CHAPTER 7: LET’S FORM A GUILD!
CHAPTER 7: LET’S FORM A GUILD!
I lay lazily on the carpeted picnic mat, listening to Akira’s cheerful humming. Draco lay beside me, curled up to sleep.
Warm sunlight filtered through the leaves of the tall trees above, beckoning me to sleep as well. It was like we were really basking in the sunlight. This game was always so lifelike despite its fantasy setting.
We were in the Spirit Forest, next to a small fountain. The guidebook listed places with the best views, so we decided to check them all out, eventually ending up here. It was so pretty and calm...
When the competitive event ended, we were given more places to visit via airship. Naturally, sightseeing maniac Akira was desperate to check out everything. Of course, I tagged along with her.
In a rare display of hospitality, Akira offered to make tea and candy for the occasion. I was glad to wait patiently.
Tea and candy were part of the cooking set of crafting skills. All this time, however, Akira claimed that she never cared about crafting. Maybe she was starting to get into it because she could actually taste it in-game? That was what it seems like, anyway. I imagined she was salivating over all the possible things to eat. I hadn’t tried in-game cooking either, so this would be my first time.
“Just a little longer, Ren. I’m almost done, I swear!” Akira looked back at me as she stood before the cooking set, which served as... crafting tools, I guess?
“Gotcha. Trust me, I’m in no hurry.”
I watched Akira from behind, lying on my side. As she squatted down to check the temperature of the frying pan, I caught little glimpses of that wondrous gap of bare thigh that some referred to as “absolute territory.” In her sword dancer gear and apron, I was soooo close to getting an eyeful of leg.
Whew, what a view.
I’m sure I don’t have to explain why guys love sword dancer gear so much, but I doubt anyone would want to actually walk around that exposed normally. Knowing you’re in a game makes it a lot less weird—after all, you’re pretty much half-fictional. Plus, fantasy clothes are exotic and unique, so there’s a certain allure both to wearing and seeing them.
“It’s so quiet and peaceful here.” There was nobody here when we arrived, so we were free to sit around wherever we wanted.
“Yeah. It’s a nice change of pace after having to deal with so many people.”
A week had passed since the competitive event and I had been constantly hounded by guilds scouting for new members. With the end of the event, the first-year students had finally been given the option to join guilds.
Guilds are sort of like clubs in this school. Real clubs are probably largely the same, but guilds are always looking for promising fresh blood. Perhaps I’m being a little egotistical when I say this, but I imagine I looked promising, considering I have the “class mission victor“ icon, the MVP icon, and a pet dragon. I was a newbie with a future—a golden rookie. I bet a few baseball teams would have fought over me in a draft. At any rate, plenty of upperclassmen hell-bent on recruiting new members had been buzzing all around me.
“It’s been like that constantly. Scouts are after me at every turn too. But since you have Draco, you’d be more helpful anyway.”
“It’s nice to have some attention on me, though, especially when they see my class and lose their minds. They’re all like, ‘uh, is this the right guy?’“
“You are the king of the Bummers, after all.”
“It’s a pretty sweet feeling. But I might be tempted to join a guild that’s only open to Bummers...”
“I wonder if any like that exist.”
The whole point of this sightseeing trip was to get away from all the guild ruckus. Even I could do with a little bit of downtime every now and then.
“Okay! All done.”
What a shame; my peeping fun was about to come to an end. Akira brought over a tray with plates and teacups on it.
“Sorry for the wait! Go on and eat your fill.”
Pancakes were piled on my plate, with cream and chopped fruit on top.
“Ooh, nice! This looks great!”
“The recipe was called fruit pancakes. My cooking skill is still low, so this is the best I could make.”
“This is more than good enough. Let’s have a taste!”
“Woo!”
Chomp.
“Ooh! Wow! This is crazy! I can really taste it!”
“It even has the consistency of a real pancake! Amazing!”
As we nibbled our food and sipped our tea, it disappeared without actually filling our stomachs. It didn’t even make you fatter in-game, so you were free to enjoy it to your heart’s content.
“Oh, I see. When you drink it, it just kinda goes away.”
“Until that point, it seems completely real!”
“Yep. VRMMO technology really is advanced.”
Me and Akira were full of reverence for the devs. This went above and beyond any normal online game.
“Even the cooking process was super life-like. It’s like playing house, but hyper-realistic! I almost feel like my real-life cooking skill has increased.”
“The devs seem oddly passionate about the smallest details.”
“I love realistic elements in games. Especially since my parents don’t let me cook much in real life.”
Really? I could only wonder why that was the case. When it came to my family, my mother would be overjoyed if I decided to cook for them. Maybe Akira was really bad at it?
“Why don’t your parents let you cook?” When I asked her that, Akira blinked in astonishment, as if I had said something bizarre.
“Oh, you actually care about my life? I’m kinda surprised; I thought you didn’t.”
“Huh? Of course I do.”
“Well, you only ever talk about games, y’know? It’s all about redefining metas, testing things out, self-restricted playthroughs and such. Not that you’re boring or anything.”
“Sorry. I just didn’t want to pry into your private life.”
“I already revealed my big ‘actually a girl’ secret to you of my own volition, so it’s not like I have anything bigger to hide. You don’t have to skimp on the questions, y’know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But I’m picky about who I tell secrets to; you’re just special.” Aww. She’s cute when she looks all bashful like that.
“So, you wanted to know why my parents don’t let me cook?”
“Yeah.”
“How about I ask you my own question first: What do you think?”
“Because you’re a crappy cook!”
“Wrong, wrong, wrong! The correct answer is that they don’t want me to take the chef’s job.”
“Wait, what?! You have a private chef?!”
“Yep. Three of them, actually.”
“Wow... So you were a blue-blood all this time.” I had a feeling before, and this only confirmed my suspicions. Come to think of it, I feel like I’d wronged this noblewoman in one or two ways. Maybe I shouldn’t have been staring at her absolute territory?
“I guess a normal person would think so. But actually, I’m apparently related to someone from the peerage long ago.” Akira didn’t look too happy as she said that.
“The peerage? Uhh...”
“The nobility of the Meiji period.”
“Huh...”
“My dad and my older brother both work in upper management, and my granddad is a member of the National Diet.”
“Wow, seriously?! It’s like you really are a blue-blood.”
“They want to make me into some sort of sheltered girl, I swear. They’re so overprotective that I can’t even go out when I want to! My life is so rigid and boring.” Surely they just wanted to keep their daughter safe, right? The common man didn’t understand the life she lived. “But in video games, I can go anywhere I want, adventuring as I please. That’s why I love gaming so much. Even better now that this VRMMO feels so real.”
“Is that why you’re such a lover of sights?” The truth has been unveiled.
“Yeah! It’s been even more fun with you, Ren. I went to a snobby rich-kid school too, so everyone was sweet and honest. But following orders and being a good girl all day is boring. There’s just nothing interesting going on, y’know?”
