Fairy Tale Chronicles

_______________________________________________________________

Translator: Reflet

_______________________________________________________________

Farlane Arc

Prologue

「It’s pretty darn surprisin’ to see that you also played Fairy Tale Chronicle」

「Not really. Nowadays, you don’t have to just be an otaku to play VRMMOs after all. The real shocking thing is the fact that you went all the way to advanced crafting」

「See, I was fed up with all the congestion on the first day of service, so as I was grindin’ and avoidin’ those crowds as a way of escapin’ that reality, I just became absorbed in it and reached an advanced level naturally」

The boy and girl were heartily discussing the unlikely situation as well as how unexpected it was for fellow classmates like them to be meeting each other. The scenery that surrounded them was that of an online game, a VRMMO that, over the years, had thoroughly swept its way to consumers all over. It was nothing that unusual.

The name of the boy who spoke in the Kansai dialect was Azuma Hiroshi. He was a third-year high schooler whose body type could be summed up as a medium build with a height of 171 centimeters, whose looks weren’t anything special other than having thick eyebrows, whose clothing sense wasn’t particularly strange, nor was it worn out, and yet no matter what he wore, he looked lame, and people would still say he was unpolished and was emitting the aura of a loser from his entire being.

Despite being in the middle of entrance exams, he was hooked on games, but you didn’t need that to know that he was the type of person to go with the flow and that his hobby besides games was reading (particularly of the light novel variety) – in other words, he would be classified by society as an otaku.

The girl’s name was Toudou Haruna. She had a higher-than-average stature compared to Japanese girls of 167 centimeters, and characteristic of the fact that foreign blood was partially flowing through her, she had natural long, blonde hair as well as transparent-like blue eyes- a girl whom no one would have any issue with calling beautiful.

Because her mother–a singer–was a Nikkei (non-Japanese of Japanese descent) woman from England carrying one fourth Japanese blood, this girl had three-eighths English blood mixed in, making her lineage rather tough to convey.

As if her English blood were speaking for her, her body line was enough to pick a fight with a full-bodied gravure idol and win, which caused males to have their eyes glued to her. She was seventeen years old and in the same class as Hiroshi, and she had a bright future ahead of her.

「I’m not one to talk, but is really okay for you to be playing games at a time like this?」

「I’m happy that yer worryin’ ’bout me, but despite how it might look, I’m still goin’ to prep school, n’ I did just barely manage to get an A appraisal for my first choice of schools. Plus I was just gonna get one more skill level up n’ then take a break. Probably don’t hafta even ask this, but what about you, Toudou-san?」

「I guess you could call it taking a breather? I hardly ever logged in since the last spring break」

As you can understand from this conversation, it wasn’t like they were both hooked on games and neglecting their entrance exams. Although the school they commuted to was public, the grades in the school were top-class even in their prefecture, so their academic level was certainly not low.

Haruna had inherited superior memory from her parents, she was consistently ranked in the three-digit area even for nationwide mock examinations, holding a firm grip on the A appraisal for getting into her university of choice.

Hiroshi was also trying his best at his studies every day, his grades rivalling Haruna’s in some of the curriculum. In the first place, he was the type who was always fiercely conflicted with difficult courses, feeling uneasy at certain times that he might fail.

There was the amiable and considerate beauty, then there was the light otaku who unleashed a loser aura. Even if they were classmates, other than conversations related to obligatory things, they would have never interacted with each other.

Of all the possibilities, the slightly awkward fact that they had bumped into each other in an online game may have actually been the one saving grace in this particular problem they were wrapped into.

「Still, I didn’t think I’d ever get to properly talk to ya before we graduated, yet here we are talkin’ ’bout games. Life really is mysterious」

「Plus you had this aura like you didn’t want to associate with me」

「I don’t really know ’bout all that. ‘S just been my experience that it ain’t never good to be seen with popular girls, so I just prefer to avoid any girl like yer kind」

「……Wow. What you’re saying about me is supposed to be horrible, and yet I find myself strangely agreeing with you……」

Haruna looked slightly depressed. Hiroshi became slightly concerned about what she had said. They were talking about real life problems, but he didn’t want to get dragged into all that. He moved further away from her.

「Ya sound like you’d happen to know somethin’ ’bout that. Maybe I should just let sleepin’ dogs lie……」

「No, I don’t think you have to worry about that in this situation…」

「True. Guess I’ll stop avoidin’ the real issue and go over the current situation again」

As he said that, he surveyed his surroundings. This was not the weak, anime-esque scenery of your typical VRMMO. The way it looked with its fresh hues, the way it felt, and the smell of the air. The living beings modeled unlike anything in the real world. And most importantly, the extremely sharp, unrestricted, real pain that you would feel when you got attacked.

「Definitely not possible in a game, right?」

「It’s clearly Fairy Tale Chronicle, or a world that closely resembles it, I’d say」

In such a ruthless situation, they sighed and faced each other while saying the same thing:

「What do we do……?」

「Whadda we do……?」

Haruna and Hiroshi pondering what to do <picture>

And just like that, while sorting through the realistic remains of a bear in front of them as the game had taught them to, they were reminded again that this was reality. The loser and the talented girl discussed this with each other with no idea as to what they should do.

