A Certain Middle-Aged Man’s VRMMO Activity Log

Dance of the Fairies Second Half, Crafting during the Event

“Heave, ho! Heave, ho-!”

Right now I’m in the middle of mining the tunnel-mines in the area around the second town, Nexia.
My goals are the two, Steel and Light Metal; there’s a lot of prototypes I want to try making using these two ores.

“Heave, ho! Heave, ho!”

While raising my voice, I’m “heave-ho-ing” a pickaxe.
If I don’t properly swing it to hit at the right speed, the ores won’t be dug out.
The people around me, all in the same trade, may all be using different yells to psyche themselves up, but they’re yelling while excavating.
While mining it’s easier to get the timing down while letting out your voice noda.

Within this particular mine, fire is particularly prohibited; why?
Gakin! With that welcome sound the ores that came out are a few Light Metals, a few Silvers, … and

“Nge!? Everyone watch out! I’ve struck Exploding Ore!”

It’s because of these Exploding Ores.
Where you excavate it is random and it’s quite the pain with its special characteristic.
When hit with a certain amount of impact or applied heat, it lets off a huge explosion; a kind of natural bomb.
Before you dig it out there’s no problem, but once it’s dug up it the characteristics take effect.
With a careless impact it will become a dangerous existence.
Calm down and so-ftly store it in the Item Box.
As for the pickaxe it’s doing its job in the ground; can’t let the worst case happen.

“Ok everyone, the explosive has been retrieved, sorry yo-”

I say. The surrounding tension slowly eases.
As for why everyone got so tense … it’s because when it was first found in this tunnel, with an enthusiastic “It’s all you can mine da!” a blacksmith in the same trade was enthusiastically mining when he struck Exploding Ore; he carelessly tried it out by hitting it while it was still in the ground, it lit up and dragged everyone in the area into the huge explosion that erupted … it was a mass exodus back to the resurrection point.
Since that explosive incident happened, if you hit Exploding Ore you absolutely have to report to everyone around.
It’s to get everyone around’s cooperation to avoid hitting it.

… At any rate, I’ve somehow or other got some Steel and Light Metal so I’ll withdraw from the excavations.

As of now, the Exploding Ore is most popularly stuffed in a bag and used as a pseudo-grenade, though the handling is quite difficult. It’s easy to blow yourself up noda.
That there are people who use it despite that is an MMO characteristic; I’ve heard the rumor that they’re being called “Bomb Master”s.

―――――――――

When I returned from Nexia to Faust, I headed to the Forge.
There’s a Forge in Nexia too, but I have a lot of acquaintances at this Forge here, so it’s also a countermeasure against Grad.
Thief skill’s Danger Perception has been registering a single constant reaction.
Since it’s pretty suspicious, I set it to always be on caution.

“O, Boss1, good evening~”

I call out to the player who, for some reason, is always in Faust’s Forge; of course his player name is actually different, but just about everyone calls him “Boss” like that, to show him respect since he’s the Top Player among the blacksmiths.
Think about a guy who’s the spitting image of a brawny, muscular blacksmith.
That’s basically the Boss’ look.

“Oo, if it isn’t Earth. Did you come to make more weird things?”

To some degree, I’m more recognizable than Boss due to the occasions where I made weird weapons.
It might be redundant, but Boss’ Fairy is a Fire salamander; truly a blacksmith’s Fairy.
For the most part, blacksmith players choose Fire Fairies.
It’s because they’re Fairies who give support in regulating the fire when making ingots out of ores and when making equipment out of ingots.
Furthermore, that trait is more than enough for the Fairies of players who made blacksmithing their occupation and have no interest in PvP. Rather than PvP, it’s way better to use your hammer to hit iron; there’s a lot of people who hold that popular thought.

“Weird things ‘te … that’s a mean way to say it.”

As I mutter that, Boss “Gahahahaha” laughs heartily.
That laugh really suits him well … it’s ‘cause he’s the Boss.

I took my leave from Boss, who was saying, “Maa, do your best,” and began my work.
What I’m making this time is a new arrowhead and a metal whip.

I wonder if you know about the thing called the twisted dagger.
If you don’t know about it, then if you search for it you’ll find it immediately. T/N: Jagdkommando Tri-Dagger

The blade isn’t in a straight line; twisted like a screw, it’s a knife that easily gouges.
To begin with, for the most part knives and daggers, and others of the short-blade variety, aren’t meant for deep slashing,
But are more like blades for stabbing.
Along with that, you could also say that the idea behind an arrowhead is largely the same for stabbing.
Arrows are sent flying out, but when the opponent is stabbed with the arrow it’s about the same.