“Sounds like a comfy lifestyle.”
“Yeah, kinda. But you’re different, y’know? You’re the kind of guy who’d do something unexpected, like willingly jump on land mines or redefine things from the ground-up. I never know what you’re going to do next, so every day is new and exciting. It’s really fun being your friend.”
Was that really how she felt? There were a lot of things you could never know about even your best friends without having a face-to-face conversation. Not that we were literally face-to-face, but still.
“I never really gave it much thought; I just like to do whatever’s fun, and you’re fun to hang out with. Sorry for being kinda thoughtless.”
“Aww, c’mon. I know you’re just a dumb gamer at heart. You’re the kinda of guy who gets tunnel vision when he focuses on something.”
“Haha, you’re probably right.” That was because my parents had always told me to find and go after the things I liked.
“But you actually know a ton about video games, so maybe you’re more like a smart dumb gamer.”
“This sounds like a pretty backhanded compliment...”
“It’s like, 60% compliment. Don’t worry.”
“Wow, a whole 60%.”
“Heheh. Now that I’ve talked to you about it, I feel so much better!” Akira stretched in her seated position.
The sunlight filtering through the trees was pleasantly warm. I let out a yawn. Man, I’m sleepy.
“You tired, Ren? There’s nobody around and we’re not in a hurry to do anything, so why not take a nap?”
“Ooh, that sounds nice.” Not that there was anything wrong with sleeping in-game, apart from the forced logout at 10 PM.
We lay on the picnic mat and entered nap mode. It’s nice to be lazy once in a while.
◆◇◆
“Sorry. I hate to turn you down like this, but I’m not really interested. Goodbye.”
I lowered my head toward my upperclassman and continued toward my destination.
Wow. How many times have I had to do this today?
“Chirp?” Draco peered down at me from his perch atop my head.
“No worries, buddy. Akira’s waiting for me, so I gotta hurry.”
My destination was the crafting room within the school. Of course, basic crafting can be performed anywhere in the game. But in the crafting room, the NPCs sitting around could boost your success rate and give you hints on recipes.
“You’re late, Ren.” Akira seemed long bored of waiting for me.
“Sorry, my bad. People keep bugging me to join guilds. Did you bring the mats?”
“Yep! Here you go!”
She handed over two Mythrite and a Steel Ingot, both of which were important materials for us. With enough of those, I could begin the ritual to upgrade my Canesword, but our order of business today was powering up Skyfall.
My crafting skill was probably just high enough, but with the support of the NPCs in this room, we could preserve one of our materials if I failed. That would allow me to attempt the upgrade without losing the weapon. It wouldn’t be a big deal if we lost the Mythrite or Steel Ingot.
I immediately spoke to the female NPC, requesting her aid with my crafting.
“Okay, here goes.” I took Skyfall from Akira.
“Thanks for your help, ma’am.” Akira sat cross-legged and watched me, as Draco sat on her head.
Let the crafting begin. I started making the required motions to forge Skyfall. There were points at which I thought I might fail, but I ended up succeeding.
As for the results, here was how the weapon started off:
Skyfall (O)
Type: One-Hand Sword
Level: 10
Might: 20
AP gain: 12
Poise: 44
Guardbreak: 51
Effect: Creates shockwaves with each attack when user’s HP is at 100%.
And here was how it looked after the upgrade:
Skyfall +1 (O)
Type: One-Hand Sword
Level: 25
Might: 39
AP gain: 14
Poise: 56
Guard Break: 64
Effect: Creates shockwaves with each attack when user’s HP is above 85%.
“Woo! Success!”
“Yay! Nice job, Ren!”
“Chirp chirp!” Even Draco was clapping his tiny little hands, clearly happy for us.
“It doesn’t look any different, but it’s stronger, and the shockwave requirement is more lenient.”
“Yeah, this seems way more convenient. I wonder if the HP requirement gets more loose with each forge.”
“That seems likely. I can tell why this item is super-rare.”
“I hope you’ll forge it again for me later.”
“Of course, I’d be glad to. But good job finding the recipe, Akira. It’s not in the guidebook, and the NPCs here don’t seem to know much about it either.”
The guidebook was far from perfect, and the NPCs would only teach you the most basic of recipes. Not everyone out there could know how to power up a weapon as rare as Skyfall.
“I learned about it from an information broker in the guild market. Shame I had to spend a pretty penny for it, though.”
The floating city Telluna—the main hub for us players—has more facilities than just the school. The guild market is one of them. The proper name for the market, as given by the devs, is the Guildhouse Town Along Shiwen Avenue. The region was full of tightly-packed buildings that had been remodeled by guilds to serve as bases. Thus, players called it the guild market.
Guilds interested in merchantry often reside in the Guildhouse Town Along Shiwen Avenue. Guilds that prioritize other ventures, such as expeditions and battling, usually set up elsewhere.
Guildhouses are to club rooms as guilds are to clubs, essentially.
“Maeda told me that the UW Guidebook was actually written and sold by information brokers. We visited the guild market yesterday, and while we were at it, we picked up the materials.”
“Good stuff. I haven’t visited the guild market yet, myself.” I had things to do yesterday, so I had logged out after classes ended.
“How about we take a trip there next time you need info?”
“Info... hmm. How about info on getting rid of guild scouts? I haven’t been able to focus on the game for so long!”
“I think the easiest way to do that is to just join a guild.” The one who butted in on our conversation was Maeda. She would always come over just so she could stare at Draco.
“Heya, Maeda.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear. I brought a few little treats for you, Draco. Want some?” Maeda showed off a veritable warehouse of foods to him; nuts, fruits, herbs, fish, and more. The sheer amount of food revealed just how excited she was to feed him.
“Haha... that’s more than a few.”
“Apparently these little babies have differing tastes depending on their personality. I had no idea what he might like to eat.”
“Maeda here asked the information broker how to care for pet dragons.”
“Oh, really? Thank you so much. Did you figure out how to get one of your own too?”
“Yes. Essentially, they’re very rare pets, given only to MVPs of large-scale events like the competitive quests. The rewards seem to be the same each year, and the next event will have a different reward, so I won’t get another chance at him until we’re in our second year.”
“Huh. That’s a shame.”
“It really is. But apparently, there is one more method.”
“Oho?”
“When you found a guild, you get a guildhouse to match. But if you can increase the reputation of your guild enough, you’ll be able to claim a nearby floating island as your guild’s territory.”
Is that how it worked? I wouldn’t mind having my own floating island.
“Occasionally, various items will wash up on the ‘shore,’ if you will, of the floating island. A pet dragon’s egg is one of those possible items.”
Akira spoke after Maeda. “So, Ren. If we have to join a guild either way, why don’t we make our own guild and try to make it big? It sounds like a good idea to me. Maeda is game too.”
“If we make our own guild, scouts from guilds we don’t care about should leave us alone, thanks to the guild affiliation icon.”
