kscans

Chapter 86 - Event Details

The day after he logged in, Hayato decided to log in again in the morning.

Unlike six months ago, Hayato now had a job. It was clear to anyone that if he neglected his responsibilities in the real world, things would get difficult. However, yesterday, Diite had asked for his help, and it was only natural that he wanted to help.

After all, the NPCs in that virtual reality were not NPCs. If they were complete strangers, he might have been able to ignore them, but it was the world that Ash and the others believed to be real.

He hadn't heard the full details from Diite, but it would be a problem if the hardline dragons won. To prevent that, he had been asked to restore facilities and strengthen the equipment of Ash and the others in the mercenary group.

Hayato decided to contribute, albeit in a small way, by logging into Another Frontier Online in the morning and working at the real world cafe in the afternoon. This was a feat he could only manage because no customers came in the morning.

Feeling a little sad about that, Hayato put on his headgear and logged into the game.

Hayato woke up in his room at the base.

He then tried to organize what he had heard from Diite about the current event yesterday. In the end, he became curious about the event and asked Diite about the situation until quite late. Thanks to that, he had heard most, though not all, of the story.

Regarding the current Stampede event, a value called contribution points was set for each individual. By accumulating them, you could receive items and in game currency at certain intervals, but this time, there was also prize money in the real world.

This time, it wasn't a system where only the winning players received a prize like in the Clan War, but anyone had a chance as long as they earned contribution points. Therefore, the prize money from the point rewards itself was small.

However, at the end of the event, the top ten people with the highest total points would each be paid 10 million Japanese yen. Also, the top ten clans would be paid the same amount.

She's giving away too much money, but Diite-chan's purpose in the first place is to 'find people who want to live in this virtual reality'. I wonder if it's okay to lure people with money for the sake of finding people who want to enter the virtual reality to the point of abandoning reality. I was lured by the last event, but the reason players aim for the top of the rankings is for the money, not the game itself.

According to Diite, she had intended to select people who would immerse themselves in the virtual reality by offering a large amount of prize money to the top rankers.

In order to be at the top of the rankings in the Clan War, you had to prioritize the virtual reality over the real world.

Diite had that idea, but the reason players aimed for the top in the Clan War was for the money, and it wasn't about wanting to live only in the virtual reality. Hayato was the same.

Yesterday, he had explained that to Diite, but she didn't seem to get it.

In Diite's view, the reason people wanted a large sum of money was because they were dissatisfied with reality, so they wouldn't have any resistance to abandoning reality and living in the virtual world.

When Hayato said that people want money even if they're not dissatisfied with reality, Diite said, "Is that so?" and fell into thought for a moment. Then she said with a straight face, "I need to study humans more."

She said she wouldn't make a forceful invitation like she did with me, but should I stop her? I wonder how it is from a humanitarian perspective to live only in the virtual reality, but if the person wishes for it, I feel like it's fine. Besides, Ash and the others wished for it and are living in this world, so I think it's wrong to forcibly drag them back to reality. But if Ney and the other members of Kokuryu started saying they wanted to live only in the virtual reality, I would...

Hayato thought about various things but couldn't come up with an answer.

Deciding there was no point in worrying about a future that hadn't happened yet, he stood up to do what he had to do first.

Hayato left the base to go to the Maid Guild in the Royal Capital.

The reason was simple. Esha had asked him to support the restoration of the Maid Guild headquarters.

As Hayato walked through the Royal Capital, he recalled what he had heard from Diite.

It was about the restoration system.

To put it simply, he just had to talk to the NPCs near the broken facilities and prepare the necessary items. However, the requests were diverse. Sometimes it was for food, sometimes for furniture. The items would be delivered as a delivery, and in exchange, he would receive contribution points.

Hayato could handle any item, but most players only had one or two production skills. And the skills they had were mostly Blacksmithing, Cooking, or Alchemy. Unpopular skills like Woodworking would have few owners.

Diite had asked him to handle the items for such unpopular skills as much as possible.

