Chapter 6

0903 Correction

0916 Correction

1117 Correction

The morning after the chaotic night.

“...Hmm”

I noticed the other side of my eyelids had turned bright and white, and I groaned softly while blinking a few times. The intense sunlight of the desert was so blinding that it hurt my eyes.

“Blinding...”

I tried to roll over to escape the sunlight, but I couldn’t roll to the left because my right arm was being held down. With no choice, I rolled in the direction I was being held.

It was still bright, but it was much better than being directly hit by the sunlight. I let out a sigh of relief.

Then, I noticed a strangely pleasant smell near my nose.

What is it? It smells like flowers. But, flowers in the desert?

I blinked, and the first thing I saw was the lustrous silver hair on top of a head.

“......”

Of course, I don’t have a hobby of sleeping with decapitated heads.

“...Isato?”

Yes. The person who was snoring contentedly, using my arm as a pillow, was Isato. How did it come to this?

“Eh...?”

I remember being woken up by the bandits’ attack while I was sleeping soundly last night... and then there was the incident with Armit. What happened after that?

“Ah... Right, extermination, extermination.”

Using the wooden stick that had fallen, I knocked out the bandits one by one, while Isato was busy putting out fires with spirit magic.

I also had a battle with a creepy, unknown man, but since there were only about 20 to 30 bandits, it didn’t take long to subdue them.

The problem was the monsters that were attracted by the commotion and the fires set by the bandits.

The desert is a beginner area in RFC, so it doesn’t have particularly strong monsters. Most of them are non-active and won’t attack unless provoked. However, there is one type of monster that gives new players a hard time: the Desert Lizard.

In the player community, it’s known as the Sand Gecko. It has a Komodo dragon-like form and, despite its slow appearance, it can approach quickly and launch biting attacks. Moreover, its normal bite attack has a 20% chance of poisoning, making it even more troublesome.

This is the first obstacle for new players who have been leveling up smoothly.

Incidentally, the drop item is a fruit parfait. This didn’t feel out of place in the 2D MMORPG, but I wondered how it would be in the real world. When I defeated a sand gecko as big as a man, a beautifully arranged fruit parfait appeared. The surrealness of the situation was indescribable.

The only difference from the game was that Eshir, the in-game currency, no longer dropped. At first, I thought it was just my bad luck, but when I asked Isato, he said he hadn’t seen any Eshir drops either. It seems that in this world, only items drop.

Well, it’s probably necessary for the state to manage the circulation of currency, so it makes sense.

The sand geckos took advantage of the chaos to invade the village, attacking livestock and the incapacitated bandits. We ended up being busy until morning, exterminating them.

After subduing the bandits who had attacked the village, the village men joined us in planning a strategy... but the only ones who could defeat the sand geckos were Isato and I. The sand geckos are around level 17-18, so players around level 13 or higher could probably hunt them, but level 15 is more stable.

I heard that the best fighter in the village could barely defeat a sand gecko one-on-one, so the average level of the village men was probably around level 10. They could defeat the geckos if they surrounded them, but the success rate would drop at night when visibility was poor.

The sand geckos, as their name suggests, have a protective coloration that resembles the color and texture of sand. If you get bitten from behind, it could be fatal.

So, the villagers were tasked with finding the sand geckos, and when they found one, they would call either Isato or me to take care of it. We managed to exterminate the sand geckos that had invaded the village by morning.

I wanted to avoid acting alone as much as possible due to that creepy man, but the village wasn’t that large, and we prioritized efficiency.

Occasionally, a villager would be injured or poisoned by a sand gecko’s surprise attack, but Isato’s summoned Suzaku took care of it.

After that, I dragged the half-asleep Isato, who was already half in dreamland, into a shed that was still standing...

And that’s how we ended up here.

I remember collapsing onto the straw in a heap, but when did I end up with my arm around her? I wiggled my fingers on the side that was being used as a pillow. They weren’t numb, so it probably hadn’t been that long.

Actually, this situation feels a bit off. I’m a healthy young man, after all. A healthy mind resides in a healthy body, so my body is very healthy. Too healthy, in fact. And in this situation...

Even if I did something, I feel like I could get away with it due to the circumstances. The inner jury in my head has already unanimously declared me not guilty.

Maybe I could hug her in the chaos. I’ll refrain from touching her chest, though.

“......”

I swallowed and slowly wrapped my arm around her slender waist, hidden by the robe...

-- Knock, knock.

A knocking sound came from the door.

“S-Sorry...!! I’m interrupting your time...!!”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

Isato waved her hand at Armit, who was bowing deeply as if doing some kind of forward bend.

Isato probably thinks Armit is flustered because she woke us up, but...

Actually, Armit saw me reaching out to Isato, who was using my arm as a pillow, in a way that looked like I was about to pounce.

Well, what she misunderstood is obvious. By the way, I let out a strange cry, “Uwah!” and jumped up.

What should I do? Armit looked at me for help, and I shook my head with a smile. Isato doesn’t need to know about this. In fact, it would be bad if she did.

“By the way... Are you okay?”

To change the subject, I asked Armit about her condition.

Thanks to the high-level potion Isato had, her injuries were completely healed, but she had been cut by the bandits. It was a serious injury that could have been fatal.

“Thanks to you, I’m fine! My mother said that I’m alive today because of you... Thank you so much for saving me.”

“No, no, I didn’t do anything. Isato used the potion.”

“You were the one who defeated the bandits and avenged us.”

Actually, I intended to kill them completely until Isato stopped me.

“By the way... Didn’t Isato use a potion on Armit? Potions work even when applied externally, right?”

“I’ve seen that setting in fantasy novels before, so I tried it. I wasn’t sure if Armit would have time to drink it.”