“Hey, you’re right. Maybe they really would stop bothering us.”
“That being said, the next big event is a guild war.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes. I learned this yesterday, myself. If you don’t join a guild, you can’t participate; but if you join an established guild, the upperclassmen might boss you around.”
“That’s another way guilds are similar to clubs, huh? It’s like the pecking order of a sports club.”
“Just like that! So it follows that if we form our own guild, we can do whatever we want! Then, suddenly, an out-of-nowhere, no-name guild of first-years takes the spotlight! Sounds cool, doesn’t it?”
“That does sound pretty cool...”
And then, the symbologist is suddenly recognized as a high-tier class, and new symbologists flood the streets. Good, good. Absolutely epic. I could envision a bright future ahead of me.
“Right? I know how much you love being the underdog,” Akira whispered into my ear.
“Ooh, you know just what I wanna hear! That’s one of my top-three favorite phrases!” The other two would be awakened potential and meta-redefinition.
“Soooo, you wanna spread the word of us underdogs?”
“I do! So badly!”
“Then how about we make a guild together?”
“Yes! Yes, please!”
“Okay, maybe I’ll let you join.”
“Thank you, ma’am!”
“You’re playing him like a fiddle...” Maeda expressed her thoughts about our exchange.
“Yep! We’ve been friends for so long that I know one or two ways to take him for a ride.” Akira grinned mischievously. Meanwhile, I knew when Akira was playing me. We were both in on it, so it wasn’t weird or anything.
Thus, our next goal was decided: forming our own guild!
“Guilds need a minimum of four people, right? How about Yano joins us?”
“Of course. Yuuna is more than willing to join us.”
“Good, good. This marks the unexpected birth of a Bummers-only guild, one that cherishes weak classes! I can’t help but be drawn in by the excitement of Bummers killing the giant guilds! This is the best thing that could’ve happened!”
“Uh, not quite. I think you and Maeda are the only ones who care about weak classes. Yuuna picked paladin, after all... and she’s been really bummed out about her uselessness in level-grinding parties.”
Fair enough. In a normal party, sky pirates are hardly worthwhile tanks. The three-minute cooldown on Guilty Steal is a bit harsh, considering level-grinding parties are all about doing battle after battle in quick succession. Tanks need to be able to keep up with aggro in each new battle, and a skill that takes three minutes to recast just doesn’t fit the bill.
Paladins and armor knights have thirty-second cooldowns on their taunts, so they’re ready and able to keep up with successive battles. I had molded her into the perfect tank, but only for boss battles. She was ready to Guilty Steal allies who had too much damage output, using the sword dancer’s Sword Samba to its fullest effect. Her tanking style was perfectly specialized to work as a trio of sky pirate, sword dancer, and drama cannon, but that methodology failed in the average level-grinding party.
“Ah well.”
“Ouch, dismissive much?”
“Now, we just need a guild establishment permit. But how are we going to get one? We’re all out of MEP.” The guild establishment permit was in the MEP exchange list for a whopping 2,500 MEP.
“Right. Waiting for the next test would take too long, so I say we search for other ways of getting a permit. How about we head to the guild market to see the information brokers again?”
“Sure, let’s go.”
On that note, we departed for the guild market.
On our way there, we met up with Yano, who had just finished grinding levels for the day. Indeed, she was completely on board with the idea of making our own guild.
“If we get a guild house, that means we each get our own room, right?!”
“From the looks of it, guild houses are really big. I’m sure there’s enough space for that,” I said, gazing at the guild market.
The smallest guild houses seemed to be a whole three floors. The first floor of each seemed to be used as a sales floor. Even if the first floor was reserved, though, the other two floors should’ve had space for four rooms.
“I have four siblings at home, so I’ve never had my own room. Even if it’s in a game, I want one so bad! We gotta get a permit!” Yano was getting really fired up.
“Sharing a room with a sibling sounds like fun. I’m an only child, so I’ve never got to experience that.”
“It’s not fun at all; you’d probably be so over it in seconds. Everyone needs privacy. It’s kinda like one of those foundational rights.”
“I think you mean fundamental rights, Yuuna.”
“Did I say it wrong? Meh, doesn’t matter; you got what I meant.”
Yano was as laid back as ever, but a bit of a sore loser. But I guess if you wrote that on a test, you’d get the question wrong. She did get 166 on her five subjects. Not that I was in any place to point and laugh at people’s grades...
“Yuuna, we’ll need a lot more MEP if we want to grow larger as a guild. I’m willing to help you study for the next test, but you need to put in the effort.”
“Laaaame.”
“Remember, your grades affect the game! Buckle down and study hard.” Maeda was obviously passionate about getting her own island.
“Ren, you need to study your English and Japanese too. Didn’t you only get 20 points on the English portion?”
“Yeeeeah, yeah. I’m just not interested in it at all.”
When would I ever use it in real life? I don’t even care about traveling. Getting good grades on tests wouldn’t mean I could speak the language well enough anyway. In other words, the subject was useless to me. I’d rather just abandon pursuits that I didn’t care about... Is it so wrong to live off of Japanese only? Who cares about globalization?
“Hahahaha! I beat you at English! What a dufus!” Seeing her point and laugh at me, I got a little flustered. Grr. If I were more serious about it, I’d beat her easily.
“But you got a total of 241, right? What were your other scores?” Maeda asked.
“I got a 100 in math, 63 in science, 31 in social studies, and 27 in Japanese.”
“A perfect math score! That was the hardest one, though.”
“I’m just good at math. It has solid logic and rules behind it.” Studying something based on logic is fun when you get the hang of it. But subjects rooted in rote memorization were always my weakest, even though I was ready and willing to rote-memorize everything about a game.
“A mathematician, huh? I do get that vibe from you.”
“Hmm? Really?”
“Like your way of thinking and your tactics. It might not be the tried and true way to play the game, but your logic always holds up. Ultimately your results show that you’re right in the end. It’s amazing.”
Well, I guess there is no template for success as a Bummer. That’s precisely why it’s so fun to trial-and-error my way to victory.
“But this time, we just happened to have the right ingredients for success. We got lucky.”
“Either way, you were the one who brought those ingredients together. Finding new and original ways of doing things is really important, even outside of video games.”
“Boy, Kotomi, you sure do have a lot of nice things to say about him. Is somebody in loooove?”
“N-No, I’m not! I was simply expressing my respect!”
“Don’t worry. I get it. Such a time comes in every girl’s life, Kotomi.”
“Stop it! I said I’m not in love!”
“Aww, Kotomi’s mad at me! I knew I was right! Eek!” Maeda began to chase Yano around. They sure seemed to be enjoying themselves.
“Yuuna really does like to change the subject to love. Isn’t that a bit of a pain?” Akira’s smile seemed forced in a rather awkward way.
“Y-Yeah, I guess so.”
We walked onward, eventually reaching the information broker.
“Oh! That’s our stop, Ren. We made it!”
