VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～

「Level 30? Is that the current level cap?」 (Yumir)

「That seems to be the case. Though apparently, after you reach level 25, it takes quite a while to level up」 (Hind)

「…However, if they have already confirmed it that means…」 (Riizu)

「Yup. It means that there are already players that have reached it. How much time have they devoted to TB? I kind of want and don’t want to know」 (Hind)

I meet up with Yumir and Riizu after returning to Heathrow town.

Even though I had brought lots of valuable information, their attitude was somehow cold.

Why? Even though it was information I got to help Yumir.

They’ve been like this since I told them I was going to meet up with Selene-san…I don’t get it.

Right now, we were heading towards the hunting grounds she had told me.

We were ascending the smooth hill at a quick pace.

「However, aren’t you going too fast Hind? Does it have to do something with the time?」 (Yumir)

「Yeah, the monsters we are planning to farm only appear at night. They only appear for 1 hour after 11pm, that’s the reason we left town in a hurry」 (Hind)

「Which means that if we let this chance slip by…the next time it’ll be during 3am. That would be impossible for us」 (Riizu)

「That it would. That being said, I want to hurry up and get to the hunting grounds」 (Hind)

「I have heard all you’ve said! D-Degozaru!」 (?)

「！？」

Suddenly, there was a player standing in our way.

He was wearing a navy blue jacket, hakama, gaiters, hood and straw sandals…a very Japanese outfit.

In reaction to this man who was wearing all that to look like a ninja, we…

「「「……」」」

Ignored him and just went past him.

I mean, we have no time to waste.

「Don’t ignore me! Wacchi, it’s me, me!」 (?)

「Is this one of those 「It’s me!」 scams? I don’t know of any Shuuheis that go around trying to look like a ninja」 (Hind)

「You just called me Shuuhei! Say something Miyucchi!」 (Shuuhei)

「My job as a knight is telling me…that I shouldn’t leave my tank role to a ninja」 (Yumir)

「Eh!? What do you even mean!?」 (Shuuhei)

I don’t really want Yumir to act as tank anymore though, she dies too often.

I found Shuuhei, who went as far as to remove his hood to plead to us, quite annoying.

From his avatar I could see that he hadn’t changed his face, he was the same as in the real world.

「R-Rise-chan!」 (Shuuhei)

「Oh my, just when I was wondering who you were, aren’t you nii-san’s friend?」 (Riizu)

「I’m so glad that Rise-chan is giving an honest reactio-」 (Shuuhei)

「Aren’t you the good looking Shuuhei that in the first year of middle school received double digits of chocolate during Valentine, but by the time he was in his third year, that amount was reduced to 0?」 (Riizu)

「You are the worst one!! Wacchi!!」 (Shuuhei)

「Ah…right right. You did well to find us, Shuuhei」 (Hind)

「Sniff…leaving Wacchin aside, those 2 do stand out after all…once I asked around it was pretty easy…」 (Shuuhei)

Shuuhei’s job was that of a light warrior, his type was the evasive one.

He can dodge attacks with his skills, a type that fights in a way close to that of a ninja.

I would have liked him to be a defense type heavy warrior though…but this is a choice that is up to the player.

It’s not like our balance is getting worse, it doesn’t change the fact that I welcome an evasive tank.

His player name seems to be 「Tobi」.

His weapon of choice seems to be dual Tantos.

「By Tobi you probably don’t mean that bird right? Since you are a ninja, is it from Tobi Katou? Kato Danzou?」 (Hind)

「As expected of Wacchi, you sure are well informed. I even have a skill to guard allies, cool right?」 (Tobi)

「And in the end, you’ll end up assassinated in a toilet…」 (Hind)

「You don’t have to get into those details!」 (Tobi)

「However, your current gear…it seems somehow lacking」 (Hind)

「Eh, why!? Don’t I look like a perfect ninja no matter where you look!?」 (Tobi)

I exchanged looks with Yumir.

She probably felt the same way, Yumir gave me a big nod.

