Chapter 50 - A Look Back Reveals an Anomaly
Of course, we couldn't just dump a pile of materials out inside the establishment, so I understood her leaning in was her way of asking to see my inventory—but isn't she a little close?
I'm starting to build up a tolerance for beautiful girls thanks to Sora, but I have absolutely zero resistance to beautiful women in kimonos. I don't know what parameter it references, or if there's some kind of perfume item in the game, but the fragrant scent of a woman is having a very undesirable effect on me.
"…Th-This is what I have."
Forcing my voice, which was on the verge of cracking, back to normal, I barely managed to salvage my masculine pride. I pretended not to be bothered and opened my inventory's materials tab, and Kagura-san leaned in even further—oh, no, no, no, the collar of her kimono is… oh my!
Though I usually play the part of a pseudo-gentleman around Sora, I am, at heart, just an innocent young man (ha!). Please stop getting so close all of a sudden, it's throwing me off!!
"Hmm, boars, scorpions, that bird from before… So those are the bosses around Istia, huh?"
Completely oblivious to my flustered state, Kagura-san brushed her red hair from her eyes, her expression serious… Since she's helping me out, I should stop thinking about unnecessary things and respond seriously too. Right.
"Come to think of it, do the beginner areas differ by faction?"
"They do. Or rather, only the beginner areas are different. The fields after you graduate from being a rookie are common to all factions."
"Wait, seriously?"
As expected, conversations with veteran players just drop one piece of unknown information after another. She glanced sideways at me, as if teasing me for being surprised yet again, before raising her fingertip to point out a promising material—
"Alright, well, you don't really have any rare items, but… let's see, if we use some of these untouched boss materials, we could probably make some decent stopgap… gear… that…"
Her words trailed off unnaturally, and she froze.
Wondering what was wrong, I looked over and saw the magitech artisan staring intently at one section of the item list with a puzzled expression.
"Found one."
"Sorry?"
"A rare item."
As she muttered this, Kagura-san extended the hand she had stopped mid-air. Her index finger tapped an item name in a gesture of indication.
The material was—ah, what a nostalgic sight. It was the [Ancient Mycelial Wood], a drop from the memorable first boss I ever defeated, the [Host of Mush].
"Huh, it's rare? But it's from a boss in what seemed like the tutorial forest, not even a proper beginner area."
"What did you just say?"
Okay, that's terrifying. Please don't whip your head around to look at me like that.
"The, tutorial's, forest's, what?"
"Uh… you know, the ghost-treant-like boss…"
Her unexpectedly intense reaction made me answer with a bit of apprehension. Kagura-san looked up at the ceiling and let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fuuu…"
"There isn't one."
"What?"
"There is no boss in the Istia-exclusive tutorial map, the [Forest of First Steps]."
?????
"But… there was…"
"And while we're at it, no tree-type enemies have been discovered in Arcadia."
Her follow-up statement only served to float more question marks above my head.
"But… there was…"
"Look, I'm from the West… the peaceful nation of Vestol, so I haven't experienced it myself. But Istia's starting area is the only one of the four nations swarming with aggressive enemies, so it became a huge meme and I know all about it."
Ah, so the starting faction choice really does matter.
At the time, I remember thinking, "I'd be pissed if I chose the peaceful faction and got dumped in a map like this," and it seems my assumption back then was correct.
"Normally… I don't see any reason for you to lie, and since I'm looking at an unknown material right in front of me, I'll treat it as fact, but…"
While I was lost in thought, reminiscing about that early adventure, Kagura-san rubbed her temples with a look of utter resignation and continued with a sigh.
"Normally, in the forest you're talking about, the only enemies that appear are cartoony mushroom monsters that can only do a body-slam attack. They look harmless but persistently pick fights, so new users unfamiliar with the avatar controls got mercilessly ganged up on. The pandemonium on the first day of service is still the stuff of legend."
"Harmless-looking cartoony mushrooms…???"
The murmur escaped my lips, interrupting her. She paused.
…Look, even if you give me that exasperated look—Ah, yes, you want me to talk. Please stop glaring, it's scary when a beautiful woman gets serious.
"Um… the ones that appeared in the forest I wandered through were more like… horror-esque monster mushrooms, the kind that would make a girl scream and run for her life on sight."
At the very least, Sora started running the instant she saw one, without a moment's hesitation.
"…Come to think of it, what's this? [Monstrous Mushroom Cap]?"
"That's probably the loot from those monster mushrooms, I guess."
The part about them only having a body-slam attack matched, but judging by Kagura-san's reaction as she once again looked to the heavens, it seemed not only was the boss non-existent, but even the regular mobs were strange.
After a bit more back and forth… or rather, after a deliberation based on my testimony, we came to the conclusion that the forest Sora and I had wandered through was "not the [Forest of First Steps]."
