CH 34

34 Update, Second Batch Comes

Since the game was under maintenance, after waking up I spend a few hours doing homework. When it was about time for lunch, my little sister came over.

“Onee-chan! There will be an official FLFO stream!”

“Hee… during maintenance?”

“The title is “Yamamoto Ittetsu’s Killing Time Stream”.”

"...He did say his job is to gather everyone up, so I guess he’s bored when others work?”

“Maybe?”

I planned to do homework until the maintenance is over, but… let’s do it while watching.

『“Yamamoto-san, it’s started you know?”』

『“Ah, so I didn’t make it in time after all.”』

What was displayed during lunchtime was… Yamamoto-san in a dining room, eating lunch.

『“Hey, everyone! It’s the important person here!”』

『“That’s loose…”』

『“It’s me streaming personally. When I finish eating I will talk about the patch notes that should have been already released, so until then enjoy looking how an old man is eating lunch.”』

『“WHAT KIND OF PUNISHMENT IS THAT.”』

While side glancing at the stream, we also eatlunch. Today’s lunch is soumen, it’s nice and easy.

“Let’s see… patch notes… daily quests, weekly quests, monthly quests, half year quests were added? Meat drop numbers change… as well as guild stuff.”

“Was daily stuff added?”

“Looks like it.”

“And I’m curious about the number of meat drops...”

It’s the first update since the service has started, so it looks to be fairly big. There were new things added, bugs fixed and new mechanics.

Seems like Yamamoto-san is eating katsudon. He has a set of katsudon, miso soup and pickled vegetables. Looks like a pretty heavy lunch.

『“Thanks for the meal. So, let’s go back and touch on the update.”』

After finishing the meal, Yamamoto-san moved from the dining room and entered a different room, then started doing something on a pad.

『“First, the biggest thing this time is the second batch. We plan that the number of players increases from roughly 20000 to 60000. Next, the daily quests. We added things that act as a login bonus and daily quests. These daily quests give small amounts of money. Weekly quests can give you consumables that might make you a little happy. The monthly quests give a luxurious version of the weekly rewards. And half a year quest’s reward is, a WHOOPING 10SP.”』

If you don’t log in, everything will be reset… will not happen, the daily quests accumulate. If you finish half a year’s worth of quests, you will get the reward for sure. Even if you are out on delegation, it does not matter since they accumulate.

『“Just like the “Life” in the game’s title suggests, if you spend half a year in the game… it’s only natural that you’ll learn new skills, right?”』

The daily quests’ contents were varied and apparently you can pick what you want to do from among the daily quests. Looks like they reduced the “I need to do my dailies…” feel to the minimum.

There are things like “Plow x fields” “Gather x vegetables” “Craft x number of potions” “Eliminate x mobs” and so on. There’s even “read x books”.

『“If you think “there is no daily for my playstyle!” you are free to put up a request. I think most things can be implemented.”』

The weekly quest’s consumables are the same thing I could choose back when I reported a bug… except for the SP. There is a Combat Consumables Set (Potions and so on). Crafting Consumables Set (materials). And 1 hour skill experience boost ticket (has to be used within 7 days).

『“By the way, as for the experience boost… it’s adjusted so that increases the speed of leveling first tier Skills by quite a lot. For second tier it makes it, well, a little easier? And the for the third tier it’s hardly perceptible?”』

Potions and materials that come out are matching the user’s level.

The monthly quests in addition to a slight sum of money, allows selecting from the same line-up of rewards as weekly quests, but the number of items you get is higher.

By the way, since one day is four days in the game, it will use real-time days. And thinking of the people working late, the dailies will refresh in the morning.

『“Next is… oh this, we will add a dungeon to the Starting Town!”』

“Seriously?! A dungeon!”

『“Now, I’m sorry to deceive you but… it’s a place with which you of the first batch have nothing to look for.”』

“OH...NO...”

My little sister’s energy fell below critical levels. So, it’s that, a measure against crowds?

