isn¡¯t some narcissistic con, but actually could he be a really nice guy underneath? I thought to myself. ¡°Understood! She may also enter!¡± Little Kuma saluted Ryuu, who waved off the salute casually, removing his hand from my head. You could have done that sooner, baka. I silently followed Ryuu into the house, slightly bowing in acknowledgement to Little Kuma on my way in. He nodded in acknowledgement. I¡¯m not sure what kind of effect having good manners will bring, but surely it can only help in building good relations with the inhabitants of this world. Once we were past the gate, Ryuu looked at me and smirked. ¡°What?¡± I asked him. ¡°Oh, nothing. I just can¡¯t believe that such an ¡®intelligent person¡¯ would actually believe my words back there.¡± He chuckled, bringing his wide-sleeved arm up to cover his mouth as if her were a skilled courtesan. ¡°Huh?¡± I replied, confused. ¡°Actually believed¡­ which means¡­I wasn¡¯t supposed to believe them? In other words, you lied when you were praising me!?¡± I exclaimed, half-incredulously. The look on his face said it all. I TAKE IT BACK!!! YOU¡¯RE NOT NICE AT ALL! YOU¡¯RE A BLACK-BELLIED CROOK!! MY GOOD IMPRESSIONS: RETURN THEM!!! I cried in my heart. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t have let us past if I hadn¡¯t said something like that, don¡¯t you know? It was so amusing to see your expression, though. Perhaps I should do more of this in the future~¡± My eye twitched as I heard what he said. ¡°No thanks. False compliments are like a balloon: flashy and colorful on the outside, yet full of hot air on the inside.¡± I said flatly. ¡°I see¡­you aren¡¯t pleased with false compliments. The great I will be sure to remember that.¡± Ryuu said as he once again led the way forward, his shoulders shuddering strangely as he went ahead. I glared at that back, wishing to strike it, but eventually good manners won over, and I held my peace. It would do no good to gain a weird title for doing something violent as soon as I logged into the game, and I was NOT going to get caught with something like [Dominatrix ] or something equally weird. Login Diary Entry 2-2: Inside the house, I was honestly surprised at the huge number of books and papers were lining the hallway in precariously-placed piles. There was only a slim walkway between these piles, which were taller than my head. The familiar smell of book dust and leather bindings was everywhere. Even though nearly everything was digitized, nowadays, it was also good to experience the joys of reading a physical copy. I recalled the summers I spent holed up in my maternal grandparents¡¯ personal library, reading through old novels. How nostalgic~. The hallway opened into a rather large room, also piled with books. To the side, four bookcases stood, crammed full of them. He needs more bookcases. I thought to myself. ¡°Oy, Big Kuma! Did you die from being buried in another pile of books? Or perhaps I should come back after you¡¯ve developed the nerve to clean up this place.¡± Ryuu said aloud. ¡°Nonsense! Each book is carefully organized according to its subject! Moving them is tantamount to loosing months, if not years of hard work!¡± A rather weak voice replied form the bookcases. But, when I looked at who came out, I understood why this man¡¯s son is named ¡®Little Kuma¡¯. Because the mayor is HUGE!!! No, I¡¯m not saying that he¡¯s fat, but he¡¯s large to the point where true bears would be dwarfed by him. Like a giant, except with a more reasonable size¡­I mean, at least he was able to fit into the building, right? So that was the reason why the doors were so large. I thought it was simply because it was the mayor¡¯s house. While, in reality, it is because of what the mayor is. I think normal doors will be quite tricky¡­But how does he get through this maze of towering books? ¡°I see that even you have acquired a charge. Is training a hero-in-training the newest fashion, now? I never could quite keep up with that.¡± He ducked under an arch made out of books, and maneuvered his way towards his desk. Upon close inspection, it seems to be made out of books. Come to think of it¡­I looked closer at the bookcases. It seems that¡­even the bookcases are made of books? ¡°I take it that you¡¯re here to register her?¡± The Mayor asked, dipping a quill pen into an ink bottle with a practiced flourish as he placed a small pair of spectacles upon his nose. Ryuu nodded. ¡°Correct. I¡¯ve heard you¡¯ve had quite the number of visitors these past few days, eh?¡± The mayor chuckled ill-humoredly. ¡°You have no idea. I can¡¯t even count the number of people that have bumbled in here that I¡¯ve had to register. My hand still aches even now. But, might as well get this over with. Can you write, child?¡± He asked me with a wearied expression on his face. After a moment¡¯s consideration, I nodded. ¡°Good. Then here, fill this in yourself and I¡¯ll sign at the end for you.¡± He handed me a document sheet that looked an awful lot like the ones that sat in boxes in the far corner. I glanced over it. It seemed simple enough, asking for my name and age and telling me to check the box that said that I am registered under Tanpopo Village. Tanpopo? Come to think of it, there really were an awful lot of dandelions around, weren¡¯t there? Well, having no problems, I wrote ¡°Jade, 14¡± and checked the box before handing it back to the mayor. After briefly glancing it over, he swiftly signed his name to it with a quick flourishing script, and attached his seal to it, before placing it on top of a stack of papers on the left side of his desk.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. A blue window popped up.
You have registered with Tanpopo town. Congratulations, you are now considered a legal citizen. Don¡¯t do anything stupid.
Ouch. Harsh! ¡°Congratulations, and welcome to Tanpopo town!¡± The mayor said in greeting, as he put down his quill pen. ¡°If you will go see Mrs. Pearl, she¡¯ll start you off with teaching you one of the basic things you need to learn. Take this token and tell her that I sent you, and she¡¯ll know what I mean.¡± He flicked a shiny metal coin at me, which I caught before it could hit me in the nose. Examining it, I found an image of a bundle of dandelions was embossed upon the token. ¡°Now I must return to my book sorting. Some bumbling idiots came in here and knocked over several stacks of books before I drove them out earlier, so I have literally weeks of work to do. Don¡¯t knock over any books on the way out.¡± The mayor said in warning as he returned to behind the bookcase. ¡°As you wish, we will no longer take up any more of your valuable time.¡± Ryuu replied, politely, as he turned around and made his way back through the piles of books. I followed behind, avoiding the tilting stacks of books. Outside beyond the gates, Ryuu asked me a question. ¡°Pop Quiz! Apart from being the Mayor, Mr. Kuma also has a second occupation. Can you tell me what it is?¡± I glanced over at him, with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you ever mentioned it?¡± He slyly smiled and shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re not that dull. Even a baby could guess right away. I will not give any hints.¡± I sighed and thought about it for a bit. ¡°Is he a magician?¡± I asked. ¡°What makes you say that?¡± Ryuu queried. ¡°Well, he is very protective of his books, so his class must be related to intelligence-based jobs. He values any and all sorts of knowledge, as can be seen from the titles of the books he has, and his hand glowed a bit when he was signing and placing his seal upon the registration paper. He can¡¯t be a regular scholar or a thief, because those kinds of persons are not usually given public office, so he must have had some victory on the battlefield or some sort of grand achievement to prove his worth in order to be elected mayor. So, I thought a magician was the one class which fit all of the criteria¡­was I correct?¡± I asked. I admit it. I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes. I am a fan of the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle version, though-not the tv series. Come to think of it, I could have just used my [appraisal] skill, right? Ah, but since he¡¯s a magician, he¡¯d probably quickly catch onto me. Ryuu¡¯s eyes narrowed a bit, turning upward as he smirked. ¡°Not telling.¡± ¡­Can I brain this AID? PLEASE!? ¡°Come. This king will lead you to Mrs. Pearl¡¯s residence. Do not fall behind.¡± He said, while starting out at a brisk pace. While I would have liked nothing more than to be able to match his pace, I soon found myself falling behind as his longer legs took him farther afield. That¡¯s when it happened. ¡°LOOK OUT!¡± ¡°MY CABBAGES!!¡± ¡°GET OUT OF THE WAY!¡± Various screams and shouts drew my attention, and I looked to my left, only to see a fast approaching giant wooden cart, the size of a trailer, filled with round green cabbages barreling towards me. I had only a small instant to recognize it before I was slammed into the wall behind me. IT WAS PAINFUL. Pinned between the Cart and the Wall, it was only a moment later that the pain and everything disappeared as I was shrouded in darkness, and a luminous blue window popped up in front of me.
You have died. Due to the unique nature of your death during tutorial mode, the immortals above have decided to grant you a random skill which will be decided upon your next login. For now, you will be forcefully logged out for 24 hours in game time. Real time left until login is allowed: 2:59:59
So I have to wait for three hours real time before I can log back in? I sighed as I glanced at the clock. It was already past midnight. I set my alarm for five hours from now and turned over in bed. I would continue tomorrow, since it was the start of spring vacation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the internet, videos of my strange death began trickling into several yout*be gamer channels. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°¡­Milady, you died too quickly¡­¡± A frowning Ryuu sighed as he watched the body known as Jade dissolve into sparks, which scattered and disappeared into the air. Login Diary Entry 3-1: I logged in again after a quick breakfast, which was really just a microwaved egg sandwich, but do not underestimate the lure of egg sandwiches! I almost grabbed another one before I realized that I was really curious about what that free skill would be. I hope it¡¯s not some silly gag skill like [juggling]¡­ Upon my login, a window popped up.
Your skill will now be picked at random. Eeney Meeney Miney Mo¡­
Oy oy! That game is totally rigged, you shouldn¡¯t use it if you were intending to be random, you know! I was about to retort, but a ding sounded out as another blue window popped up.
Congratulations! You have been awarded a Unique skill: [Substitution] Use it wisely.
I tapped on the italics for ¡®Unique¡¯ and two sub-window opened up, explaining.
Unique skills are one of a kind. Once you possess a unique skill, no one else can learn it. Your luck must be very good to find one so early~
+1 Luck
Well, duh. Luck just so happens to be my highest stat. Not that I¡¯m proud of that fact or anything¡­ I noticed a blinking upside-down triangle in the bottom right corner of the first window. Clicking on it, it scrolled down to an extra explanation.
As a possessor of a unique skill, you will have to complete a quest that only possessors of rare skills can take. Make sure you rank up before you attempt this quest okay~?
What is with this cheerful ¡®happy-go-lucky-while-saying-something-ominous¡¯ vibe here! I wanted to retort, but once again, the free luck stats were a good thing, right? If I have to put up with a gaming system¡¯s weird way of saying things in order to get free stats, then I think that it¡¯s a pretty fair, acceptable exchange. Once I closed all the blue windows, one more popped up.
You will now be redirected to enter the game. Please wait a moment
My dark surroundings suddenly lit up, and I looked around. I reappeared at the same place I was standing before being hit by the cabbage death trap. Good thing I am protected as a newbie, or I would have had my stats lowered by 25% for 24 hours in game time. Immediately I checked my new skill out.
[Substitution]: can switch two designated targets instantaneously. It can also supply for a missing ingredient in alchemy or cooking by using mana points. Range between the user and the objects in question will increase with levels. Don¡¯t use this to steal, please.
What! I would never!...except from the people I don¡¯t like, of course. ¡°Ahem!¡± I jumped, and swiftly whirled around, ready to dance out of the way of any more swiftly approaching carts, before realizing that it was just Ryuu. ¡°It seems you are more misfortunate than I first thought. The great I may need to watch you more closely to make sure something like this doesn¡¯t repeat.¡± Ryuu said. What, am I embarrassing you now? That was completely out of my hands, you know!? Even the Powers that be have acknowledged it, you know! I nodded, conserving my energy for later. Exploding at someone won¡¯t get anything good accomplished, after all¡­But still¡­I looked away for a moment, conscious of a lot of players pointing at me and whispering ¡°¡­ Are they laughing at me?¡± I wondered out loud.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°It seems that tragic accidents that happen to heroes-in-training can only be considered a joke, due to your unique circumstances.¡± Ryuu observed. At that moment, I felt a uniquely dark aura originating from behind me, but when I looked, it was only Ryuu, observing the surrounding area with a bored air. Was it my imagination?... When I turned back to return the looks of the gawkers, surprisingly, they all found they had somewhere else to go. I wonder why that was? Once again, I felt a dark aura behind me, and I turned around to see only Ryuu with the same bored expression. But, that can¡¯t be right? No one can see the other person¡¯s AID, after all. Otherwise, Ryuu would be swarmed by girls vying for his attention. Huh. It must have been my imagination then! I decided. ¡°Let¡¯s go to¡­¡± I quickly checked the quest notification in the corner of my eyes. ¡°..Mrs. Pearl, then.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­so it seems that master is bad with names, huh?¡± Ryuu muttered. ¡°What? No! I just momentarily forgot because I was preoccupied thinking about something else.¡± I replied, a bit too strongly, denying my incompetence. ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll be sure to remember everyone¡¯s names for you. After all, a perfect AID must be his master¡¯s support.¡± He replied infuriatingly. I realized that at this point, I should just give up, otherwise this might go on all day. ¡°Do what you want.¡± I waved my hand. Ryu smirked. ¡°This King appreciates your cooperation.¡± ¡°???¡± I strongly wanted to ask him what the heck he was talking about, when I remembered that I also had received a free weapon from the system, earlier. Ignoring my exchange with Ryuu, I opened up my inventory, and sure enough, a mysterious jade box rested in the first of the thirty spaces within the inventory. Selecting the jade box, it suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke and landed in my outstretched hand. Surprisingly, it fit into the palm of my hand. This is a weapon? Oh, I know. I¡¯ll open it and whatever is inside will suddenly grow larger upon taking it out, right? I took a deep breath and opened the jade box. ¡°¡­Eh?¡± I stared at the item in the box. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°A hairpin?¡± Ryuu had glanced over at the item in the box and was able to identify it at once. ¡°Ah, the system¡¯s random weapon that was granted you earlier. Perfect. Allow this king to show his knowledge on popular hairstyles.¡± Saying that, he took the hairpin out and twisted my hair up onto my head, securing it there with the hairpin. Then he took out a mirror to showcase the hairstyle. I stared blankly at my face in the mirror. Well, in all fairness the style looked quite complex, despite only taking a few moments to complete. I quite liked it, in fact-No no no! That¡¯s not it! I pulled myself away from admiring the hairstyle. ¡°But, I thought I was to be given a weapon? Why did the system grant me a piece of jewelry?¡± I said, puzzled. Ryuu raised an eyebrow. ¡°Technically speaking, it is still a weapon. Did you not check its stats with your appraisal skill?¡± How would I be able to do that if it wasn¡¯t in my sights for more than five seconds? A vein throbbed in my head as I held back my desire to kill him. ¡°I was negligent in my surprise. And it¡¯s such a shame to take it out of the hairstyle that you so skillfully put together. Perhaps you could share its stats with me?¡± Ryuu¡¯s mouth curved upwards into a smirk. ¡°Then, allow this king to show you just what kind of weapon this hairpin is.¡± A blue box opened up in front of me.