***

From Hiroshi’s perspective, it all began approximately four hours earlier.

「Suuup」

『Oh, Hiro-san, ‘evening?』

『Yo?』

Faithfully following his promise to his parents, Hiroshi had finished an hour of his study for the mock entrance exam, finally leaving some time for him to cheerfully put on his headgear, logging into the usual VRMMO, “Fairy Tale Chronicle”. When he sent a greeting into the group chat, the various members of the formed party began greeting him back.

The game called “Fairy Tale Chronicle” that they were playing was a VRMMO that had officially began service when he was in middle school, with slogans like “Hunting? Farming? ‘Tis all up to You!”, “From Survival to Slow Life”, “Items Within this Game are all Craftable”, filled with a kind of volume that defied common sense from the day it was released and becoming a popular topic for its degree of freedom that was just as advertised, utilizing a promotion system that was a hybrid of character level and skill proficiency in a world that did not define occupations in the traditional sense of an RPG.

This game had already accomplished a grand, unfathomable feat by cramming in maps and elements packaged from day one that would normally require three or four large-scale updates, with even the field information taking a year to gather, and with only two large-scale updates, it had achieved evolution into a gargantuan title that no one other than the producers themselves could fully grasp all the elements of.

However, the biggest shock of all was probably that despite having all that capacity, no real bugs or server outages had occurred even once. Undoubtedly, the greatest reason as to why it was accumulating user support was that despite undergoing hardly any balance regulations, in exchange for giving a portion of one’s skills to the automatic training system while logging out, it would contain all varieties of outer tools and macros in order to implement a firm administration security that had never once allowed any breaches by hackers, no matter what methods they were using.

Despite having already begun service five years ago, this game was still running along at top class in regards to both user numbers and player satisfaction. This was what “Fairy Tale Chronicle” was.

『Hiro-san, Hiro-san』

「What up?」

『Got any healing potions and mana potions in your inventory?』

「Let’s see. At the moment I got a stack of level 6s in storage. That alright?」

『Good enough. Heck, there wasn’t anything higher than level 4 appearing in the marketplace』

Hiroshi had no choice but to agree, seeing as he hadn’t used street stands or auctions for a long time, thinking that the goods that appeared were low leveled. Level 4 potions in the first place were often dropped by humanoid small fries monster. It would be great if all they did was drop them, but there were also those who, despite being monsters, had no issue with using said potions and heal themselves. So those who hunted them would complain about it being the most annoying thing ever.

Due to certain circumstances, the craftsmen in this game did not release the items they made into the marketplace. As a result, the only things that appeared in booths or auctions were drop items or quest rewards. Additionally, because advanced raw materials could only be obtained by advanced craftsmen disassembling monsters, not even those raw materials made it into the marketplace.

Once you got to a certain level, networks between fellow craftsmen were firmly set up. So, it was normal to exchange the remaining raw materials with them directly. Consequently, craftsmen like Hiroshi almost never made use of booths or auctions, causing them not to comprehend the rare value of their products.

「That right? Well, ya need to have intermediate level proficiency maxed out if ya wanna make Level 5 potions」

『Yeesh, didn’t know it was that difficult……』

Friend A groaned at Hiroshi’s words. Incidentally, being maxed out, in online game terminology, indicates that one has reached the upper limit. In this case, it was the same as saying that you need to have mastered intermediate level.

「Well, craftin’ does require adaptation, resignation, and patience after all. So how much ya need?」

『For now I’d a hundred of both. You have that much?』

「In plenty, in plenty. If ya want a hundred then I don’t mind givin’ ya Level 8 ones too」

He pointed at the highest level items that could be made with the Potion-Making skill, which he had made a mountain of in order to raise his skill over winter break. He would honestly prefer that someone take them off his hands, since they were taking up a third of his entire storehouse.

『No no, 6 is plenty. And the day I use something like Level 8, I’ll stick out like a sore thumb. So how much?』

Hiroshi didn’t know about this, since he only ever delved into dungeons to gather raw materials, but his Level 8 potions currently boasted a higher healing rate than top-player healing magic.

Having only one of those didn’t make much of a difference in this harsh game, but as long as you were to partner with a skilled attacker, it was good enough to win against an intermediate dungeon boss without using healing magic.

Most of all, in this game where for a certain reason players training their crafting skills were extremely few, Level 5 potions and above were quite valuable, as they could not be obtained without crafting or stealing them from rare humanoid monsters.

Level 6 potions were viewed as the highest level by the majority of people, and no matter the variety of potion, the advanced groups in the marketplace would buy them up the moment they came in. In addition, Hiroshi’s friends were among the majority of players, so none of them were likely to know the market price. Not only that, but for some reason, NPCs wouldn’t buy any potions over Level 5.