"Seriously…? No, seriously…?"
"I'm the one who wants to collapse. Why are you the one getting all dejected?"
Well, because that means the materials from the regular mushroom mobs were also unknown rare items—
"And I sold a ton of them…"
"…To an NPC shop?"
When I nodded, all I got back was a sigh.
"Well, just think of it as having avoided a huge commotion by not selling them to other players while you were still ignorant. It definitely would have caused trouble."
"Haha… nearly a hundred of them for practically nothing…"
Judging by Kagura-san's reaction, I could confirm they were definitely rare items. And in an online game with player-to-player trading, such items fetch a decent price, even if they're the lowest rank of material with no obvious use.
In an MMO, rarity is an absolute added value… Ah, damn it, how much could I have made if I'd managed to sell them properly?
"Just think of it as tuition for learning how online games work and get over it."
"Yeah, well… it's not like I'm hurting for money right now…"
"You might start hurting for it very soon, you know."
"Could you please stop saying scary things?"
Prompted by Kagura-san, who was laughing as if this had nothing to do with her, I transferred the two types of materials to her via the trade window. She said her magitech artisan skills would let her see their general properties, so she was going to appraise them for me.
"Alright… first, the [Monstrous Mushroom Cap] is no good. It's highly flexible, so it might be usable for producing clothing, but it has no aptitude for weapons or armor."
I had assumed she'd need to objectify it to examine it, but apparently, just having it in her own inventory was enough. Peeking at the window she had summoned, she immediately began her critique.
"Clothing, you mean…"
I pinched the wonderful outfit she'd given me. "Like this?" I asked, and she nodded as if to say, Exactly.
"It's outside my specialty, so I can't work with it, but you could probably make a fortune if you took it to a designer. For cosmetic clothing items that don't affect stats, rarity is everything."
"Are you trying to rub salt in the wound?"
"Next up is the [Ancient Mycelial Wood]."
Since my whining was ignored, I decided it was about time to switch gears.
"This one… ah, I had a bad feeling about this."
"Just as I got over it, can you not say something so ominous?"
I shot a wary glance at Kagura-san, who had narrowed her eyes.
"For now, I guess I should say congratulations."
Unexpectedly receiving words of celebration, I could only tilt my head in confusion.
"You mean it's a good material?"
"That's right. If I were to express it in terms of money…"
Seeing her contemplate with a serious expression, it seemed it really was quite valuable. It's true I struggled with it back then, but in retrospect, it was a relatively easy fight. To think I'd find such a treasure from that gnarled old thing—
"—I'd say it's worth around 20M."
"Oh, seriously… Wha-eh? Wh-wh-wh-wha-"
"You glitched out just like in the textbook examples."
Her lighthearted comment went in one ear and out the other. Having been told a figure that wasn't just double or triple what I'd expected, but something far, far beyond, I unconsciously stood up from my seat and backed away.
"T-twen, 20 mega?! Twenty million Luna?!?"
Are you kidding me?! This isn't some country's worthless paper money! The exchange rate for Arcadia's currency, Luna, feels about the same as Japanese yen!
"That's four thousand times my entire net worth!"
"…Even for a rookie, you should have a bit more saved up unless you've been spending your money like an idiot."
Are you unaware of the maintenance costs for a whole arsenal of main weapons? No, more importantly right now…
"Th-That's got to be a joke, right…? A material from a gnarled ghost that can't do anything but summon minions can't be worth that much…"
"In Arcadia, production crafters have a technique to transfer the properties of one material to another."
Interrupting my frantic words, my personal magitech artisan suddenly began her lecture.
"You can't transfer from a high-grade material to a low-grade one, though. But going from low to high is possible without any major restrictions."
Because of this, low-rank materials with useful properties are always in constant demand in Arcadia. It's a good source of income for mid-to-low-tier players, while high-level players have better ways to earn money.
"And that's where this comes in."
"Ah… so what you're saying is, it has some kind of insane special effect?"
"No point in dragging it out. It's not the highest grade, but this thing has Self-Repair."
Huh… oh?
"That's… useful, I guess."
To be honest, it wasn't as impactful as I'd thought. It's a fairly standard, useful kind of enchantment, but in games like this, the things that end up being priceless are usually those that contribute to damage output.
"Wait, is 20M not actually that much money?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Even top-tier players can't earn that amount easily."
"Why would something like that drop from a boss at the very beginning of the game…"
To my dazed muttering, Kagura-san's response was rather dry. "How should I know?"
"Monster materials basically inherit the properties of the enemy they came from, so maybe that treant you fought had some kind of ability like that."
I don't recall the [Host of Mush] using any kind of self-healing—but then again, I do remember ignoring its minions and just insta-killing it with the brute force of a dual-wielded greatsword and greataxe, a truly moronic strategy in hindsight.