Named Weapon: Hairpin of the Legendary Phantom Thief, Azure Mist Type: Hidden weapon Attack: +5-+10
Special Effect: Upon the first strike with this weapon, it has a 2% chance of inflicting instant death. Percentage increases with level.Good luck~ Key action to initiate attack: Take hairpin out of hair. Cooldown 10 seconds.
The writing style was as frivolous as always. I focused on the words ¡®hidden weapon¡¯. ¡°What makes a hidden weapon different from regular weapons?¡± I asked Ryuu. ¡°You really are clueless, aren¡¯t you?¡± He chuckled. ¡°It is because it is a hidden weapon that it is special. Since it is disguised as a hairpin, this hidden weapon can be equipped as jewelry, instead of as a weapon. Think of it as having an extra weapon slot instead of a headdress.¡± Ryuu explained. ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± Was all I could say for the time being. Well, it would be good in a pinch, I suppose. But that 2%...Could it be improved with the addition of poisons or striking at vital areas? Otherwise, increasing proficiency would get progressively more and more difficult in later levels. I decided to test it out at the earliest opportunity. ¡°Now, if we¡¯re quite finished, shall we be off to Mrs. Pearl¡¯s?¡± Ryuu finally said. ¡°I¡¯ve already notified her of our intentions to visit today.¡± Oh, that¡¯s right! Mrs. Pearl. Got it. I nodded, and he snapped his fingers. In the upper right-hand corner of my vision, the map icon became a miniature map of the Southern part of Tanpopo Village. A yellow arrow in the center of the map displayed my current position. Looking at the map, I noticed that it pulled back and displayed a golden flag in a spot all the way across the sprawling village on the northern side, which was near the forest. ¡°I have marked on the map where Mrs. Pearl¡¯s residence is, so that you do not get lost on your way. But, since I know that people can still get lost even with a map, this King shall also accompany you on your way there.¡± ¡°Mmn.¡± I responded noncommittally as I mentally brushed off his insult to my intelligence. Aside from the near constant insults, as he was somewhat helpful, I had decided to categorize him as ¡®tollerable¡¯. This time, instead of Ryuu walking ahead of me, he walked slightly behind me to my right. Huh. Wait¡­Is he treating me like one of those preschoolers that can¡¯t walk to school without a guardian!? I felt like my heart was crying. I¡¯m really fine. You really don¡¯t need to be watching me like I¡¯ll just get into trouble wherever I go. That last case was an accident! An Accident! I managed to keep up my poker face all the way to Mrs. Pearl¡¯s house, even though I really felt like crying at that time. Login Diary Entry 3-2: I blinked at the house that shrank back into the hillside behind it, its roof becoming one with the grassy verdant ground populated with large dandelions. White sheets were strung on a laundry line spanning the small garden next to it. While the house appeared small, only just large enough for a single person, the map said otherwise. According to the map, the house took up at least four fifths of the hill alone¡­and it was a rather large hill, too. Indeed, the only thing that was not engulfed by the hill was what seemed to be some sort of entrance hall, in which to take off one¡¯s boots and coat. There was even a window next to a quaint red door that was more of an elongated elipse which came up almost to the small tiled roof Which only barely covered the porch step before melting into the green and yellow dandelions. My imagination took flight as I imagined what sort of person this Miss Pearl could be. A freckled woman with curling red hair near-bursting out the blue silk kerchief she had tried to tame it with opened the egg-shaped door with a cheery greeting. ¡°Why hello there! Come on, come in, I¡¯ve been expecting you for a while now. I¡¯ve heard from Ryuu. You must be Jade, the hero-in-training that I¡¯ve come to hear about.¡± ¡°What?¡± I asked, not remembering doing anything heroic that would warrant people hearing about me. Ryuu cleared his throat behind me. It seems like he clears his throat an awful lot¡­Does he need a lozenge or something? Mrs. Pearl smiled and waved them in through the entrance, making sure to shut the door firmly before taking her hands off the latch. ¡°The darned thing keeps sticking on warm days like these. I should get a magician to enchant a perfect fit, but enchants aren¡¯t cheap, you know.¡± Mrs. Pearl looked me up and down once, then glanced at Ryuu before continuing. Although I noticed the minute exchange, I couldn¡¯t tell what she thought of me, or what she was trying to glean from Ryuu.¡°Well!¡± She sighed with a smile and a nod. ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, I suppose it¡¯s time for business. I think the Mayor gave you something to give to me?¡± I blanked for a bit before I heard Ryuu murmur ¡°The errand coin? The official one that Big Kuma gave you after registering?¡± behind me. I nearly smacked my face when I remembered the dandelion coin that the mayor had flipped at me. ¡°Oh, right¡­¡± I murmured before reaching into my bag. From the heat collecting on my face, I was pretty sure that I was blushing terribly. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it happens to the best of us, my dear. I¡¯d forget my head if it wasn¡¯t attached to my neck, don¡¯t you know~.¡± Mrs. Pearl kindly laughed it off with a joke. Even though it was a rather old joke, I smiled. I just couldn¡¯t seem to get upset with Mrs. Pearl. Mrs. Pearl examined the golden coin that I had given her for a few moments. Then, with her thumb, she flicked it up into the air, and caught it when it came back down, putting it in her apron pocket. ¡°Well, everything seems to be in order, so why don¡¯t we get to work, then, shall we?¡± She grinned. And that¡¯s when I realized why she was called Mrs. Pearl, as her grin sported a perfect row of pearly-white teeth. It was slightly off-putting, like seeing an actress play the role of a poor, ugly girl. Not that Mrs. Pearl was ugly, mind you- it¡¯s just that her kind of beautiful didn¡¯t fit into the world of actors or actresses. With a freckled, tanned face, and warm hazel eyes, not to mention her mane of red curly hair, she¡¯d hardly be considered a beauty, yet there was something beautiful about Mrs. Pearl, nonetheless-which made her smile all-the-more charming. It was like walking down a shaded tunnel in the trees near a spring and suddenly coming out into the warm, bright sunshine. It seems I blanked there for a second. ¡°Eh?...I¡¯m sorry, could you repeat that?¡± I asked. ¡°Sure, my dear, I don¡¯t mind at all! You¡¯re first mission is to gather ten eggs from the barn. Be sure to look thoroughly! Oh, and if you find any extras, then those are yours to keep. Here¡¯s a basket to place them in.¡± I noticed that the mission icon blinked at the corner of my vision. Huh. Somehow I must have missed the blue box notification? I looked down at the basket in my arm, which had a red checked cloth covering it. Then I looked up at Mrs. Pearl. Then I realized that the actual part of the house was small. The part that took up the hill must be the barn. I pointed down the hallway further into the hill. ¡°The barn is that way?¡± ¡°Uhuh~ Good luck then!¡± She nodded then looked out the window as the sudden sounds of rain pouring down rattled against the windowpane. She blinked for a few moments before gasping. ¡°OH FIDDLESTICKS! I forgot the laundry!¡± Grabbing her cloak and a basket, Mrs. Pearl tugged the door open-squealing hinges and all- and rushed outside. I blinked. Should I go and help her out first? Ryuu sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t. If you help her with that, she¡¯ll have you helping out all over the place and then your mission will be forgotten by the end of the day.¡± I turned to look at him. How did-? He smirked. Urk! That¡¯s never a good sign. Suddenly, I don¡¯t feel like I want to know. I thought to myself. ¡°It was written all over your face. Even though you usually are just frowning or inexpressive, even this king can see that you were wanting to go help.¡± I turned my head away. How rude! I¡¯m not inexpressive! And the reason for my frowns is this AID here! For now, I refused to look at him. --------------------- Uwaah! This place is huuge! I thought looking around at the barn. Obviously, since it was a barn, there were a lot of hay bales¡­everywhere. I blinked taking in the sight of it all. A hole in the ceiling let light filter down, illuminating the walls of haybales stacked neatly to the sides. Looks like a maze. You could hide an awful lot of surprises behind these haybales.I noted. Then I saw a cat streak by, running for its life. It stopped and turned around, hiding behind me and Ryuu. ¡°What is it? Is a mean old dog chasing after you?¡± I asked. Uehehe! It¡¯s a fluffy! An orange tabby no less! Come, let us see who would dare chase my beloved fluffy! I grabbed a nearby pitchfork, and turned to face the cat¡¯s foe, and froze. Rounding the corner of the haybales chasing after my cute fluffy were three of the largest rats I¡¯d ever seen. ¡°Ah. That explains it.¡± Ryuu nodded. ¡°They must have burrowed in here somewhere and taken over the barn using size and numbers. We should probably hurry if we wish to save the chickens eggs from being eaten up. Isn¡¯t that right, little miss hero in training?¡± But I didn¡¯t really hear much at that point. ¡°¡­rats¡­why¡­WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE RATS!!!¡± I suddenly screamed. Honestly! They may have fur, but they are SO NOT CUTE! They are the scum of the fluffy kingdom! NO! They give fluffies a bad reputation! And those tails composed of skin are so shudder-inducing! I can¡¯t bear to have them in my presence another moment!Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. And with that, I saw red for a bit¡­. When I came to, all I could see were their corpses disappearing into pixels. ¡°Ah¡­what did I..?¡± I glanced down at the pitchfork, whose metal spines had been completely bent out of shape. Sigh. It happened again. I looked back, and the orange tabby was hiding behind Ryuu, shivering uncontrollably. Ryuu just stood there, staring at me as if I had completely broken reality or something. Lots of blue boxes then opened up in front of me.
You have killed a level 5 rat
Congratulations! You have leveled up.
You have killed a level 5 rat
You have killed a level 6 rat
Congratulations! You have levelled up.
Congratulations! Due to your immense hatred for rats, you have learned the skill ¡®Overkill¡¯
After tapping on the word for an explanation, another blue window popped up.
Overkill level 0: This skill boosts your attack power against any creature at least five levels higher than you whom you bear an immense hatred for. Active: +10 strength +10 attack power Time limit: 360 seconds
Congratulations, you have found hidden stat: attack power. Tehee~ I''m keeping my eye on you~
Congratulations, you have earned the title: [Rats Bane]. +10 attack against all Ratkind.
I blinked for a few minutes before opening my status menu. I immediately equipped my Title: Rat¡¯s Bane
Name Jade Class Rookie
Level 2 Title Rats Bane
HP 87/140 MP 158/168
Stats: Points:
Strength 10 (10)
Defence 10
Vitality 14
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 14
Agility 12
Dexterity 12
Charm 10
Luck 16
Bonus Stats: 4
Skills:
Beginner¡¯s Luck: Beginner Lvl 2 No death penalty and double experience points up to Lvl 10. This skill is lost upon reaching level 10. Automatically levels with your character.
Appraisal: Beginner Lvl 0 Unlike [Inspect] one does not have to be in contact with an object, monster, NPC, or player, in order to know its stats. Range is dependent upon level Range: 0 (you have to touch the object to appraise it.)
[Substitution]: can switch two designated targets instantaneously. It can also supply for a missing ingredient in alchemy or cooking by using mana points. Range between the user and the objects in question will increase with levels. Don¡¯t use this to steal, please.