「Lessee…eh, I only made ’em to level up my skill, so I’ll say five hundred per bottle」

『Cheap!!』

「Well uhh, to be honest, if they ain’t appearin’ on the market, ya can’t determine the official prices. Since the NPC won’t have access to them, then there may as well be no such thing. Everyone’s campaignin’ for the drop-related materials anyway」

『Well, I’m not particularly well-off, so I’m happy that I can even get it this cheap』

「Then I’ll have it delivered right now with payment on delivery」

『Understood. Thanks as always』

He sent the potions he had taken out of storage, specifying that they go via express home payment delivery. Incidentally, the price he had set of five hundred for one bottle was the maximum amount that one could normally buy from NPCs – for the price of a Level 2 potion.

It was a recovery agent that would be essential for initial-game medium-game hunting, but at a particularly hefty price. Nevertheless, that would merely lead people to think that it was better to save up with hunting and quests and then craft them yourself. However, it must be pointed out that the circumstances at the beginning of the game were quite unfortunate for crafters.

『Hiro, my cousin says she wants to start playing this game now that she has access to VR. Got any equipment that’d be good for beginners?』

「Lemme think. Outta the top of my head, I have a knife and a set of clothing that’re a bit better than small-fry drops. That good with ya?」

『Let me see the specs』

「This is what I mean」

He transcripted the data of the clothing and knife that he had fished out of storage, sending it via mail.

『I dunno about this one…』

「Didja want somethin’ better?」

『Quite the contrary. Might be a little too advanced for a beginner to handle』

「If it’s anythin’ worse than this, ya might as well buy it from an NPC」

『Yeah? Got it. Then, I’ll just buy the cheap stuff initially, but then give these to her at the right time. How much?』

「Lemme think. Normally it’s 1,500 to sell to NPCs, so I’d say 3,000?」

『That’s still really cheap, yeesh』

「All it’s doin’ is eatin’ up space in storage, so don’t mind ’bout it. Heck, I’ll even give ya stacks of leftover practice potions and Level 0 potions」

He said, pushing out the lowest level potions that had hardly any recovery capabilities to be useful. They were the type of potions that truly demonstrated how unfortunate crafting skill was at the beginning. 𝒇𝙧𝚎𝐞𝙬𝒆𝑏𝑛𝑜v𝚎𝒍.c𝑜m

At the start, it was essential in the initial stage of the game to complete the tutorial and beginner quests. But in order to complete those quests successfully, it was necessary to have Level 2 potions handy. Thus the merchandise became high in demand.

Not to mention that the potions had a so-called “poison” system, with mana potions and stamina potions in particular having a high poison rate. So, there are lots of these low level potions left over from tutorials or beginning-game quests.

Selling these left over potions to NPCs didn’t work, as the contents weren’t useful enough. You also couldn’t re-use the containers after using the potions. Hiroshi and the other craftsmen had similar complaints that for a game that praised freedom, in other ways it felt more like it was trying to shoo away beginner players with how you had to use another skill to craft containers.

The main reason as to why the majority of players kept away from crafting was something simple: Gathering the materials necessary to make anything was extremely difficult.

After all, at the beginning stage, even if you got your hands on a blade of grass, you have to check it properly and correctly take from it whatever was useable. This process took a lot of stamina. Even with one’s stamina being full at the start, once you did enough of those operations it would run out, and you could not continue working until you rested for five minutes.

The expenditure of MP or stamina was particularly harsh for manufacturing raw materials, but as you couldn’t progress in the first place without materials, the overall process is just very difficult to maintain.

Not to mention that it was a masochistic procedure, since one of the features of this VRMMO made players actually feel tired and unable to move. On top of that, the more the stamina decrease, the efficiency or success rate for manufacturing would fall right before your eyes.

So without resting a good five minutes, it wouldn’t even end up being a very productive manufacturing. Once your proficiency went past a certain point, those sorts of problems would get more and more scarce, but until that point, it was truly agonizing.

_______________________________________________________________

Translator: Reflet

_______________________________________________________________

Farlane Arc

Prologue

「It’s pretty darn surprisin’ to see that you also played Fairy Tale Chronicle」

「Not really. Nowadays, you don’t have to just be an otaku to play VRMMOs after all. The real shocking thing is the fact that you went all the way to advanced crafting」

「See, I was fed up with all the congestion on the first day of service, so as I was grindin’ and avoidin’ those crowds as a way of escapin’ that reality, I just became absorbed in it and reached an advanced level naturally」

The boy and girl were heartily discussing the unlikely situation as well as how unexpected it was for fellow classmates like them to be meeting each other. The scenery that surrounded them was that of an online game, a VRMMO that, over the years, had thoroughly swept its way to consumers all over. It was nothing that unusual.

The name of the boy who spoke in the Kansai dialect was Azuma Hiroshi. He was a third-year high schooler whose body type could be summed up as a medium build with a height of 171 centimeters, whose looks weren’t anything special other than having thick eyebrows, whose clothing sense wasn’t particularly strange, nor was it worn out, and yet no matter what he wore, he looked lame, and people would still say he was unpolished and was emitting the aura of a loser from his entire being.

Despite being in the middle of entrance exams, he was hooked on games, but you didn’t need that to know that he was the type of person to go with the flow and that his hobby besides games was reading (particularly of the light novel variety) – in other words, he would be classified by society as an otaku.