『“Although the Starting Town is fairly wide, there’s a problem with respawns on hunting grounds, you see? And so, it will be an instance dungeon, if it turns out for you that “there’s too many people and I can’t hunt…” then you should go there.”』

There are no bosses or anything, so it was really just an anti-crowds measure.

The enemies that appeared in it, were ones from the Northern mountains, Eastern forest, Western forest, Southern forest and the town’s surroundings. Aside from mobs that appear inside, the mechanics are the same as those of normal dungeons. Looks like I will be able to go there to get some Rabbit and Wolf meat.

It’s the type that changes every time you enter it, and there are three types of area: a plain, cave and a forest.

It’s supposed to exist for quite a long while, too. I guess that after the second batch, there will be the third?

『“Then, next――”』

He gives a simple explanation on other things that are added, while eating ice cream and sweets in the meanwhile. The account he uses for this is his personal one, so it’s really his personal stream. It’s a different account from the one where FLFO’s trailers are put up.

About five hours after the stream started. It was about time for the maintenance to end.

『“Yamamoto-saaan.”』

『“What’s up?”』

『“Everything is on schedule, no problems.”』

『“Then open up at 5 p.m. like it was announced.”』

『“Roogeeer.”』

『“And so, did you download the patch already? Are you prepared to log in? I’m sure there will be a lot of beginner’s equipment to see in the first town!”』

Seems like there will be huge crowds for a while… I would love to evacuate, but I have business with Ertz-san. Also, Ellie and Abbie will be coming, so I can’t avoid it anyway. Above all, I logged out in the Starting Town yesterday.

Now, my homework has progressed a fair bit. Let’s leave it at this for today. The stream has ended, let’s get on standby to log in.

Alright, logging in――

〈Stand by for log in. Please wait. 1052 left.〉

――Ah, yes. Looks like there is traffic restriction. About a minute later I manage to log in.

The icon that appeared in the right corner of my field of vision is… a daily quest, huh? What should I do today… Ehh… it’s based on the Skills I have. ...Create cuisine items. Create items with Alchemy. Gather items… there are plenty of types.

Combat… crafting… gathering.. others… oh, there is reading books, too. Must be from «Linguistics»?

Alright, let’s do some cooking. Ertz-san isn’t online yet, so let’s make jerkies and put them up on consignment. I get out of the room and borrow the yard.

First… I make liquid for smoking by mixing salt and sugar in water, then put Wolf Meat slices inside and marinate them. Then I use【Reaction Acceleration】... I don’t have enough MP. I disable «Inventory Expansion», wait until MP recovers and use it again.

After jumping two days, I take out meat and lightly remove salt. Then, I use【Humidity Control】to dry it before throwing them inside the smoking tool.

When the smoking is over I take it out, leave them be for a day and it’s all over.

Hmm… let’s repeat this about five times. One piece of meat is 60 jerkies. One person can eat multiple jerkies, so 12 per person. If I use 5 pieces of meat, I’ll have 300 jerkies.

When I was waiting for MP and making them, Ertz-san logged in. I finish crafting them, go to the Merchant Union to put them up on consignment, and let’s go to the usual place.

Daily quest complete… reward: 1000. I think they took the “pocket money” wording too seriously. Well, let’s go to Ertz-san’s place.

After saying thanks to the innkeeper I leave the inn and outside, I see similar-looking people… there are no twintail drills in my field of vision so let’s go to Ertz-san’s place. We can always contact each other in real to set up a meeting.

I thought it would be hard to walk through this crowd, but it seems like everyone is opening a path for me, which is so nice of them. Let’s boldly walk through the middle. And just like that, I head to Ertz-san’s place.

"...What’s with that, Mozes(?), Moses(?)-like effect…?”

“I don’t know why, but it seems like everyone makes way for me. I was able to walk straight here thanks to that, so I guess it’s fine? More importantly, I brought ore, so I would like to sell it and order some things...”

“Sure, no problem, what do I make?”