Overkill: Beginner Lvl 0 Boost your attack power against any creature over five levels higher than you whom you bear an immense hatred for. Active: +10 strength +10 attack \cost: 10 mana per cast\ time limit: 10 seconds(x level) \ cooldown: 60 seconds
I suppose the number in parentheses next to the attack power is the bonus from the title. But, wouldn¡¯t that get really complicated if I have multiple bonuses on top of each other for different things? Do they all separate out, or are they all placed together- mah. Now¡¯s not the time to think of these things. I noticed my health was down by almost half. But in the short time since the fight, a little of it had been restored. So I must have some sort of minor regenerative ability. Or is this the result of raising vitality? Ah, but if regeneration is this slow, then that¡¯s not good! I should learn some sort of self-healing skill or boost as soon as possible. I also noticed that this new skill costs mana. Perhaps that¡¯s how I managed to kill three rats? Calculating numbers based upon my remaining mana, I can cast this skill about 15 more times before I¡¯d have to rest to recover my mana. I also noticed that the item drops were stored away in my inventory. Ugh. Rats tails and teeth? While I would love to discard them, I cannot go against my frugal gamer¡¯s spirit. I may not be discarding them right now, but I am selling these as soon as possible. Closing my status menu, I looked over at Ryuu and the adorabl-ahem lovely little orange tabby, and found that they hadn¡¯t really moved since the last time I looked. However, Ryuu seemed to have gotten a bit more composed. I took a step towards them only to see the orange tabby flinch and run away, vanishing into the hay bales. DON¡¯T GOO MY FLUFFYYY!!! I cried out in my heart. But it had already vanished. ¡°If you¡¯re quite finished here, we should get going.¡± Ryuu said, looking seriously at the surrounding hay bales. ¡°It could be there are more rats around here. If we¡¯re not quick, they could end up finding and eating the eggs that we¡¯re supposed to be collecting. Not to mention terrorizing the local tomcat population.¡± That got my ear. HOW DARE THEY TERRORIZE MY FLUFFIES! I WILL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! I gripped my (bent) pitchfork and marched boldly forth into the maze of hay. -er¡­right after I had a break and rested to heal my HP up back to normal, of course. Ryuu was insistent that rest was essential after a battle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That day, a new tale of the massacre of the rat colony in Tanpopo Village spread among the ratkins. ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t go to Tanpopo Village. There is a demon there who targets ratkins with a giant twisted fork. If you are caught and killed by the demon, then you will surely be eaten.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Milady, why do you hate rats so much?¡± Ryuu muttered, watching Jade slaughtering a group of five rats with her back to a wall of hay. ¡°I know that they are good experience points for you, but somehow it is unpleasant to watch...Or rather, why aren¡¯t you asking for my help?¡± Ryuu could only inwardly grieve as he watched and waited for Jade to remember him and call for his help. End Login Diary Entry 3 ----------------------------------------- Login Diary Entry 4-1: (Author''s note: Tables are such a pain. So...many...tables....) ¡°That¡¯s strange. I¡¯ve killed all the rats I¡¯ve come across and been everywhere in here. But I still can¡¯t find the last egg for Mrs. Pearl.¡± I scratched my head, puzzled. And all the fluffies I save just end up running away after I¡¯m finished! My heart seems to be bleeding from internal damage. It¡¯s a good thing that this sort of thing doesn¡¯t really take away hp, otherwise, I think I¡¯d have died a few hundred times over. I had already leveled up to level 7 with all the rats in this place, and my new skill [Overkill] was now beginner level 3. As things were, we were standing in the exact center of the hay bale maze-I mean the barn. ¡°Perhaps there is something we¡¯ve missed? Why don¡¯t we take another look?¡± Ryuu asked. ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯ve covered all the ground here. The map is filled in completely after all.¡± I frowned. Looking at the hay bales piled almost up to the rafters. The rafters? I thought. Then an idea hit me. I walked over to a lone hay bale. It¡¯s top measured roughly up to my waist. I tried placing my hand on it.The prickly sensation of hay was super realistic. If it¡¯s this way for hay, then I wonder how good it would feel to stroke the fur of real fluffies? Ah. No no, I have to stick with my original goal. I jumped onto the hay bale, testing for the invisible wall symptom usually found in games. While the ground was a bit softer than usual, considering that it was made of straw, it held up well. I didn¡¯t slip off or magically get thrown to the ground, so that means¡­I glanced at the hay bales rising up to the rafters. And took off up the golden staircase. The last part has to be up here! Ryuu didn¡¯t say anything, but I could hear him following behind me. When I arrived at the top of the stack, I realized my gamers¡¯ instincts were right on the mark. Taking care not to look in a certain ¡®direction¡¯ at a certain ¡®something¡¯, I paused to revel in my small moment of enlightenment. Usually, with the non-virtual reality games, the background items couldn¡¯t be stepped on or interacted with. While certain games tried to fix that factor, there always seemed to be a certain ¡®off-limits¡¯ part of the game. With Virtual reality, however, it seems that nothing was off limits anymore. Everything was possible to be interacted with. Heh! This is freaking awesome! I thought to myself. At that moment, I honestly admired and enjoyed my first taste of virtual reality. ¡°Wow. I never thought such a size was possible for a rodent!¡± Ryuu said admiringly. ¡°It¡¯s almost the size of a cougar? No, a bear is more appropriate.¡± I turned towards Ryuu, who had ruined the moment, feeling tears begin to form at the corners of my eye.¡°Ryuu! Why are you doing this to me! Don¡¯t you know how I feel about R.A.T¡¯s!¡± ¡°Sorry. This is the honest admiration of a general towards a foe. I mean, just look at the size of that thing!¡± he pointed in the ¡®direction¡¯ that I had been avoiding to look at. ¡°You¡¯re doing this on purpose, aren¡¯t you!¡± I began to get upset. ¡°I-I¡¯m trying not to look, darnit!¡± If I look, then I might lose all common sense and launch myself over the edge of the hay bales and fall to my death below. THERE¡¯S NO FREAKIN WAY I¡¯M DYING SUCH AN EMBARRASING DEATH! NOT A SECOND TIME!! ¡°Well, in all fairness, you can probably still look then. He doesn¡¯t seem to have a tail, and he looks more like a gorilla than a rat.¡± Ryuu replied. ¡°What do you mean!? There¡¯s no way that a rat can look like a gorilla!¡± I rejected. They¡¯re two completely different animals!¡± ¡°Just look!¡± Ryuu grabbed my head and turned it in the R.A.T. K.I.N.G¡¯s direction. What I saw made me pause in shock to the point where I was at a loss for words. To be honest, it was the buffest rat I¡¯d ever seen. Imagine taking a buff gorilla, then placing a rat¡¯s head on it, instead, and sharp claws at the fingertips and you have the Rat King.Stolen novel; please report. Even so¡­.I could honestly feel the disgust building inside me to the point where I might explode. IT WAS SO NOT CUTE! I ended up seeing red after that. ---------------------------- When I came to, I was at a loss for words as for what I had done. I was holding on for dear life onto a wooden pillar, looking down at the corpse of the rat king, impaled upon a broken wooden beam down on the ground. Although he wasn¡¯t yet dead, he was steadily losing HP as he was suspended there upside down between rafters and hay. ¡­WHAT THE FRACK IS GOING ON HERE!!! I wanted to scream, as I held for dear life onto the remains of the platform that had been built around this beam. As I began to wonder how long it would be before I faced my untimely death, I heard Ryuu call out to me. ¡°Idiot! The rope! The Rope!!¡± I turned just in time to feel the full brunt of a knotted rope whack me in the face. Luckily I caught it before I fell to my untimely death. What! That seriously knocked off 2 HP!? This rope is lethal! I glared at Ryuu. ¡°Ah. It seems I overestimated your reactions based upon your battle just now. I must have known you¡¯re virtually useless, otherwise.¡± He propped up his chin elegantly, placing a few fingers over his lips. ¡°I wonder how you¡¯re going to get back without any momentum in that rope now?¡± He grinned maliciously. I tried using my skill [Substitution] by designating myself and a rat tooth as the switching targets before throwing the rat tooth over to the top of the haybales, but when I tried to activate the skill, a blue box popped up.
Skill [Substitution] is not high enough to switch living beings. Please designate something else.
"I''m sorry, I do not understand what you were trying to accomplish with that." Ryuu smirked. This guy seriously pisses me off! I took a moment to calm myself and regain my usual noh mask poker face. Then I grabbed the rope with both hands and kicked off from the pillar, but the momentum wasn¡¯t enough, so I swung back and forth three more times before finally reaching the top of the hay bales again. I let go, while aiming seriously for Ryuu¡¯s head. But the sly b****d somehow maneuvered himself so that he¡¯d catch me in a princess hold. ¡°Ho, your reactions may be slow, but your puzzle solving skills are at the least minimum requirement.¡± Ryuu grinned wickedly. I stared up at him with my noh mask face. ¡°Is that so? Please put me down, now.¡± I¡¯m not going to let him get to me. I am not going to let him get to me. I am not going to let him get to me. I chanted in my heart as I bottled up the growing volcano of rage just waiting to burst out of me. At that point, the rat king finally chose to disintegrate into a mass of disappearing pixels, because I was inundated with a burst of blue boxes.
You have leveled up
You have leveled up
You have leveled up
Congratulations! Overkill has leveled up 3>4
Congratulations! Overkill has leveled up 4>5
Unfortunately, Mrs. Pearl¡¯s pitchfork did not make it. But I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t be too angry at you, if you explain it really quickly. Ne~?
Somehow that one box was not comforting at all.
Congratulations, you have reached level ten! Due to that, you have now lost the skill [Beginner¡¯s Luck]. Have fun~!
And this one was even less comforting. Now it seems that I¡¯m fair game for PKers and guild mobbings. What luck. (T__T)
Congratulations, you have earned the title: Rat¡¯s Nightmare +15 attack +2 charm at local businesses
Well, I dunno about that title, but maybe the extra charm will get me discounts, or help me haggle more successfully. And, with that, I now had 20 un-distributed bonus stats to deal with. Having one-mindedly chased after the rats, I had forgotten to distribute any of my stats. Now that I can rest easy, why wait any longer? Thinking about it, I put four in strength, because it¡¯s only going to get more difficult here; four into wisdom- because more mana means more uses of [Overkill]; six into dexterity¡ªI¡¯m sure that ba****d¡¯s method of evading my drop kick had something to do with this stat; and six into intelligence, because I¡¯m tired of Ryuu¡¯s nagging. Login Diary Entry 4-2: ¡°While you did collect ten eggs, like I told you to, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PITCHFORK!? HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO GET SO GROTESQUE A FORM AS THIS?¡± Mrs. Pearl scolded us, bemoaning the state of her pitchfork. ¡°Actually-¡± Ryuu began to explain. ¡°DON¡¯T EVEN, RYUU.¡± Mrs. Pearl growled and glared at him. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a part to blame in this!¡± Ryuu shut his mouth. But, why am I the only one sitting in seiza? (the proper traditional Japanese way of sitting-now commonly used for a punishment. If done right, you will make your legs fall asleep. The tingling afterwards is the real torture, though.) ¡°I can¡¯t believe you two! How am I going to get by in a BARN without a Pitchfork, I¡¯d like to know! What would possibly possess you to do such a thing as run my nice pitchfork!¡± Mrs. Pearl continued her tirade. I bowed my head. If only I didn¡¯t have my current¡­allergic reaction to rodents, perhaps the pitchfork wouldn¡¯t have ended up that way¡­ I looked up. ¡°eh?¡± Mrs. Pearl lowered her death glare at me, and I stared, probably looking like a deer in the headlight. [Congratulations, you have obtained {Fear resistance(Passive)}] ¡° I said why did you do it?¡± Mrs. Pearl sighed, not as angry having let all her steam out. Don¡¯t get me wrong, she was still mad. She just seemed a bit more reasonable to deal with than a few moments earlier. ¡°¡­.Giant¡­Freakin¡­Rats.¡± I said deadpan. I could almost swear I saw Mrs. Pearl freeze for a moment and shudder. ¡°Well, why the blazing knells didn¡¯t you tell me!¡± Mrs. Pearl raised her hands as if she wanted to shake some sense in me, but paused at the last minute and place a hand on my shoulder, and motioned for me to sit on a chair. ¡°How many?¡± --------------------- By the time I was done explaining things, with help from Ryuu for the blank spots in my memory, Mrs. Pearl finally had an idea of what I¡¯d been through for the past few hours. ¡°Landsakes! If that¡¯s really true, then there must be a rat hole that¡¯s been chewed out somewhere in my barn!¡± Mrs. Pearl exclaimed and sat thinking for a bit. Then she eyed me and Ryuu, and I could almost hear the gears in her head click into place. ¡°Tell you what. I¡¯ll forgive you the broken pitchfork- BUT! You¡¯re going to help me find and plug up that rat hole. Got it?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Both me and Ryuu were silent. ¡°Well? I haven¡¯t all day here! Will you do it or not!?¡± Mrs. Pearl snapped impatiently. I looked at Ryuu, who glanced at me, then smirked in his evil up-to-no-good smirking way. Then he turned to Mrs. Pearl. ¡°Actually, we don¡¯t mind doing that, seeing as how we have an expert on rat fighting here.¡± ¡°Well then you should have no problem-¡± Mrs. Pearl began, but she was cut off by Ryuu. ¡°The only problem, is-sadly-due to the lack of a weapon, we have no means of fighting other than with our bare hands. However, you must agree that such a thing is completely insanitary.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Mrs. Pearl froze. ¡°I-insanitary?¡± her voice shuddered a bit as she seemed more than a bit shaken up. Ryuu continued. ¡°It would be tantamount to a miserable death. Just think of all the diseases that are carried by giant rats. Tetnis, The Black Plague, not to mention Rabies and Measles: would you send us into the barn so ill-prepared?¡± Eh? Tetnis? You mean that game with shaped blocks that was popular back in the origin time of games? (Author¡¯s note: She¡¯s mixed Tetanus{disease} up with Tetris {game}) For each disease he named, Mrs. Pearl shuddered all the more. By the time he was finished, Mrs. Pearl seemed like she would be shaken out of her shoes. ¡°I-is there no other way?¡± She whispered, her voice filled with dread. ¡°If only we had some sort of a weapon to fight them from afar!¡± Ryuu sighed. ¡°Then we could kill them without touching a single whisker!¡± Watching the exchange, I noticed that Mrs. Pearl seemed like she had shrunk and aged quite a bit-Actually, what was that white steam coming out of her mouth in the shape of a little Mrs. Pearl... WAIT! IS SHE ACTUALLY DYING OF FRIGHT RIGHT NOW!? Come back Mrs. Pearl! But, after a few seconds, the white version of her returned within and she seemed to revive a bit as her ear twitched. ¡°You mean, if I provide you with a weapon, you¡¯ll go and kill every single last rat in there, and block up the hole in the barn?¡± Ryuu turned his head towards me, as if considering. ¡°Well¡­¡± By the way, don¡¯t believe him, Mrs. Pearl! He¡¯s got that evil smirk on his face again! Do not be deceived! He turned back and nodded. ¡°It would not be good of us to abandon you in your hour of need. We¡¯ll do it!¡± he shook hands with Mrs. Pearl. Um¡­aren¡¯t I supposed to be the person who decides what quests I will take? Another quest icon popped up in the corner of my vision. I sighed. It seems this one I can¡¯t refuse. I¡¯m still gonna blame Ryuu for this, though. One of these days, I will push him into a volcano. My mood felt a bit brighter when I imagined doing that. Mrs. Pearl then pulled out a rather simple-looking hand and a half sword, in a blue leather sheath from under the counter, and placed it on top of it, gently, as if it were the most precious sword in the world. ¡°This¡­this sword was my husband¡¯s sword, when he was a traveling mercenary. I keep it close to remind me of him whenever I feel like I¡¯ll forget...¡± She caressed the sword as if she couldn¡¯t bear to part with it. She turned to me, her voice a bit choked up. ¡°So you better take care of it do you hear! If this comes back like my poor pitchfork, then I¡¯ll kick you out for good!¡± She glared as she handed over her precious sword. ¡°Of course, that goes without saying!¡± I promised. Weapon get. I thought to myself. Me and Ryuu nodded. It had been made perfectly clear that there would be no more room for negotiation. Maybe I¡¯ll get lucky and run into some fluffies on the way? I Thought, trying to remain optimistic. But inevitably, I realized that I would obtain no such luck. ----------------------- Not only were there just as many rats in the barn as earlier, I had to deal with three sub-bosses, and the previous rat king¡¯s older brother. Honestly, though, this was beginning to feel like the three billy goats gruff, though. Did that make me the grumpy old troll? ¡­If there is a second older brother, I am going to set this barn on fire. Ryuu is not just a narcissist. He¡¯s a sadist! A sadist! Every time we encountered rats, he made me look at them. He¡¯s even muttering about looking for areas where there are more ratkin beasts. Hasn¡¯t my reactions for the past few hours made it clear that I want NOTHING to do with rats!? For instance, when we ran into a whole group of five of them, he just stood there and cheered. ¡°Go for it. You can do it. Kill them dead.¡± All in this condescending monotone as if I was some puffed up sot that couldn¡¯t get by without being praised! In my mind, there is an entire line of Ryuus lined up simply to give me the pleasure of pushing them into the lava. This is the only way I can remain calm at this point. This second run through, we found a tunnel behind a collapsed wall of hay that the rats had trampled down when they came through into the barn. This time, we had to go inside of the tunnel, and fight the rats in their own territory. We went in up to the point where we came across this huge stone in the passageways just waiting to drop down and block the whole passageway, so I had to cut at the surrounding dirt to loosen the soil up enough for the stone to drop. If Ryuu hadn¡¯t pulled me back into the passageway, however, I¡¯d probably be squashed flat again. Since, technically, he saved me, I took one Ryuu off the end of the line of Ryuus waiting to be pushed into the lava in my mind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°....Milady¡­.why do you still refuse to call on me!?¡± A bored Ryuu cries inwardly as he cheers dully Jade. End Login Diary Entry 4 Login Diary Entry 5-1 After reporting the completion of the quest, I once more leveled up. Now I was level 14 with 13% experience left until the next level. I also received a skill Book [Cooking]. Mrs. Pearl grumbled about how she couldn¡¯t believe how many people just ran out into the wilds without even a basic sense of how to cook meals. Unfortunately, now that I¡¯ve completed the quest, it seems that I¡¯ll have to return the sword. I reluctantly held the sword out to Mrs. Pearl. But then something weird happened. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Mrs. Pearl asked. ¡°I¡¯m returning your sword to you?¡± I said, blinking in confusion. ¡°Heh? Sword? What sword? I don¡¯t own any sword. Are you sure you¡¯re not trying to just butter me up?¡± Mrs. Pearl asked, denying it. ¡°But-¡° ¡°I¡¯m just a simple farmer woman! What would I need with a sword? Just go, and take that darned thing with you! It¡¯s probably riddled with diseases from all the rats you killed.¡± Mrs. Pearl waved her arms in a shooing motion. I was about to insist when a blue box popped up:
Due to her forgetful nature, Mrs. Pearl has forgotten ever owning a weapon. Ownership rights have now been transferred to you. Viewing of sword stats is now available.
