VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top player no Shikakenin～ Chapter 25

So…just 3 chapters left until we can wrap up the the first arc.

After that I'll be shifting my focus back on Bu ni Mi so expect updates on that series “soon”.

Will probably make some sort of announcement soon but I still don't know when.

Don't think there's much else to say, enjoy the chapter.

「The last day of the event is…here!!!」 (Yumir)

「Yumir you are so noisy, why are you so lively?」 (Hind)

「Hind, what about you? Why are you not energetic? Do you have a stomachache?」 (Yumir)

「Why would I? It might look uncool, but I do wear a chest protector when I go to sleep」 (Hind)

I knitted it and it's warm you know?

Wait, now it's not the time to be talking about that.

It's now Wednesday, 10pm, the last day of the event.

The event does end once Thursday comes, so we have around 2 hours left.
Pushing through the players who were coming back from their last try, we were heading towards the west side of the Homa plains.

「Hind-san. I saw you log in earlier than usual today, but what were you doing?」 (Riizu)

「Oh. Sorting my inventory and depositing my money in the bank. Even though it's inside a game, I can't calm down when I bring unnecessary money on me」 (Hind)

「Is…that so?」 (Riizu)

「That's the case」 (Hind)

Riizu seemed to doubt me, but she didn't keep pushing.

Tobi…well, he's making a face that shows he has an idea.

He's someone that is more enthusiastic about collecting information about TB after all, so that's a given.

Placing his arm around my shoulders, he began talking to me in a way both of them couldn't hear him.

「Hind-dono…did you really pick it up? That skill. After we split up yesterday, I was curious and took a look at the skill tree of Shinto priest and…」 (Tobi)

「I did. After using the skill point book I had just enough SP for it. It's just that…because I did that, I have to postpone getting the skills I really wanted」 (Hind)

「Oh…you don't mind? Even if it's fine this time, you might fall behind other players in future fights…」 (Tobi)

「Nothing I can do about that. Don't tell them until everything's over, OK? Once I use it, I won't be able to move after all」 (Hind)

「Hind-dono! …You are so manly!」 (Tobi)

「You are exaggerating. This a game, you know?」 (Hind)

Seeing both guys laugh, Yumir and Riizu tilted their heads at the same time.

You two…don't go making such a disgusted face just because you synchronized your movements so well.

Don't glare at each other.

Right after, I opened the menu one more time to check the rankings.

Event's Attack Ranking　※Updated in real time

1st Place：Mercenary Albert（Heavy warrior）　9978Pts

2nd Place: Yumir (Knight) 8893Pts

3rd Place: Hipopo Master (Heavy warrior) 8354Pts

4th Place: ( ゜Д゜) (Heavy warrior) 8210Pts

5th Place: Panda・The・Great（Heavy warrior）　8122Pts

3rd place has been replaced with someone else, first place has done more damage than yesterday…

This first place person is particularly amazing, isn't he leading with quite a big lead?

…Though, you could also say that it's easy to see with these numbers.

In short, it's fine as long as it surpasses 10.000 damage, right?

「Well then, let's go」 (Hind)

When I gave the command, the three of them nodded.

After that, about 30 minutes passed, it was 10:30 pm.

The 「Elder Turtle」 had been struggling violently and finally stopped its high speed spin.

Simultaneously, it also showed that it didn't have much HP left.

「Alright, Yumir!」 (Hind)

「Wait, Hind! This will end just like yesterday, you know!?」 (Yumir)

「It's fine. Trust me」 (Hind)

Yumir was trying to guess what my real intention was, but before long, she nodded.

Well, I didn't tell her anything so it's normal.

「…Got it」 (Yumir)

Once Yumir switched her sword, I immediately started casting my new skill.

Since it was a big spell, a gigantic magic circle appeared under my feet, it started to spin around me while glowing.

Having completed the long chant, I…cast the spell called 「Sacrifice」 on Yumir.

When I did so, Yumir's body was clad in a golden light.

「Oh! This golden aura, it's what they call a victory flag, right!? I can feel my spirit raising…it's overflowing…!」 (Yumir)

「D-Don't say stupid things, hurry up! What's with this? My body really hurts! Ugh!!!!」 (Hind)

At a pace that was unlike the DoT from poison or burn, my HP was decreasing.