The girl’s name was Toudou Haruna. She had a higher-than-average stature compared to Japanese girls of 167 centimeters, and characteristic of the fact that foreign blood was partially flowing through her, she had natural long, blonde hair as well as transparent-like blue eyes- a girl whom no one would have any issue with calling beautiful.

Because her mother–a singer–was a Nikkei (non-Japanese of Japanese descent) woman from England carrying one fourth Japanese blood, this girl had three-eighths English blood mixed in, making her lineage rather tough to convey.

As if her English blood were speaking for her, her body line was enough to pick a fight with a full-bodied gravure idol and win, which caused males to have their eyes glued to her. She was seventeen years old and in the same class as Hiroshi, and she had a bright future ahead of her.

「I’m not one to talk, but is really okay for you to be playing games at a time like this?」

「I’m happy that yer worryin’ ’bout me, but despite how it might look, I’m still goin’ to prep school, n’ I did just barely manage to get an A appraisal for my first choice of schools. Plus I was just gonna get one more skill level up n’ then take a break. Probably don’t hafta even ask this, but what about you, Toudou-san?」

「I guess you could call it taking a breather? I hardly ever logged in since the last spring break」

As you can understand from this conversation, it wasn’t like they were both hooked on games and neglecting their entrance exams. Although the school they commuted to was public, the grades in the school were top-class even in their prefecture, so their academic level was certainly not low.

Haruna had inherited superior memory from her parents, she was consistently ranked in the three-digit area even for nationwide mock examinations, holding a firm grip on the A appraisal for getting into her university of choice.

Hiroshi was also trying his best at his studies every day, his grades rivalling Haruna’s in some of the curriculum. In the first place, he was the type who was always fiercely conflicted with difficult courses, feeling uneasy at certain times that he might fail.

There was the amiable and considerate beauty, then there was the light otaku who unleashed a loser aura. Even if they were classmates, other than conversations related to obligatory things, they would have never interacted with each other.

Of all the possibilities, the slightly awkward fact that they had bumped into each other in an online game may have actually been the one saving grace in this particular problem they were wrapped into.

「Still, I didn’t think I’d ever get to properly talk to ya before we graduated, yet here we are talkin’ ’bout games. Life really is mysterious」

「Plus you had this aura like you didn’t want to associate with me」

「I don’t really know ’bout all that. ‘S just been my experience that it ain’t never good to be seen with popular girls, so I just prefer to avoid any girl like yer kind」

「……Wow. What you’re saying about me is supposed to be horrible, and yet I find myself strangely agreeing with you……」

Haruna looked slightly depressed. Hiroshi became slightly concerned about what she had said. They were talking about real life problems, but he didn’t want to get dragged into all that. He moved further away from her.

「Ya sound like you’d happen to know somethin’ ’bout that. Maybe I should just let sleepin’ dogs lie……」

「No, I don’t think you have to worry about that in this situation…」

「True. Guess I’ll stop avoidin’ the real issue and go over the current situation again」

As he said that, he surveyed his surroundings. This was not the weak, anime-esque scenery of your typical VRMMO. The way it looked with its fresh hues, the way it felt, and the smell of the air. The living beings modeled unlike anything in the real world. And most importantly, the extremely sharp, unrestricted, real pain that you would feel when you got attacked.

「Definitely not possible in a game, right?」

「It’s clearly Fairy Tale Chronicle, or a world that closely resembles it, I’d say」

In such a ruthless situation, they sighed and faced each other while saying the same thing:

「What do we do……?」

「Whadda we do……?」

Haruna and Hiroshi pondering what to do

And just like that, while sorting through the realistic remains of a bear in front of them as the game had taught them to, they were reminded again that this was reality. The loser and the talented girl discussed this with each other with no idea as to what they should do.

***

From Hiroshi’s perspective, it all began approximately four hours earlier.

「Suuup」

『Oh, Hiro-san, ‘evening?』

『Yo?』

Faithfully following his promise to his parents, Hiroshi had finished an hour of his study for the mock entrance exam, finally leaving some time for him to cheerfully put on his headgear, logging into the usual VRMMO, “Fairy Tale Chronicle”. When he sent a greeting into the group chat, the various members of the formed party began greeting him back.

The game called “Fairy Tale Chronicle” that they were playing was a VRMMO that had officially began service when he was in middle school, with slogans like “Hunting? Farming? ‘Tis all up to You!”, “From Survival to Slow Life”, “Items Within this Game are all Craftable”, filled with a kind of volume that defied common sense from the day it was released and becoming a popular topic for its degree of freedom that was just as advertised, utilizing a promotion system that was a hybrid of character level and skill proficiency in a world that did not define occupations in the traditional sense of an RPG.

This game had already accomplished a grand, unfathomable feat by cramming in maps and elements packaged from day one that would normally require three or four large-scale updates, with even the field information taking a year to gather, and with only two large-scale updates, it had achieved evolution into a gargantuan title that no one other than the producers themselves could fully grasp all the elements of.