It was a fairly dilapidated guild house on the outskirts of the guild market. On the first-floor entrance, a sign displayed the words “Bigsmax Info Brokers.”
“Hello?”
“Hey there. Welcome!” The employee’s face looked familiar...
“Kataoka? What are you doing here?”
It was the rogue from class B, Kataoka. The guy who loved Hime-chans.
“I’m the shopkeeper, duh. Since I’m a newbie in this guild, they’re giving me the crap jobs.”
“Huh. Is this the guild that made the UW Guidebook?”
“Yeah! It’s called Fountain of Wisdom.”
“You weren’t the shopkeeper yesterday, were you?”
“Hey there, Aoyagi. We have shifts here.”
“Is Fountain of Wisdom that great a guild?”
They did seem to have a lot of influence; everyone relied on the information they put in the guidebook. I was intent on making good and sure that next year’s guidebook recognized symbologist as a home-run champ.
“Well, the guild collects heaps and heaps of data, so I figured I could learn a lot more about the game if I joined them.”
“That does sound reasonable.”
“If I do that, I’ll have more knowledge available to share with my Hime-chan.”
“Grinding those follower levels, huh?”
“You bet. Stumbling through the game with your Hime-chan can only lead to failure. A real follower has to know everything, but pretend not to, exerting all of his energy for the sake of pleasing his Hime-chan. Feel me? You feel me, yeah?”
“I don’t feel you. But if you’re having fun, I’m not gonna stop you.” Everyone has their own playstyle, so we should all learn to accept diversity.
“Hime-chan? Follower?” Maeda, lacking experience in online games, was visibly puzzled.
“So basically, Kotomi...” Yano gave her a brief rundown.
“Mmm... That sounds rather odd.” With an air of purity, she abandoned the idea outright.
Whether Kataoka couldn’t hear her or otherwise chose to ignore her remark, I couldn’t say, but he interrupted their conversation all the same.
“So, you all want some information?”
“Yeah. We’re looking to form a new guild, so we want a guild establishment permit. Do you know any ways of obtaining one without spending MEP?”
“I see, I see. Let me just search guild permit requirements...”
Kataoka began operating a terminal on the shop counter. It looked vaguely like an antique notebook computer, almost resembling a typewriter and a desktop mirror slapped together.
“Can that thing even process data?” Akira leaned over the desk, deeply interested.
“You bet it can. They call it the Dealer’s Desk, and it’s like an in-game computer. It can even make and run apps too. Fountain of Wisdom made a full-on information database, and it uses that to sell information and publish guidebooks.”
“Wow... They’ve really made information into a sellable asset.”
For games open to the public at large, there are often strategy guides and walkthrough websites. But UW, open only to students of this school, didn’t have any of that. Leaking hints on the Internet is against school regulations; anyone who got caught doing so would receive a suspension. That’s what led to the birth of information brokers like this guild. Or perhaps the school administration had made that regulation specifically to allow these guilds to flourish?
How I wished I had one of those computers. It would definitely come in handy, being able to make databases myself. As the son of a game designer, I picked up a bit of programming for fun. I’d love to be able to calculate my ultimate ability damage for each stat and equipment change.
“I want one of these. I bet it could help me figure out the damage formula...”
“Uh oh. I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Hmm? Why not?”
“Don’t act like you forgot! When we played EF, you were all, ‘let’s calculate the damage formula!’ And then you made me hit the same enemy over and over for a week!”
“I sure did. And thanks to you, we beat the Dark Lord solo challenge with the fastest time, using the weakest class of all, Hammerer. But I think someone beat our record later...”
“Ooh! I saw that video on a gaming website!”
A member of my fanclub was present?! But Yano did say she knew about me in other games, so I suppose it wasn’t much of a surprise.
“Do you have any idea how much you made me toil for that little video?”
“Now now, let’s not dwell on history. After all, being imprisoned by your own past won’t make your future any better.”
“Easy for you to say when you’re not the victim!”
“How dare you, Takashiro?! A follower exists to serve his Hime-chan, not to make her do all the work!” Didn’t I tell you not to wrap me up in your weirdness?!
“What?! You’re a follower too, Takashiro?! I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to call you weird!” Noooo! You’re earnest to a fault, Maeda!
“No, you’ve got it all wrong! Kataoka just thinks I’m a weirdo like him!”
“Is... that so?”
“Anyway, getting back on track, I’d like to know about that guild permit, please!”
“R-Right, right. But first off, I’ll need to charge you the fee. That’ll be 3,000 Mira, please.”
“Mm-kay.” As the leader of this little band, I paid the fee.
“As for alternative methods of getting a permit... Oh! First off, our guild’s shop has one in stock.”
“Oho! How much is it?”
“5,000,000 Mira.”
“WHAT?!”
We all cried out in unison.
“C’mon, the thing costs 2,500 MEP. How much money did you expect it to be?”
“Mm... Any other ways?”
“It’s a confirmed treasure chest drop in a few dungeons, but they’re all really high-level.” Kataoka went on to list the names of those dungeons. “There’s the Airship Graveyard, Crystal Forest, Almishr’s Burial Ground... stuff in that range. Both the Airship Graveyard and Crystal Forest have some pretty tough entry conditions. On top of that, the monster levels in both places are over 100.”
“Then Almishr’s Burial Ground is the only option.”
“I’d say so. You’ll have to take an airship over to the continent Mishr. We actually have the key you’ll need to get to the treasure too. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, though—it’s gonna take a lot of work.”
“Hmm. How much for the key?”
“For the Ancient Imperial Key, 100,000 Mira.” That’s still really expensive. But judging from the name, it probably should be.
“I have about 50,000 on hand. What about you girls?”
“Why don’t we split it 25,000 each? I have 50,000 as well, so it’ll hurt my wallet a little, but...”
“Sure, sounds good to me.”
“I’m cool with it! All I want is to have my own room! See, money does solve all problems.”
“Whoa, hold up a sec! Almishr’s Burial Ground has enemies level 80 and above. You guys sure about this?” Kataoka warned us. I crossed my arms and thought for a moment.
“Hmmm... So after our four-man restriction, now we have a level restriction. Fine with me.”
“Ren, I don’t think that’s really a necessary condition...” Akira shot me down.
“Restricted play doesn’t have to be necessary! I do it because I want to! It’s my hobby!”
“Wow... Your eyes are on fire again! Ren’s got a fever, and the only prescription is more levels!”
“Pfft. So, as long as we hold onto the key, we can use it any time we want, right?” Yano asked Kataoka.
“Seems like it.”
“Then there’s no reason not to buy it now, yeah?”
“Right. If you screw up, you can just grind out some levels and charge in again. Heck, there’s nothing wrong with just going to scope it out, if you want.”
“Okay! We’ll buy the key. Let’s go to the Burial Ground!”
“All right! Thank you, valued customer!”