After tapping on the part in italics, another blue box popped up:
Just take it, already, before she impales you with it.
Okay, this is becoming a bit creepy, but I guess this is probably the free beginner¡¯s sword that gets handed out at the start? If that¡¯s the case, then I needn¡¯t hold out to the point of being killed¡­I kept the sword. ¡­You mean I now have a weapon!? What¡¯s the matter, system? You couldn¡¯t give me another quest to help her recover her memory? Despite mentally taunting the system, I was pleased to finally have a main weapon of her own. Remembering what happened earlier,I used Appraisal to see the sword¡¯s stats.
Weapon: Mercenary Blade Type: Iron Sword
Attack: 6-12 Durability: 109/150
??? Special Effect: None
That¡¯s it? I thought to myself. I mean, okay, yeah- I wasn¡¯t expecting the best, but for it to be so¡­normal, it was kind of disappointing. I guess my hidden weapon, Azure Mist, was much more unique than I¡¯d realized. Ah, but there was still a teensy bit of hope with that hidden ??? in the bottom left corner. Perhaps it could turn out to be some sort of hidden stat? That being the case, I still equipped the sword immediately. Having an average main weapon is better by far than having no weapon. Mrs. Pearl frowned. ¡°There was something else¡­.ah, that was it!¡± She smacked her fist into her hand as she remembered something. ¡°Little Kuma came by while you were gone with a letter from the mail, addressed to Ryuu. Who knows what he wrote, but I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s going to be something for you, little hero-in-training.¡± She handed over the letter to Ryuu, who slipped it up his sleeve. ¡°Now that that¡¯s don-a-ACHOO! Get out of here with that disease-ridden thing! I¡¯ve probably already caught a cold, and I don¡¯t need to be speaking with you until I catch Pneumonia either! Moreover I still have wet laundry to deal with!¡± Mrs. Pearl grumbled and shooed them out of the house. Outside the house, the sun shone as if there never had been a torrential downpour. The puddles on the ground spoke a different story, though. ¡°I guess it¡¯s true that the harder it falls, the faster it goes.¡± I said, staring up at the blue sky almost emptied of puffy white clouds. ¡°Mmmn.¡± Ryuu replied noncommittally as he opened and read the letter that he had placed up his sleeve earlier.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. After a brief glance at him out of the corner of my eye, I confirmed. Yeah, he looks way better when he¡¯s not saying anything. But, I wouldn¡¯t be fooled by his better-than-average appearance anymore! Underneath, he¡¯s still the demon king. I looked away and began watching with interest as little dandelions began popping up here and there, and unfolded their bright yellow flowers. ¡°Heh, that Big Kuma is such a busybody~.¡± I turned back to see that Ryuu was grinned crookedly as he slipped the letter back into his sleeve. ¡°He says that, whenever we finish up with Mrs. Pearl, Old Blacksmith Tang and Kenneth the Hunter are both in need of some assistance. I¡¯ll add them to the map.¡± As he waved his hand, a ting sounded and two golden arrows pointed in two different directions. My eyebrow twitched as I realized that these two are on opposite sides of town! This game sure loves making you run a lot! It¡¯s a good thing there isn¡¯t something like a stamina gauge in this game, or I¡¯d have probably burst a blood vessel or something. After considering for a moment, I decided to go to the Blacksmith¡¯s first. Since I now have a sword, it¡¯s best to learn how to take care of it first before going out of town and slaying monsters. Moreover, I was pretty certain that the reward for finishing the Blacksmith¡¯s quest was some sort of repair skill or weapon creation skill. ¡°Let¡¯s go to Blacksmith Tang, first.¡± I told Ryuu. ¡°Why did you choose him?¡± Ryuu asked with a face devoid of his usual crooked smirk. ¡°Since I now have a weapon, I need to know how to take care of it and make some basic repairs. Some may be okay with dying, since to them it¡¯s just a game, but I was always taught that one¡¯s weapon is one¡¯s life.¡± While it sounded kind of cool the way I said it, it was actually something my dad kept telling me. As a guidance councelor, he was a huge advocate of taking one¡¯s talent seriously. The actual words were really this: ¡°If one¡¯s talent is one¡¯s weapon, then if one does not hone it, with what shall you fight? In the competitive world of today, one¡¯s weapon is equivalent to one¡¯s life.¡± While I tended to ignore some of his more in-depth and complicated explanations, this one had struck a chord with me. As a gamer, I was somewhat of a perfectionist. If I could get through a game with the least amount of deaths out of anyone, then wouldn¡¯t that point to me being highly skilled in gaming? Perhaps this would be my first step towards going pro! That¡¯s why, to accomplish my goal, I had to learn how to hone my weapon well. Aside from that first kill with the cabbage cart, I will never die again, so I resolved. What I did not realize was how sinister Ryuu¡¯s brain functions were. I should have known that I had inevitably set myself up for another round of suffering, due to my words. After making my way through the town dotted with yellow and white dandelions, and grassy hills, I had almost reached my goal when I saw something somewhat interesting. A player flew out of one of the shops, landing in the street, losing about half of his HP by the looks of it. From the doorway, an old man with a bald head and a white beard yelled out. ¡°Don¡¯t bother coming back in here again! You¡¯re banned! Do you hear me? Banned!¡± ¡°Shut up old man! It¡¯s not like your crummy wares are so good you can¡¯t give me a discount!¡± The player shouted back, his face swelling up like a pig¡¯s face. Admirably, the game¡¯s graphics are simply too realistic! I ended up watching with interest. ¡°Ho? You still running your mouth? Me not killing you immediately was my being nice.¡± The old man said, taking out a large, double-edged battle ax, about almost as big as he was. Although he was grinning, his smile ran cold. That smile, although different from Ryuu¡¯s smile, was still rather familiar. I felt that I had found yet another demon king among the game¡¯s AIs. Not to mention that ax¡­was rather magnificent-looking, actually. It wasn¡¯t a solid blade of steel. The inner structure, surrounding the wooden shaft was riddled with orderly rows of triangular holes-creating a metal lattice-work impression. The only solid part was the ax edges themselves. But, even though there were holes in the ax, I had a feeling that the cutting capability was much stronger than a usual ax. In fact, aside from the Azure Mist hidden blade, this was my first time seeing a non-standard weapon-not to mention one of such size. The old man tapped the flat of the blade against his shoulder. ¡°I know that you¡¯re an immortal, and killing you today will not rid us of you tomorrow. But what I can promise is this: if you don¡¯t scram now, then every time I see you in the future, I will kill you.¡± The old man said, his eyes shone sharp, a terrible killing intent could be tangibly felt emanating from him. The pig face¡¯s quickly bruising face seemed to lose a bit of color. ¡°Y-you wouldn¡¯t dare!¡± ¡°Who know¡¯s what I would and would not dare!¡± The killing intent became more solid. ¡°If you¡¯re not out of my sight in ten seconds, I won¡¯t need to be polite anymore! So get running! One¡­Two¡­Three¡­¡± Each time he counted, he took a step closer to the rude player, whose pig-like face turned pale as he scrambled out of sight before the old man could even count to seven. ¡°Durned jackal!¡± He spat before turning around and walking back into his shop, slamming the door behind him. The surrounding bystanders came to the same conclusion from this scene: if you wish to obtain benefits, don¡¯t anger the locals. I made a mental note to avoid him as much as possible to lessen the chances of getting on his bad side. Getting back to finding Blacksmith Tang, I looked over at the mini map, and felt a shudder wash over me. It couldn¡¯t be! I rubbed my eyes, double checked, and even triple checked the location, but it was no use. The arrow pointed straight towards a certain door¡­ ¡­The door the old man had slammed behind him. I felt a bit faint as I realized that the old man could very well be the same Blacksmith Tang that I was looking for. Login Diary Entry 5-2 I stood in front of the shop door, wishing that I did not have to enter, but before I could change my mind and turn around to head towards Kenneth the hunter, Ryuu stepped forward and opened the door, making the tiny bells chime audibly through the shop. ¡­I was too late¡­Well, in for a penny, in for a pound I guess¡­ ¡°WHICH FOOLHARDY NUMBSKULL DARES TO ENTER MY-OH RYUU!! Come in, man, and let¡¯s have a good talk! You can¡¯t believe how many idiots I¡¯ve had to deal with today.¡± Master Tang suddenly changed tunes. Ryuu raised a hand in greeting. ¡°Hello, old man. While I¡¯d love to have another discussion about the many copious uses for your special metallic alloy, I actually came here for a different reason today.¡± He turned towards me with a look that said ¡®what, you¡¯re not inside already? You puny mortals really are too timid¡¯. Well, it seemed to say something like that. But, in front of a man whose temper comes and goes like the wind, I decided to speak as little as possible. Hopefully I can gain a bit of good will from being Ryuu¡¯s hero-in-training¡­I never thought the day would come so soon when I¡¯d have to rely upon this narcissist for help. I remembered Blacksmith Tang¡¯s murderous aura. Guh! I¡¯ll simply have to put up with it, then. I do not want to be on the receiving end of Mr. Evil Chris Kringle¡¯s dark aura. Yes, he does resemble Santa Claus a bit¡­when he¡¯s not trying to kill someone. ¡°Ho? Here to buy the young lady one of my sturdy swords?¡± Blacksmith Tang asked. He thumped his chest with a confident hand. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. I, Blacksmith Tang, may be very busy, but I will undoubtedly create the best sword possible for her.¡± ¡°Hmm? Then what about the sword you made me earlier? Does that mean that mine will no longer be the best?¡± Ryuu teased. Then he got to the point, with an evil glint in his eye as usual. ¡°Actually I¡¯m here because Big Kuma told Miss Jade, here, that you were looking for some help, and she decided to come straight here, even after hearing that Kenneth the Hunter also needed help. Do you know what she said when I asked her why she decided to come here first?¡± Blacksmith Tang was listening with some bit of interest. ¡°What? What did she say?¡± Ah! There it is! My evil Ryuu senses are tingling! He¡¯s about to---- ¡°She said ¡®since I now have a weapon, I need to know how to take care of it and make some basic repairs. Some may be okay with dying, since to them it¡¯s just a game, but I was always taught that one¡¯s weapon is one¡¯s life.¡¯¡± Ryuu said with his evil grin. ----HE DID IT!! Aaaaahhh! Nooo! Don¡¯t go saying that! Those aren¡¯t even my words! This is harassment! Harassment, I say! I could feel my face heating up as they both looked at me. I¡¯m pretty sure my face was beet red, by then. ¡°Ryuu-¡± I began. But, before I could speak any further, I paused nervously. Blacksmith Tang, who had originally been standing behind the store counter, had vaulted over it and approached me. He put his hand on my shoulder. Is he going to throw me out too!? I felt panicky inside, remembering what had just happened. He seemed to be glaring at me, too, which didn¡¯t seem to be a good sign¡­Ryuu, knowing what was coming next, grinned wickedly as he watched the show.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. This is it! I prepared myself to be thrown outside. But, instead of being thrown, a gloved hand clapped my back, causing me to stumble forward under its onslaught. ¡°Well said, young lady! You¡¯ve got a good head on your shoulders, there! It¡¯s not many that understand how important it is to keep their weapon in top condition. It¡¯s like I always say, even a god¡¯s metal can be ruined by an idiot that doesn¡¯t know how to treat it. Hey, what say you learn under me for a bit? I guarantee you won¡¯t find a better blacksmith for miles around.¡± He laughed and his earlier glaring face melted into a jovial one. A blue box popped up.
