Chapter 120 - Chapter 107: Yay or Nay?
“
Seth (Miki) asked for an early dinner.
Simple sweet and sour pork served with Zha cai. By the way, pineapple in the sweet and sour pork was 'yay' per Miki's preference, which was our family's style.
"At first, I wondered why, but sweet and sour pork with pineapple is surprisingly good."
"Indeed. The refreshing acidity cleanses the palate after it becomes rich."
Since I had to cook Chinese food at Mion's house, I was practicing, or rather, recalling recipes for a while.
Instead of deep-frying, I was simply pan-frying it until fragrant with sesame oil. I was also more a black vinegar person than ketchup.
"Thanks for the meal!"
"You're welcome. I'll take care of the dishes, so go play IRO."
"My apologies, Big Brother. I shall repay you mentally, eventually."
Her accompanying me to Mion's house is more than enough. And please look after Nat and Club President…
*
"Are you perhaps practicing?"
"Eh? Oh, today's dinner?"
"Yes."
Miki's Saezutter account isn't just filled with my meals, is it?
"It's more like recalling than practicing, I guess. I feel like it's been a while since I made sweet and sour pork."
There were times when I'd intensely crave Chinese food in cycles, and after that, not so much. Miki was apparently the same, so this might be common among Japanese people.
"Speaking of which, is pineapple in sweet and sour pork okay?"
"Yes, it's perfectly fine. I like it too."
"Okay. And if there are any foods you can't eat, like allergies, let me know."
We talked about that while I worked on laying beams for the roof.
If there were two of us, we could lift and pass them together, but since I was alone, I had to place one end on, then pass it to the other side.
After laying eight beams made from two large trees, all that remained was to cover it with a stone ceiling. Since I could make them on the spot with magic, I thought I'd finish by today.
"Shou-kun, isn't it leaning a bit?"
"Ah, yeah. I tilted it slightly in the same direction as the slope. For when it rains."
"That was intentional. That's amazing!"
No, um, it's not that amazing…
I could have made it perfectly level, but I thought it would be easier to let the water flow to one side rather than having puddles on the roof due to unevenness.
That being said, it might be a good idea to make gutters. …I feel like I could easily make them using Hermit Bamboo.
"By the way, are Club President Bell-san and the others doing alright?"
"Yes. It seems no monsters have arrived yet."
Mion watched my stream from the studio, occasionally checking Club President Bell-san's live stream too.
She apparently had a screen set up out of view of the recording camera, displaying Bell-san's stream.
"So, defense preparations?"
"Yes… they're building stone walls."
"Pfft!"
Whoops. Almost dropped the roof beam wood…
Even now, it's better to build a city wall than not.
"What about Seth and Nat?"
"Seth-chan is on patrol. Nat-san and his friends are building scaffolding, and wooden fences in places where the stone walls might not be finished in time."
"I see. Having the [Carpentry] skill is coming in handy."
There was talk of [Safe Zone]s expanding if there were walls, so I guess they were preparing for that.
I don't think the monster attacks will last 24 hours, but the number of players will probably decrease at certain times of day.
The city wall should be useful then…
"Alright, the beams are all laid. It's almost 9 PM, right?"
"Yes. Will you finish today?"
"Probably by 10 PM. This mantle's MP recovery is insane."
3 MP recovery every 10 seconds. That's 18 MP recovery per minute, 18 times faster than before.
It recovers enough for one stone wall brick in about two minutes, so by the time I place it, adjust its position, and apply [White Clay], it's almost fully recovered…
"It seems to be better than Club President's robe."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. Club President's recovers 8 MP every 30 seconds. It's made from the wool of goats raised in the mountains facing the [Amiera Territory], apparently."
Goats, huh… Cashmere? I feel like natural cashmere is incredibly expensive, but is it not so in IRO?
Wait, that's not it. Her recovery is 16 per minute, and mine is 18, so I am indeed superior…
"Ah! It seems monsters have appeared!"
"What showed up?"
"[Goblin]s, but… there are quite a lot of them."
The first wave is probably just a standard rush of weak enemies. With the increasing number of new players, maybe this is their chance to shine?
And one more thing that was subtly bothering me,
"It still seems this island isn't related to the [World Quest]."
"Looks like it."
"That's good. If there was a defensive battle on this island too, I wouldn't know what to do about going to Mion's house…"
Worst case, I was thinking of holed up in the [Blacksmithing] room with Lupi for the day.
Anyway, if this place is fine, I can calmly continue building the storage…
No, Club President Bell-san's live stream is until 10 PM, so I'll lie down here and log out for a bit.
"I want to watch the live stream too, so I'll log out for a while."
"Ah, yes. I'll be waiting in the studio, then."
"Okay. Lupi, I'm going back for a bit, sorry."
"Woof-woof."
*
"I'm back. How is it?"
"Welcome back. Everyone seems pretty relaxed."
"Oh really? Well, that's how it usually starts, I guess."
"Is that so?"
Right. Mion only watches streams, so she probably hasn't played tower defense before.
I explained that in these kinds of games, the first wave is easy, and then enemies gradually increase, get stronger, or special ones appear… in short, defense gets harder.
"So, for today, I guess the operations team is just observing?"
"I see. Indeed, some people might not be able to come right away when they hear it's starting today."
"Ah, that's also true. If they want players to enjoy the game as much as possible, they probably won't have too many events late at night or early in the morning."
Even so, having a defensive wall or not seems to make a big difference.
"Speaking of which, are there any NPCs?"
"Yes. They're more like hunters than adventurers. Everyone seems to be fighting with [Bow]s."
Ah, right, there are people who originally lived by hunting.
If they're those kind of NPCs, they'll attack approaching monsters to some extent.
"Shoot!"
Nat's clear voice rang out, and players and NPCs standing behind the wall on the scaffolding simultaneously loosed their arrows.
"Whoa, amazing."
A rain of arrows poured down, and the front ranks of the approaching first wave completely collapsed. The rear ranks couldn't dodge and collided.
"Here we go!"
Club President Bell-san's clear voice echoed, and a [Fireball] flew straight and exploded.
"Amazing… The power is completely different from the [Fireball] I hit the [Armor Bear] with?"
"It was an explosion straight out of a movie…"
Comments filled with donations at the power of that single strike.
A high school girl earning 10,000 yen with one [Fireball]…
"Scout ahead!"
"Got it!"
When Nat told his friend that, a hawk-like bird perched on his shoulder flew off.
"Is that bird also a tamed companion?"
"I think so. Thanks to Shou-kun!"
"No, well, yeah. It's good that word spread early…"
Being able to scout from the sky is a bit enviable. Well, I have Lupi, so it's fine.