kscans

Chapter 1 - Production jobs are not a valuable asset

Two figures faced each other in a room enclosed by black bricks.

One was named Hayato.

He was a man of about twenty with short black hair, a black and green camouflage bandana, and what looked like low-defense black cloth equipment.

The other was named Ney.

She was a blue-eyed woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail, her entire body encased in silver plate armor.

"Hayato, I'm sorry, but I need you to leave the Clan."

"Are you serious?"

Hayato had logged into the game early that morning, only to be summoned by Ney, the leader of his Clan.

The game he had logged into was the full-dive VRMMORPG "Another Frontier Online." It was a virtual reality game where, by wearing a headgear, one could almost completely synchronize their five senses.

This game had a system where players could form groups called Clans. One of the many Clans was "Kokuryu." This exchange was taking place in their headquarters, a fortress made of black brick.

To be asked to leave the Clan. For Hayato, it wasn't a complete surprise. The reason stemmed from a major update implemented six months ago. That update introduced battles between Clans, known as the Clan War.

As the world's first VRMMORPG, the game had always been popular, but the start of the Clan War fanned the flames of its popularity even further. For the majority of players, winning the Clan War became a major objective in the game.

In this game, a player's strength was determined by their skill composition and their own physical abilities.

Skills were point-based. Each skill had a value from 0 to 100, and players had to design their build from a total point limit of 1000. Since a half-baked composition was seen as weak, the mainstream approach was to have ten skills, each at 100 points.

Hayato had built his skill composition entirely out of Production Skills and their accompanying Support Skills.

If he had skills for attacking with weapons, using magic, or summoning and commanding monsters, he would be a viable combatant. But Hayato had none of those skills. In other words, he was completely useless in a Clan War.

Until now, that had been fine. When all they did was leisurely explore the game world with like-minded friends, lacking combat power wasn't a problem. In fact, his ability to create things was a valuable skill, and he had been able to contribute to the Clan.

But for a Clan whose major objective was now winning the Clan War, a player with no combat ability was nothing but a liability.

For the past six months, Hayato's Clan members had been telling him to change his current skill composition and learn combat skills, but he had stubbornly refused.

Due to these circumstances, Hayato was now being asked to leave the Clan.

"I do feel bad about this, but it's the unanimous decision of the Clan."

"I'm a member of the Clan too, but it's still unanimous?"

Even as he said something so foolish, Hayato quickly accepted that this was the end of the line.

The Clan leader had the authority to forcibly remove members. Even if Hayato threw a tantrum here, she could have him removed without another word.

I bet she's asking me to leave because the penalty for a forced expulsion is too great. In the case of a forced removal, a player can't join any Clan for a month. That means they miss out on one Clan War.

The Clan War was held once a month. Being unable to join a Clan for a month meant being unable to participate in the Clan War. For the current Hayato, that was a problem.

She's been saying for a while that we can't afford to lose the Clan War, so she must have thought it'd be bad to expel me forcibly. I'm getting kicked out either way, so it's more or less the same, but I should probably consider this an act of kindness. Besides, not changing my skill composition is my own stubborn fault. I guess it can't be helped.

"You've helped us out a lot, Hayato, and it's thanks to you that this Clan got as big as it did. But if this Clan is going to aim for a higher rank, we absolutely need more combat power. If you had combat skills, I wouldn't be saying this..."

"I know. It's my own selfish decision to stick with only Production Skills despite being told repeatedly. It's because of me we almost lost the last Clan War."

In the Clan War held three days ago, a member of the enemy Clan had infiltrated the area they were supposed to be defending, and Hayato ended up in a one-on-one duel. Lacking any combat skills, Hayato managed to repel the enemy by using a valuable item, but it was so close that he could only say he won by sheer luck.

His opponent seemed to have a build focused on Infiltration Skills. If Hayato had possessed any combat skills, repelling them would not have been difficult. No one blamed him for using the valuable item, but there was no doubt it had created an awkward atmosphere.

Hayato let out a long sigh.

"Alright. I'll leave the Clan. I'll move to a different one."

"You will! Ah, no, my apologies. This isn't something to be happy about..."

"Well, it can't be helped. The atmosphere will just get worse if I stay, so I'll leave gracefully. But are you guys going to be okay with cooking, preparing medicines, and repairing weapons and armor after I'm gone?"

"We'll be fine. Everyone has at least one Production Skill as a sub. If we all pool our skills, we can manage to cover for you."

"That's kind of sad in its own way. Right, this might be a strange thing to ask for in exchange for leaving, but would it be okay if I took some items that are useful for production? It's tough to leave with just the clothes on my back."

"Of course. Take whatever you need from the shared Clan items. I would like you to leave behind any Legendary-grade Equipment, though..."

"Even if I took something like that, I can't use it, so I don't need it. What I want are convenient items I can use for production."

"Are there things like that? I'm not very familiar with them, but of course, you can. Also, please take half of the shared Clan money. I don't know if you'll be joining another Clan or starting a new one, but you'll need it, won't you?"

"Getting kicked out is a problem, but that's a big help. In that case, I'll pick out a few things and then withdraw. Thanks for everything until now."

"We should be the one saying that. But are you leaving right away? You could say goodbye to everyone first..."

"No, it's fine. I'll just post a farewell on the Clan's message board. It's not like you guys hate me, right? We'll be in different Clans, but we're not parting on bad terms. We'll see each other again, so that's enough for me."

"You're right. It feels strange saying this after kicking you out, but I hope you'll come visit once you're settled. You're always welcome."

"Yeah, I'll drop by once in a while. But don't let your rank drop just because I'm gone, okay? I'd have to laugh if that happened."

"We'd definitely be a laughingstock if that happened. We'll do our best to make sure it doesn't."

Afterward, Hayato took the items he needed, left the Clan, and walked out of their headquarters. He shook hands with the Clan leader and all the members who were there to see him off, then started walking toward a nearby town.

Once the headquarters was out of sight, Hayato's shoulders slumped in defeat.

He had left without any lingering resentment, but his heart was filled with a sense of crisis.

This is bad. I thought I'd be okay for another six months, but I got kicked out sooner than I expected. I need to get into a state where I can win a Clan War as soon as possible, or things are going to get really bad.

Why was he panicking? Because for Hayato, winning the Clan War was crucial. You could even say it was a matter of life and death.

This game, "Another Frontier Online," had a feature that no other game did. It was introduced at the same time as the Clan War system.

That feature, which no other game had, was prize money.

Of course, there were conditions to earning that prize money.

The condition was to win the Clan War.

And recently, Hayato had quit the company he worked for.

To put it simply, Hayato had no source of income outside of this game.

I have some savings, but there's no telling how long they'll last. I need to create a winning Clan right away. Plus, if I can break into the top ranks in the Final Ranking six months from now, I'll get one hundred million yen in the Clan War's 1st Anniversary. I have to aim for that!

The game's operating company had announced that each member of the top five teams in the rankings six months later would be awarded prize money equivalent to about one hundred million Japanese yen. Because of that, every Clan was busy strengthening their forces.

One hundred million yen. A portion would be taken for taxes, and it wasn't enough to live a life of leisure forever, but it was an amount worth aiming for.

I have to do it. It might not be a complete life-turnaround, but if I can get that prize money, it'll be a stepping stone toward my dream of running a coffee shop. But if I can't make it into the rankings in six months, I'll have to get a proper job... No, I'm done being ordered around by someone else. I will absolutely get that prize money.

With that resolve, Hayato left the spot.

A week after that resolution, Hayato was in the headquarters of his newly created Clan, all alone, holding his head in his hands.