“One-handed hammer, one-handed sword, two-handed sword, small shield, large shield… I guess?”

“That’s plenty of things. They’re for «Necromantic Magic», right?”

“Yes indeed.”

Can they use bows? I would need to talk with Primula-san for that, though.

“How much will it cost?”

“Let’s see… the best I can do with iron now would cost 850k in total, one below that would be 600k. From there it’s plus minus quality and materials.”

“Is iron the best you can do?”

“No, it’s steel. I’m looking for a way to improve quality now. If you’re alright with C, then I have some made.”

“Hnn… how good can you make now?”

“About B, I guess. But it would cost over 1m to get them all at B, y’know?”

“Well, that’s no problem. I earned plenty during the combat tournament.”

“Ahh, back then. Let's see… right now I have a one-handed sword, two-handed sword and a large shield at B quality.”

One-handed sword and two-handed sword are very basic and popular, so he often makes them. He only happened to make a large shield though. Let’s have him contact me when he manages to make the rest at B or higher quality.

“Looks like I will finally be able to buy a store!”

“Oh, the long-awaited?”

“A 1m income should be enough. Then, how about exactly 1m for everything? Let’s see… to break it down, the one-hander will be 230k, two-handed and large shield 250k each. Small shield 150k and the hammer 120k.”

One-handed swords are popular, two-handed are popular and require more materials, the large shield requires a lot of materials. Small shield and hammer are a result of a discount. There is no problem, so let’s go with that.

Ohh, and yeah. Let’s have my Disassembly Knife repaired and buy two more pickaxes. Before going to withdraw money, I sell the ore and the ant materials. I earned roughly 90k with that.

Then, I once again go to the union and withdraw about 650k more that I need, then buy a one-handed sword, a two-handed sword, a large shield and two pickaxes. The weapons cost 730k, the repairs and pickaxe additional 4200.

“Thanks for patronage! Wait a little longer for the one-handed hammer and small shield. Is there a type of one-handed hammer you want?”

“I wouldn’t mind a mace. If it’s too complicated, my Servant might not be able to use it.”

“Simple is best, right. Leave it to me.”

“Oh and, do you buy the defensive battle’s iron drops?”

“I can crush and recycle them so I do. The price depends on the equipment itself.”

Let’s have him buy the iron sword, spear, axe, dagger and greatsword. It amounted to a total of 9000. I only left myself the one-handed mace. Small shields like these are also sold in stores, it’s not made from iron so I get to keep it. I don’t have a replacement yet, either.

I receive the equipment and throw it inside «Necromantic Secrets».

“Oh, and by the way. If you hold equipment that requires too much stats for you, there can be a penalty. Will you be alright?”

"............Summon, Skeleton.”

It will be faster to actually try it. I summon two skeletons, one with one-handed sword and large shield, the other with two-handed sword.

“Oh, bones.”

"#1, is there any problem with new equipment?”

The two skeletons moved for a while before nodding with a *KLOK*, so it looks like it’s alright. Is there no restriction for servants in that regard? Or maybe it’s because they are boosted by my skills?

“Looks to be alright.”

“I see, that’s great. I guess we’re still in the blue in regard to these kinds of penalties.”

"#2 can swing the two-handed sword, so I guess he has some stats?”

“Apparently low STR pure mages can’t even lift these up”

“They can fight in the second area, so they should be stronger than the second batch, I guess? I don’t know what will happen when «Light Magic» hits them, though.”

“Is «Necromantic Magic» strong?”

“I wonder? In my case there are multiple buffs that I give, so...”

“Ahh, I see.”

There is no one to compare to, so I can’t say anything. The AI level alone is higher than my base, but that should not have any effect on stats.

“By the way, got any food on you? Sell me some.”

“Nnn… if you are okay with Bear Soup, then I have some.”

“Oh that, I don’t mind.”

“How many do you want?”

“Six, I guess?”

“No problem. 800 each, so it will be 4800 in total.”

“Sure.”