That's fine, it's what this skill does.

In exchange for sacrificing your own body to god, you wish for divine protection…that kind of skill.

However, I didn't expect this pain that felt like my body was being torn apart!

「H-Hind-san!? Your HP is being shaved off at an alarming pace! I'll heal you no-」 (Riizu)

「Wait Riizu, don't use potions! While I'm using this skill I can't be healed! Ouch! Tobi!」 (Hind)

「Y-Yeah! Y-Yumir-dono! Here I go!」 (Tobi)

「Umu! I'll leave it to you!」 (Yumir)

Tobi used shadow weaving and Yumir moved forward.

Thus, the long event's final blow was brought down onto the elder turtle along with her shout.

A thunderous roar, sediment flying in all directions, furthermore, fierce wind pressure was scattered around.

The damage displayed was…「17437」.

The moment I saw that, my HP reached 0 points.

Eh…eh? Was the ground…always this close…?

「Nii-san? Nii-san!? Noooooooo!」 (Riizu)

H-hey…Riizu, this is just a game.

That's why you don't have to make such a tragic scream…

Ah, it's a waste to use a holy water.

I can't be resurrected after all, this…

Eventually, I was unable to hear what was going on in my surroundings and my field of vision turned grey.

My body won't do as I say and I can't put any strength into it.

The temperature of my body felt like I was having a serious fever.

Yumir, who was in high spirits after seeing the damage rushed over to me while being confused…right after seeing her figure, I lost consciousness.

「Scary! So scary! What's with this useless realism!?」 (Hind)

The moment I regained consciousness, I unintentionally shouted.

The NPCs around me froze in surprise when they heard my voice.

Ah, I'm sorry.

This is…Heathrow town?

If I remember correctly, once you die, you'll return to the last town you visited…or at least that's what Tobi…

「With a Shinto priest's…solo…maybe?」

「…if he doesn't have…, he's an idiot…right?」

I could heard gossip coming from a male and a female player.

You guys are the stupid ones for observing the respawn point! Idiots!

It's not like I died because I went in solo, damn it…it hurts.

Because of the after effects of the skill, I had something like muscle-pain, I feel terrible.

I'll send a mail to all 3 of them and wait at the usual pub so I started moving.

I withdrew all the money I previously left with the bank's NPC, and went to the pub after repairing my gear.

All that's left of the death penalty is the decrease in stats…but that will take around 20-30 minutes.

There's even time left after I was done buying the stuff I needed making this time quite the nuisance.

Not that it matters tonight.

With that much damage, there's a one in a million chance we'll fall down to 2nd place after all.

「Hind-san!」 (Riizu)

Just when I secured four seats that were vacant, Riizu entered the pub as if she was going to fall over and hugged me.

After that, Tobi entered with an apologetic face and Yumir had her arms folded and I understood that she was angry.

Ah, I don't even have to guess, Tobi told them everything.

…Did…I choose the wrong place…?

「S-Should we go outside first…?」 (Hind)

While suffering from gazes of envy and teasing, I went outside while being hugged by Riizu.

We calmed down while relaxing on a bench located in a flower bed in the outskirts of town.

Eh…I guess I should start with Riizu.

Until when does she plan to cling onto me?

She's been stuck to me all the time and now we are sitting in the bench like this…

「Ah, eh, Riizu…?」 (Hind)

「I hate it…」 (Riizu)

「W-what do you mean?」 (Hind)

While leaning on my chest, she whispered that.

When she suddenly separated her face from it, she held my face with both hands while tears were appearing at the end of her eyes.

You know, your brother is feeling quite embarrassed in this posture…

「Even if I know it's just a game, I hate seeing nii-san die in front of my eyes…! Don't ever use that skill again!」 (Riizu)

「Eh…bu-」 (Hind)

「No buts! Nii-san!」 (Riizu)

「… W-Well, it does hurt while I use the skill. Once I come back from the dead it also feels oddly lonely. Yup. Since it's tiresome I won't use it again.」 (Hind)

Maybe she didn't realize she was crying, but when I wiped her tears with my finger, her face turned crimson and she buried herself under her hat.

