19

Suddenly, a soul scream came from Ske-san, who watched Alf-san evolve.

FHAAAAAAAHK! ALF, YOU TRAITORRR!

FUHAHAHAHA

Standing there, Alf-san turned into black armor. In his right hand he was holding his head and in the left he held his large shield. In other words he turned into a Dullahan(?) Extra Race.

Well, looks like its a mid-tier Immortal though. But still, I turned into EXTRAA. COME, MY FAMILIARRR!

Next to Alf-san appeared a horse, which also had black armor of the same design as Alf-sans.

Hoaarse? Eh, no fair. You got a ride?!

This is the wild horse that kicked me off loads of times during the Race-unlocking trial.

BUT I HAD A PUZZLE FOR MINEEEE?!

I had a game of dying, though?

Im quite envious of him having a horse.

This horse, looks like it's a Living Armor Horse. This horse was also empty inside and had no head. Both Alf-san and his horses cut showed emptiness inside. So cool.

Ske-san and I had Extra Equipment so did he get a horsey instead?

Umm materials that dropped are one Magic Stone, 3 leathers, 4 claws and theres also a Strongarm Ring.

Strongarm Ring?

Just as the name suggests, its a ring that increases STR.

Ah, no need.

Then, lets pass it to Alf-san.

Huh? Is it alright?

Its not like we need strength, so...

Oh, right. Then split the remaining materials between you two.

With that said, the way to use Magic Stones is still unknown are you going to use leather or claws?

Nope, not at all.

Right...

How about selling them to Ertz and splitting between you two? Hell gladly buy it.

Should we do that?

Lets do so.

We decided on who takes the Magic Stone with a round of rock-paper-scissors and it went to Ske-san. Next we decided that we sell claws and leather, then split the money between us.

And that I will receive a bigger share of the money.

What do we do after this?

Of course...

Were going ahead!

Then lets try going to the next area.

Maybe Ill take a video next?

As a fairy appeared behind the Ske-san, we proceed into the back.

Naturally, Alf-san is on his mount. A main tank who has mobility. I wonder how the defense works when mounted?

Then suddenly Alf-san muttered this head is getting in the way and he discovered that of all things, he can put it away. What do I say, looks like we probably wont see his head too often. It gets in his way of holding the sword and he cant hold the reins - though there are no reins to hold, so lets not bother with it.

When we passed into the back and left the forest, beyond it spread a plain. What do I say, it looks really rural yeah.

How do I say it its rural?

It does seem like a food-related area, so its not like I dont get it.

It has different types of plains from the ones around the Starting Town. Its literally tranquil I would say?

Yeahh. Well, I dont know how it will turn once the players come, however...

Thats, well cant deny it.

A gentle breeze passed by, and while Alf-san took rounds on his horse, Ske-san and I slowly walked forward. He just evolved, so he must want to try his ride. Also, Ske-san seems to also be devoid of speed just like me.

After a while as the daybreak came, a sight of a carpet of wheat filled our field of vision.

Ooohh this is amazing.

It is amazing...

What kind of treatment does that field have? Owned by NPCs or an object that can be harvested by players?

I think its probably owned by NPCs.

In some MMOs it could be a point for harvesting wheat, but...

Not in this game. There should be a farmer NPC managing it.

They did sell wheat in the Starting Town. But there wasnt anyone baking bread.

Yeah, they must be missing facilities.

I do want an oven hnn.? That, is that an enemy? It has a red marker, Im really curious about its drop.

Thats a cow, right?

Sirloin...filet aaaa...I cant eat things...

Well, theres just one, no choice but to beat it.

Oh, but I CAN.

It has a red marker, so it must be alright to fight it, but just in case Alf-san checks the surroundings.

After confirming there were no people or fences nearby, we got closer.

Its name was Angus. Angus...

"...I remember hearing the name angus somewheeere. What was it again?

The Angus cattle, wasnt it?

Its most likely Aberdeen Angus. The Angus Cattle. Looks like we can count on the meat quality. By all means, we need to hunt it down.

S-sure.

Alf-san lured it in withAppealright away, we begin combat.