Thus, our next destination was set: we were off to find a guild permit at the Burial Ground!
I lay lazily on the carpeted picnic mat, listening to Akira’s cheerful humming. Draco lay beside me, curled up to sleep.
Warm sunlight filtered through the leaves of the tall trees above, beckoning me to sleep as well. It was like we were really basking in the sunlight. This game was always so lifelike despite its fantasy setting.
We were in the Spirit Forest, next to a small fountain. The guidebook listed places with the best views, so we decided to check them all out, eventually ending up here. It was so pretty and calm...
When the competitive event ended, we were given more places to visit via airship. Naturally, sightseeing maniac Akira was desperate to check out everything. Of course, I tagged along with her.
In a rare display of hospitality, Akira offered to make tea and candy for the occasion. I was glad to wait patiently.
Tea and candy were part of the cooking set of crafting skills. All this time, however, Akira claimed that she never cared about crafting. Maybe she was starting to get into it because she could actually taste it in-game? That was what it seems like, anyway. I imagined she was salivating over all the possible things to eat. I hadn’t tried in-game cooking either, so this would be my first time.
“Just a little longer, Ren. I’m almost done, I swear!” Akira looked back at me as she stood before the cooking set, which served as... crafting tools, I guess?
“Gotcha. Trust me, I’m in no hurry.”
I watched Akira from behind, lying on my side. As she squatted down to check the temperature of the frying pan, I caught little glimpses of that wondrous gap of bare thigh that some referred to as “absolute territory.” In her sword dancer gear and apron, I was soooo close to getting an eyeful of leg.
Whew, what a view.
I’m sure I don’t have to explain why guys love sword dancer gear so much, but I doubt anyone would want to actually walk around that exposed normally. Knowing you’re in a game makes it a lot less weird—after all, you’re pretty much half-fictional. Plus, fantasy clothes are exotic and unique, so there’s a certain allure both to wearing and seeing them.
“It’s so quiet and peaceful here.” There was nobody here when we arrived, so we were free to sit around wherever we wanted.
“Yeah. It’s a nice change of pace after having to deal with so many people.”
A week had passed since the competitive event and I had been constantly hounded by guilds scouting for new members. With the end of the event, the first-year students had finally been given the option to join guilds.
Guilds are sort of like clubs in this school. Real clubs are probably largely the same, but guilds are always looking for promising fresh blood. Perhaps I’m being a little egotistical when I say this, but I imagine I looked promising, considering I have the “class mission victor“ icon, the MVP icon, and a pet dragon. I was a newbie with a future—a golden rookie. I bet a few baseball teams would have fought over me in a draft. At any rate, plenty of upperclassmen hell-bent on recruiting new members had been buzzing all around me.
“It’s been like that constantly. Scouts are after me at every turn too. But since you have Draco, you’d be more helpful anyway.”
“It’s nice to have some attention on me, though, especially when they see my class and lose their minds. They’re all like, ‘uh, is this the right guy?’“
“You are the king of the Bummers, after all.”
“It’s a pretty sweet feeling. But I might be tempted to join a guild that’s only open to Bummers...”
“I wonder if any like that exist.”
The whole point of this sightseeing trip was to get away from all the guild ruckus. Even I could do with a little bit of downtime every now and then.
“Okay! All done.”
What a shame; my peeping fun was about to come to an end. Akira brought over a tray with plates and teacups on it.
“Sorry for the wait! Go on and eat your fill.”
Pancakes were piled on my plate, with cream and chopped fruit on top.
“Ooh, nice! This looks great!”
“The recipe was called fruit pancakes. My cooking skill is still low, so this is the best I could make.”
“This is more than good enough. Let’s have a taste!”
“Woo!”
Chomp.
“Ooh! Wow! This is crazy! I can really taste it!”
“It even has the consistency of a real pancake! Amazing!”
As we nibbled our food and sipped our tea, it disappeared without actually filling our stomachs. It didn’t even make you fatter in-game, so you were free to enjoy it to your heart’s content.
“Oh, I see. When you drink it, it just kinda goes away.”
“Until that point, it seems completely real!”
“Yep. VRMMO technology really is advanced.”
Me and Akira were full of reverence for the devs. This went above and beyond any normal online game.
“Even the cooking process was super life-like. It’s like playing house, but hyper-realistic! I almost feel like my real-life cooking skill has increased.”
“The devs seem oddly passionate about the smallest details.”
“I love realistic elements in games. Especially since my parents don’t let me cook much in real life.”
Really? I could only wonder why that was the case. When it came to my family, my mother would be overjoyed if I decided to cook for them. Maybe Akira was really bad at it?
“Why don’t your parents let you cook?” When I asked her that, Akira blinked in astonishment, as if I had said something bizarre.
“Oh, you actually care about my life? I’m kinda surprised; I thought you didn’t.”
“Huh? Of course I do.”
“Well, you only ever talk about games, y’know? It’s all about redefining metas, testing things out, self-restricted playthroughs and such. Not that you’re boring or anything.”
“Sorry. I just didn’t want to pry into your private life.”
“I already revealed my big ‘actually a girl’ secret to you of my own volition, so it’s not like I have anything bigger to hide. You don’t have to skimp on the questions, y’know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But I’m picky about who I tell secrets to; you’re just special.” Aww. She’s cute when she looks all bashful like that.
“So, you wanted to know why my parents don’t let me cook?”
“Yeah.”
“How about I ask you my own question first: What do you think?”
“Because you’re a crappy cook!”
“Wrong, wrong, wrong! The correct answer is that they don’t want me to take the chef’s job.”
“Wait, what?! You have a private chef?!”
“Yep. Three of them, actually.”
“Wow... So you were a blue-blood all this time.” I had a feeling before, and this only confirmed my suspicions. Come to think of it, I feel like I’d wronged this noblewoman in one or two ways. Maybe I shouldn’t have been staring at her absolute territory?
“I guess a normal person would think so. But actually, I’m apparently related to someone from the peerage long ago.” Akira didn’t look too happy as she said that.
“The peerage? Uhh...”
“The nobility of the Meiji period.”
“Huh...”
“My dad and my older brother both work in upper management, and my granddad is a member of the National Diet.”
“Wow, seriously?! It’s like you really are a blue-blood.”
“They want to make me into some sort of sheltered girl, I swear. They’re so overprotective that I can’t even go out when I want to! My life is so rigid and boring.” Surely they just wanted to keep their daughter safe, right? The common man didn’t understand the life she lived. “But in video games, I can go anywhere I want, adventuring as I please. That’s why I love gaming so much. Even better now that this VRMMO feels so real.”
“Is that why you’re such a lover of sights?” The truth has been unveiled.
“Yeah! It’s been even more fun with you, Ren. I went to a snobby rich-kid school too, so everyone was sweet and honest. But following orders and being a good girl all day is boring. There’s just nothing interesting going on, y’know?”
“Sounds like a comfy lifestyle.”