Then, she finally separated herself from me.

I didn't expect Riizu to have such a big reaction…I do kind of feel bad.

「Ah…but, it really does feel lonely, huh!? When you revive!」 (Tobi)

「Y-yeah. You experienced it too, right? That feeling of your life force slowly draining from your body is so scary! It's not something I'd like to experience often!」 (Hind)

「I know right!?」 (Tobi)

Tobi is also trying to be careful about what he talks about.

Sorry, I'll invite you to some juice at school…

When we exchanged awkward smiles, Yumir, who had had her arms folded since a while ago stood in front of me in a daunting manner.

「Hind. You still haven't explained yourself to me, you know?」 (Yumir)

「ah…that's right. Y-You see…」 (Hind)

「I heard everything from Tobi. That consumes 10 skill points, a “meme” skill that no one takes. You…do you really think I'd be happy by winning in a way that you have to sacrifice yourself!?」 (Yumir)

「…Well, it's true that I even sacrificed my skill points, but isn't it fine since we have guaranteed us winning the event? Hahahaha!」 (Hind)

「I'm not laughing, you know?」 (Yumir)

「Yeah, I'm sorry」 (Hind)

You would usually only spend 1-2 points on a skill and for strong skills, at most you would spend 3 points.

Since I took this 「Sacrifice」 skill, my build was a mess for a level 30 Shinto priest.

I haven't picked up the core skills after all.

The upgrade to 「Healing」…「Healing Plus」, the party healing skill 「Area Healing」 etc…

Generally, you can't get back the skill points you have spent, so I foresaw a situation like today's and didn't acquire various useful skills.

Regarding this 「Sacrifice」 skill, the buff is tremendous, but on top of being unable to get healed and resurrected, the user will definitely die. It's that kind of “meme” skill.

Having the healer of the party die first and being unable to resurrect him. Getting a death penalty on top of it, a skill with a triple handicap where the Shinto priest doesn't gain anything.

Yumir is extremely angry, so I chose my words very carefully.

「Even then, I wanted to see your delighted face once you received the reward…was it wrong for me to do it?」 (Hind)

「W-Wha…!?」 (Yumir)

Yumir's face was dyed crimson.

Wait, this wasn't the reaction I was expecting…

When I gave Tobi a sidelong glance, he was grinning in an irritating way.

「Uhihihi. Yumir-dono, your face is bright red!」 (Tobi)

「Shut up Tobi! H-Hind, y-you…!」 (Yumir)

「To make up for it, I used the skill point book, so don't worry about it. It's something I did on my own without consulting you first after all. Besides, it's true that I felt that I didn't want to lose in the rankings. It's not like it was just for you」 (Hind)

「W-Well in that case…」 (Yumir)

「Just leave that matter aside, you should just be more honest and be happy! On top of securing 1st place, you dealt 17437 damage, you know!?」 (Hind)

「Y-Yeah…」 (Yumir)

It might be because the fact that she had placed 1st started to sink in, Yumir started grinning and making a delighted face.

That's right, that's the face I wanted to see.

After that, she forcefully pulled me by the arm to make me stand up and shouted cheerfully while raising my arm.

「It's our victory!」 (Yumir)

「Ah, yeah yeah」 (Hind)

「Are you going to be so indifferent at such a moment!?」 (Yumir)

「My body hurts…I can't bring myself to raise my voice」 (Hind)

「R-Riizu-dono!? Even if you dislike the situation, don't go hitting me! S-Stop!」 (Tobi)

「――！　――！」 (Riizu)

There was still some time left in the event, but we decided to stop fighting for the rest of the night.

While we were engaged in idle talk, the date changed, the event's results were as follows.

Event's Attack Ranking　※Updated in real time

1st Place: Yumir (Knight) 17437Pts

2nd Place：Mercenary Albert（Heavy warrior）　9978Pts

3rd Place: Hipopo Master (Heavy warrior) 8354Pts

4th Place: ( ゜Д゜) (Heavy warrior) 8210Pts

5th Place: Panda・The・Great（Heavy warrior）　8122Pts

Chapter end