I sold almost everything during the combat tournament, so I don’t have much on me… Thanks to that my inventory slots opened quite a bit. Though, I don’t know if nine slots can be called “quite a bit”.

Should I do some cooking…? Let’s make rump steaks and sandwiches. For bread I only need to cut the baguettes and sandwich things in between.

"’Sup!”

“Hey.”

“Good day, Primula-san.”

Primula-san slipped through the crowd and started opening a stall next to Ertz-san. As usual, I open up the Cooking Kit in the back.

While frying a rump steak, I make baguettes. To be more precise, I wait for the MP used by【Reaction Acceleration】to recover as I fry a steak. For the ingredients for sandwiches I use cabbage, I mean, I have no lettuce? Other than that, I use roast beef. But since roast beef uses the brick oven, I first make the bread.

I used Art to create the base from yeast, then kneaded and prepared dough until I had no MP left.

When I had no MP left I prepared the steaks, then threw the bread dough inside the oven. Next I put in the beef tallow, garlic and meat, and start frying. When both sides are fried, I put in brandy and do a flambe. When the flame disappears, I move the steak to a dish and leave it be. After that, I rotate the bread. Next, I start frying another steak and take out bread.

In this game, they are finished at about the same time.

“We get food-terrorized for the first time in a week!”

“Steaks are not fair! Sell me!”

“I don’t mind.”

“Me too.”

“It was 1000… something?”

“1200. Buffs are up to quality… well, wait a moment longer.”

“Got it.”

I fried meat, took out the bread and stopped cooking for a moment to sell the steak. ...Oh, there’s a buff. I pull out the bread and note down. Rump, garlic, brandy, steak… DEX.

“It’s B+ quality and with DEX buff. 5% increase for five hours, so 3000 I guess.”

““BUYING!””

"...Time for a dice roll.”

It’s five hours in real time. Since a day in-game lasts 6 hours, it’s a really nice buff for crafters.

I give the right to buy it to the one who get sthe higher roll on 1d100. The two select a dice roll from the menu, select a type of dice to display and materialize it in mid-air. It’s as big as a little child, hm?

““Three, two, one!””

Hangh! HNGHh! The two threw their dice and I wait for them to stop. Looks like there is no player collision with the dice, so it’s impossible to kick it away. It ignores other players.

On top of the stopped dice there was a pop-up displaying numbers. It also displayed above the players that threw it.

“PHEEEW!”

“NGHHHAA!”

Looks like it’s Primula-san’s win.

Let’s go back to cooking then. If I make one with DEX, let’s sell it to Ertz-san.

I take out the freshly-baked baguette, split it up into three and cut it horizontally. There I put cabbage… let’s slice it finely. I put sliced cabbage on the bottom, then roast beef, and finally stir-fried welsh onion before covering it with gray sauce… and it’s complete.

Speaking of which, I still haven’t made anything deep-fried, have I? A chicken cutlet would be good for sandwiches… Or beef cutlet… I have both flour and potato starch so there is no problem. If there was any, it would be that I would have to make a more delicate bread than french bread?

Hmm...

“Would you two buy sandwiches if there were some?”

“Well, we’re in a game. So I would buy some if you were selling them… wouldn’t the folks who do combat be more happy about sandwiches?”

“There are unexpectedly many people who were struck by despair when monsters came during meals and they ended up spilling your food, Princess.”

“As expected, they were retorted to by “eat in a safe zone!”.”

“And there’s some people triumphantly boasting that jerkies are tasty. They are quite rare, after all.”

Which means there are people who continue combat while eating with one hand.

“Cecil-san’s party definitely has both jerkies and cuisine. I think they ate cuisine when they can be at leisure, and jerkies when they focus on hunting.”

“Ever since the combat tournament, meat started appearing on consignment, too. People on the cooking board were in delight and made various things, so it’s now possible to buy various foods.”

Looks like everyone has realized that both selling meat and buying it to make cuisine is worth it. Thanks to that, there are cooks on the cooking board who reached second tier skill, acquired【Reaction Acceleration】and their productivity has increased a bit. “A bit” is because of MP consumption.

