Chapter 53

A day has passed since the official event announcement, and while some confusion arose due to the introduction of the hunger system in the version update, it was quickly addressed thanks to the well-stocked food items in the NPC shops.

The hunger system is characterized by the fact that the more you move, the faster your hunger decreases, and the less you move, the slower it decreases.

I am now swimming in the river in preparation for the official event.

(The gemstones are just waiting to be taken!)

While holding onto the rocks at the bottom of the fast-flowing river, I throw gemstones and other stones into my inventory.

I have become quite accustomed to moving in the water and can easily float to the surface.

"Phew! I'm getting hungry."

I get out of the water, sit on a large rock nearby, and dry my clothes with a towel I took from my inventory.

The Swimming Sense ability allowed me to swim while wearing clothes and also promoted the drying of my clothes. Overall, it was a rather insignificant ability.

During my Swimming Sense, I made two discoveries: a good one and a bad one.

The good discovery was that underwater, the Hawk's Eye ability improved visibility, and with the Discovery Sense, I could find items on the riverbed and hidden fish. Thanks to this, I could easily perform underwater activities, and my level increased.

The bad discovery was that while underwater activities were possible, I couldn't speak, which meant I couldn't cast skills. This was a fatal flaw in combat.

"Well, my body is dry, so let's have something to eat."

I confirm that my body is completely dry with the towel and take out a sandwich from my inventory.

This sandwich was made using my Cooking Sense. I bought a cooking kit, a loaf of bread from Martha, and other ingredients like bacon, lettuce, and cheese. Cutting and assembling them was easy and almost impossible to fail.

Yun's Sandwich [Food]

Restores 25% Hunger, Rating 5

A sandwich made with Yun's care

The item name is the creator's name followed by the dish name. The description is "A [dish name] made with [creator's] care."

This could lead to some misunderstandings with my female model. The item rating is a numerical representation of how delicious it is.

The rating ranges from 1 to 10. The higher the rating, the slightly better the effect.

While most NPC food items have a rating of 2 or 3, a rating of 5 is quite high. This rating is also influenced by the DEX stat during production. People with low DEX are more likely to fail and produce lower-rated items.

The difficulty of cooking also affects the effect and rating. Using monster meat can add effects like +10 ATK for a few hours. Conversely, poor ingredients can result in poisonous dishes.

As I eat my homemade sandwich, someone approaches from behind.

"Ho, young lady. You're eating something delicious, aren't you?"

"Old man, are you fishing today?"

"Yes, I am. Can you share that sandwich with me?"

"Sure. I made a lot for leveling up."

Using one loaf of bread, one block of bacon, one head of lettuce, and one block of cheese, I can produce ten sandwiches. I even made two hundred to add to the store's inventory.

Before the official event, some players were looking for better items, and the introduction of the hunger system led me to start selling sandwiches, which increased customer traffic slightly.

Players, even if their stomachs are full from NPC items, tend to prefer delicious food. The price is only slightly higher than a regular sandwich, ensuring that players' wallets aren't too strained.

"Old man, I'm leaving now."

"Alright. See you later."

I leave the river after hearing that.

The item limit for the official event is 100. The items I will bring are—

6 production items: Alchemy Kit, Synthesis Kit, Mixing Kit, Polishing Kit, Portable Furnace, Cooking Kit.

1 weapon. 3 pieces of armor. 6 sets of +10 iron arrows. (10 weapon items)

4 food items for making sandwiches.

20 High Potions, 20 MP Potions, 10 Antidote Potions, 10 Paralysis Cure Potions, and 20 Magic Gems.

This totals exactly 100 items.

You might wonder why I bring production and food items to an official event, but what can a producer do without their tools? And with my Cooking Sense, I can produce more food from the four food items. It's more efficient than carrying sandwiches.

"Swimming and cooking, both reaching level 5 in two days. The growth rate is quite good."

In exchange, nothing else has improved, and focusing on these two, along with Hawk's Eye and Discovery, is almost a hobby.

Around town, people are speculating about the first official event, guessing it might be a town defense event or a PvP event in the town.

But I am different. I am a producer. Even if I rush to improve combat skills, it would be meaningless if everyone else does the same. I decided early on to focus on leveling up my production skills.

On my way back from the forest, I received a chat from Magi.

"Hello, what's up?"

"Ah, Yun? Are you participating in the official event?"

"Yes, but I plan to go alone. My acquaintances are all in six-person parties."

"Really, really! Yun, you're going alone!"

Is someone with Magi?

"Yun, do you want to join our party?"

"Your party?"

"Besides Claude and Lili, we want to see what kind of official event it is!"

"Is it okay? I'm not the best choice. There might be better people."

"No, no. Everyone else is crazy about combat events, but we like to take it easy. We're here for the sightseeing. We're actually quite solo players and not good at group activities."

"I see. I wasn't planning to participate with high enthusiasm anyway. Thank you."

"Great! Let's do our best tomorrow!"

With that, I ended the chat with Magi.

I returned directly to Atelier to prepare for the next day, ignoring everyone else.

After that, I stored unnecessary items and produced Magic Gems.

With limited time, I used the Polishing Skill to produce jade. Small jade stones, as expected, shattered under the skill, so I used the higher-level alchemy conversion to produce medium-sized jade.

I secured more medium-sized jade than planned and applied the skill.

After applying it to about ten, my magic level reached 5, and I learned the Clay Shield spell.

Since Clay Shield could be applied to medium-sized gems, it was likely a low-level spell.

Surprisingly, I could produce Clay Shield Magic Gems, so I decided to bring two types: Bombs and Clay Shield.

On the day of the event, after having lunch, I formed a party with Magi and waited for the start.

"Excited! It feels like a festival when people gather in one place."

"I can't handle crowds."

Lili smiled, while Claude sighed, looking tired. Why did he make a shop that attracts people?

"Yun, are you nervous?"

"Hmm, not really. It's just a game, and there's no need to panic."

"Wow, you're really cool. I'm getting a bit nervous."

"You don't look nervous at all."

"Really?"

Magi and I also waited for the event to start.

When the time came, an announcement echoed through the area.

"The official event is about to begin. Participating parties, please stay here. Non-participants, please leave the area immediately."

A few spectators stood a step back. Using Hawk's Eye, I could see confident first-wave players and anxious second-wave players.

"Participants will now be transferred to a special server. Detailed explanations will follow after the transfer. You will feel a slight shock, but it will have no effect. 10, 9, …"

The countdown began, and everyone's faces tensed, preparing for the transfer shock.

"2, 1, 0"

The view distorted, and I felt dizzy. Bending my knees and hunching over, I quickly regained my balance and took a deep breath.

"Whoa, where are we?"

"Beats me. A clearing in the forest, right? Claude, what do you think?"

"Maybe a safe area. But where are the other players?"

About ten groups of players were scattered around, looking around.

"Hmm. We were transferred to different parts of the clearing. This isn't a group battle event."

As Magi muttered, the announcement resumed.

"Thank you for participating, players. I am Yoshino Kazuto, the head of the [OSO] development department."

I thought, "Here he is again."