“Yeah, kinda. But you’re different, y’know? You’re the kind of guy who’d do something unexpected, like willingly jump on land mines or redefine things from the ground-up. I never know what you’re going to do next, so every day is new and exciting. It’s really fun being your friend.”
Was that really how she felt? There were a lot of things you could never know about even your best friends without having a face-to-face conversation. Not that we were literally face-to-face, but still.
“I never really gave it much thought; I just like to do whatever’s fun, and you’re fun to hang out with. Sorry for being kinda thoughtless.”
“Aww, c’mon. I know you’re just a dumb gamer at heart. You’re the kinda of guy who gets tunnel vision when he focuses on something.”
“Haha, you’re probably right.” That was because my parents had always told me to find and go after the things I liked.
“But you actually know a ton about video games, so maybe you’re more like a smart dumb gamer.”
“This sounds like a pretty backhanded compliment...”
“It’s like, 60% compliment. Don’t worry.”
“Wow, a whole 60%.”
“Heheh. Now that I’ve talked to you about it, I feel so much better!” Akira stretched in her seated position.
The sunlight filtering through the trees was pleasantly warm. I let out a yawn. Man, I’m sleepy.
“You tired, Ren? There’s nobody around and we’re not in a hurry to do anything, so why not take a nap?”
“Ooh, that sounds nice.” Not that there was anything wrong with sleeping in-game, apart from the forced logout at 10 PM.
We lay on the picnic mat and entered nap mode. It’s nice to be lazy once in a while.
◆◇◆
“Sorry. I hate to turn you down like this, but I’m not really interested. Goodbye.”
I lowered my head toward my upperclassman and continued toward my destination.
Wow. How many times have I had to do this today?
“Chirp?” Draco peered down at me from his perch atop my head.
“No worries, buddy. Akira’s waiting for me, so I gotta hurry.”
My destination was the crafting room within the school. Of course, basic crafting can be performed anywhere in the game. But in the crafting room, the NPCs sitting around could boost your success rate and give you hints on recipes.
“You’re late, Ren.” Akira seemed long bored of waiting for me.
“Sorry, my bad. People keep bugging me to join guilds. Did you bring the mats?”
“Yep! Here you go!”
She handed over two Mythrite and a Steel Ingot, both of which were important materials for us. With enough of those, I could begin the ritual to upgrade my Canesword, but our order of business today was powering up Skyfall.
My crafting skill was probably just high enough, but with the support of the NPCs in this room, we could preserve one of our materials if I failed. That would allow me to attempt the upgrade without losing the weapon. It wouldn’t be a big deal if we lost the Mythrite or Steel Ingot.
I immediately spoke to the female NPC, requesting her aid with my crafting.
“Okay, here goes.” I took Skyfall from Akira.
“Thanks for your help, ma’am.” Akira sat cross-legged and watched me, as Draco sat on her head.
Let the crafting begin. I started making the required motions to forge Skyfall. There were points at which I thought I might fail, but I ended up succeeding.
As for the results, here was how the weapon started off:
Skyfall (O)
Type: One-Hand Sword
Level: 10
Might: 20
AP gain: 12
Poise: 44
Guardbreak: 51
Effect: Creates shockwaves with each attack when user’s HP is at 100%.
And here was how it looked after the upgrade:
Skyfall +1 (O)
Type: One-Hand Sword
Level: 25
Might: 39
AP gain: 14
Poise: 56
Guard Break: 64
Effect: Creates shockwaves with each attack when user’s HP is above 85%.
“Woo! Success!”
“Yay! Nice job, Ren!”
“Chirp chirp!” Even Draco was clapping his tiny little hands, clearly happy for us.
“It doesn’t look any different, but it’s stronger, and the shockwave requirement is more lenient.”
“Yeah, this seems way more convenient. I wonder if the HP requirement gets more loose with each forge.”
“That seems likely. I can tell why this item is super-rare.”
“I hope you’ll forge it again for me later.”
“Of course, I’d be glad to. But good job finding the recipe, Akira. It’s not in the guidebook, and the NPCs here don’t seem to know much about it either.”
The guidebook was far from perfect, and the NPCs would only teach you the most basic of recipes. Not everyone out there could know how to power up a weapon as rare as Skyfall.
“I learned about it from an information broker in the guild market. Shame I had to spend a pretty penny for it, though.”
The floating city Telluna—the main hub for us players—has more facilities than just the school. The guild market is one of them. The proper name for the market, as given by the devs, is the Guildhouse Town Along Shiwen Avenue. The region was full of tightly-packed buildings that had been remodeled by guilds to serve as bases. Thus, players called it the guild market.
Guilds interested in merchantry often reside in the Guildhouse Town Along Shiwen Avenue. Guilds that prioritize other ventures, such as expeditions and battling, usually set up elsewhere.
Guildhouses are to club rooms as guilds are to clubs, essentially.
“Maeda told me that the UW Guidebook was actually written and sold by information brokers. We visited the guild market yesterday, and while we were at it, we picked up the materials.”
“Good stuff. I haven’t visited the guild market yet, myself.” I had things to do yesterday, so I had logged out after classes ended.
“How about we take a trip there next time you need info?”
“Info... hmm. How about info on getting rid of guild scouts? I haven’t been able to focus on the game for so long!”
“I think the easiest way to do that is to just join a guild.” The one who butted in on our conversation was Maeda. She would always come over just so she could stare at Draco.
“Heya, Maeda.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear. I brought a few little treats for you, Draco. Want some?” Maeda showed off a veritable warehouse of foods to him; nuts, fruits, herbs, fish, and more. The sheer amount of food revealed just how excited she was to feed him.
“Haha... that’s more than a few.”
“Apparently these little babies have differing tastes depending on their personality. I had no idea what he might like to eat.”
“Maeda here asked the information broker how to care for pet dragons.”
“Oh, really? Thank you so much. Did you figure out how to get one of your own too?”
“Yes. Essentially, they’re very rare pets, given only to MVPs of large-scale events like the competitive quests. The rewards seem to be the same each year, and the next event will have a different reward, so I won’t get another chance at him until we’re in our second year.”
“Huh. That’s a shame.”
“It really is. But apparently, there is one more method.”
“Oho?”
“When you found a guild, you get a guildhouse to match. But if you can increase the reputation of your guild enough, you’ll be able to claim a nearby floating island as your guild’s territory.”
Is that how it worked? I wouldn’t mind having my own floating island.
“Occasionally, various items will wash up on the ‘shore,’ if you will, of the floating island. A pet dragon’s egg is one of those possible items.”
Akira spoke after Maeda. “So, Ren. If we have to join a guild either way, why don’t we make our own guild and try to make it big? It sounds like a good idea to me. Maeda is game too.”
“If we make our own guild, scouts from guilds we don’t care about should leave us alone, thanks to the guild affiliation icon.”
“Hey, you’re right. Maybe they really would stop bothering us.”
