kscans

Chapter 10 - Newbie Hunting

The day before the Clan War, Hayato was in his room on the second floor of the log house, making Elixirs while lost in thought. Though 'lost in thought' might be an understatement. The majority of it was worry stemming from his prediction having been wrong.

During the week-long preparation period, Hayato had prepared a variety of items as a production player. It was no mistake to say that he had been thorough. The problem was the opposing clan.

Since they were also a new clan, there had been little information, which had proven disastrous. He had only just now obtained reliable intelligence.

(They're almost certainly a newbie hunting clan. A clan that could be aiming for a higher rank, but stays at a low rank to dominate beginners and weak players. I must have saved up too much in the clan's shared funds.)

There were several ways to decide an opponent for a Clan War. The one Hayato had chosen this time was Random Match. It was a format where an opponent was chosen at random from clans of the same rank. However, even if it was random, there were some determining factors.

There had been no official announcement from the game's operating company about this. But there was a rumor that in Random Match, opponents were chosen from clans with a similar amount of shared funds.

In a Clan War, the winner could take that money from the loser. If a player individually held the clan's shared money before the match, making the balance zero, there would be almost no risk if they lost. And if they won, they would gain money, which meant it was all return.

It was said that to counter this, clans with similar amounts of funds were matched against each other, balancing the risk and return.

In this game, you could earn prize money by winning a Clan War. That prize money was variable. The amount of shared clan funds was reflected in the amount of the prize. Furthermore, the upper limit of the prize money was determined by the clan's rank.

Hayato had set the clan's shared funds to an amount that would yield the maximum prize money for their rank. That had likely backfired. The clan that appeared to be newbie hunters had probably done the same, and they had been perfectly matched.

(I screwed up. In my old clan, the clan leader handled that kind of thing, so I just set it without thinking. And I probably hadn't shaken off the mindset of being in a high-ranking clan. Until a moment ago, the thought of a newbie hunting clan hadn't even crossed my mind.)

This time, Hayato had been thinking of it as a trial run. It was to gauge just how well NPCs could fight, but he had ended up with an unexpectedly strong opponent. What's more, thinking his opponents would be beginners, he had cut corners on the food. By the time he realized, he could no longer buy Dragon Bone-in Meat from the auction.

(I have three of the three-star Manga Meat I made for Esha. But their effect only lasts for fifteen minutes. Not only is it not enough for everyone, it won't even last one person the full hour. There's a chance the opponent might underestimate us and not use Dragon Steak... but I can't count on that.)

Just as he thought that, a rainbow-colored light overflowed from Hayato's hands. It was the visual effect for when a highest-quality item was created.

"Huh, seriously? At a time like this?"

When the rainbow light subsided, a highest-quality Elixir appeared in Hayato's hand.

(So I finally hit that 2% chance. I haven't tried fifty times though, so I guess I was lucky. But I also got matched with a weird opponent for the Clan War, so it feels like it evens out. Anyway, I should call Ash. And I need to talk to him a little about tomorrow.)

Hayato contacted Ash and asked him to come to the log house.

About ten minutes later, Ash visited the log house.

Hayato wanted to surprise Ash, so he hadn't told him the reason. He had only called him to talk about the Clan War.

It was eight o'clock in the evening. On the first floor shop, Hayato, Esha, and Ash were sitting in chairs around a table. Hayato served his favorite coffee, placing a cup in front of himself and the other two.

"I have good news and bad news for you both. Which do you want to hear first?"

Hayato was satisfied that he had finally gotten to say a line he had always wanted to try. The situation was dire due to his miscalculation. But his attitude came from having reached a point where he felt there was nothing more he could do.

"Good news... so you're saying that to build our morale for tomorrow, today is an all-you-can-eat feast? In that case, I'll start with anmitsu, please."

"That's not it."

"Then the bad news is that it's not an all-you-can-eat feast. Allow me to say that I am a tad displeased."

"Get your mind off of all-you-can-eat. I'll give you just anmitsu later."

Ignoring Esha, who was raising both hands in a victory pose, Hayato decided to get straight to the point.

"First, the bad news. The opponent we're fighting tomorrow is a clan known for newbie hunting. Their rank is probably B or C. They're going to be pretty strong. I was expecting an F-rank opponent, so I only prepared based on that standard. So, I'm sorry."

At those words, Ash tilted his head.

"I was shown the items for the Clan War in the storage, but was that preparation for an F-rank opponent?"

Ash's puzzled voice made Hayato feel puzzled as well.

"It was, but?"

"You might not know because you're a production player, but I thought we were fighting some A-rank clan. Preparing that much food and medicine seems a little strange to me."

"Is that so?"

"I think so too. What were you thinking, making a hundred bottles of Melon Juice? Even I can't drink all of that."