「As expected, here he should be wearing a lengthy muffler, right? Hind」 (Yumir)

「Yup, the crimson ones. Should I make one?」 (Hind)

「Why would I wear something that makes me stand out so much! What I want to play as is a ninja not a “ninja”!」 (Tobi) *1 “Ninja” written in katakana

Even if he says that, the image Shuuhei has of a ninja should be different from a real one.

Real ninjas usually wouldn’t fight.

Since their job is to mainly bring back information, the first thing they should think about is running awa-

「Hind-san, look at the time…」 (Riizu)

「Whoops, that’s right」 (Hind)

Riizu pulled me by my sleeves, we had kind went off-topic here.

To begin with, comparing a ninja inside the game to a real life one would be boorish.

I like both types after all.

Besides, it’s not the time to be playing around with Shuuhei…or rather, Tobi.

「Tsk, you are such a boring guy」 (Yumir)

「Boring you say…Yucchi aren’t you being too cruel?」 (Tobi)

「And the way you call me makes me uncomfortable. The way you call me Miyucchi does too」 (Yumir)

「Eh…in that case, I’ll add chan and call you Yumir-chan…」 (Tobi)

「That’s disgusting in its own way」 (Yumir)

「What do you want me to do!?」 (Tobi)

「Hey, we should get going…」 (Hind)

The sun was setting at the moment.

Quite a bit of time had passed while we were talking.

「Ah, in that case, I’ll guide you. You are going to Seikori hill right? I’ve been there」 (Tobi)

「…I’d appreciate that but…Tobi, what level are you at the moment?」 (Hind)

「28, why?」 (Tobi)

「So high! By the way, what’s your total playtime?」 (Hind)

「Counting today…I probably passed the 40 hour mark」 (Tobi)

When he said that, Yumir made an unpleasant face and started to step away from him.

It seems like VR is able to reproduce body odor too after all…

Did he even take a bath? It was an action made with that thought in mind.

「So rude! I properly take a bath before sleeping!」 (Tobi)

But to think he has played 40 hours…it basically means that he has spent all his time playing the game after returning home.

Until late at night at that, probably until midnight.

Even if launch day was a holiday and he could have played for a longer time…honestly, it’s a pretty high number.

Riizu eyes looked completely shocked.

I was quite concerned about it, so I added one last question.

「…Tobi, for how long have you been playing right now?」 (Hind)

「Uhm…since I ate dinner…so around 4 hours?」 (Tobi)

Long, that’s too long.

Is he an idiot? This guy.

「I won’t say anything bad so go and log out right now, drink some water, go to the toilet and do some stretching」 (Hind)

「Eh? But…」 (Tobi)

「We’ll wait for you! You are going to destroy your body at this rate! If you won’t listen to me, I won’t add you to my friend list nor play with you! I’ll get worried if you come with us in that state! If you get it, hurry up and go!」 (Hind)

「O-Ok. Wacchi, you are so kind…in that case, wait here for five minutes」 (Tobi)

「Do it properly! It’s fine if you take longer than five minutes, come once your body is rested! You hear me!?」 (Hind)

「Understood」 (Tobi)

Tobi logged out right there.

The moment his body completely disappeared, my shoulders dropped dejectedly.

「In the end, even though we were in a hurry, we ended up losing time…」 (Hind)

「Won’t you leave him behind? Hind-san」 (Riizu)

「It’s unusual but I’m thinking the same thing. Do we even need him?」 (Yumir)

「Even though he’s like that, he’s that high leveled after all…once he comes back I’ll have him work properly. Other than that, Yumir. With his playstyle, he can take attacks away from Yumir」 (Hind)

「Oh, that would be nice. Things like having to think about the balance with the rear-guard? Hate management? I think having to think about that kind of thing is annoying」 (Yumir)

「I don’t believe you do that type of stuff properly though…the one that takes care of that kind of thing is Hind-san after all」 (Riizu)

「I’m aware of that!」 (Yumir)

「Don’t start putting on airs please」 (Riizu)

While listening to their usual exchange, I sat down on a boulder close-by.

After that, Tobi returned around 10 minutes after having logged out.