Although he was still on his horse, it seemed like he manages to block with his shield without problem? What a mystery. We join in by attacking with magic.

"...Isnt this weird? Heck, isnt it too tough?

is it just me, or did my damage just die?

Ahh, certainly. But my attacks go through normally?

This is strange. It doesnt have Dark resistance and if it has magic resistance, Ske-sans attack would decrease...

And Alfs attacks are...

Theyre going through normally? I dont feel anything off.

Dear me, what is it then?

All three of us are Immortals, so thats unrelated. Me being a Zombie is not it. Its one thing if there was a special setting, but the enemy is a damn cow.

Dark Magic and Light Magic dont matter either. Close combat doesnt matter...

Then, the difference between me and the two is?

Ah, aaah can it be?

Did you notice something?

This is the so-called second area, right? Actually, I dont have any second tier skill, you see.

SERIOUSLY?!

Pretty much the only reason I could think of, is whether you have acquired a second tier skill if that was a key, then it would make sense that my attacks and their damage decreased by such an extreme amount.

Hmmm, lets beat it for now.

Since the damage is not zero, lets prickle it until its defeated. My damage being dead is one thing, but the opponent also has a lot of HP. We are having a hard time beating it.

The monsters a cooking ingredient-type, itd be best if Princess who has Cooking dismantled it.

But I didnt do anything this time...

When you get a second tier skill, come back and try fighting again. Thanks for verification work!

Well I dont mind doing so, still Im also curious about it and it certainly would trouble me if I could not hunt here solo.

[Ingredient] Angus RibsRarity: NoQuality: C

Angus Rib Meat.

Widely-used, very tasty all-purpose meat.

Due to Angus harsh temper its a rare ingredient, often eaten by nobility.

Ideal for steak, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu.

[Ingredient] Angus ShankRarityNoQualityC

Angus Shank Meat.

Muscly meat devoid of fat, its rich in gelatin and taste, perfect for extracting dashi.

The nobilitys chefs and high-class restaurant owners often seek this ingredient.

Ideal for stew and pot-au-feu.

[Ingredient] Angus RumpRarityNoQualityC

Angus Rump Meat.

Widely-used, very tasty all-purpose meat.

Due to Angus harsh temper its a rare ingredient, often eaten by nobility.

Ideal for steaks, roast beef, minced meat.

So two ribs, three shanks, and one rump dropped.

Since the Angus was big, it seems the amount of drops increased compared to Boars and Bears.

We finished combat for the time being and head toward the town to unlock the portal

After we headed toward the wheat fields, a wall came within our sight. The wall here seems to be lower than that of the Starting Town? Then, Alf-san rushed forward on his horse, just to come back soon after.

Did you find your first love from elementary school in there or something?

That is a big surprise considering we are the first ones here.

YOU TOOK IT SERIOUS?!

So, what did you go there for?

I saw a fence so I went to check a little. The marker was yellow. Red would mean its enemy.

I see. Thats a relief.

And then when we moved closer to the town, we were stopped by the guard. I wonder why is that?

Stop right there!

Is there a problem?

"...Those two are?

Oh we are Inhumans.

Which means Outsiders, huh? We? So you too?

Yes. I am a Zombie-type, actually.

Is that so By the way, if you are Outsiders, it means you passed through the forest, right? I think there was a Fighting Bear that came from somewhere and nested in the forest...

In regards to that, we have just defeated it.

Really!?

We can show you materials if you would like? We did come here right after defeating it.

Ahh, no, its enough that you report to the union. News should spread that away.

Mind if I ask where the union is?

If you go straight forward from here, itll be on your left.

We will stop by it, in that case.

Please do. Welcome to Belstead!

I guess that when you see bones and a headless armor riding a headless horse, its only natural that you would stop them to confirm things.

He was a very normal and dutiful guardman. If anything, its us that are weird.

We were let pass, so we entered the town. It was morning, so the town was fairly lively.

Ueeehhnnn!

Ske-san, dont make children cry.

It cant be helped, yknow?!

I guess it is scary to see bones just waltz through the city in broad daylight. Still better than seeing one at night, though.

