VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top player no Shikakenin～ Chapter 22

Quite a bit of terminology in here and I'm not especially knowledgeable in the topic, so I'm honestly not sure about some names used here but I did use what I found and thought was right.

Anyway, enjoy.

「However, working to get a weapon that will be thrown away after a single use, I can't seem to get worked up for it…」 (Tobi)

「Is that so? I believe it depends on the way you think about it. If we talk about single-use weapons, it could also mean a decisive battle weapon! Or a secret weapon! It sounds kind of amazing just by saying it in another way」 (Hind)

「Oh! I'm feeling more motivated now!」 (Tobi)

「Right? Besides, it's not like it'll become completely useless. I plan to sell it in the trading BBS after the event ends, attack type heavy warriors will definitely gladly use」 (Hind)

「That's true. It would be hard for Yumir-dono to use it normally, but there would be no problems for a heavy warrior to use it after all」 (Tobi)

「Come on, don't just stand there talking, move your hands. At any rate, it won't change the fact that we need a large amount of iron」 (Hind)

「This type of work is so plain…even though we could say this kind of work is also part of a MMORPG's charm」 (Tobi)

We earnestly swung our pickaxes.

They were sold at the second-hand shop, each one cost 100G.

The times you can use it is roughly 30 times.

Harvesting points are placed all over the place, but in the field to the east of Heathrow town, there are a lot of mines.

Therefore, it's the ideal place to use the mining system to collect materials.

When it comes to the mining system, each mining point can be used by only 1 player and they are set to regenerate after a fixed amount of time.

Regarding the items you mine, the amount and rarity are somewhat random, but to a certain extent the results are about the same.

The important thing is the number of times you mine.

The truth is…it's currently early in the morning, right before we have to go and attend school.

Before going to school and right after returning home, we log in for about 5-10 mins to collect materials.

If we add that to the time we mine during our usual play-time, we are able to mine quite the nice amount.

Since the usual way to obtain minerals is like this, they are quite hard to come by in the trading BBS.

It would be fine to use the money we have earned, but for the materials we want to use, our current financial situation is a bit tight.

With enough time the shortage of materials will be gone, but at the present time, we have to collect them with our own efforts.

「Ah, I'm done. How is it going over there?」 (Hind)

「Just need a bit more time. Right now, the light from the mining point is starting to dim」 (Tobi)

「In that case, I'll go ahead first and return to town then log out」 (Hind)

「Wait! Wacchi wait! I'll get lonely!」 (Tobi)

「What's with that…don't just change back your way of speaking so suddenly」 (Hind)

「Since we are mining at the same time for a change, wait for me just a bit」 (Tobi)

Just as he had said, for both of us to be here mining at the same time in the morning was a complete coincidence.

Once you register a player as a friend and they log in, the system notifies you of where they are, so as long as the timing is right, it's easy enough to meet up.

For the record, Yumir and Riizu said they would mine when they could as long as it didn't interfere with their daily life but…both of them are quite weak in the morning.

Miyu just oversleeps but Rise has low blood pressure in the morning and at night.

There's no need for them to force themselves to play the game.

「You really dislike being alone huh…even though you didn't mind being alone in the beginning」 (Hind)

「When you were a kid, didn't you ever notice you were suddenly alone when you thought you were playing with everyone? That caused a bit of trauma to me…being alone in the swings…with a mother that wouldn't come and pick you up…in a park when it was turning dark…」 (Tobi)

「Ah, probably not for me. I was usually dragged somewhere after Miyu got tired of playing around and I usually was the first one to return home because I was worried about Rise」 (Hind)

「Am I the only one!? Anyway, I'm about to finish so wait for a bit longer!」 (Tobi)

「Guess I have no choice…」 (Hind)

While Tobi was swinging his pickaxe, I went around the harvesting points in the grassy places nearby.

Oh, there are medicinal herbs here.

Speaking of medicinal herbs, I believe it's about time I took an interest in making potions.

Once the event ends, I want to set up a home and start working on it.

Time passed and it was Sunday, 9pm, inside TB.