Blacksmith Tang is offering to take you under his tutelage. Will you accept? Becoming Blacksmith Tang¡¯s Apprentice
Yes
No
I glanced at Ryuu, who pretended to be examining one of the blades on the wall. He knew this would happen! I narrowed my eyes. The amount of Ryuu¡¯s lined up to be pushed into the lava increased by a third. While this was indeed the direction I was hoping for¡­it felt like I was being manipulated. I had no evidence of such a thing, but I simply felt that it was there, like the faint smell of meat in the kitchen after it had already been cooked and eaten and the dishes washed. Well, I suppose there¡¯s really no true harm done. I thought to myself. I had come here to learn anyways. What¡¯s the harm in it? I pressed the blue Yes. ¡­I can only say that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But, for the rest of you, I shall be brief in my description, as narrating everything that happened in that shop would take up several books and an entire encyclopedia collection. Naturally, I have neither the time, nor the patience to narrate such a long and dullish sort of story. It wasn¡¯t the hard work that got me. I already had prepared myself for something like that, but that old man¡­he really loved to talk about metal. From the time I entered the forge, to the time I left, all he would do while I worked was to talk about metals, even as his hammer rung out striking the impurities out of his next molten target. Before I could even work the forge, I had to do small things: fetching coal, working the bellows, skimming the slag, etc. Only after Blacksmith Tang was satisfied that I had the basics down did he allow me to hold a hammer. My first attempt? It was of a rather normal grade when I had finished. Old Man Tang was surprised because usually a first try would end up as either an inferior grade or metal scrap. But, he seemed to attribute my good luck to his metallurgy brainwashing. As if anyone couldn¡¯t tell that metals were his one and only sweetheart~. I and Ryuu, however knew that it was the result of luck being one of my highest stats. But, we let him think that way, anyways. For an old man, he sure was kind of cute sometimes. And I¡¯m not saying cute as in ¡®a boy that I¡¯d like to be together with¡¯ cute. No, his cuteness stemmed from a genuine innocent delight in metals. As long as it was anything about metal, his gruff and grumpy appearance would melt as if he were staring at a pile of fluffy baby kittens or something. I quickly learned to have recourse to discussing about metals whenever I seemed to aggravate Old Man Tang too much. Ryuu just sat in a chair against the far wall, with his eyes closed the whole time I was working. I would have said that he was sleeping, but I don¡¯t know anyone that would be able to sleep through the immense racket of hammers that we two were making. As things were, the time quickly flew, and I had forgotten to eat or sleep for four days and nights in game. But, I had completed producing my first ever steel sword! I already had a sword, though. Since the stats in the sword I had made were slightly less than average, I decided to sell it instead of keep it. And so, I earned my very first coinage, and graduated from blacksmith apprentice to journeyman at the same moment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ryuu opened an eye and looked at Jade and Blakcksmith Tang, still hammering on pieces of red hot metal. Good. I wasn¡¯t sleeping. I wasn¡¯t sleeping. Nobody will ever know of this¡­. End of Login Entry 5 ----------------------------------------------------------- Secret Report 1 Secret Report 1: Okay, this is really strange for me, so I¡¯m not writing this down in my usual diary. Instead of the usual, where I write about what happens in the game, this will be my dream journal, which will be placed in the ultimate hidden compartment as my most secret report. I¡¯ve begun having some strange dreams lately. No, not the one about the family turning into zombies, or me flying over a parking lot-turned into a valley- populated by multiple blue aliens that look similar to a cross between an Uru¡¯kai and those aliens from the Avatar movie. Those ones were awesome, by the way. I¡¯m talking about¡­well¡­strange dreams. Since there¡¯s really no words that can describe, I need to tell you the whole thing. First off, I ¡®awoke¡¯ in my room. Everything was normal. I went to the restroom as usual, and got ready. Then I went to the kitchen¡­and here¡¯s where things get weird¡­ Ryuu¡­was in the kitchen¡­.making omelets. IT¡¯S JUST SO BIZZARE! He was just in the kitchen, making omelets, still dressed up like how he is in the game with his white robey clothes and long hair and stuff. ¡­and he was smiling. No, not the demon lord grin, either! It was¡­.like he was honestly glad that I was there-that I existed, even. There wasn¡¯t even a spot of narcissism anywhere! But, do you know what was even weirder? ¡­.I was acting completely normal as if this usually happened everyday. O___O Like, I¡¯m absolutely CERTAIN that if that happened, I¡¯d probably have whacked him over the head with a chair, screaming at him, before asking how he even MANAGED to get in my house¡­.no, first, I¡¯d ask how he¡¯d be even able to exist outside of the game, moreover make omelets! And, for some reason there were a lot of flowers everywhere, in vases. It was like someone turned half the house into a garden of flowers. ¡­The omelets were pretty tasty, though. He didn¡¯t want to eat at first, just watching me, but I got annoyed and stuffed half his omelet into his mouth, forcing him to eat. Haha, his face was pretty funny-looking. It¡¯s too bad that he decided to eat the rest normally¡­I¡¯d have probably had fun stuffing the other half into his mouth just to see that face again.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. And then mom and dad showed up, and things seriously became weird. They acted like Ryuu was COMPLETELY NORMAL. As if a six-foot tall pretty boy in white robes with long hair is anything CLOSE to normal. I can¡¯t even! I just can¡¯t! Then Dad asks Ryuu about how his job is going, and Ryuu¡¯s just sitting there, having a conversation with my parents while I¡¯m in the kitchen doing the dishes. I barely even do my own dishes, much less everyone else¡¯s. But I was there washing everything that Ryuu had used to make the omelets ¡­.but it was strange. There were five pans, three mixing bowls, a cookie rack, as well as several stacks of dishes as high as flapjack piles. I don¡¯t even think we HAVE as many dishes as was there by the sink. And mom and dad are just talking to Ryuu, as if it was NORMAL. I am never going to get over this, it was so weird. And then my little brother wakes up and instead of going to mom, he goes straight to Ryuu, as if he were my brother¡¯s new favorite person! I just¡­can¡¯t even. But, the weirdest was yet to come. Ryuu started playing with my little brother, throwing him up in the air, and catching him¡­but then his hair starts moving and doing the throwing instead, as if his hair were arms that he could move about as he wished. While it would be awesome to have a power like that, I would never wish for Ryuu to have that. He¡¯s evil enough already. He doesn¡¯t need an overpowered ability like that¡­I get the feeling it would be really scary to be on the receiving end of that ability. And then Sarah, my cat, comes in, asking for food. Sarah ran away years ago, from our previous house. We¡¯ve already moved since then, so there¡¯s no way she could find us. But, still, there she was. And in the end, even Sarah accepted Ryuu as normal! Sarah didn¡¯t even like being held by me, but she let Ryuu hold her on his lap the whole rest of the dream! Kuuh! I won¡¯t forgive you, Ryuu! Sarah is MINE. Honestly? Remembering it, I feel as if I had been replaced by Ryuu in my family, and I had become the stranger, instead, somehow. I mean, dad was still dad-and mom was still mom- but not only did they not notice me, they acted like I didn¡¯t exist¡­ Yeah, that makes more sense, come to think of it. But, I guess I shouldn¡¯t really worry about it. It¡¯s not like Ryuu is real after all. I mean, he¡¯s just an AI. And for all the virtual reality in game, it can never really happen¡­hmm? Somehow I still feel uncomfortable about this. Well, anyways, after that, I actually woke up in bed, and then immediately wrote this down so that I don¡¯t forget. I mean, this is the first dream I¡¯ve had in a while! And I feel there was something important about it. I can¡¯t really understand what it is, but I just feel I mustn¡¯t forget this. Ah! I remember now! RYUU! ALL FLUFFIES ARE MINE! I WON¡¯T LET YOU HAVE ANY OF THEM!! Probably later on down the road, I¡¯ll find this again and look back on it for a laugh or two. But for now, this is super top secret! ---End of Secret Report 1--- Comatose Ward Special Division: Silence reigned the hallway in this highly-secured section of the hospital, aside from the slow measured beep beep beep of the heart monitoring systems. The numbered rooms that could only be accessed by special key codes unique to the individual locks were sectioned off with one person per room. The only difference between this place and the morgue was a sliver of a chance that one day the people sleeping within would awaken. But, really, it was just a sliver of a chance. Even the doctors themselves would have given up on these patients if not for the continued monetary support of the patients¡¯ generous families. In one of these rooms, a couple sat, watching their son lying still as death upon the hospital bed. It was hard for them to look at the IVs and wires connecting him to the monitoring systems. The only thing that was different between him and his neighbors was that he was wearing the popular VR gaming headpiece that was now so popular. This headgear was different though, in that it was pure white, as opposed to the colored version of the usual headgear. But, even the headgear couldn¡¯t hide how long his hair had grown, showing he was not a new patient. ¡°Doctor, are you sure that this will help him? He¡¯s already been through the beta with no signs of waking up. How will placing him in the main gaming world as an AID help him to wake up?¡± The mother asked, clearly feeling disappointed at the seeming lack of activity. ¡°I¡¯ve already told you before, by placing his subconscious self in a world where he helps someone grow, it will stimulate his brain¡¯s activities, spurring him to create new pathways around those which were destroyed.¡± The brain specialist shook his head. ¡°While I¡¯d like to say that he¡¯ll awaken any day now, it isn¡¯t that simple. Due to his trauma, this has become a very slow process. But, I¡¯d like to show you something that I think will bring a bit more hope to the situation.¡± He typed in a code into the computer, and pulled up a recording of a green line oscillating lazily back and forth across the black background. ¡°This is your son¡¯s brain last year before the Beta testing of the game, where we had him go in as a player.¡± The mother and father eyed the thin line which separated him from a braindead comatose patient.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°As you can see, for the most part, he would switch between the Delta and Theta waves, not even attempting to break past the lower end of the Theta waves.¡± He typed in a few other words and brought up a second recording next to the first one. ¡°This was taken during his Beta trial as a player.¡± The waves seemed to get a bit closer together than the first one. ¡°Here, we can see him mostly on the low end of the Theta waves almost breaking past the mid Theta part, but not quite getting there.¡± He moved the second recording below the first one and brought up another recording. ¡°And this is our most recent recording. As you can see, several times this week, he broke past the mid Theta range into the higher Theta wavelength range, almost breaking into the Alpha frequency of brain waves.¡± ¡°And¡­this means?¡± The father asked, slowly. The brain specialist looked at the couple and smiled. ¡°It means that your boy is finally on the mend.¡± The couple looked at each other and back at the specialist. ¡°You mean..¡± The doctor nodded. ¡°When he¡¯ll awaken is not yet certain, but if his current winning streak continues, then¡­within a year, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he finally woke up. After that, we¡¯ll have to conduct some memory and psychological tests and work out a physical therapy plan to get his muscles back in order, but if all goes well, this could very well be the breakthrough in comatose treatment that we were looking for.¡± ¡°Finally! Do you hear that, Ryuu? You¡¯ll be back home before Christmas I just know it!¡± The mother caressed her son¡¯s cheek. ¡°Keep fighting, Ryuu. Don¡¯t give up¡± She shed a few tears silently as she looked at her son. The telephone rang. The doctor picked it up. ¡°Hello? Dr. Bertrand speaking¡­Yes?...All right, I¡¯ll tell him.¡± He hung up. ¡°That was your attendant, Mister Takashi. He called to remind you that if you don¡¯t leave soon, you¡¯ll be late for your appointment.¡± Mr. Takashi nodded his head, then turned to his wife and gently spoke. ¡°Mayumi¡­ We need to get back to work, for Ryuu¡¯s sake.¡± Mrs. Takashi wiped the tears from her face with her kerchief and took one more long look at her son. ¡°Ryuu, don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll definitely do everything we can so that you can get better, okay? Mommy¡¯s got to go, but I¡¯ll be back after work, okay?¡± The two left the room, and Doctor Bertrand once more locked the door, watching them receded down the hallway towards the entrance. Out of all the families of comatose patients, these two had definitely visited their son the most. It was quite obvious that the boy was very special to them. He once again renewed his resolve. If I do nothing else before I retire, I will make sure that Ryuu wakes up. Login Diary Entry 6-1 Having finished training under Blacksmith Tang, and gaining the [Blacksmith] and [Repair] skills, I finally was free to search for other quests. I had also managed to level up my [Appraisal] skill from level 0 to level 5 while appraising all the metals and ores I was made to memorize. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re pretty good at this, say, want to change to Blacksmith class?¡± Blacksmith Tang asked me when we¡¯d finished. ¡°Hmm¡­not for now. I want to take a look at all the classes before I make a decision.¡± I replied by reflex. ¡°WHAT¡¯S THE MATTER, GIRL? IS BLACKSMITHING NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!?¡± He yelled, his face growing dark. I panicked. ¡°No, it¡¯s not that, um¡­ I just wanted to look at the other ones to see how they can never measure up to Blacksmithing is all. To be able to make metal soft and mold it into something great and unbreakable is really amazing!¡± I replied, watching Old man Tang¡¯s face revert back into his Santa Clause smile. ¡°Ohoho! Why didn¡¯t you say so before, lass? Go ahead and take all the time you need, I don¡¯t mind!¡± A blue box popped up.