I think a headless armor is not much better...

This is the fate of Inhumans, isnt it.

You sure got it nice, Princess~.

I dont know how I will change from here on, though...

OH MY...

This bones, he just started bowing and apologizing to the woman, most likely mother, that the little girl has clung to. What do I say, this is surreal. The mother also smiled wryly.

Now, lets go to the union. The girl wont stop crying otherwise. By the way, Alf-san had put his horse away. A horse that can be pulled out and put away is really useful.

The union it was smaller than that of the Starting Town, but it looked the same.

We showed the receptionist girl the materials and reported the extermination. The reward was 120k. We split it among us three, 40k each. In a full party it would be just 20k each, wouldnt it.

While at it, lets report the Eastern forests extermination quests. We earn 3300.

Furthermore, I receive a promotion. I become an E-rank adventurer.

After that, we go to the central plaza to open the portal but it does not get unlocked?

In front of the statue, there is an altar on which there are vegetables. Even when I touch it, nothing appears in the log.

...I take out a vegetable from the pouch at my waist and place it on the altar.

Oh, it was unlocked.

Seriously?

Is it limited to vegetables? Umm Wolf Meat oh, it worked.

"...Wolf Leather ah, that was okay.

In other words, an offering is necessary?

Looks like? If leather worked, it must mean that it doesnt have to be food ingredients.

But Im kind of worried about the raw meat going bad and rotting, though?

We ask the people around us, and apparently these offerings are often checked by the people from the church who recover them. Lets pray that its found quickly and recovered.

Now we settled things, whats next?

Oops, lets end the video here.

Nnn how about going off for dinner? There is some time left, but...

Its a strange time to take a break, though...

For now, lets sort out drops?

Yeah, lets do that.

Item exchange time.

I exchange my leather and horns for the Bear Meat. I took out 17 horns I was carrying up until now, and received 51 pieces of meat.

I guess I probably wont use Boar Meat, neither for making soup nor leveling? Rather than sell it on my stall, lets sell it on consignment Maybe other cooks will use it?

What do we do about boss information?

You mean action patterns? He was weakened, wasnt he?

Apparently~. Princess took a video, so we can throw it on the BBS but if you dont want to, I can write from memory?

I dont mind publishing the video but Is it hard?

Its necessary to put it up so you need an account on a video site.

Looks like I need to make one.

After you register an account, you upload it and then paste the URL on the BBS. From there, it will be possible to watch it.

Hmm Ahh Ill just ask my little sister during dinner.

Yeah, that would be faster.

We disband for the time being. Its nearly dinner time, so I log out.

When I was helping Mom make dinner, my little sister came down.

Onee-chan, you beat a boss, right?! Solo?

Nn-nope. In party of three, with Alf-san and Ske-san.

With those two, huhh.

I took a video of the boss fight, but I dont have an account so I cant put it up on the BBS. I thought of asking you how to.

Okay, suure. Your board is?

Over there.

Akina opened the video site and brought it to me, so I made an account there. Then, I access the video to upload in the VR device through the connect board, and select upload. Next I put in a video title and a short description confirm. What is left is to wait.

When the dinner was ready and we were carrying it in, I checked on it and the upload was complete.

Ah, its over.

I wanna see. Alright, lets watch it on the TV.

Isnt it a little too gory for watching during a meal?

Its okay! We can use the mild setting!

Lets just hope its not mild gore setting.

While we carried dishes in, my little sister turned on the TV in the living room and also speakers we use for watching movies. The TV is 80 inches. Its Dads hobby.

And then, Akina connected her own board to the TV and played the video. It looked like it was possible to select the gore setting when playing it, so she selected the all-ages one. I see, so this is the mild setting.

The number of views is already so HIGHHH?! My first view is! Well, fine. I did get the first user follow. Full screen play on...

Seeing myself displayed in the third perspective on the TV feels strange. My character that is, to be precise.

This is Kotone? Isnt your skin too white?

It turned like that because of race adjustment. Im a Zombie.

So you are a Zombie. Bones a skeleton, is it? And what was that armor called?

