VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～

Chapter 9: New weapon and type selection

I tried to finish the Bu ni Mi chapter but couldn’t do it in time. I admit my progress has been quite lacking lately, I’ll try to get it done for tomorrow.

In the meantime, here’s another VRMMO chapter.

Don’t think I have much to say this time, enjoy.

「…Then, how about something like, continuously throwing Francescas?」

After introducing ourselves, it got pretty easy to talk to the glasses girl.

Despite seeming shy, contrary to the initial sense of distance, she talked to me rapidly.

Once she calmed down, she started to properly look at me in the eye, I personally felt relieved.

Her player name was 「Selene」, she told me that she had decided to proceed with crafting as her main role.

「Ah, I’d like to try that. In this game, as long as there’s space in the inventory, weight doesn’t matter, right? So as long as it allows it, there shouldn’t be any worries in carrying them. It’s just that…」

I took a stone out of my inventory and threw it at the wall to show her.

The stone hit the wall and after rolling on the floor for a while, it disappeared somewhere.

「Like this, throwable items are fundamentally impossible to retrieve」

「So it’s too costly to be practical, huh…I thought it would be fun」

「It would look like a certain knight in a side-scrolling game throwing weapons」 (1) Reference to Ghosts ‘n Goblins

「You know about that old game! You are so interesting, Hind-kun. Though you can throw anything from torches to spears in that game」

My experience with games was only until elementary school, but I really liked retro games.

On the other hand, my knowledge about the trending VR online games is thin, I’m currently struggling in that regard.

「Well, if ranged attacks that weren’t part of your job were to be too strong, it would make it hard to balance. It would make mages and archers unneeded」

「Probably. It would also take up one hand. You wouldn’t be able to use things like shields」

「Apart from that, if you throw gear that’s already equipped on you, they won’t disappear, but they’ll deal 1 damage so it’s pretty much meaningless. At the end of the day, it would be hard to use them normally」

「Hmm, you have researched it very well. I’m impressed」

The conversation with Selene-san was fun.

She was very knowledgeable and was quick to think things through.

Instead of a skilled blacksmith, with her glasses and sloppy appearance, she gave the aura of an alchemist.

Her clothes were worn out and she gave an air of languidness.

Judging from her appearance, she seems to be a university student, but I wonder if that’s the case?

I’m pretty sure she’s older than me though.

「So, what did you come to craft, Hind-kun? As you can see, I’m getting the hang of it, I believe I should be able to teach you to a certain extent」

I don’t think it’s at the level of just getting the hang of it though.

I had taken a look at her weapons, but their performances were higher than the stuff being sold in the trading BBS.

She’s already even making unusual weapons…I’m quite lucky.

「Please do. Since it’s the first time, I was thinking of a 「Broadsword」 and an「Iron rod」 since they are low difficulty. As long as they are better than the ones sold at the shops, I’d be satisfied」

「Yup yup, that’s nice. The basics are important after all」

「…That’s surprising. Since they are boring, I thought you would try to influence me to make an unusua-」

「That hurts me. Even someone like me is not always making unusual weapons, you know?. Of course, the fact that I shouted in such a loud voice was because I love them. However, that’s only because I like them more than normal weapons」

「You are so cool, senpai」

「Right? Praise me more」

Even though we weren’t talking about a specific topic, our wavelengths somehow matched.

It was quite impressive.

If I hadn’t reacted to that Khopesh, I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know this person.

「Oh, there are more people now. If we keep talking, we’ll bother them. So, shall we make a chat? Hind-kun」

「We should, please do」

In the end, I was able to make a 「Good quality Broadsword +5」 and a 「Good quality Iron rod +4」.

I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can get with these two.

「Like that, I was able to procure weapons and items」

「…Hah?」

「What do you mean by 「Hah?」?」

「I don’t get it」

No, you should get it…

I had explained everything properly after all.

Since Yumir had contacted me, after making the preparations for fighting, I returned to the village’s plaza.

Exactly at 10pm, when we had promised to meet up.

「It has only been 1 hour you know?」

「Hmm? Ah, it’s true that I’ve been able to procure various things in the span of 1 hour. The weapons are really good, even the items-」

「I didn’t mean that! In such a short time, you were able to make 3 friends? ….Hah? Moreover, they are all girls! I don’t get it!!!」

「Why are losing it…? It was just a coincidence, half of humanity is made up of females, so it’s not that weir-」

「Gah! Whatever! Hand me the new weapon, Hind! Let’s go try it out!」

「O-oh」

With Yumir, who was walking in a rough manner, we headed towards yesterday’s 「Homa plains」.