“Ah, I see.”

Armit looked like she was on the verge of death when the bandits cut her. Even if she had been given the potion, it was questionable whether she could have swallowed it.

“In RPG games, when a party member’s HP is critical, another member uses a recovery item to heal them. Have you ever wondered how they manage to get them to drink it during battle?”

“I never really thought about it, but now that you mention it, yeah.”

“So, many stories justify it by saying that applying the potion externally works. So, I aimed for immediate effects by applying it first, then tried to get her to drink it.”

“Oh, you did get her to drink it?”

“Yeah, just in case.”

Did you feed it to her mouth-to-mouth? I know there wasn’t time for that, but I would have liked to see it.

Anyway, if something happens to Isato, I’ll try applying the potion first.

“Do you have any scars?”

“No, if my mother hadn’t seen them, I probably would have thought it was just a bad dream.”

“Yeah, that’s a good bad dream.”

“Yeah.”

Being attacked by bandits and almost losing your life in a peaceful village is nightmare enough.

Still, it’s really good that there are no scars left.

Armit is probably around 12 or 13 years old. She’s a charming girl with a healthy, tanned complexion, different from Isato’s. She still has some childlike features, and when she smiles, she looks very cute. She’s the type of little sister you’d want to have.

It’s really good that there are no scars on her face or body, which have a bright future ahead.

“A-Ah...!”

“Hm?”

Armit, who usually has a cute smile, suddenly furrowed her brow.

What’s wrong? What happened?

“My mother said it must have been a very expensive recovery potion. I’ll do anything I can to repay you...!”

Armit said this with a face that looked like she was about to cry. Isato and I exchanged glances.

Indeed, it was a high-level potion, and it would be quite expensive to buy from a store. One potion that could restore 5000 HP cost 10,000 Eshir.

While it’s not outrageously expensive when considered individually, it’s a significant amount if you need to stock up. Isato, who uses paper armor and relies on shortcuts, found it a bit too expensive. In fact, Isato’s in-game character almost went bankrupt from buying potions.

In RFC, recovery items sold in stores are relatively expensive. The higher the effect, the more expensive they are.

One reason for this is that monsters like the Desert Lizard drop food items, such as parfaits, with a high probability. These food items can be used by players to restore HP.

Q:

I’m a beginner.

I used up all the potions I got from the tutorial, but the potions sold in stores are too expensive for me to buy. What should I do?

A:

Eat sand.

This kind of conversation was even posted on the Q&A section of RFC’s strategy site.

The “sand” refers to the “sand ball,” a suspicious sushi item dropped by the non-active desert monster, the Desert Fish. By hunting Desert Fish and eating the sand balls they drop, you can earn experience points without relying on store-bought recovery items.

You might think, “Why not just buy the expensive store-bought recovery items?”

--- I used to think that way too.

I think all RFC players go through this phase.

The only problem is one thing.

Food items are heavier than potion-type items.

In RFC, the amount of items a character can carry is determined by their weight. The lighter the items, the more you can carry.

While there are food items that can restore 5000 HP, they weigh “5-7” each. In contrast, store-bought recovery potions weigh “1-2” each, making them more convenient to carry in large quantities.

Considering the hassle of returning to town to restock when your recovery items run out, it’s more efficient to carry as many as possible. That’s why many users, despite the cost, still buy store-bought potions.

---

Isato: I’m broke.

Akira: What happened?

Isato: I went bankrupt from buying potions.

Remone: Hahahaha

---

This conversation has been repeated many times. Isato is lazy.

But she usually applies her laziness in a unique way.

“It’s fine, I made it myself, so don’t worry about it.”

“Eh...!?”

That’s right. Realizing that buying potions would lead to bankruptcy, Isato suddenly decided to become a pharmacist and start acquiring the necessary skills.

If buying them is expensive, then learn the skills to make them yourself.

This isn’t a bad idea in theory, but not many players in RFC actually do it.

The reason is simple: it’s too much trouble.

It’s very troublesome to level up a character to acquire the skills. In RFC, skills are restricted by level, and you need to meet certain conditions to use them.

My main job is “Knight,” but I also have a secondary job as a “Merchant.”

The “Merchant” job has a skill called “Negotiation” that you can learn at level 10, which allows you to get discounts when buying from NPCs and a markup when selling to them.

Once you learn a skill, you can use it regardless of your main job, making it very convenient.

However, it’s extremely troublesome to get to the point where you can use it.

You can’t level up your “Merchant” job by distributing experience points from battles. You have to level up as a “Merchant” from level 1, which means you have to start over.

Other acquired skills can still be used even if you change your main job, so I initially thought it wouldn’t be that troublesome. After all, my main job, “Knight,” was already over level 40, and I thought I could level up to 10 quickly with my powerful sword skills. But reality was not that kind.

Returning to level 1 means your HP and MP are also reduced to level 1 levels. This means you can’t use your powerful knight skills due to insufficient MP. So, I had to tediously beat weak monsters to level up as a “Merchant” and learn the “Negotiation” skill, then switch back to “Knight.”

It was quite frustrating.

So, Isato’s decision to level up as a “Pharmacist” to make potions, instead of buying them, is a legitimate idea but a very roundabout way.

To make high-quality potions that are as expensive as store-bought ones, you need to increase your skill proficiency and level up as a “Pharmacist” to a considerable level.

It would be more efficient to stock up on food items and return to town frequently for quests.

But Isato actually leveled up as a “Pharmacist” to the point where she could make high-level potions. I can’t understand her standard for what is “troublesome.”

That’s why her main job’s level doesn’t increase much.

...Well, I shouldn’t complain since I’m benefiting from it.

Let’s get back to the topic.

“Being able to