He didn't know what the Maid Guild would ask for, but he steeled himself to start from there.

Tonight, the clan members were scheduled to gather at the base. He wanted to prepare for that too. Unlike before, he didn't have much time, so he resolved to proceed efficiently.

As Hayato walked further, he saw Esha waving in the distance. Next to her was the Maid Chief. Hayato was a little happy to see a familiar face other than Esha and Diite.

Immediately after, the Maid Chief appeared in front of Hayato, surprising him. It was the martial art skill, Shukuchi.

"It's been a long time, Hayato-sama."

"Y, yes, it's been a long time. Why are you grabbing me by the collar? My HP has gone down a little."

Though it was a familiar response, Hayato felt a little fear at the Maid Chief's intensity. To be honest, it was scarier than when he was accosted by the dragons yesterday.

"I apologize for not greeting you properly, but you owe me a debt, Hayato-sama. When will you repay it?"

Hayato didn't quite understand what the Maid Chief was saying, but he quickly remembered. It was the deal he made to get her to hold the Maid Guild sponsored event.

The Maid Chief had said she wanted to have a meal with a wonderful man. And it could be said that Hayato had offered up Relic.

Although he was desperate at the time, he had agreed without the person's consent. Hayato didn't know what had become of it. He had logged out without talking to Relic, and he had never mentioned it in his emails with Diite.

Hayato felt a cold sensation run down his spine, even in the virtual reality.

"You haven't had a meal with Relic-san, have you?"

"No. I was expecting an introduction from you, Hayato-sama, to Relic-sama, but according to Esha, you went on a journey right after the event ended. I have been waiting for your return with bated breath. Is there anything you would like to say? Depending on your response, you may find yourself reviving at your base."

"Um, I'm truly sorry. Actually, everyone is scheduled to gather tonight. To celebrate my return. Relic-san will be coming too, so would you like to come as well, Maid Chief-san? At that time, I'll convey the matter of the meal to Relic-san again."

The killing intent vanished from the Maid Chief, and her eyes became gentle.

"A perfect answer. Just what I would expect from the savior."

"I really wish you'd stop calling me that."

"However, you are the only one who can employ Esha, Hayato-sama. And it can be said that Esha is safe thanks to your return, Hayato-sama. From our and Esha's perspective, it's not wrong to call you a savior, Hayato-sama. If your return had been any later, who knows what would have happened to Esha... I can only say that it would have been terrible."

It's not like Esha fixed my biometric data because she hated that, is it?

Since Esha had regained her memories, she could have escaped by logging out, but it would certainly be unpleasant to be attacked by the Maid Chief every time she returned to the virtual reality. Hayato prayed that that wasn't the main reason Esha had come to get him.

"Maid Chief, what are you doing? And to cause damage to Master, if you had kept that up, I would have used Destroy."

Esha came over, holding Beelzebub.

"I was so happy to see Hayato-sama that I used Shukuchi without thinking. How embarrassing. Now then, Hayato-sama, I've heard from Esha. You'll be helping with the restoration of the facilities."

"Yes, please tell me anything. It might take time to gather the materials, though."

"That's very reassuring. Then, please make fifty maid outfits, fifty white brims, and fifty maid aprons, as well as fifty pairs of maid boots. Also, ten katanas and ten morning stars, please."

Part of that lineup was strange.

"Um, the first half is fine, but what about the last two?"

"Weapons. A katana could be described as a sword specialized for cutting. A morning star, I can only describe as a weapon that can be swung, with a spiky iron ball attached to a chain."

He wasn't asking for that, he wanted to know the reason they were needed. As he was thinking that, Esha opened her mouth.

"The combat oriented maids also faced the dragons in the Stampede, and it seems their weapons broke. They want you to prepare those."

"Combat oriented maids..."

Hayato thought, "Maids can do anything, huh," but he didn't say it out loud. Thinking that these were a little different from the restoration items he had expected, he began to prepare to make them.