However, the biggest shock of all was probably that despite having all that capacity, no real bugs or server outages had occurred even once. Undoubtedly, the greatest reason as to why it was accumulating user support was that despite undergoing hardly any balance regulations, in exchange for giving a portion of one’s skills to the automatic training system while logging out, it would contain all varieties of outer tools and macros in order to implement a firm administration security that had never once allowed any breaches by hackers, no matter what methods they were using.

Despite having already begun service five years ago, this game was still running along at top class in regards to both user numbers and player satisfaction. This was what “Fairy Tale Chronicle” was.

『Hiro-san, Hiro-san』

「What up?」

『Got any healing potions and mana potions in your inventory?』

「Let’s see. At the moment I got a stack of level 6s in storage. That alright?」

『Good enough. Heck, there wasn’t anything higher than level 4 appearing in the marketplace』

Hiroshi had no choice but to agree, seeing as he hadn’t used street stands or auctions for a long time, thinking that the goods that appeared were low leveled. Level 4 potions in the first place were often dropped by humanoid small fries monster. It would be great if all they did was drop them, but there were also those who, despite being monsters, had no issue with using said potions and heal themselves. So those who hunted them would complain about it being the most annoying thing ever.

Due to certain circumstances, the craftsmen in this game did not release the items they made into the marketplace. As a result, the only things that appeared in booths or auctions were drop items or quest rewards. Additionally, because advanced raw materials could only be obtained by advanced craftsmen disassembling monsters, not even those raw materials made it into the marketplace.

Once you got to a certain level, networks between fellow craftsmen were firmly set up. So, it was normal to exchange the remaining raw materials with them directly. Consequently, craftsmen like Hiroshi almost never made use of booths or auctions, causing them not to comprehend the rare value of their products.

「That right? Well, ya need to have intermediate level proficiency maxed out if ya wanna make Level 5 potions」

『Yeesh, didn’t know it was that difficult……』

Friend A groaned at Hiroshi’s words. Incidentally, being maxed out, in online game terminology, indicates that one has reached the upper limit. In this case, it was the same as saying that you need to have mastered intermediate level.

「Well, craftin’ does require adaptation, resignation, and patience after all. So how much ya need?」

『For now I’d a hundred of both. You have that much?』

「In plenty, in plenty. If ya want a hundred then I don’t mind givin’ ya Level 8 ones too」

He pointed at the highest level items that could be made with the Potion-Making skill, which he had made a mountain of in order to raise his skill over winter break. He would honestly prefer that someone take them off his hands, since they were taking up a third of his entire storehouse.

『No no, 6 is plenty. And the day I use something like Level 8, I’ll stick out like a sore thumb. So how much?』

Hiroshi didn’t know about this, since he only ever delved into dungeons to gather raw materials, but his Level 8 potions currently boasted a higher healing rate than top-player healing magic.

Having only one of those didn’t make much of a difference in this harsh game, but as long as you were to partner with a skilled attacker, it was good enough to win against an intermediate dungeon boss without using healing magic.

Most of all, in this game where for a certain reason players training their crafting skills were extremely few, Level 5 potions and above were quite valuable, as they could not be obtained without crafting or stealing them from rare humanoid monsters.

Level 6 potions were viewed as the highest level by the majority of people, and no matter the variety of potion, the advanced groups in the marketplace would buy them up the moment they came in. In addition, Hiroshi’s friends were among the majority of players, so none of them were likely to know the market price. Not only that, but for some reason, NPCs wouldn’t buy any potions over Level 5.

「Lessee…eh, I only made ’em to level up my skill, so I’ll say five hundred per bottle」

『Cheap!!』

「Well uhh, to be honest, if they ain’t appearin’ on the market, ya can’t determine the official prices. Since the NPC won’t have access to them, then there may as well be no such thing. Everyone’s campaignin’ for the drop-related materials anyway」

『Well, I’m not particularly well-off, so I’m happy that I can even get it this cheap』

「Then I’ll have it delivered right now with payment on delivery」

『Understood. Thanks as always』

He sent the potions he had taken out of storage, specifying that they go via express home payment delivery. Incidentally, the price he had set of five hundred for one bottle was the maximum amount that one could normally buy from NPCs – for the price of a Level 2 potion.

It was a recovery agent that would be essential for initial-game medium-game hunting, but at a particularly hefty price. Nevertheless, that would merely lead people to think that it was better to save up with hunting and quests and then craft them yourself. However, it must be pointed out that the circumstances at the beginning of the game were quite unfortunate for crafters.

『Hiro, my cousin says she wants to start playing this game now that she has access to VR. Got any equipment that’d be good for beginners?』

「Lemme think. Outta the top of my head, I have a knife and a set of clothing that’re a bit better than small-fry drops. That good with ya?」

『Let me see the specs』

「This is what I mean」

He transcripted the data of the clothing and knife that he had fished out of storage, sending it via mail.