And so, since my Blacksmith level has risen and I’ve obtained Steel ores, I thought to try and challenge myself …after making the ore into ingots I prepare to make the arrowhead’s shape.
But here it became a difficult problem; I couldn’t produce a good twisted shape.
Over and over again, no matter how many I tried to beat into shape I failed repeatedly.
Thanks to that my skill rose, but man, I can’t be happy about it because of all the materials I wasted.

After a long time wrestling with it, I somehow made the thing.
It’s many times harder to make than a regular arrowhead … all that’s left is to attach it to the tip of a Wooden Arrow to finish it.

—
Twist Arrow

Atk+15, Increased Penetration Ability,
Low Probability of Inflicting Bleed
With a modified arrowhead, an arrow that has taken up a twisted shape that pierces easily; it costs a large amount of labor to make.
Furthermore, with its twisted point, after stabbing it will gouge in, inflicting a large wound on the opponent with a possibility of inflicting the Bad Status, Bleed; Bleed will reduce the opponent’s HP in fixed intervals.
Quality 5
—

A Quality 5 is pretty harsh, and since the steel consumption is pretty steep it’d be tough to mass produce, but on the other hand the damage is huge, and the arrow itself has the ability to inflict a Bad Status.
If I can make these my main force, it would be quite reassuring na.
Before the event’s over, I should spend a while tempering Woodworking and Blacksmithing, I guess.

Anyway, achieving the shape of the arrowhead is good enough for now.
The next is the whip huh … to make it mainly out of metal is completely incompatible for the weapon, but Light Metal has qualities that can make it possible.
Refined Light Metal is light-weight and bends like bamboo, but even with that it’s has the metal’s durability; it’s a weird metal that’s used for the connecting and joining parts of Light Armor and Heavy Armor, improving armor quality, and a metal that reduces weight.
That flexibility is the main reason to use it to tailor a whip.

First is making the whip’s base. In order to achieve the necessary length,
It was adjusted by pounding and pulling on the Light Metal Ingot; it slowly stretched.
I have to take care to make it uniform; with my perseverance it stretches well.
I repeatedly heated it and stretched it, heated it and stretched it.
In the end, what I’m making now has been stretched to the same length as a leather whip.

Since, up until now, it’s just a whip made of Light Metal, from hereon I’ll be adding onto it.
I begin to reduce thin, fish-scale-like triangle shaped things.
With these thin, triangular blades like fish scales, I attach them above and below to the Light Metal whip I just made.
After doing that, a whip with an array of jagged blades is completed.
When restraining a monster, it’s whip where these jagged blades are expected to bite in.
I weld them by heating, then tapping it to unify them.
Just when my arm was beginning to hurt from hitting and hitting, it was finally completed.
I made it on a whim; didn’t think it would be something that took so much time and labor.

—
Triangle Blade・Whip

Atk +18
When restraining an opponent, there is additional ongoing damage.

A brutal whip with countless thin, fish-scale like triangular blades attached.
When restraining, those blades will inflict wounds when tightened around the poor victim.

Quality 6
—

The Atk didn’t go up that much, naa. It has to be because it’s Light Metal.
But, in the first place, a Steel whip would never work.
It’s unavoidable; it’s pretty good if you just treat it like a sub-weapon.
I use it a little in an area without people around to check it.
… Even though I say it’s light, it’s still metal after all; it’s a bit heavy.

With the inertia, the feeling I get when swinging it around isn’t bad.
It’s just, maa, no matter how you look at it, you can’t shake the fact that it makes me look like a [Villainous Overseer].
To make it clear right now, compromises have to be taken.
All that’s left is to figure out the problematic parts when using it and improvement … speaking of improvement I haven’t tampered with Blade Shoes yet … the form they will take still needs to come to me.

Maa, it’s not something to do today.
It’s gotten quite late, so I say goodbye to Boss and Log Out.
In the end, that suspicious blip never disappeared from Danger Perception’s range.
I guess it’s good that I can tell I’m being targetted…

SKILLS
[Hunting Bow]Lv41
[Kicking Assault]Lv9
[Farsight]Lv46
[Wind Magic]Lv46
[Craftsmanship]Lv45 ↑2UP
[Blacksmithing]Lv30 ↑5UP
[Stealth]Lv35
[Physical Ability Reinforcement]Lv14 ↑2UP
[Thief]Lv31
[Woodworking]Lv24 ↑2UP

Reserved Skills
[Alchemy]Lv35
[Cooking]Lv48
[Whip]Lv32

ExP　18

a/n: And so, a new arrow, a new whip, and a comrade have come into the story.
The whip is rather nasty…