Its Living Armor.

Are they both players?

Yup. ...The thing being noisy is comment notifications...

A daughters dress appearance its a nice sight to see. Colors are strange though that long black hair is also wonderful Still, what is that black haze?

Thats a skills graphical effect.

My board was being really noisy since earlier. Ill put it on silent mode. Will confirm it later. Lets eat dinner first.

The thing where Alf-san was buried in itll be more interesting if I keep silent. Just dont spit your dinner, okay? I wont warn you, however.

The TV is large, so the first perspective window in the corner can be seen at a fairly large size.

I took this video so I know what happened, but Mom and my little sister look like they are having a lot of fun? To me it was also quite fresh considering there was a difference between first and third perspective, but It would have been far more interesting if it wasnt myself that I watched. Lets watch some videos when Im in the mood for it. If I am, that is.

Oooo he endured the rush fairly easy Wait, Ske-san isnt red!

He evolved during todays hunt. Apparently hes a Metal Skeleton Mage now.

Metasuke, huh?

Having dinner while watching a zombie, bones and armor fight a bear feels strange. If anything, I would prefer to watch yesterdays event battle.

Its kind of cute, kicking with those short legs.

The sound is scary though...

Honestly, I was worried that the shield might break. Well, its a game, so it wont break as long as it has durability. But apparently, you can never let your guard down in here. If I used a normal rapier and forcibly tried to guard, it could break despite having durability remaining on it.

Mm, second rush? Ohh..nfhghngh...

Oh, you endured.

That was close I almost spit my food...

She barely endured it, huh.

After that, Mom laughed at the fast-forward bear, and while my sister was in deep thought, the boss was defeated.

What were the drops?

A Magic Stone, claws and leather. There was also a ring increasing STR. We gave it to Alf-san.

Well, both Onee-chan and Ske-san have no need for STR, after all. Did you go into the back?

We did. Ske-san recorded after the fight.

Ho-hooh Ske-sans channel is...oh, this?

Ohh, it appears that Ske-san uploaded as well. We get to see those tranquil fields again. I guess it matches the dinner atmosphere? But we do fight against a cow, so...

HUH?! Alf-san evolved?!

After we beat the boss he turned into a Dullahan.

A h-...horse? Im so envious...

Its nice, riiight. It seems like mine and Ske-sans race got Extra Equipment, but in his case its that horse.

A Dullahan a headless man and headless horse meaning, that fairy creature?

Yeah, that. That is the original. In this game its treated as an Undead?

A Mid Immortal apparently.

Looks like Mom knows her stuff? Well, we continued our meal while watching the tranquil fields. About the time it ends, we should finish eating too.

After the dinner, I should raise my Skill level and verify on a cow again?

The issue is what Skill should I evolve Magic Ability has become 30, but there was nothing in the log about anything being unlocked. Which means the next Skill would be Footwork has reached 29. But leveling one on purpose is kind of...

My Cooking is 27, but I guess it wont go up by much with Bear Meat and it will take some time.

Automatic HP Recovery is also 27, but actively leveling it is also hard?

Sensing and Appraisal are out of question, so leveling Sword sounds the best. If I fight in close combat I feel like my Footwork will also go up.

Its troublesome, but lets go back to the forest for now and after hunting some, do a retry.

Hmmm damage adjustment depending on whether you have second tier Skill or not, ehh...

Havent confirmed it yet, however.

"Leveling your skills after this?

Thats the plan. Feels like my footwork will go up first, and since its not a combat skill it might serve as a verification whether it has to be one?

I see. Looks like everyone will go challenge the boss now. What should I do...

The first extermination gave a 6SP bonus and a title.

6SP is sweet the effect of the title is?

None.

Uhhmm Liberator of Belstead: A commemorative title given to the first to liberate the town East of Starting Town... is what it says?

The title is just commemorative, isnt it. It does not have any effect, but is of high rarity. It is something only the first people to unlock a town will have.

There, I heard her mutter Should we invite Onee-chan and go for the boss?. I will go if Im called. I do have things to gain from a boss battle, you know? Title is one thing, but I want the SP. It will disappear all at once from here on.