『I dunno about this one…』

「Didja want somethin’ better?」

『Quite the contrary. Might be a little too advanced for a beginner to handle』

「If it’s anythin’ worse than this, ya might as well buy it from an NPC」

『Yeah? Got it. Then, I’ll just buy the cheap stuff initially, but then give these to her at the right time. How much?』

「Lemme think. Normally it’s 1,500 to sell to NPCs, so I’d say 3,000?」

『That’s still really cheap, yeesh』

「All it’s doin’ is eatin’ up space in storage, so don’t mind ’bout it. Heck, I’ll even give ya stacks of leftover practice potions and Level 0 potions」

He said, pushing out the lowest level potions that had hardly any recovery capabilities to be useful. They were the type of potions that truly demonstrated how unfortunate crafting skill was at the beginning.

At the start, it was essential in the initial stage of the game to complete the tutorial and beginner quests. But in order to complete those quests successfully, it was necessary to have Level 2 potions handy. Thus the merchandise became high in demand.

Not to mention that the potions had a so-called “poison” system, with mana potions and stamina potions in particular having a high poison rate. So, there are lots of these low level potions left over from tutorials or beginning-game quests.

Selling these left over potions to NPCs didn’t work, as the contents weren’t useful enough. You also couldn’t re-use the containers after using the potions. Hiroshi and the other craftsmen had similar complaints that for a game that praised freedom, in other ways it felt more like it was trying to shoo away beginner players with how you had to use another skill to craft containers.

The main reason as to why the majority of players kept away from crafting was something simple: Gathering the materials necessary to make anything was extremely difficult.

After all, at the beginning stage, even if you got your hands on a blade of grass, you have to check it properly and correctly take from it whatever was useable. This process took a lot of stamina. Even with one’s stamina being full at the start, once you did enough of those operations it would run out, and you could not continue working until you rested for five minutes.

The expenditure of MP or stamina was particularly harsh for manufacturing raw materials, but as you couldn’t progress in the first place without materials, the overall process is just very difficult to maintain.

Not to mention that it was a masochistic procedure, since one of the features of this VRMMO made players actually feel tired and unable to move. On top of that, the more the stamina decrease, the efficiency or success rate for manufacturing would fall right before your eyes.

So without resting a good five minutes, it wouldn’t even end up being a very productive manufacturing. Once your proficiency went past a certain point, those sorts of problems would get more and more scarce, but until that point, it was truly agonizing.

Adding to those strangely real settings, whenever your crafting product rank went up, it was possible that you would need other crafting skills in order to create high rank products or that you’d even need to use multiple crafting skills at one time in order to process them.

Since these sorts of things that required ridiculous dedication were apparent, even for those who managed to overcome the barrier of the initial stamina and cumbersome procedures, half of the intermediate level players would just give in and quit.

To make matters worse, as mentioned previously, at intermediate level, all you could make were things that could already be bought from NPCs. This lack of a sense of accomplishment would usually quickly drive anyone out who wasn’t seriously stubborn and deeply devoted to it.

To cut straight to the point, this vulgar process of crafting was the one major complaint of the users of Fairy Tale Chronicle. Not only that, but in the same way that the crafts people were no longer allowing their products to go into the marketplace, the number of people in the crafting occupation were comparatively few compared to other games.

This was why countless times, requests were made asking the developers to at the very least make the crafting levelling up process slightly easier.

『I’ve always thought this, but I really would like to see all of the contents of your storage, Hiro-san』

「I don’t mind showin’ ya, but it’s filled with manufactured products and raw harvested materials, so there ain’t many valuable items」

『Oh, come on. Those Level 8 potions that you say you have a mountainful of are already valuable items, mate』

「Everyone who does advanced crafting pretty much all have storages that resemble one another. I wouldn’t even be surprised if there were an immediate price collapse if we were to sell ‘em」

『Your storages are all that ridiculous?』

「Welp, I mean there are like twenty-four peeps who can make Level 8, n’ each one o’ them has ten thousand of each variety, so at the very least, just using one of those sections from their storage would make a total of a minimum of two million one-hundred forty-thousand bottles」

At a glance, these were staggering amounts, but if you were to think about it from the perspective of the total number of players and amount of consumption, you couldn’t really say it was all that much. After all, in just one trip through a dungeon, you would normally expend fifty to a hundred potions.

『Well, moving on. Hiro-san, wanna delve into a dungeon right now?』

「Ooo, that sounds good. I was just about to run outta raw drop materials, and I was plannin’ to rest a bit today or tomorrow for the entrance exam, so once I’m done with the work right here then I’d be glad to join ya」

『What are you making right now?』

「I’ll save the surprise for later」

Insolently jesting, Hiroshi continued his work as his friends tentatively set the meeting place and start time. Glancing at them from the side, he continued his work……

「Alriiight, skill maxed out!」

Having achieved the objective of his work, he confirmed that he had mastered the unique skill that he had recently obtained from a quest. After he had taken out a transition stone and some other things in preparation for going to the meeting place, the sound effect for receiving mail rang.

「Mm?」

Peeking at his mailbox, there were three letters with odd titles and clearly garbled text. He immediately sought to delete them, but just in case, he reached out to only his acquaintances and friends.

「Hey. Did anyone send me mail just now?」

『No, I haven’t. Why?』

「Ya see, I just got three letters with garbled text」

『……You’d best not touch those』

The oldest member warned Hiroshi.