On the other hand, because everyone has learned the taste of cuisine when eating hot dogs, the consumption has increased… and the crafting doesn’t keep up again.

Now, that aside. As for deep-frying. Let’s use wolf… no, the soft rabbit meat. But I’ll do it later! First I make baguettes and steaks.

Steaks were made with either STR or DEX… Sandwiches only VIT… I note. If there was something that made me curious, is the fact that freshly-made baguettes got no buffs. The moment I make them into sandwiches, they receive a buff however. Is it because they are too simple? What about croissants? I have butter so I can make them...

I put croissants aside, and craft the things I had in plan to craft. As a result, I made 50 steaks and 40 baguettes. Let’s decrease the oven’s temperature and make roast beef for sandwiches.

[Cuisine] Handmade Sandwich　Rarity: No　Quality: B

A baguette sandwich with Roast Beef, Cabbage and Welsh Onion.

You can enjoy bread with chewy texture, soft meat and fresh vegetables.

Satiety +30

Additional Effect: Increases Vitality by 5%.

Effect Duration: 4 hours 30 minutes.

Cook: Anastasia

By using the baguettes I had in my inventory, I made a total of 123 sandwiches. Looks like I made a little too much roast beef. I have two left. Well, I can just put it away.

“If you have DEX, then I’d love to buy 2, 3 more?”

"Me toooo.”

“I don’t mind.”

In the end, I sold another 4 each to the two, so I earned a total of 24000. Really sweet.

“Oh, right. Primula-san, do you have any bows for beginners?”

“Hnn…? I should have one… yes, I do.”

“Could I borrow it?”

“What will you do?”

“I’ll have my #1 hold it, and will check whether he can use it.”

“Ahh, you mean the mass-produced Ske-san. Sure.”

“Thank you very much.”

Mass-produced Ske-san… well, I’m not retorting. I dismissed the two I had summoned this whole time and after changing #1’s skills, I summoned him.

“Can you use it?”

"*KLAKKETY*”

So bow is no good? Why is it?

“You don’t have enough stats?”

"*KLAKY*?”

He doesn’t understand it.

“You don’t know how to use it.”

"*KLOK*”

I see, so there’s a bigger problem than just stats. Which means… thinking of how he can use swords and shields normally, I can safely assume that it must be his AI level that’s insufficient? If I taught him how to use it he probably would learn it, but… yup, it’s a pain. Let’s leave Skeleton Archers for later, I give the bow back to Primula-san.

"I just learned that it will take some more time until he can use bows. It’s alright since thrust attacks are low on my priority list...”

“It’s possible to give equipment to human-shaped summons, but also pretty hard?”

“At this point there are no human-shaped summons among other summon-type skills.”

The «Summoning Magic»’s and «Necromantic Magic»’s mechanics are different, so even if you summon the same skeleton with both, there will be differences. Which one is better is up to the user to decide, but in regards to Undead, from best to worse it would be «Necromantic Secrets», «Necromantic Magic» and then «Summoning Magic». It would be troubling otherwise, since it’s a skill that only allows summoning Undead.

Well then, let’s log out once. I have a meal and a bath, then log in again.

“You came at the right time. I made the mace and shield.”

“Hm? It’s already done? I’ll go withdraw money then.”

“Sure, it will be 270k.”

I go to the Merchant Union and take money from jerky consignment. I received 110k and a little, after deduction of the fee. Next I withdraw the rest of the price. Emm… about 100k. I have 3,4m and a little left. Thinking of the armor I need to buy, it will disappear at once… let’s leave it for later. Let’s go back and purchase.

“Here...”

“Certainly, thanks for patronage!”

I change #1’s equipment to a steel mace and a large shield. Let’s leave #2 with a two-handed sword for now. I leave the mace that I used before for #2 to use. Yup, it should be fine.

“Hey people!”

“Yahoo.”