“That being said, the next big event is a guild war.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes. I learned this yesterday, myself. If you don’t join a guild, you can’t participate; but if you join an established guild, the upperclassmen might boss you around.”
“That’s another way guilds are similar to clubs, huh? It’s like the pecking order of a sports club.”
“Just like that! So it follows that if we form our own guild, we can do whatever we want! Then, suddenly, an out-of-nowhere, no-name guild of first-years takes the spotlight! Sounds cool, doesn’t it?”
“That does sound pretty cool...”
And then, the symbologist is suddenly recognized as a high-tier class, and new symbologists flood the streets. Good, good. Absolutely epic. I could envision a bright future ahead of me.
“Right? I know how much you love being the underdog,” Akira whispered into my ear.
“Ooh, you know just what I wanna hear! That’s one of my top-three favorite phrases!” The other two would be awakened potential and meta-redefinition.
“Soooo, you wanna spread the word of us underdogs?”
“I do! So badly!”
“Then how about we make a guild together?”
“Yes! Yes, please!”
“Okay, maybe I’ll let you join.”
“Thank you, ma’am!”
“You’re playing him like a fiddle...” Maeda expressed her thoughts about our exchange.
“Yep! We’ve been friends for so long that I know one or two ways to take him for a ride.” Akira grinned mischievously. Meanwhile, I knew when Akira was playing me. We were both in on it, so it wasn’t weird or anything.
Thus, our next goal was decided: forming our own guild!
“Guilds need a minimum of four people, right? How about Yano joins us?”
“Of course. Yuuna is more than willing to join us.”
“Good, good. This marks the unexpected birth of a Bummers-only guild, one that cherishes weak classes! I can’t help but be drawn in by the excitement of Bummers killing the giant guilds! This is the best thing that could’ve happened!”
“Uh, not quite. I think you and Maeda are the only ones who care about weak classes. Yuuna picked paladin, after all... and she’s been really bummed out about her uselessness in level-grinding parties.”
Fair enough. In a normal party, sky pirates are hardly worthwhile tanks. The three-minute cooldown on Guilty Steal is a bit harsh, considering level-grinding parties are all about doing battle after battle in quick succession. Tanks need to be able to keep up with aggro in each new battle, and a skill that takes three minutes to recast just doesn’t fit the bill.
Paladins and armor knights have thirty-second cooldowns on their taunts, so they’re ready and able to keep up with successive battles. I had molded her into the perfect tank, but only for boss battles. She was ready to Guilty Steal allies who had too much damage output, using the sword dancer’s Sword Samba to its fullest effect. Her tanking style was perfectly specialized to work as a trio of sky pirate, sword dancer, and drama cannon, but that methodology failed in the average level-grinding party.
“Ah well.”
“Ouch, dismissive much?”
“Now, we just need a guild establishment permit. But how are we going to get one? We’re all out of MEP.” The guild establishment permit was in the MEP exchange list for a whopping 2,500 MEP.
“Right. Waiting for the next test would take too long, so I say we search for other ways of getting a permit. How about we head to the guild market to see the information brokers again?”
“Sure, let’s go.”
On that note, we departed for the guild market.
On our way there, we met up with Yano, who had just finished grinding levels for the day. Indeed, she was completely on board with the idea of making our own guild.
“If we get a guild house, that means we each get our own room, right?!”
“From the looks of it, guild houses are really big. I’m sure there’s enough space for that,” I said, gazing at the guild market.
The smallest guild houses seemed to be a whole three floors. The first floor of each seemed to be used as a sales floor. Even if the first floor was reserved, though, the other two floors should’ve had space for four rooms.
“I have four siblings at home, so I’ve never had my own room. Even if it’s in a game, I want one so bad! We gotta get a permit!” Yano was getting really fired up.
“Sharing a room with a sibling sounds like fun. I’m an only child, so I’ve never got to experience that.”
“It’s not fun at all; you’d probably be so over it in seconds. Everyone needs privacy. It’s kinda like one of those foundational rights.”
“I think you mean fundamental rights, Yuuna.”
“Did I say it wrong? Meh, doesn’t matter; you got what I meant.”
Yano was as laid back as ever, but a bit of a sore loser. But I guess if you wrote that on a test, you’d get the question wrong. She did get 166 on her five subjects. Not that I was in any place to point and laugh at people’s grades...
“Yuuna, we’ll need a lot more MEP if we want to grow larger as a guild. I’m willing to help you study for the next test, but you need to put in the effort.”
“Laaaame.”
“Remember, your grades affect the game! Buckle down and study hard.” Maeda was obviously passionate about getting her own island.
“Ren, you need to study your English and Japanese too. Didn’t you only get 20 points on the English portion?”
“Yeeeeah, yeah. I’m just not interested in it at all.”
When would I ever use it in real life? I don’t even care about traveling. Getting good grades on tests wouldn’t mean I could speak the language well enough anyway. In other words, the subject was useless to me. I’d rather just abandon pursuits that I didn’t care about... Is it so wrong to live off of Japanese only? Who cares about globalization?
“Hahahaha! I beat you at English! What a dufus!” Seeing her point and laugh at me, I got a little flustered. Grr. If I were more serious about it, I’d beat her easily.
“But you got a total of 241, right? What were your other scores?” Maeda asked.
“I got a 100 in math, 63 in science, 31 in social studies, and 27 in Japanese.”
“A perfect math score! That was the hardest one, though.”
“I’m just good at math. It has solid logic and rules behind it.” Studying something based on logic is fun when you get the hang of it. But subjects rooted in rote memorization were always my weakest, even though I was ready and willing to rote-memorize everything about a game.
“A mathematician, huh? I do get that vibe from you.”
“Hmm? Really?”
“Like your way of thinking and your tactics. It might not be the tried and true way to play the game, but your logic always holds up. Ultimately your results show that you’re right in the end. It’s amazing.”
Well, I guess there is no template for success as a Bummer. That’s precisely why it’s so fun to trial-and-error my way to victory.
“But this time, we just happened to have the right ingredients for success. We got lucky.”
“Either way, you were the one who brought those ingredients together. Finding new and original ways of doing things is really important, even outside of video games.”
“Boy, Kotomi, you sure do have a lot of nice things to say about him. Is somebody in loooove?”
“N-No, I’m not! I was simply expressing my respect!”
“Don’t worry. I get it. Such a time comes in every girl’s life, Kotomi.”
“Stop it! I said I’m not in love!”
“Aww, Kotomi’s mad at me! I knew I was right! Eek!” Maeda began to chase Yano around. They sure seemed to be enjoying themselves.
“Yuuna really does like to change the subject to love. Isn’t that a bit of a pain?” Akira’s smile seemed forced in a rather awkward way.
“Y-Yeah, I guess so.”
We walked onward, eventually reaching the information broker.
“Oh! That’s our stop, Ren. We made it!”