You have earned the title [Smooth Talker] NPCs are more likely to believe what you say. +5 Reputation
Another box popped up after that.
Congratulations! You have discovered the hidden stat Reputation. Keep up the good work! I¡¯ve got my eye on you, after all.
That sounded more than just a little creepy. I raised an eyebrow, considering if I should address this or ignore it. In the end, I decided to ignore it. So long as it didn¡¯t do or say anything harmful, it was free to say things however it liked. I stretched, taking in the smell of fresh-baked bread from the nearby bakery, which was a welcome change from the tangy smell of metal in the blacksmith store behind me. Hmm¡­now to go to that hunter guy, what¡¯s his name again? Ka¡­no..Ki..no..er...It¡¯s on the tip of my tongue, I know it. But before I could use my quest log to find the name, Ryuu all of a sudden says. ¡°Kenneth. Kenneth the hunter.¡± ¡°Yep. That¡¯s what his name is, huh?¡± I pause. Did I just say that out loud? ¡°Uh¡­¡± I look at Ryuu, who is smirking terribly. I¡¯m not going to degrade myself by denying what I said, but I can hardly be blamed for forgetting, right? It¡¯s been a week after all right? Rather¡­is he some sort of mind reader? I looked at him suspiciously. ¡°I can¡¯t help but see it written all over your face, you know.¡± Ryuu replied smugly. I refuse to look at Ryuu for the time being. Can¡¯t tell what¡¯s on my face if you can¡¯t see it, can you, oh reader of faces, hmm? Glancing at my map at the top of my vision, I turn to head towards the forest entrance, walking quickly past Ryuu without looking at him. Instead, I once more enjoyed the realistic graphics of the game, looking around with delight. The movements of the grass in the breeze, the fluttering of the leaves in the small fruit trees, the crunch of the gravel underfoot: it was too good to be a game! I quickly forgot the reason for my earlier bad mood (Ryuu) and focused on enjoying my game experience. Perhaps Ryuu could read the mood, but he didn¡¯t interrupt me on my way there.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. It was simply beautiful. And the blue sky with puffy white clouds quickly put me in a good mood. I could never really be angry for long on a nice day like this. Wherever there is a blue sky and waving grass, there can be found a good mood. And it sure was nice to be outside after being inside a blacksmith shop for so long. The sound of crickets in the grass, and birds chirping from the bushes felt soothing to the ears. At some point, I had begun humming a tune, making it up as it went along. I was always good at coming up with little tunes like that. But when people asked if I wanted to become a singer, or a composer, I¡¯d always refuse. I mean, seriously, if every time I prepared to create a harmeless little tune, I knew that someone was expecting something of me, it¡¯d turn my tune into work-which wouldn¡¯t be fun anymore. Music is made under the freedom of leisure, and not under the burden of time constraints. My humming continued up until we reached the forest entrance, where there was a sign.
¡°Warning: Beware of Lions¡±
¡°Well, that was a bit unexpected.¡± I said. ¡°Why?¡± Ryuu asked. ¡°Because the usual predator in a forest like this should be wolves. Lions usually live in hot grassy plains like the savannah. They usually don¡¯t take to forests like this, unless¡­say is there a mountain nearby?¡± I asked, suddenly remembering something. ¡°Not only is there a mountain, but there is an entire mountain range.¡± Ryuu replied. I knew it. It¡¯s got to be mountain lions. ¡°I see.¡± Then I remembered that I wasn¡¯t talking to Ryuu, and continued into the forest towards the golden arrow on the map. Leaves and pine needles rustled underfoot, and twigs snapped when stepped upon. The green leaves blocked out the sunlight, making small spotlights out of sunshine which changed slightly when the breeze blew through the trees. While the birds still chirped, the crickets had been left behind in the tall grass outside the forest. The air smelled different here than the smell of sunshine and grass. It smelled of cool brooks, of decaying leaves, mushrooms, and pine. It had been a while since I had last been to a forest. After walking down the path for five minutes or so, we came to a small clearing with a log house lodge at the far end. Several targets were on the trees, with arrows sticking out of them suggesting lots of practice. Surprisingly, though, an arrow stopped us from entering the clearing. ¡°Halt! State your name and business, and rank, if you so have one.¡± A voice echoed throughout the clearing, making me unable to pinpoint where it came from. ¡°Cut that out, Kenneth! It¡¯s me, Ryuu. I¡¯ve brought the hero apprentice Jade with me. Big Kuma said you needed some assistance, and I deemed it would be good experience for her to learn under your care.¡± Ryuu replied, with a slightly annoyed voice. This Kenneth person might not be so bad. I thought to myself. If he¡¯s enough to annoy Ryuu, I might frequently come back here¡­ ¡°Understood, so you¡¯re the one that the Mayor recommended.¡± A figure jumped down from the treetops, landing lithely on the ground. Surprisingly, it was an Elf, with lime green hair, dressed in a leather hunting outfit. ¡°An elf?¡± I asked. ¡°Of course, what else would you expect me to be?¡± Kenneth asked. ¡°But your name is Kenneth!¡± I protested. ¡°That¡¯s not a very elf-like name!¡± ¡°Not so, not so! The Ke stands for ''wisdom'' and Neth comes from the Nyth which stands for ''of the forest''. So, Kenneth is a perfectly good name for an elf!¡± Kenneth protested. ¡°It¡¯s you humans which stole the name and popularized it.¡± Ah. Kind of like how different words from the languages became well known in America. ¡°Is that so? Then, I apologize. I shouldn¡¯t have assumed.¡± He waved it away. ¡°Not at all, I¡¯m used to it. I¡¯m rather glad you weren¡¯t one of the regular rabble that sometimes comes around here.¡± ¡°Rabble?¡± I asked. Ryuu cleared his throat. ¡°If you two are quite finished, shouldn¡¯t you explain what you need help with, KENNETH?¡± Ryu asked pointedly. ¡°Ah, yes¡­ why don¡¯t we head inside, then?¡± The elf invited them into the lodge. Login Diary Entry 6-2 It was a typical looking lodge. The obligatory antlers and bearskin furnishings were present, as well as the carved wooden decorations. But, something was bothering me. Were they really carved? I leaned closer to examine a nearby shelf decoration, noticing the neatly-knit weave of the wood. There wasn¡¯t really any sign of knife or blade touching it. The wood had naturally twined and twisted around itself in that manner. Hmmm. Perhaps it¡¯s an elf¡¯s touch? I thought to myself. ¡°Ah are you perhaps interested in woodcrafting? It¡¯s one of my specialties, you know. It takes a while to convince the branches to grow in that manner. But, it¡¯s too bad that non-elves can¡¯t converse with the trees so easily.¡± Kenneth sighed. Ryuu cleared his throat again. That¡¯s the second time that¡¯s happened. I wonder if he¡¯s catching a cold? Wait, before that, can AIDs even get colds? I mused to myself. ¡°Ah, but where are my manners, do sit down, Jade. Ryuu.¡± Kenneth motioned to the bear fur-covered couch. I obliged by taking a seat, instantly sinking down into fluffy wonderfulness. Honestly, I wondered if this is what Sats*ki felt like in My Neighbor T*toro when she took the cat bus to find her sister¡­I wanted one. Then Kenneth took something out from behind him and laid it on the small table in front of us. ¡°Before I get to the mission. You do recognize it, right?¡± Kenneth asked. I looked at the object¡­hmmm¡­.nope. Not mine, whatever it was. It appeared to be a long stick-like black thing that looked like a small lance. ¡°That¡¯s! But weren¡¯t they all exterminated right before the Sabel Thaigar¡¯s subjugation mission?¡± Ryuu exclaimed, surprised. ¡­Um, can someone let me into the loop, please? Preferably Kenneth, cuz I¡¯m still not talking to Ryuu. I mentally complained. ¡°Isn¡¯t it? I thought so too. It turns out there are most likely a remnant few out there.¡± Kenneth agreed with a smile. Okay, now you¡¯re both being mean. Don¡¯t make me say it! I frowned. I reached out my hand towards it and picked it up, examining it. It¡¯s rather shiny, like it was polished. It¡¯s also rather light. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d say this was made out of plastic-Ooh! There¡¯s a part that bends here. It¡¯s segmented too. Kind of like¡­I paused, and looked up at Kenneth. ¡°Is this what I think it is?¡± I asked him. Kenneth raised an eyebrow. ¡°What do you think it is?¡± He asked in return. ¡°The perfect marshmallow stick.¡± I replied deadpan. ¡°¡­excuse me?¡± Kenneth asked. Ryuu¡¯s cold must be getting worse. I can see his shoulders shaking as he tries not to cough. ¡°Ah, well. It looks similar to a tool from where I come from which is used to make a very classic sweet.¡± I replied. ¡°But you just called it a stick earlier?¡± Kenneth asked, slightly confused.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Not any stick can become a marshmallow stick.¡± I sniffed. It¡¯s true. The short or completely dead(dry) sticks aren¡¯t good for roasting marshmallows. They also can¡¯t be too thin or bendy. If I turned this over so that the hinge part was opened towards the sky, it¡¯d probably stay straight. And I was actually just spouting complete BS so that he¡¯d actually tell me what the darned thing was. If I had my suspicions right¡­ ¡°Is that so?¡± Kenneth tugged at one of his ears, absentmindedly, glancing at Ryuu. ¡°Well I wouldn¡¯t really know much about that. It¡¯s actually¡­ah, now that I think of it, you¡¯ve been summoned from another world, so perhaps you don¡¯t know about them? In that case, allow me to give you an explanation when next we meet with one, okay?¡± Kenneth promised. Stingy. If you¡¯re going to explain, you can at least tell me what it¡¯s called. I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s some sort of animal, though. I mentally scolded. Putting things aside for a different time is just asking for an emergency quest flag to be raised. Reflecting upon my method, I ended up speaking more than I¡¯m used to, without getting any relevant information¡­maybe it was my fault for going off track on purpose? Perhaps NPCs can¡¯t pick up dry humor or sarcasm?! Oh, wait. I forgot about that smooth-talker title I have. Man. Reputation sure does bite sometimes. I also glanced at Ryuu, who by now had completely suppressed his cough. For some reason, I felt really annoyed. I wasn¡¯t sure why, but I¡¯m certain it was all his fault. He closed one eye and looked back at me as if asking. ¡°What? Is there something you wish to ask of this King?¡± or something equally ear-curdling-ly narcissistic words. I turned back to the black pointy thing, remembering that I was still ignoring him. But it wasn¡¯t fun anymore. I placed it back on the table. ¡°And? You wish us to look for where this came from?¡± I asked. ¡°No, I¡¯m already pretty sure where that came from, actually. The reason I really called for help was to have someone help with the tree sap route. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯d noticed, but the trees around here are troubled by an excess of sap, which causes them to burst apart if not taken care of, which is why I have established a sap line. It¡¯s good stuff. If you boil it, you can make a sweet syrup, candy sweets, or -if you process it differently- you can make a natural wood glue that is key in making bows and arrows. To be honest, since it¡¯s spring there are just too many trees to take care of, which is why I need help. If you can help me for one week, then you can have a share of what comes out of the sap production. Well? What do you say? Will you help me save the trees from bursting?¡± Kenneth offered placing his hands together in petition. A blue box popped up again.
Kenneth the hunter needs help collecting the extra sap from his suffering trees. If you help, he will reward you with a share of the results. Rewards vary according to effort. Accept?