「Hahaha! Look, Hind! Even those goblins we had such a hard time with, are like trash now!」

「…」

After obtaining a new weapon, Yumir was in perfect form…or should I say, in ecstasy.

It has 25 attack after all…since the wooden stick had 10, it was more than double.

Goblins were no match for us anymore, after aiming at their weak point, she could defeat them in a single hit.

However, it was impossible for me with my staff.

Since I’m not a DPS, it can’t be helped.

By the way, regarding the formula for attack, a 「Broadsword」 usually has 20 attack.

「Good quality」 gives them higher endurance and gives them a 20% increase in attack, and each +1 adds another 1% to the same stat correction.

It was easy to make and even compared to the weapons sold in the trading BBS, I think I can say it was well made for my first time?

「It’s nice that you are getting in the mood, but we are close to the north area, you know? Enemies will get stronger, so be careful. Our defensive gear is still the beginner one after all」

「The current me is invincible! Even the north area’s monsters are no match for me!」

「I can already see how this is going to end…but I should sto-」

「That’s pointless!」

「Yeah yeah. Guess we should get going」

She probably won’t get it unless she experiences it anyway.

Once we entered the north area, the variety of enemies didn’t change, but their average levels were around 15. Their attack increased a lot and they started to come in groups.

We were currently level 11.

Immediately, we entered contact with a group of 5 goblins…

「Whoa-」

「They are so fast! Am I going to die!?」

I was frantically casting healing spells whenever they were off cooldown and at times I interrupted the enemies to gain some hate but…Yumir, who was surrounded by goblins, tragically died.

I hurriedly threw one of the three bottles of 「Holy water」 towards Yumir.

We had shaved off the HP of our enemies, it would be a waste to run away here.

Hurry up and stand up! They are going to surround me too!

The bottle broke and she stood up with full HP, it was a state that could only happen once every three minutes.

Right after, I cast 「Healing」 on Yumir as it came back up from cooldown.

Having recovered her HP, we were somehow able to regroup.

「This is wrong! This is not what you told me, Hind!」

「No one said we could go with our current gear! Look at the enemies’ HP, kill those that are weakened!」

「R-roger!」

Yumir aimed the 「Slash」 skill at the group of goblins and finally managed to defeat one of them.

Successively, she defeated another one that coincidentally went in to aim at my neck, there were three left.

After reducing their numbers to this point, I was able to heal their damage and we proceeded to crush them in a stable manner.

…As expected, we are probably going to die.

The light that displayed we had leveled up appeared, we had 2 「Holy water」 left, if we kept going like this, it’d be hard.

We should turn back here-

「Hind! I got some skill points after leveling up! What should I take!?」

「Hmm? Why are you asking me? Take whatever you like」

「Umu…the thing is, the skill tree branches here」

「Hmm? Let me take a look」

After reaching level 12, it seems like Yumir has noticed that she has started to accumulate skill points.

I took a peek at the status window that Yumir was displaying…ah, now I get it.

Below the basic skills 「Slash」 and 「Guard」, there were three branches.

To a certain extent, the skills in TB can be chosen by the players.

From my impression after taking a short look at them…

「DPS, balanced and tank, there are these 3 types. In Shinto priest’s case, there’s the power type that can act as a vanguard and heal at the same time, the balanced type that can cast middle-range light magic and heal, and the support style that specializes in healing and support spells」

「Which one are you going for, Hind?」

「Me? Hmm…probably the support one」

「The reason for that is?」

「Only the support one gets a revival spell. Isn’t it scary if our only insurance is the 「Holy water」?」

「I see…in that case, I’ll choose the DPS type!」

…Killing them before they kill you? It must be that line of though.

「…Since you die so often, I would probably suggest you either going tank type or at least choosing the balanced one」

「I got a new skill! 「Act of desperation」…for a short time your attack is doubled, but you’ll only have 1/3 of your defense. It’s quite the skill!」

「You are going to ignore me!? What are you doing making it even easier for you to die!? Please, make sure that it’s the right timing to use it before you do so…」

「Umu, I’ll do my best」

Following Yumir, I obtained my support skill.

However, with bad timing, the next spell I got was the support spell that raised defense 「Guard up」.

It would usually be convenient during fights, but once she casts 「Act of desperation」…it unfortunately, won’t make a difference.

Let’s pray that she’s at least able to dodge attacks while she has that skill activated…