「Seemed suspicious so I didn’t intend to look inside, but why?」

『Lately, there have apparently been several cases of trouble with clients being destroyed due to garbled mail. Even the public has picked up on it』

「Whaaat? That the first time such a fatal bug came in? Oh shoot, yer right. There’s a notification from management」

『So once you contact management, you need to make sure to avoid touching them, even if it means not erasing them』

「Understood. Thanks fer lettin’ me know」

He thanked him, thereafter contacting the GM regarding the garbled mail. He also reported the bug to management with a screenshot attached. Just in case, he made a backup that didn’t include the aforementioned garbled mail, then activated the transition stone to finally delve into the dungeon, when all of a sudden, an irregularity occurred.

「The heck is this!?」

The garbled mail began filling up his mailbox, commencing its invasion even through the other windows.

『What’s wrong?』

「The garbled mail just started pourin’ outta the mailbox!」

『The hell!?』

「I dunno! Wha, why did it just open without me touching it!!」

The chat members heard Hiroshi’s cry, and they hurriedly tried calling out to him. However, he wasn’t even allowed to answer them as the garbled mail began piling up more and more in his vision. A new location in garbled letters was added to the location selection for his transition stone and was automatically chosen.

「Hold yer horses! Movement cancel!」

Hiroshi’s scream was futile, the transition stone was activated, and all he could see were errors and alerts filling up the area. When those two warning displays enveloped his field of vision like a magic circle, Hiroshi’s consciousness faded.

===

「……The heck is this……」

He muttered, grimacing as he looked at his surroundings. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw that he was lying down in a familiar, yet unfamiliar sort of forest. Well, it was a forest, but it soon became clear that he hadn’t gone too far in after he walked in the direction of the light and saw open grassland. Though it wasn’t clear as to where the entrance was, he didn’t think there was any issue with registering it as being within that vicinity.

「Seriously, what’s goin’ on……」

Paying close observation to his surroundings, he sighed at how ridiculous the situation was. It would have been no issue if the plants that made up the forest were all unknown to him. He didn’t quite have enough knowledge to differentiate between vegetation, yet he found himself recognizing nearly all of their names. It went without saying that the majority of them were not found in the real world.

「And in this outfit? Ya’d never catch me in this……」

His clothing was not what he was wearing before putting on the headgear, nor was it what he had been wearing in-game: A simple shirt with something like a monk’s tunic over it, pants that were of much too insultingly rough making to be called slacks, and shoes that were a step above having no shoes at all, but with soles that made you question whether it made a difference. He remembered what this was: the clothing set you start out with in Fairy Tale Chronicle. It was quite honestly shabby.

His possessions were no different: other than his clothing, he had only one shoddy knife. He had no purse nor satchel. Even in the clothes he had previously there was no purse, so a knife was at least better than nothing, but this was still going to be a tough situation.

「Now then, the heck do I gotta do first……」

Ending his escape from reality that had also functioned as confirming the situation, he grumbled as he searched for something that might give him an idea as to what he should do for the moment. Joking aside, there was a chance that his life was in danger, so he made it a priority to search earnestly.

As he was doing all that and closely observing his surroundings, all of a sudden, he heard something akin to a female shriek. Since it was a female voice, Hiroshi had instinctively thought to escape in the opposite direction of the voice, but the situation itself was quicker.

「Noーーーーーーーーーー!!」

「What in tarnation!」

Not even ten seconds after hearing her voice, he saw a somewhat familiar-looking blonde girl rushing desperately out of the deep forest while screaming. As she ran along at a speed unfathomable for normal humans, he saw that behind her there was a gigantic bear of about three meters.

Hiroshi, who had been shaking as he looked at the girl, lost balance with his footing, and before he knew it, he had tumbled in between both the girl and the bear who had nearly caught up.

「Run!!」

Before the attractive girl with the familiar voice and appearance had even yelled that out, he had instinctively drove the knife into the bear’s stomach with all his might, causing it to fly away. The inside of his head was by this time a blank slate, and the shaking from his entire body would not subside.

Faced with the deep trauma associated with the beings known as “females” on one end, and with the imminent danger of a gigantic bear on the other end, his reason and emotions should have withered away in fear, but he did not instinctively acknowledge the bear as a threat. He stepped forward precisely because he was more frightened of the other.

Though quivering with uncontrollable fear, Azuma Hiroshi was pushed by his instincts to stop the giant bear in its tracks.

===

「So ya had garbled mail sent to ya too, Toudou-san?」

「So you also received it, Azuma-kun……」

「In my case, seems like the transition stone was the trigger, but what about you, Toudou-san?」

「For me it was when I tried going through the eastern Wulls transportation gate」

After dissecting the bear, the two of them had roughly split apart the meat and cooked it, discussing the events prior to this as they filled themselves up. They were still conversing at quite the distance, and Hiroshi was clearly still guarded, but Haruna got why that was the case, so she decided not to comment on it.