That night, I stood in the blacksmith's workshop in 「Altrowa village」 with the large quantity of iron we four had collected in my inventory.

「Dah! I want a blast furnace! I want a blast furnace! With that, it would be easier to pour it into the template!」 (Hind)

While voicing my complaints, I stepped on the bellows.

The furnaces in the village are quite primitive, they are called 「Tempering furnaces」 and are about 1 meter in height.

We were in the second step at the moment, we had already done the first step which was to reduce the oxygen in the iron oxide by deoxidation.

By using the bellows I was earnestly increasing the temperature…

By the way, other than iron, we were also using the 「Meteoric iron」 we got from the Meteo Golems.

Mixing these two materials, we'll make something of far better quality than what is usually made with simple iron! Or that's what Selene-san said.

She said that nonchalantly while stepping on the bellows like me.

「Come on, do your best. I would also like to have a blast furnace or bellows powered by water wheels, but we can't complain about what doesn't exist. We just need to keep it up for a bit longer, hang in there」 (Selene)

「Damn it! If TB is based in the middle-ages could they at least implement Stückofens! Hah, Hah…why is Selene-san not even out of breath!?」 (Hind)

「Because I'm used to it. Hind-kun, you are putting a lot of unnecessary force into it…yup, alright. From now on, we are finally entering the forging process」 (Selene)

For low rank blacksmithing there's no need to manage the furnace, furthermore, by just making an approximate shape the weapons and defensive gear will come out of the furnace as if it was some sort of joke.

After that, just by striking them they'll be completed, that only applies to low rank blacksmithing.

For stuff that's more difficult, the process will turn more complex like this.

Since it's a game, the time it takes to increase the temperature is shortened, then it also tells you the amount of iron you'll need for it.

Particularly the latter one, things that might need about ten kilograms at most in real life to make have the amount necessary limited.

The weapon we are trying to make right now is like that so I'm personally grateful for it.

「Here we go!」 (Selene)

「Right!」 (Hind)

We were holding a hammer that was slightly bigger than a normal one, its weight would be around 3 kilograms in real life…or I believe that should be the case, inside the game it gives the feeling that it weights the same as it would in real life.

Even though they don't really have to be so elaborate with stuff like this…we'll have to swing the hammer multiple times so this is quite tiresome.

Weapons have weight corrections after all, why can't they do the same with these tools?

We brought down the hammer onto the reddened lump of iron.

Each time it was struck, sparks flew around in a magnificent way.

My face was hot because of the heat…while removing the impurities with the pressure from the hammer, it was gradually taking form.

I smoothed out the parts that looked rough, Selene-san was making the more detailed parts with a hammer that had a different shape than a normal one.

「……」

We shared the image we had in mind.

We both didn't say a thing, with coordinated movements, the weapon was being completed.

…Before long my arms stopped, all that was left was to watch over Selene-san's work.

「Done!」 (Selene)

Selene-san raised her face.

She looked as if she was happy with her work, so she made a circle with her fingers.

The players around us were also looking over here with great interest.

「Ooh…seeing it in person…though it's still inside a game. It looks pretty real even inside VR, it's quite impressive」 (Hind)

「All that's left is to let it cool naturally, it'll be done after we polish it. …Thanks for inviting me over, Hind-kun. It was a really good experience for me. M-Making…something with just the two of us was fun」 (Selene)

「It was also fun for me. Thank you very much, Selene-san. All that's left is if she'll able to use this well or not…」 (Hind)

「This is not really what I'm into, but this also has a certain flair to it」 (Selene)

「Strength is power! Or something like that, it looks like something someone a bit stupid would use」 (Hind)

「…True」 (Selene)

The result was a giant sword over 2 meters long, longer than the height of a normal person.

Harder than the meteoric iron from the Meteo Golems, literally a decisive battle weapon.

If this wasn't a game, Yumir would definitely be unable to lift this thing.

This weapon is not something that was arranged by us but something made from a blueprint that already existed in the game.

「First-rate Meteo Golem Sword+2」…that's the name of the finished weapon we got this time via blacksmithing.

Chapter end