It was a fairly dilapidated guild house on the outskirts of the guild market. On the first-floor entrance, a sign displayed the words “Bigsmax Info Brokers.”
“Hello?”
“Hey there. Welcome!” The employee’s face looked familiar...
“Kataoka? What are you doing here?”
It was the rogue from class B, Kataoka. The guy who loved Hime-chans.
“I’m the shopkeeper, duh. Since I’m a newbie in this guild, they’re giving me the crap jobs.”
“Huh. Is this the guild that made the UW Guidebook?”
“Yeah! It’s called Fountain of Wisdom.”
“You weren’t the shopkeeper yesterday, were you?”
“Hey there, Aoyagi. We have shifts here.”
“Is Fountain of Wisdom that great a guild?”
They did seem to have a lot of influence; everyone relied on the information they put in the guidebook. I was intent on making good and sure that next year’s guidebook recognized symbologist as a home-run champ.
“Well, the guild collects heaps and heaps of data, so I figured I could learn a lot more about the game if I joined them.”
“That does sound reasonable.”
“If I do that, I’ll have more knowledge available to share with my Hime-chan.”
“Grinding those follower levels, huh?”
“You bet. Stumbling through the game with your Hime-chan can only lead to failure. A real follower has to know everything, but pretend not to, exerting all of his energy for the sake of pleasing his Hime-chan. Feel me? You feel me, yeah?”
“I don’t feel you. But if you’re having fun, I’m not gonna stop you.” Everyone has their own playstyle, so we should all learn to accept diversity.
“Hime-chan? Follower?” Maeda, lacking experience in online games, was visibly puzzled.
“So basically, Kotomi...” Yano gave her a brief rundown.
“Mmm... That sounds rather odd.” With an air of purity, she abandoned the idea outright.
Whether Kataoka couldn’t hear her or otherwise chose to ignore her remark, I couldn’t say, but he interrupted their conversation all the same.
“So, you all want some information?”
“Yeah. We’re looking to form a new guild, so we want a guild establishment permit. Do you know any ways of obtaining one without spending MEP?”
“I see, I see. Let me just search guild permit requirements...”
Kataoka began operating a terminal on the shop counter. It looked vaguely like an antique notebook computer, almost resembling a typewriter and a desktop mirror slapped together.
“Can that thing even process data?” Akira leaned over the desk, deeply interested.
“You bet it can. They call it the Dealer’s Desk, and it’s like an in-game computer. It can even make and run apps too. Fountain of Wisdom made a full-on information database, and it uses that to sell information and publish guidebooks.”
“Wow... They’ve really made information into a sellable asset.”
For games open to the public at large, there are often strategy guides and walkthrough websites. But UW, open only to students of this school, didn’t have any of that. Leaking hints on the Internet is against school regulations; anyone who got caught doing so would receive a suspension. That’s what led to the birth of information brokers like this guild. Or perhaps the school administration had made that regulation specifically to allow these guilds to flourish?
How I wished I had one of those computers. It would definitely come in handy, being able to make databases myself. As the son of a game designer, I picked up a bit of programming for fun. I’d love to be able to calculate my ultimate ability damage for each stat and equipment change.
“I want one of these. I bet it could help me figure out the damage formula...”
“Uh oh. I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Hmm? Why not?”
“Don’t act like you forgot! When we played EF, you were all, ‘let’s calculate the damage formula!’ And then you made me hit the same enemy over and over for a week!”
“I sure did. And thanks to you, we beat the Dark Lord solo challenge with the fastest time, using the weakest class of all, Hammerer. But I think someone beat our record later...”
“Ooh! I saw that video on a gaming website!”
A member of my fanclub was present?! But Yano did say she knew about me in other games, so I suppose it wasn’t much of a surprise.
“Do you have any idea how much you made me toil for that little video?”
“Now now, let’s not dwell on history. After all, being imprisoned by your own past won’t make your future any better.”
“Easy for you to say when you’re not the victim!”
“How dare you, Takashiro?! A follower exists to serve his Hime-chan, not to make her do all the work!” Didn’t I tell you not to wrap me up in your weirdness?!
“What?! You’re a follower too, Takashiro?! I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to call you weird!” Noooo! You’re earnest to a fault, Maeda!
“No, you’ve got it all wrong! Kataoka just thinks I’m a weirdo like him!”
“Is... that so?”
“Anyway, getting back on track, I’d like to know about that guild permit, please!”
“R-Right, right. But first off, I’ll need to charge you the fee. That’ll be 3,000 Mira, please.”
“Mm-kay.” As the leader of this little band, I paid the fee.
“As for alternative methods of getting a permit... Oh! First off, our guild’s shop has one in stock.”
“Oho! How much is it?”
“5,000,000 Mira.”
“WHAT?!”
We all cried out in unison.
“C’mon, the thing costs 2,500 MEP. How much money did you expect it to be?”
“Mm... Any other ways?”
“It’s a confirmed treasure chest drop in a few dungeons, but they’re all really high-level.” Kataoka went on to list the names of those dungeons. “There’s the Airship Graveyard, Crystal Forest, Almishr’s Burial Ground... stuff in that range. Both the Airship Graveyard and Crystal Forest have some pretty tough entry conditions. On top of that, the monster levels in both places are over 100.”
“Then Almishr’s Burial Ground is the only option.”
“I’d say so. You’ll have to take an airship over to the continent Mishr. We actually have the key you’ll need to get to the treasure too. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, though—it’s gonna take a lot of work.”
“Hmm. How much for the key?”
“For the Ancient Imperial Key, 100,000 Mira.” That’s still really expensive. But judging from the name, it probably should be.
“I have about 50,000 on hand. What about you girls?”
“Why don’t we split it 25,000 each? I have 50,000 as well, so it’ll hurt my wallet a little, but...”
“Sure, sounds good to me.”
“I’m cool with it! All I want is to have my own room! See, money does solve all problems.”
“Whoa, hold up a sec! Almishr’s Burial Ground has enemies level 80 and above. You guys sure about this?” Kataoka warned us. I crossed my arms and thought for a moment.
“Hmmm... So after our four-man restriction, now we have a level restriction. Fine with me.”
“Ren, I don’t think that’s really a necessary condition...” Akira shot me down.
“Restricted play doesn’t have to be necessary! I do it because I want to! It’s my hobby!”
“Wow... Your eyes are on fire again! Ren’s got a fever, and the only prescription is more levels!”
“Pfft. So, as long as we hold onto the key, we can use it any time we want, right?” Yano asked Kataoka.
“Seems like it.”
“Then there’s no reason not to buy it now, yeah?”
“Right. If you screw up, you can just grind out some levels and charge in again. Heck, there’s nothing wrong with just going to scope it out, if you want.”
“Okay! We’ll buy the key. Let’s go to the Burial Ground!”
“All right! Thank you, valued customer!”
Thus, our next destination was set: we were off to find a guild permit at the Burial Ground!
Komentar
Posting Komentar