"I wonder… Is Self-Repair really valuable enough to fetch such a high price?"
"From the way you're talking, I take it you don't understand the weapon maintenance situation in this game. You've probably asked an NPC blacksmith to restore your equipment's durability, right? Did you ever think it was strangely expensive?"
"Well, yeah."
I've been made keenly aware of how heavy maintenance costs are, to the point where I only have 5,000 yen (Luna) in my wallet.
"To put it simply, this thing that's become the currency of this world…"
As she spoke, she objectified a 1 Luna coin in her palm—a gleaming platinum circle, looking like an unusually thick one-yen coin.
They all share a common design of what looks like a goddess engraved in the center, with sizes ranging from 1 Luna to 10,000 Luna. Aside from the lack of paper bills, it's just like remembering the denominations of Japanese yen.
"In terms of lore, before it was currency, this was a universal catalyst."
"A catalyst."
"It has all sorts of uses. It's needed to cast big spells, it serves as fuel for various power sources, and it also repairs the wear and tear on equipment."
Ah, I see…
"So it wasn't just the labor costs, the currency itself is the repair material."
It wasn't that the fee was ridiculously high, but that I was being charged for the materials as well.
"Exactly. And the amount required becomes astronomical as the rank of the equipment increases—you get it now?"
"Completely."
At the same time, a wonderful sense of dread about my future began to set in. If I end up with a mountain of high-quality weapons and use them as I please, will my wallet have a tomorrow?
"So, that's why the Self-Repair property this material holds is something that players at the top would kill for. You've probably figured it out by now, but it's an incredibly rare item with no clear acquisition source."
They can quickly make their money back with the maintenance fees they save, so of course they'd pay a fortune for it—oh man, I'm starting to shake…!
"So… what're you gonna do?"
The meaning of her question was, of course, whether I would sell it or not—
"I'm not selling."
"An immediate answer. That's a little surprising."
I don't know why she found it surprising, but I have a policy when it comes to things like this. I won't say I'm not tempted by the large sum of money, but I had no intention of hesitating.
"Ultimately, if it's something I'm going to need myself in the future, I'll keep it. I don't want to be in a situation where I need it and can't get it, regretting that I let it go."
Conversely, there's always the possibility that some event will cause the supply to flood the market, and I'll end up thinking, "I should have sold it back then." But in the former case, there's a chance of getting completely stuck. The latter might result in a loss, but that's all it is.
"Going for the safe and steady approach, huh? Not bad."
"That expression on your face that just screams 'that doesn't suit you at all' tells me everything I need to know about your image of me, you know?"
As she tossed the 1 Luna coin back into her inventory, Kagura-san laughed, deflecting my pointed stare.
"In that case, I recommend you keep it safely stashed away. It would be a waste to embed it in the kind of gear you're using now."
"You're absolutely right… but boss materials are annoyingly bulky. It'd be great if I could use a storage box."
This is obviously a crucial matter for me, so I've already researched player-accessible storage. As you'd expect in a game like this, Arcadia does have such a service—but the sticking point is the usage fee.
"It costs an absurd amount…"
If I remember correctly, it was something like twenty thousand Luna a month. That's for the smallest capacity, which barely holds anything. Renting a decent-sized one would cost even more.
"Yeah, it's not something a rookie should be getting involved with. Besides, with normal play, it's rare for a combat class like you to even have to worry about your carrying capacity limit."
"Guh… Well, thanks to you, I have some breathing room for the time being…"
I owe it all to the [Crystalwing Lightness Charm]. As long as I can resist the temptation to get additional weapons that's suddenly sprung up now that I have the space, I shouldn't have to worry about running out of room for loot, for now…
"I could hold onto it for you, you know. But it's not like we can meet up every single time for you to pick it up."
"I couldn't possibly trouble you that much."
This person is seriously so helpful. If I'm not careful, I feel like I'll end up relying on her for everything, so I need to exercise some self-restraint.
"But well, I'll hold onto this one, at least. It's not like you'll have a use for it for a while… Ah, of course, that's only if you trust me enough to let me hold it."
After being so kind and taking care of me this much, you're going to ask me about trust now?
"I've already received so much from you that I couldn't complain even if you ran off with it. In fact, if you said you wanted it, I'd probably just give it to you."
"Just so you know, even if you combined the value of that outfit and the [Crystalwing Lightness Charm], they wouldn't even come up to the knees of twenty million."
So not even close. You're investing way too much in a rookie who just appeared out of nowhere, big sis.
"That's just how much I trust you already. I look forward to working with you."
As I said this with an exaggerated bow, I stole a glance at Kagura-san, who was smiling, looking anything but displeased.