Chapter 48 - Episode 43: The Beginning of Turmoil Is Someone Else's Problem
Sunday
“Hwaaaah, good morning…”
“Good morning, Big Brother! You were amazing yesterday!”
Miki’s tension is high, even after 9 AM. Of course, she watched yesterday’s live stream.
“It’s all thanks to you. Thank you.”
“My reward will take a tangible form eventually!”
Alright, alright. By the way, “My reward will eventually” sounds like something I would say.
“You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?”
“Indeed, I was waiting for you, Big Brother, you know?”
“Haaah… We have toast, so bacon and eggs will be fine, right?”
As I casually prepared breakfast, Miki, who was looking at her tablet in the living room, spoke up.
“Big Brother, it seems IRO will be in maintenance from 10 AM until noon.”
“Huh? I thought it was supposed to be a no-maintenance new player restriction release?”
“I heard that too, you know. But apparently, the number of new players exceeded expectations, so they’re upgrading the servers.”
“Ah, I see.”
I cooked the bacon thoroughly and made a fried egg, perfectly runny.
Butter on toast… I need something green. But the fridge contents are sparse. Cherry tomatoes will do.
“Here, carry this~.”
“Yay!”
I placed a carton of orange juice and two glasses on the table.
““Let’s eat.””
Considering the ingredients for lunch and dinner, I’ll have to go shopping.
“Hmm, since we’re at it, should I go shopping during the IRO maintenance? What do you want to eat?”
“Lunch can be anything, but for dinner, I want beef stew, you know?”
She replied, munching on bacon.
Beef stew, huh? It’s not that troublesome, so it’s fine.
“Rice? Bread?”
“Garlic toast!”
“…Alright. Then, let’s have pasta for lunch.”
That way, I won’t have to cook rice today.
*
Lunch was carbonara with consommé soup. I got lazy, so I just used instant food.
The maintenance should be over by noon, and the rush of new players should be settling down now, right?
For now, I headed to the Virtual Club Room.
“Yo.”
“Shou-kun.”
“You’re here.”
Mion and Club President Bell, waving at me, seemed to have been waiting?
“Is something wrong?”
“After maintenance, things have gotten crazy because of the update.”
“Ah, right. It wasn’t just the new player restriction release, but an update too, wasn’t it?”
Since it didn’t affect my uninhabited island, I completely forgot.
“Yes, please look at this.”
Mion showed me the official announcement.
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[Update Ver 1.1.12 Summary]
◇Main Story “Chapter 1: Imperial Turmoil”◇
・The Imperial Capital of the Grania Empire can 《《no longer be selected》》 as a starting point for new characters.
・The following starting points have been added for new characters:
・Towns/Villages of the Wolkelst Kingdom
・Towns/Villages of the Marsis Republic
・The Safe Zone in the Imperial Capital of the Grania Empire has been removed.
・The safety of player characters within the Imperial Capital is not guaranteed.
・Upon death, all items will be lost, and you will respawn in the nearest village.
◇System Changes due to New Player Restriction Release◇
・A minimum 6-hour cooldown is required for character recreation after deletion.
・The cooldown will be extended by 3 hours each time a character is recreated. (Maximum 24 hours)
◇Race Selection Additions due to New Player Restriction Release◇
・The following races, other than Human, can now be selected during character creation:
・Elf
・Dwarf
・Halfling
※Characters other than Human will have biases in their initial stats and initial skills.
◇Bug Fixes◇
…
…
…
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“Whoa, they’re doing something pretty drastic right from the start…”
“Players who stayed in the Empire out of curiosity are screaming. You said your friend Shou-kun was in the Empire, is he alright?”
“Ah, Nat said he arrived in the Capital Wolkel on Thursday, so he should be fine.”
From what I heard, the pressure from the story, “Get out of the Imperial Capital, go to the Kingdom or the Republic,” was immense.
He apparently escaped by taking on a quest from a decent-looking NPC merchant who asked for an escort to flee before the civil war started.
“If a civil war breaks out in the Empire, it will be difficult to travel between the Kingdom and the Republic.”
With the large Grania Empire territory in between, the Wolkelst Kingdom is to the west, and the Marsis Republic to the southeast.
“I managed to get the production team I’m friendly with to come to the Kingdom.”
Conversely, some people apparently went from the Kingdom to the Republic.
The Republic seems to have an abundant supply of Heal Potions, and because it borders the Demon Kingdom, it’s said that you can see Beastkin NPCs there.
“It sounds like a lot is happening, but why were you waiting for me? This has nothing to do with the uninhabited island…”
Club President Bell, Nat, Seth (Miki), and others will probably be playing the game by getting caught up in the main story.
But I, who am on an uninhabited island that belongs to no country, intend to leisurely enjoy myself, observing it all from the sidelines.
“Yesterday, after that, I was called to a meeting of the production team, right? There, I was asked about the container for the Hermit Bamboo Potion… the Heal Potion you used.”
“Whoa, they’re sharp-eyed, aren’t they?”
I thought it was only visible for a moment after I took the Fireball.
“Even then, they only realized it was ‘something other than a glass bottle.’ I didn’t know either, so I couldn’t answer, but what was it?”
“It’s pottery. I mean, I told you about doing pottery, Club President, didn’t I?”
“Eh, you mean you made small potion bottles out of pottery?”
“Yes. There’s no particular need for them to be glass, is there? Well, I guess not being able to see the color of the contents might be an issue.”
That’s probably why commercial potions come in glass bottles.
“Could you teach me how to make those small bottles?”
“Eh? I didn’t research this independently…” I looked at Mion.
“Club President. Over here on the official forum.”
Mion showed her the thread I had found and told her about before, and Club President Bell became engrossed in it.
“I never ended up reading it, but is that person still writing a lot of stuff?”
“Yes. It seems there are various types of pottery delivery quests.”
According to Mion, there were pitchers used in taverns, jars for storing oil, ridiculously large vases, and so on…
“My Pottery skill knowledge is all thanks to this person, so I think it’s better if you contact them.”
“It seems they are active in the Kingdom.”
“Right. For someone who’s researched this much on their own, I’d definitely want to meet them in person and talk. Thank you! I’ll go tell everyone!”
Said Club President Bell, heading into IRO.
“Ah! Please make sure not to cause them any trouble, okay? I’d like to thank them personally.”
“I know! It’s unthinkable to upset a valuable artisan over something like that!”
I looked at Mion, wondering if it was really alright, and she tilted her head, giving a wry smile.
Well, that was cute, so it’s fine.