It was written that there wont be enough SP unless you take them with a plan in mind... Did I take too much? I only intended to take what was necessary, however.

Compared to the initial 10 skills, I have 16 in total. And furthermore, I have Monster Skills so its not enough.

Aaa, Ske-san is making children cry over here as well.

So he made them cry in the Starting Town too...

Yup. A racial demerit, you make children cry. Hahaha.

Thats one horrible demerit.

After the meal, I took a bath and dealt with things before logging in again.

In the meanwhile there was a message from Ske-san saying I saw the video, can I put it up on the BBS? so I asked him to do so. It could be also said that I left everything to him.

I no longer need to go to the BBS so lets raise my skill level.

How much do you have left until your second tier skill, Princess?

Footwork needs just 1.

Then lets go hunt.

I took a look around here, but there were just pigs and cows.

So there are piggies here too?

They were cartoonized and pointlessly cute.

Even though the cattle looked like a fighting bull

Whats with that, it makes me curious.

To also verify information, I head out to raise my Skills with the two. I planned to go back and raise it on Bears, but I joined with the two while looking at the minimap.

When I joined them, Ske-san had pointed his finger in a different direction, and when I looked there, I saw a round pink object in there.

It has a red marker, doesnt it?

Its a Pigg. Non-active by the way.

"...A piggie, is it.

It had short limbs and a round body, As well as round and cute eyes. It was munching on the grass.

I see, pointlessly cute indeed.

Well get pork, lets beat it.

And so, commence combat.

I attacked with magic, it screamed cutely Pukyuui!, but due to the adjustment its HP did not go down at all.

The attacked Pigg had come my way while shaking its ass, stood slowly on its back legs and jumped my way to do a roundhouse kick.

WHAA--?!!

Yeah, SCARY isnt it.

A pig, explain pigs for me again.

No matter how you look, its a fighting pig.

Well, its surprising but thats all there is...

When I calmed down and looked again, it seemed to be VR games malady.

It was enough that martial arts has a low reach, and it turned even worse with those short limbs.

Can it be, its super weak?

Yup.

But its harsh when it hits. It has real high attack power. Also, it has high VIT since its an animal-type.

I see.

I avoided jump tackles done from four legs and roundhouse kicks by taking a step to the side, and slashed at the enemy. The most troublesome might have been a simple punch. It was fast.

To beat one it took me about five minutes. My Skill did not go up.

Looks like there was adjustment on the amount of experience gained as well. In other words, the efficiency was horrible.

Considering my hunting in the Catacombs, there was no restriction on base level, only a limitation on Skill level.

With that said, hunting in the Catacombs isnt realistic. It was something I could only do as a Zombie-type AND as an Extra Race. Hunting there was impossible even for normal Zombie-types who cant use magic to hunt. Normal zombie-types have low INT, after all.

[Ingredient] Pigg MeatRarity: NoQuality: C

A Piggs rib meat.

All-purpose meat used for various cooking.

It is commonly eaten in the area they live, but is expensive in other places.

Lets cook it well. When you take it out you can choose spareribs.

Three of them dropped, huh.

The piggie is dropping the same amount as boars and bears? It feels like theres just one item type on this one - the item name isnt that of a body part.

Spare ribs, hm?

But in this case, if you want meat then Angus is the only choice?

Well in a supermarket you also take price into account, but...

Here you can just procure locally~.

The problem is that Angus are strong, but its not like I cant beat one.

The biggest problem is, that we cant eat!

Yup, yup.

Far from having taste, the two dont even have stomachs I do have one though.

We continued to hunt after that and my Footwork maxed out.

Footwork has reached the maximum level, thus Avoidance was unlocked.

I received 2 points for my Footwork reaching level 30.

And just as planned, lets take But instead of Avoidance. The SP used is 6.

Looks like a Buy Skill has sneaked in aside from But. The latter is influenced by race, the former only by Footwork and Balance Control.

Image-wise, the second one is for the high-society dances. And the first one being something any dancers do? They might both be dances, but they are completely different.