Yes
No
I looked blankly at Kenneth. Someone who was supposedly saving the trees had coincidentally been in the clearing and leisurely enough to shoot arrows at us earlier. I highly doubted that this was a simple job of gathering tree sap. I wanted to call bull, but before I could open my mouth, Ryuu cut in again. ¡°We¡¯d be happy to help, oh incompetent guardian of the forest.¡± He smiled mischievously as Kenneth glared at him. The blue box disappeared as a new quest marker appeared in the top right corner. ¡­um¡­accepting quests was my job, wasn¡¯t it? Ah, nevermind then. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the protagonist of my own story or anything (AN: Ack. She broke the 4th wall!). I ignored the sinking feeling I had in my stomach as I asked my question. ¡°And so, how are we going to do this?¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When Kenneth was about to tell her what the object was, Ryuu quickly put a finger to his lips. ¡®It¡¯s better for her to think of it like that.¡¯ He thought. ¡®I can¡¯t wait to see her face when she meets one~¡¯ Actually, during that whole conversation, Ryuu had been shuddering as he tried to hold back his laughter. This person named Jade clearly already had an idea of what it was, but she gave the wrong answer on purpose. How cute. How much more amusing will it be when she sees them? Ryuu couldn¡¯t wait. Login Diary Entry 6-3 After being volunteer-obligated to help Kenneth with his trees, I followed him around the forest as he explained how I would do the job. Apparently, Ryuu is not allowed to help. So I was the only person who would be doing the work here. The job itself was fairly simple enough. The trees had taps hammered partway into the tree to make an outlet for the extra sap. A bucket hung underneath it to catch the drippings, similar to a maple syrup farm. All I needed to do was to gather the full buckets and replace them with empty ones, then empty the full buckets into one of the two large cauldrons that were set up in a small clearing. The larger cauldron was sitting on top of a roaring fire, boiling the sap down into syrup. The other one sat to the side with a fine screen over the top to keep bugs and small creatures out. I had to put twice as much sap in the boiling cauldron than I did in the other cauldron. But it seemed no matter how much I poured in those two, the liquid level remained the same. Ryuu didn¡¯t instigate me much while I was working. Instead he had become super quiet. But whenever I looked at him, he had his demon lord smile on him. To be honest, I stopped looking after the first day, because every time I looked it was just getting worse and worse. After a while I was afraid that if I kept looking, I¡¯d start seeing hallucinations about his demon kingdom in the background¡­Well, it¡¯s all good I, guess- so long as he wasn¡¯t pulling rat mobs towards me again. *shudders*
You have gained 1 strength
You have gained 1 Dexterity
You have gained 1 Vitality
Ah, did I mention the large amount of walking and heavy lifting I had to do? The buckets were the large five-gallon kind that I¡¯d attach to a wooden yolk made to fit across the shoulders like in the Netvids (online movies) about the ancient times. Carrying two of those buckets, plus keeping my balance while walking through a forest where the path was strewn with tree roots really helped me to raise those three stats. Suspiciously, I didn¡¯t see a single mountain lion on my way to and fro. After the first three days, it became rather monotonous. So I started counting the number of buckets I managed to empty. To be honest, I lost count after around five hundred, though. And if this syrup had the same coversion rates as maple syrup¡­Since one bucket equals five gallons then 23 gallons of sap is equal to one gallon of syrup¡­ So, divide 2,500 by 23, and...that¡¯s a lot of syrup. If I factor in the fact that I lost count yesterday morning¡­yep. That¡¯s a LOT of syrup. I honestly didn¡¯t know what I am going to do with over 110 gallons of syrup. I guess I could simply just let it sit in the bank unless I need it. I could also sell it, but this was a rare chance to get a sweets recipe from a game, so I put up with it. There was also the possibility that I''d only receive a fraction of what was made. Did I mention there aren¡¯t many sweet foods here? Most of the foodstuffs are Tanpopo specialties, which means they have dandelion leaves, stems, roots, flowers, etc. included in them. Only the bakery had sweet things, which were mainly made with dried fruits or honey. Even then, those were super expensive, so maybe it was a good thing to stock up on sweets now. I heard that the capital has a large sweets market. It seems that produce from all over the land makes its way there. Fresh fruit parfaits, pies, tarts, puddings: I can¡¯t wait! But first¡­.I have to hurry up and finish up here! Most of the quicker players had already made their way to the capital without finishing the quests here, although many still succumbed to the monsters they encounter on the way there. I admit, maybe I should have followed in their footsteps and struck out early, but I seriously hate not following through with what I have resolved to do in the first place! Pro Gamers don''t stop until they''ve checked out all the routes, too; so why should I leave because of a few impatient buggers jumping the gun? It wasn''t too boring, either. Every now and then Kenneth would show up and show me a particular plant that he was gathering. It became an interesting side job to gather plants while I was working. If I managed to gather a plant perfectly, I¡¯d gain experience points when I handed them in to Kenneth. I was able to gain experience points for doing something which didn''t involve me, a sword, and rats. What luck! But, in order to gather the herbs, I''d have to place down my yolk and the buckets. If I left the sap for too long, bugs would gather around. So I had to do gather the plants quickly if I wanted to bring clean sap to the cauldrons. If more than ten bugs got inside, the sap¡¯s title was changed to ¡®bug-ridden sap¡¯ which the boiling cauldron refused. But, oddly enough the other cauldron accepted it, so all was well. But still, by the time a whole week was almost up, I had gained enough experience points to level up twice. My status was looking pretty good at this point, too.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Name Jade Class Rookie
Level 16 Title Rat''s Nightmare, etc.
HP 140/140 MP 324/324
Stats: Points:
Strength 20
Attack Power 10 (+15)
Defense 10
Vitality 18
Intelligence 18
Wisdom 18
Agility 12
Dexterity 22
Charm 10 (+2)
Luck 16
Reputation 15
Unallocated Stats: 12
Yeah, I know. I should have invested the unallocated stats, but I wanted to figure out how the system works, so I was going to wait until I accumulated about 22 points before investing, to see how the system calculates these things.
Appraisal: Beginner Lvl 5 Unlike [Inspect] one does not have to be in contact with an object, monster, NPC, or player, in order to know its stats. Range is dependent upon level Range: 5 ft
[Substitution]: 0 can switch two designated targets instantaneously. It can also supply for a missing ingredient in alchemy or cooking by using mana points. Range between the user and the objects in question will increase with levels. Don¡¯t use this to steal, please.
Overkill: Beginner Lvl 5 Boost your attack power against any creature over five levels higher than you whom you bear an immense hatred for. Active: +10 strength +10 attack \cost: 10 mana per cast\ time limit: 10 seconds(x level) \ cooldown: 60 seconds
Cooking: Beginner Level 0 The wonderful ability to process raw foods into dishes. includes [Cookbook]. Gather recipes and master them to increase your level. Current level: your food will mostly burn.
Blacksmith: Level 5 Able to handle most normal metals. can make a decent sword.Includes subskill [Repair: level 2]
Herbology: level 2 Helps find and identify local herbs and plants. Includes Book of Plants. Local plants that have been described to you will have a white outline.
Gathering: level 2 Now you can gather plants that you have identified. With higher levels, you will be able to gather higher ranked herbs and plants.
The last two skills I had acquired by listening to Kenneth when he explained what he was doing while gathering herbs. He was looking for mainly two kinds: Amethym- a small purple bell flower good for antidotes, and Heart Moss- a silver moss that is used mainly in health and mana potions. It seems he gathered great amounts of these and dried them. It¡¯s too bad I couldn¡¯t get an Alchemy skill. It turns out, Kenneth doesn¡¯t have an Alchemy skill either. Instead, he takes them to an alchemist friend he has in the capital, who paid completed potions for ingredients. But there was also one other herb that I managed to discover during my treks back and forth. It was a rather conspicuous mushroom with a red cap and white spots. When mashed into a paste, this created a poison that took away three hp per second for twenty seconds. I was never more thankful for appraisal than I was then. Just think: without appraisal-san, I would have had to try it on another creature, or myself. Not knowing how much damage It would give me could potentially have killed me in one dose if it was a powerful poison. Not to mention I would have used it while not knowing if there would be other side effects as well.
Appraisal is now level 6
And all of that identifying raised it yet another level. I smiled as I poured yet another bucket of sap into the cauldron. When the bucket was empty, a blue box popped up.
You have helped Kenneth collect the extra sap for one whole week. Please see Kenneth for completion of the quest, and your rewards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°A-re? Why is she collecting those red-cap mushrooms?¡± Ryuu wondered to himself. ¡°Doesn''t she realize those are poisonous?¡± He shuddered at the thought of her cooking the mushrooms up in a disastrous soup. ¡°I must keep a close eye on her to make sure that does not happen!¡± Ryuu decided immediately, ignoring the fact that he was simply using that as an excuse to observe Jade more. Usually, AIDs remained out of sight unless they were called by their owners, or needed to give system prompts. But Ryuu had not gone into standby mode at all since becoming Jade¡¯s AID. Oddly enough, Jade didn¡¯t notice any of this. Login Diary Entry 7-1 Returning to the lodge, I saw Kenneth practicing his archery. Running while simultaneously shooting multiple arrows, hitting dead center in all of them. Impressed, I clapped my appreciation. Kenneth turned quickly, an arrow to his bow, and shot. I just stood there, shocked that he would shoot me, but the arrow went right past my cheek, and over my shoulder. *snap* I turned my head to look at where the sound came from. Ryuu had grabbed the speeding arrow, stopping it right before it plunged into his heart, then snapped it into two. Noticing my look, he smirked. ¡°What, where you scared? There is no way that this bow-for-brains could ever harm this king, much less his charge.¡± Kenneth lowered his bow, and sniffed disappointedly, but immediately afterwards sported a beaming smile. ¡°Ah, is it the hero apprentice, Jade.¡± He ignored Ryuu. ¡°What brings you here?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s been a week.¡± I replied simply. Kenneth''s smile froze, and his ears twitched a bit. He totally forgot, didn¡¯t he? I observed. ¡°Right, that it has, that it has! Shall we check the records?¡± Yep. He forgot. I confirmed as a blue panel appeared in front of him. While observing him, it¡¯s very easy to tell what he¡¯s feeling by watching his ears. While hero apprentices can be distinguished by their AIDS and clothing, both heroes and NPCs use the blue box system. Only, the NPCs believes that it was bestowed by the gods, instead of a computer system. Ah, but don¡¯t tell that to the NPCs, or your reputation will suffer. I read that on the game forums. When Kenneth saw the number that appeared in the box, although his face was still smiling that frozen smile, his ears stood up straight in shock. Yeah, that IS a lot of sap, isn¡¯t it? I mused. ¡°Well? Speak up! We haven¡¯t got all day, you know!¡± Ryuu smirked proudly. Hey, you didn¡¯t even lift a single finger this whole time! I was the one who did all the work! What do you have to be proud of? I suppressed my growing desire to retort. Kenneth slowly began to speak. ¡°According to the records¡­you have gathered¡­ four hundred and ninety-four buckets of clean sap, and two hundred sixty-eight buckets of bug-ridden sap: altogether, seven hundred and sixty-two buckets of sap¡­¡± ¡°And that means?¡± Ryuu pushed. ¡°Congratulations, you¡¯ve gathered the largest amount of sap! You will receive 23 barrels of syrup, ten small kegs of glue, a sweets recipe, and a bonus prize. Usually the bonus prize is set, but as you are the first person to fully complete and turn in this mission, you may choose one out of three different prizes.¡± I tilted my head in slight confusion. I was the first? Well, I could kind of understand that. Most players wanted to get to the capital as soon as possible. They probably ditched a boring job like this, since wanted to quickly level up. How unprofessional! It¡¯s obvious that a boring job like this would have its own set of perks-like the rare sweets recipe.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. As for the rewards¡­Okay, I had messed up on the math somewhere, so I didn¡¯t actually get 110 barrels of syrup¡­but the extra prize did sound intriguing to me. ¡°What are the choices?¡± I asked. Kenneth scratched his ear. ¡°Well, about that.¡± Three chests popped up on the ground, one gold, one silver, and one of old, rusted bronze-with the hinges nearly rusted shut. ¡°While you can choose, you won¡¯t know what you¡¯ve got until you¡¯ve picked it-to ensure fairness.¡± ¡°Fairness, huh?¡± I muttered, looking at the boxes. It was obvious that the gold one was drawing my eye, as it seemed more important. But the appearance of these boxes reminded me of something very important. Shiny=brand new, but Beaten/Old=more valuable most of the time. Tempting though the gold one was, I just knew I had to open the rusted one instead. Hoping this held true in the gaming world, I pointed at the beaten, rusted chest. The gold and silver chests subsequently disappeared in a flash. I opened the rusted chest, wincing as it¡¯s hinges squealed in protest. Inside was a shimmering coat as thin as a cicada¡¯s wing, with long coat tails. Oddly, enough, the coat tails had rings attached every six inches. ¡°You certainly chose the most interesting out of all of them.¡± Ryuu commented. I looked at the coat using appraisal, and couldn¡¯t help but agree.
Named Clothing: Coat of Many Colors Type: Stealth Cloak Charisma: +20
Special Effect: Able to change clothing appearance up to a total of 10 different outfits with no cool down time required. ???? ???? Key Action to Initiate Special Effect: Wink and snap your finger Extra info: Part of an outfit set. Collect more of the outfit to unlock more effects.