「They just brought us over here without no equipment, items, money…Not cool, man, not cool」

「Seriously. And I just had a Berserker Bear pop up out of nowhere as I was searching for safety……」

「You’re not all that lucky after all, Toudou-san」

「Seriously……」

Recalling what it was like to reunite with Hiroshi, she expelled a deep sigh. Just like Hiroshi, she had been sent over here, running in a panic as fast as she could after being attacked by a bear in the middle of searching for a safe area.

However, no matter what abilities you had, once you got into a panic, you would not be able to use those abilities efficiently. As a result, she had only run for a bit when she tripped on a rock and the bear had nearly caught up to her, which had happened just earlier. As they were both present for everything after that, there was nothing more to be told.

For the battle itself, she had noticed Hiroshi’s quivering attempt to stop the opponent’s attack and had followed up with support magic, thereafter managing to both attack it with their weak startup knives and make it through with nothing more than light bruises.

For better or for worse, they retained the abilities and skills from the game, easily managing to put an end to this boss bear even with their meager equipment.

「Actually, in retrospect, it wouldn’t have been difficult to defeat that thing solo with this knife……」

「Yup. Thankfully, our levels, skills, ‘n parameters seem to have been carried with us」

He nodded, recalling the battle from earlier and their healing up afterward. The Berserker Bear was in actuality a field boss meant to kill first-time players, but from the standpoint of most players, it was nothing more than an inferior low-level dungeon enemy.

「Umm, Azuma-kun」

「What?」

「I recall messing with the appearance of my avatar a good amount, but what do I look like now?」

「Uhh…other than yer clothing, yer still the old Toudou-san who was the class moodmaker」

「……Thought so……」

Haruna said with a sigh. Hiroshi wasn’t sure what the matter was.

「I don’t really see why ya’d be worryin’ about your appearance when we were suddenly blown into this odd situation……」

「You say that, but…in this game where personal information is abundant, I’m a little hesitant to walk around without makeup」

「Ohhh, in that sense, it would probably be best for ya to be careful, yeah」

「So you understand?」

「Yup. Plus your parents are famous and all」

He looked at Haruna once more as he was speaking, recognizing another issue.

「Now that I think ’bout it……」

「Mm?」

「The startup clothing in this game would leave a lot to be desired in real life……」

「……Now that you say it……」

They weren’t concerned about it when they were in their avatar forms, but the game’s startup clothing was designed to be loose, which left a surprising amount of gaps. Although it was crafted so that nothing major could be seen, depending on the pose or angle, it wasn’t difficult to be able to see cleavage.

And as of now, Haruna’s body type was not the washing board it had been for the whole time she played, but was instead her real body that could beat a gravure idol any day……

「There really are quite a few issues with fantasy clothing……」

「I wouldn’t mind makin’ ya some clothing if ya want」

「You sew?」

「Sewing? Heck, as a crafter, you kinda hafta be decent at everything if ya wanna aim for advanced level」

「Seriously?」

「Really」

Due to various circumstances, it wasn’t well-known what required crafting or what could be accomplished by crafting. At the very least, it wasn’t likely that anyone other than craftsmen knew that the slogan “Everything in the Game can be Crafted” was in fact true.

「Well for the time being, what would we do ’bout money if we wanted to go to town?」

「This whole penniless situation with this startup equipment is seriously sucky……」

「And we don’t even have shoes……」

As they were grumbling, they took notice of the bear’s pelt that they had roughly dealt with. They had been thrown into this situation with nothing but the clothes they had on, so the remains of the bear were like a mountain of treasure to Hiroshi as he contemplated all the things he could make.

「Well, I say I could make shoes with this」

「You can do that?」

「Without too much difficulty, yeah. For now I’d need string and a needle. For the string, I can make do with the fur of those rabbits wandering around here, and for the needle……I saw a river back there, so I could probably make do with fish bones」

「So that’s all you need……」 𝗳r𝗲𝙚w𝐞𝚋𝘯𝚘ѵ𝗲l.𝑐oｍ

「Yeah, at least for makin’ shoes. So with that being said, I’ll take care of the rabbit fur string, but sorry, would ya do me a favor and grab some fish bones? Ya seem like yer cookin’ skills are better than mine」

「Roger. May as well make dried food while I’m at it」

After hearing her say that and seeing her off to the river, he made use of the nearby rabbits and began weaving string. The rabbits in this region were like Angora rabbits in that they had fluffy fur, so they were ideal for making string.

To put it into further perspective, with a high-level weaving skill, even without tools it was possible to weave a minimal line of string. Of course, it would still be difficult to weave cloth.

「At this rate, we gotta think ’bout wilderness survival……」

「That’s how it has to be for now……」

He grumbled while weaving thin string to the limit with his bare hands. After handling the fish she had caught, Haruna moved onto preparing it for smoking as she expressed her agreement with a sigh.

「For now, once we’ve gathered a certain amount o’ tools, we’d be able to make some sellable medicine and whatnot, so I guess we may as well start from there……」

He let out a deep sigh as he had finished weaving the necessary amount of string and had given it the minimum processing, needle in hand. While being fed up at how far they had to go, this was how the first day of their fantasy life began.