As I previously intended to, lets take But.

A second tier skill has been acquired. Skill/Arts customization is unlocked.

Oh my? There is an addition to the help menu...

About Skill/Arts customization

It is a system allowing you to customize skills and arts to your liking.

It is possible to enhance skills by one stage for every 10 levels. The limit of skill level is 100, and skills can be enhanced up to the 10th stage. However, depending on each skill and art, there can be differences between the enhancement types, values and rules.

The change due to enhancement and the increase amount can strongly vary depending on your playstyle, so we strongly suggest confirming them.

The more you play the more individuality will appear. This is what the customization system is about.

Hee so there was a system like that.

When I took second tier skill, customization was unlocked?

Yup yup, it wasnt there in the beta so Im looking forward to it.

Its completely an extra factor. Its not something in the base system template, so its best to try it yourself and look for the best choice.

I still dont know anything so I cant say much, but there is one thing that should not be misunderstood.

For example, in case of Sword Lv10 and Sword Lv30.

The acquired Arts are like this:

Sword Lv10

SlashDistance Sword

Sword Lv30

SlashDistance SwordIroncutter

Attack StanceRushDelay Slash

In this case, the only Arts that can be customized are the ones you have already acquired. In level 10s case it is possible to enhance bothSlashandDistance Swordby one stage. In case of level 30, it is possible to enhance 6 arts by 3 stages.

At level 30 you naturally get higher-tier skill, so the lower tier Sword has a limit of 3 stages of enhancement.

Between Sword Lv30 and Slender Sword Lv20 Skills, the lower skills Arts remain on 6 skills at stage 3, in addition to that, it was possible to enhance Slender Swords Arts to stage 2.

Also, it cannot be simply said that enhanced Skills are stronger...

There are lines describing their performance, MP consumption, cooldown and special effects. While some parts increase, they come at a cost of others decreasing...

Moreover, apparently these numbers change depending on your playstyle. There are some Arts that dont have decreases, but this might also be influenced by the race and so on. Turning this into a list is madness so just take an SS and share is what they said.

Lets go over this later I will take my time checking them tomorrow. For now, I take a second tier Skill so lets try combat.

Coow, cooo...w...

Theyre linked, no matter how you look at it...

And the result is?! Oh, Ske-san got all excited finding an enemy, but the excitement immediately went down.

Angus 3 three cows, are there? By the way, Angus were browncould be called brownish redand were as big as fighting bulls. Heck, they pretty much were fighting bulls. A fighting bull named Angus.

Now, the problem is that theres three of them linked. The risk was fairly high at this point.

The risks seem a little too high?

There will be no problem if Princess can fight properly, but we still need to check that.

Well, yes Alf-san can take on two of them, but if there is an adjustment for damage dealt, there should be one for damage taken as well.

Id be surprised if there was nooonee.

And so, we ignored the link of three Anguses.

If I could not deal damage and received extra damage, it wouldnt end well. First we need to confirm whether non-combat skills are enough for the negative adjustment to disappear. And it is impossible to run away from Angus that are pretty fast. Pretty much only Alf-san could escape.

We had Alf-san look around for an enemy on his horse, and then moved to where he called us to confirm.

The result was: it was important to have a second tier skill and it did not have to be a combat skill.

Well, must be because otherwise, it would be too harsh on crafters?

Probably. So, while it was possible to remove the limit by raising just crafting skill...

The rest depends on the ingenuity of pure crafters like Ertz-san right?

Crafting gives high stat increases, after all. And they can prepare their own equipment, too?

A crafter can do some fighting as he gathers materials for crafting, then get crafting to the second tier first. Afterwards he can come to the second area once his fighting skills grow a little but normally, they would be too low on firepower?

The World Quest was a little of a special case, usually stats increase after combat so that method of progression was uncertain.

It might be that developers have made it this way on purpose.

Well, Ill be off to sleep now that we finished confirming.

Ill report it on the BBS~

Please do.

I return to the town and log out.

I left the boss materials with Ske-san. He should sell them.

Next week there is the combat tournament. Im not participating though.

Well then, good night.