This was the first time I had encountered the question marks when it came to using Appraisal-sama. Even a level 6 Appraisal couldn¡¯t unearth everything about this? Moreover, it was a part of an outfit set? Does that mean if I gathered more of the outfit set, that I¡¯d be able to see what these question marks are hiding? ¡°Really? So you know what the other two were, then?¡± I asked, forgetting that I wasn¡¯t talking to him. He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯d be interested in such meaningless things. The silver chest holds a rare skill book for elven tree carpentry, while the golden chest holds a bow whose stats are barely even adequate for one of your level.¡± ¡°Hey! That Bow is a treasured heirloom weapon! There¡¯s only one of its type in the whole world!¡± Kenneth retorted angrily. ¡°Moreover, isn¡¯t the contents of the extra prizes supposed to be a secret!?¡± ¡°Ara? Isn¡¯t it fine? She¡¯s already picked her prize anyways, so there¡¯s no way she can return it. Also, why can¡¯t I tell her? Such a thing, it¡¯s written nowhere in the rules that I have to keep quiet about a prize once it has been set.¡± Ryuu pointed out. ¡°What! There¡¯s no way that it isn¡¯t!¡± Kenneth pulled up a blue box and began skimming through a long string of text in a different language. His ears drooped as he came to the end. ¡°It¡¯s-¡­there really¡­isn¡¯t?¡± His face turned a bit pale as he stared at Ryuu with a glare of supreme loathing. Ah, you want to know how I knew? It¡¯s because I know the feeling well. Someone with such boundless narcissism is insufferable isn¡¯t it? I nodded. Yes, I feel your pain, comrade Kenneth. But we cannot drop him into lava when there is no lava around, right? --------------------------------- Ryuu stared at the two people in front of him. One, a glaring Bow-for brains of an elf. The other his troublesome little mistress, who was nodding her head at something she was imagining. What is going on here? He wondered. -------------------------------------------------------- Login Diary Entry 7-2 Upon logging in today, I felt nervous and slightly troubled. This time, oddly enough, it wasn¡¯t Ryuu¡¯s fault. People were staring at me, now that I¡¯m wearing something that isn¡¯t the starting Neetwear. That¡¯s right. I¡¯m wearing the [Coat of many Colors] stealth cloak that I received from finishing the sap quest. But, it doesn¡¯t look like how it did before I wore it. Instead, once I put it on, a window opened allowing me to edit the appearance of my current set of clothes. I tweaked it here and there and found something that I thought fit nicely. After lengthening the shirt into a white one piece tied in the middle, I altered the appearance of the coat with its English coat-tails into a jade colored, scarf-like oriental overcoat. The overall appearance was rather easy on the eyes, so I decided to keep it simple. I still have the Neetware leggings and shoes underneath, too, so it¡¯s easy to move around in without worrying about the embarrassing incidents that might happen given a strong enough wind. But, now that there are people staring at me, I think that maybe I should have waited until I¡¯d left town before wearing it. People¡¯s eyes light up strangely when they see me. A few people even looked like they were going to approach me. But each time, they would freeze and then leave after looking over my shoulder. Speaking of which, every now and again, I feel a demonic presence behind me¡­but the only one there is Ryuu. He might be evil, but he¡¯s no demon king. I¡¯d instantly quit playing this game, if he were¡­On a side note, maybe I should invest in some salt. The rewards for finishing the mission were quite generous, as I received enough experience to level up to level 18. That exp increase for each level is a real killer! Before I forget, I should note down to allocate those 16 unallocated points, though. Ah, but I shouldn¡¯t waste them, either¡­I shall consider carefully where to place these points from now on, so that I can build up my game character properly. Today is the day I promised to meet my younger cousin in-game. She¡¯s usually not the gamer type, but by chance she saw a promotional trailer and was captured by the beautiful scenery. Now she wants to go on a tour and experience the in-game sceneries that are sure to be there. If I were to describe her, she is a travel otaku. No, I¡¯m not talking about the overweight people obsessed with manga. She loves anything to do with travelling. Taking hikes through the woods, climbing mountains, exploring the fields of my grandparents¡¯ rural farm¡­I can¡¯t keep up with her energy. But, if it¡¯s a game, then stamina is not an issue! It¡¯s okay! Her family¡¯s financial situation is too tight for real travel, though. Come to think of it, the financial situation was also too tight to purchase the game. How did she¡­ah, I remember. She mentioned something about winning some game system as a grand prize at the recent fair. Maybe that was it? ¡°I fail to see just why we are loitering around the town square when you could be out leveling right now.¡± Ryuu muttered. I sent him a stare filled with my annoyance. If I could have sent him away to go loiter on his own, then I would have. To be honest, him saying something like that only makes me feel much more nervous. Now it¡¯s completely his fault! If I ignore him, will this feeling of my guts twisting and wrenching go away? A-anyways! She should be logging in any minute now! I look around eagerly in the town square, trying to guess what race she would choose. But, I didn¡¯t really have to bother worrying about accidentally missing her.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Nee-san! It¡¯s me, it¡¯s me!¡± Someone hammered into me from the side. I winced at the small -1 I could see in the corner of my vision. ¡°You¡¯re finally here! Can you tell me your in-game name?¡± I smiled, looking down upon a familiar red-head-er¡­.ears? C-cute! How could my cousin look this cute as a fox beastgirl? And that fluffy tail! I WANT TO TOUCH IT. ¡°Uhuh! Call me Fern!¡± She grinned, twirling around. ¡°Do you like it? I chose a beastgirl because they are supposed to have a heightened sense of sight and smell. But, I chose the randomizer so I didn¡¯t know what kind I¡¯d get.¡± How is that random! It¡¯s the exact same shade of red as her real hair! It¡¯s perfection! To get perfection out of a randomizer is like having your room all cleaned up and your bed made without a single wrinkle right after a hurricane tore through it¡­wait. If mom was considered a hurricane¡­no no no! I¡¯m going off track here! I calmed myself down a bit. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Fern! As you can see, my name is Jade.¡± I can¡¯t take my eyes off that fluffy tail. I really want to hug it-I mean her. But, Fern doesn¡¯t know that I like fluffy things. In fact, not many people outside of my family know that I like fluffy things, as it¡¯s something I find slightly embarrassing¡­Or rather, I can¡¯t let anyone know about it. It¡¯s super embarrassing. ¡°Whoah! That¡¯s a nice name! It really fits you too, with your long dark hair. It¡¯s almost like you¡¯re a perfect oriental princess.¡± Fern¡¯s tail twitched excitedly as she bounced around me energetically. My eyebrow twitched. ¡°Hey, how can you liken me to such things? Selfish, spend-happy cut-throats who run around causing chaos behind the scenes, happily laughing with their noses to the air, ignoring commoners as if they were nothing more than a nest of ants! At best, they¡¯re happy little air-heads. At worst, they¡¯re treacherous demons. And you just say that I¡¯m like one of them?¡± I pinched Fern¡¯s cheeks, widening her mouth. ¡°Ah wath wuong. Fuleez Furgib me!¡± She squealed. I let go, looking away to distract myself from her wildly-swinging tail. ¡°Don¡¯t forget it. Bloodlines can¡¯t be helped, but words can be held.¡± ¡°Ouch! As expected, my older cousin is quite formidable.¡± Fern rubbed her cheek, a silly smile on her face. ¡°Pfft!¡± A sound came from behind us. We both turned to look, but there was no one there. It was just Ryuu. ¡°*cough* Do you need something of this king?¡± Ryuu asked, in his narcissistic manner. ¡°Ne ne, do you know this person?¡± Fern asked, pulling on my sleeve and pointing in Ryuu¡¯s direction. I turned and looked, but there was no one else except Ryuu in that direction. ¡°Whatever do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°The handsome oriental guy with the long dark hair in the white clothes. You don¡¯t see him?¡± I looked again. There was no one but Ryuu. I tilted my head to the side. Nope, there wasn¡¯t anyone behind him either. ¡°I don¡¯t kno-wait, you can see him!?¡± I asked, surprised, as I pointed at Ryuu. ¡°Am I not supposed to?¡± Fern asked, confused. I looked at Ryuu, also confused. ¡°*cough* When we¡¯ve been standing in the same spot for this long, there¡¯s a provision in the system to make us visible.¡± Ryuu explained. ¡°In cases of health problems such as heart attacks or seiures, we are also allowed to use the voice-chat to contact any close relatives who are inside the game, so that the person involved can receive swift medical treatment.¡± Whoah. It sounded so professional! And it didn¡¯t even have a hint of narcissism. I almost applauded, but stopped myself from doing something foolish. ¡°Saying stuff that I can¡¯t understand! So? Who. Is. He?¡± Fern asked again, her tail charmingly flowing around her. I sighed as I gave in to that fluffy tail-I mean to Fern. ¡°His name is Ryuu. He is my-¡± ¡°Ah, is he one of your in-game friends? Nice to meet you, Ryuu! I¡¯m Fern!¡± Fern interrupted, enthusiastically bouncing forward to shake hands, bringing that lovely tail away from me. ¡°Ah, likewise.¡± He replied, smiling at Fern, who started pestering him with questions. Her tail now seemed so very far away... As I was watching then, he looked up at me and smirked triumphantly with his evil smile. AH! It¡¯s the Demon Lord! And he¡¯s captured Princess Fox-tail¡ªI mean, he¡¯s captured princess Fern! Ryuu! I will not forgive you!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As Ryuu¡¯s hand was forcibly shaken by a rather annoyinglittle fox beastgirl, he was surprised when Jade began glaring at him. Thinking quickly, he realized that she wanted him to get along well with this younger cousin, he nodded politely and returned a small greetings. Looking up, he smiled. Look, see? I¡¯m getting along well with her! See? But, strangely enough, Jade¡¯s scowl only got deeper as she turned her head away angrily. Ryuu felt confused at the sudden cold treatment. Had he done something wrong? End Login Diary Entry 7 -------------------------------------------------- Login Diary Entry 8-1: ¡°So, older cousin, where are we going to now?¡± Fern asked excitedly. I looked down at Jade and decided. It was completely obvious that the very first thing anyone in this situation should do is: ¡°Let¡¯s go shopping, then!¡± I said decisively. ¡°Hmm?¡± Ryuu involuntarily let out a noise. ¡°Wh-whaat?¡± Fern tilted her head to the side, confused. ¡°Of course, we¡¯re going by Mayor Big Kuma¡¯s later to register you, but as your older cousin, it is imperative that I give you a congratulatory gift!¡± I said, dragging her towards the market. ¡°But, I thought we-¡± Fern sputtered. ¡°Seeing my younger cousin after such a long time, I simply wished to go shopping with her.¡± I declared ¡°Is that a bad thing?¡± I asked Fern tilting my head coaxingly. I used this trick to get dad to buy my gaming system for me. ¡°No, it isn¡¯t! It isn''t! Let¡¯s go shopping!¡± Fern said, probably grabbing the chance to explore the marketplace while she was at it. ¡°I told you, Fern, here I¡¯m called Jade. Please call me by my in-game name.¡± I laughed and quickly swept Fern away to the tailor shops. Behind me, Fern muttered something under her breath. ¡°Pfft!¡± Ryuu made a strange sound, and turned his face away. Was it a sudden sneeze? His face looked strangely screwed up, as if he were trying not to sneeze again. Someone, whoever it is: if you''re spreading rumors about Ryuu-then keep going! I don''t care if this guy sneezes 100 times in a row! ------ At the marketplace, I headed straight for the clothing store-er ahem! My mistake. I headed straight for Mitzy¡¯s Tailor shop. While there were several places one could acquire clothing from, Mitzy¡¯s Tailor shop had the cutest selection out of all of them. The clothing was themed after dandelions. So naturally, bright and sunny yellows, crisp and mellow greens, sky blues, and cloud whites were the colors for these clothes. I quickly grabbed several outfits that I thought fit Fern¡¯s character, and had her try them on. As I expected, each piece was just perfect for her, and I really wanted to buy all of them-but I only had enough extra funds for three outfits. Oh the agony! Finally, after considering all seven outfits, Fern picked an everyday outfit, a fun outfit, and a more formal outfit. The everyday outfit was a green and blue plaid skirt, with a matching white T-shirt and a grass-green vest-that had dandelion pom-poms for buttons. The fun outfit was a straw hat, paired with a white one-piece dress, with small dandelions embroidered at the hem. The formal outfit was a sky blue robe, coupled with a pair of snow white boots. There were also some small white dandelion pompoms atttached to the sleeves, adding to its cuteness. I had only just enough to pay for them, thank goodness! It¡¯s a good thing Fern doesn¡¯t understand the currency very well yet. Otherwise, she might yell at me for buying such expensive clothes.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Well, after all, it¡¯s an adventure game. Most people aim to buy armor and run quickly off to the main city, instead of picking out decorated cloth. It can¡¯t be helped. After all, the capital is the only place where you can start a guild and get your main class. But blacksmith is a production-type job, which means you can keep it as a secondary-therefore it¡¯s somewhat if an exception. You¡¯re only allowed to have three secondary jobs aside from your main class, and these can be acquired in scattered locations. Immediately, Fern donned her everyday outfit, and I took her to the Mayor¡¯s house to get registered. On our walk there, I noticed us drawing some peculiar stares from other people. While their faces were pleasant, I recognized them for what they were: fellow fluff enthusiasts! I immediately glared at them when Fern wasn¡¯t looking, causing them to quickly withdraw their eyes. Oh? You don¡¯t think that I considered those people to be my comrades, did you? Of course not. They¡¯re all my rivals for the attentions of the denizens of the fluffy kingdom. There is no way that I will allow them to steal away my adorable Fern! I continued to glare until I noticed something soft brush up against my hand. Glancing down, I realized it was Fern¡¯s tail. My nose twitched. While I was very tempted to pet it, I am not some sort of pervert. I draw a clear line between furry animals and furry people. But¡­it was somewhat too much of a trial to bear the ticklish feeling on my hand the rest of the way there. So, I opened up a bit of space between us by walking ahead. ¡°The Mayor¡¯s is this way.¡± Ryuu pointed out when I picked a pathway once we got to a fork in the road. ¡°As expected of Jade~ Always bad with directions!¡± Fern chuckled. ¡°Shut up! If I get too lost, I can always just use a map!¡± I retorted. ¡°But, can you even read the map?¡± She countered. ¡°Of course, I can read a map! North is always up, after all!¡± I answered. ¡°Jade¡­didn¡¯t you notice that your map is always turned in the direction you are facing? Up is not always north in this game.¡± Fern said, seeming surprised that I hadn¡¯t noticed yet. ¡°Well then! That¡¯s why I have you here!¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll be a team. I¡¯ll fight the bad guys, and you handle the map. Win-win, right?¡± Fern laughed and nodded her head. ¡°Sure! Otherwise it¡¯d probably take you your whole life to finish this game~¡± ¡°Or I could decide not to take you to the mayor¡¯s house¡­¡± I said. ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t help it!¡± Fern said with her adorable smile. Then she turned around. ¡°Eh? Where did Ryuu go?¡± I looked at Ryuu, confused, but then I realized that he was not always visible to others. ¡°Um¡­He¡¯ll be back. He usually disappears like that.¡± I replied. ¡°By the way, what kind of AID did you get?¡± ¡°Ah. Yes. The Aid.¡± Fern replied with a somewhat strange face. ¡°Hmm?¡± Don¡¯t tell me¡­she got another weirdo? I wondered. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°No, I just forgot, since she¡¯s been in standby mode the whole time.¡± Fern replied. ¡°She¡¯s really pretty, though!¡± ¡°Is there something odd about her personality, then?¡± I asked. ¡°No? She doesn¡¯t talk unless asked, but she seemed good, for an AID.¡± Fern said. ¡°Why are you asking about this? Is there something wrong with your AID?¡± Girl, you have no idea. ¡°Not really! Just small talk to pass the time. Look! We¡¯re almost there!¡± I pointed up ahead to Big Kuma¡¯s walled house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While Jade was trying to convince Fern to go shopping, Fern muttered. ¡°Yup. A Perfect Oriental Princess.¡± ¡°Pfft!¡± Ryuu, who happened to overhear Fern couldn¡¯t help but turn his face away as a laugh escaped him as he recalled Jade¡¯s own words about them: ¡®Selfish, spend-happy cut-throats who run around causing chaos behind the scenes, happily laughing with their noses to the air, ignoring commoners as if they were nothing more than a nest of ants! At best, they¡¯re happy little air-heads. At worst, they¡¯re treacherous demons.¡¯ It was a long while before he was able to fully regain his straight face. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~