“Hey.”

“Good day, Dantel-san.”

Dantel-san opens a stall next to Ertz-san, on the opposite side from Primula-san. Salute-san and Nephrite-san also came at almost the same timing, Salute-san opened a stall next to Primula-san and Nephrite-san next to Dantel-san.

The five gathered and started talking about stores. Looks like they want to buy stores as close to each other as possible, and matching their needs.

Alright, what do I do until sleep time?

“Tasha found!”

“Finally found you, Tasha!”

Ah, this voice is… or rather, the number of people who call me Tasha is too limited. When I turned around, just as I thought, the two…the two… fufu.

"...Isn’t it rude to laugh the moment you see someone’s face?”

“Oh no, you sure have exaggerated it, haven’t you? These are really splendid drills.”

“Are they not?”

While saying so, she brushed them with her hand… but due to the game adjustment, her drills bounced back. Ellie had THE drill hairstyle. Abbie had long twintails with a roll on the bottom, her drill power seems fairly weak?

She splendidly brushes them… but they bounce and return to being drills, which looks kind of fun.

“Tasha, look at this!”

Abbie said so, puts Ellie’s drills on her palm, raises them… and bounces them back and forth like springs.

“Fufufu...”

“It’s fun!”

“Hey, could you not play with someone’s hair?”

Glared at by Ellie, Abbie came clinging to me… and bounced off the sexual guard. She’s in shock. Let’s put her in the exceptions. She came clinging to me once again, so I pat her head.

“Ellie and Lettie, you two are humans? And Abbie and Dorie are… devils?”

“That’s right. Looks like they are going for angels and puppetteering.”

“And you, Ellie?”

“I’m thinking of using a whip.”

“That’s… are you focusing on appearance?”

“Indeed.”

“The moment she uses a whip, she will change from an ojousama to a queen, so I think it would be better to take something else...”

“How rude!”

Leti had retorted and shook her head saying “good grief”. Once Ellie has decided on something, she will do it. Lettie knows that well enough.

For now, I register the four as friends.

“Ohh, right. I will give this to you, Ellie. Split it between yourselves.”

“Nn… potions?”

“Nope, trash.”

“HEY.”

“It’s low quality TRASH that I made when I was leveling my skill. Still, they should recover more than the initial ones, so use them early on. Residents won’t buy things below C quality, and racially I can’t use them myself. I was wondering about how to get rid of them.”

"...What you said bothers me a little, but we’ll have them.”

My storage is cleared! Honestly, I thought of throwing them out, but they should be plenty good for Ellie and others. Oh also, might as well introduce them since they are already here.

“If you want dresses and maid outfits, you can ask this person here. He’s a top clothier, so the price might be high.”

“Hoh? Dresses and maid outfits? If you let me take screenshots of you when I make them, I will give you discounts. I can also pay you for modelling in different clothes… but before that, anyone seen silk? I’m pretty sure it should be somewhere, mm.”

It’s still unknown, after all. Although there is nothing that looks like a boss in the second areas and ahead, the enemies in the third area are simply strong so we can’t go there. It will take a while.

I also introduce them to crafters other than Dantel-san. Although, I don’t know when Ellie and others will get to use Ertz-san and others’ stores. Mainly due to the prices. A single weapon costs at least 200k, after all. Especially since there are many slots to put armor and accessories on.

Well, I did introduce them so my duties are fulfilled. Negotiate the prices by yourself.

“By the way, Tasha, is there no tea here?”

“I’m searching in secret, but I can’t find any. It’s a world that has royalty and nobles, so I think there should be some, but… it feels like there is a problem with distribution?”

“Hmmm… Looks like we need to raise our levels and get used to it first.”

Otherwise they won’t be able to look for it.

If only my dress’ coloring was a little better... I could charge into a merchant company. Looks like the tea leaves issue has to be put aside.

In the end, as I talked with everyone, the time to sleep came. I guess this is fine from time to time. In a way, it’s one of MMO pleasures.