"Well, I was just building in a safety margin."

"Let's just say my stomach would burst with even half that amount."

(It's a game, so I don't think it would actually burst, but I think you get a weird status effect if you drink too much, right?)

"That's true. And you've got fifty Roast Cockatrice Skewers, right? There are eight of us, including me, who will be eating, but two per person is plenty. And what's with the number of those five-star potions? What kind of giant monster are we going to subjugate?"

"Well, this time we don't have anyone who can use recovery magic, so our only means of healing is through medicine, right? That's why I made more than usual."

"It's way too much. There were enough for thirty per person."

"Isn't twenty per person the minimum you'd carry? That's why I went with thirty."

Ash and Esha were looking at Hayato with disappointment. Hayato couldn't bear their gazes, so he cleared his throat and tried to gloss over it.

"W, well, it's fine, isn't it? The more we have, the higher our chances of winning. And besides the potions, it's highly likely the opponent will have better food prepared. That's what I want you to be careful about. They should also have good equipment. I want you all, Ash and the others who will be in direct combat, to be especially careful."

Hayato rattled this off quickly, but Ash looked at him with even more disappointment.

"It's about the full set of equipment you prepared for us."

"Ah, yeah, was that okay? I wanted to prepare quality-five gear with some kind of effect, but I didn't have enough time to go that far. Some of them have effects, so I don't think they're too bad... or was it not well-received?"

"The opposite. Why did you give us such good stuff? Right now, everyone in the mercenary group is saying they want to participate in the next Clan War if you'll make this for them. We didn't expect to get equipment that was at least three-star quality and had effects on top of that. All star-one or star-two would have been more than enough."

"I, I see. I thought it looked pretty shabby compared to your equipment, Ash, or the gear my old clan members had."

"Were they all wearing Legendary-grade equipment? You were in a state like that, and they still kicked you out... ah, no, I'm not trying to make fun of your companions, Hayato. It's just, how do I put it, I think your sense of common values is a bit off."

Basically, Hayato had never fought a player in a Clan War. The only time was that self-destruct incident. Furthermore, he had never even fought a monster. He had gone monster hunting with his clan members. But his role was to make food and medicine in a slightly removed location, or to improve the quality of dropped items with the benefit of his skills. He was a non-combat member.

Hayato had never even partied up with anyone outside his clan members to fight, so it would not be a mistake to say his sense of values in that regard was quite skewed.

"Um, I'll try to adjust my sense of values from now on. So, will we be okay in tomorrow's battle?"

"If we can't win with this, it's not your fault, Hayato. It's our responsibility."

"Indeed. Master has done more than enough work, so the rest is up to us."

Hayato breathed a sigh of relief that there wasn't as much of a problem as he had thought, but he still wasn't completely at ease. There was still time until the Clan War tomorrow, and just as he was thinking about preparing some more items, Ash spoke up.

"By the way, what's the good news? This was the bad news, from your perspective, right?"

"Ah, that's right, I forgot. I just made a highest-quality Elixir. Please use it for your sister."

Hayato placed the five-star Elixir in front of Ash. He had expected him to be happy, but Ash didn't move a muscle, which made Hayato worried.

"Huh? This is what you were looking for, right? Don't tell me now that it wasn't an Elixir you needed."

As Hayato said that, Ash suddenly stood up and hugged the seated Hayato.

"Thank you...! Thank you, Hayato! With this, my sister will be saved!"

"Ow, ow, I'm taking damage, let me go."

"Ah... s, sorry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just be careful from now on. It's not so much that being hugged caused damage, it's that Esha's stare while watching is unpleasant."

"R, right. I know this is sudden, but is it okay if I take this to my sister now?"

"Of course. Go get her healed up quickly. It's not a trade-off, but I'll be counting on you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll show you a stronger me than usual. Well then, see you tomorrow!"

(I don't even know how strong Ash usually is, but is he so happy he can't even tell? Times like these really make being a production player worthwhile.)

Ash picked up the Elixir, bowed his head once to Hayato, and then left the log house.

And now, only Hayato and Esha remained in the shop.

Esha propped her elbows on the table, laced her fingers together, and rested her forehead against them. Then she let out a long sigh.

"I don't want to ask, but is something wrong?"

"That was a masterful performance that hit all my weak spots. My motivation for tomorrow is soaring. Let's just say I will demonstrate 50% more strength than usual."

"Ah, yeah. In that case, can you go home for today? You've done enough."

After handing her the anmitsu, he ushered Esha out of the log house. Then he locked the door.

He felt like he had taken some mental damage at the end, but Hayato decided to think positively. It was good that he had managed to motivate the two of them. And for the sake of tomorrow, he decided to log out of the game early for the day.