Translation: Charlotte
Editor: Weasalopes
The man standing behind the stall selling the rubber equipment was a player. A merchant, to be exact.
「This is… Rubber equipment?」
「It’s unusual, isn’t it? Just a prototype for now, though. I’m actually selling the concept and story behind that shield more than the shield itself.」
「So you really have all the materials to make this stuff?」
「Yeah, collecting natural rubber isn’t really an issue. Most of the trees around the Area Portal here are rubber trees.」
「Oh.」
That sounded like a very important piece of information.
Did that mean that it was okay for anyone to go and collect natural rubber for themselves?
In the first place, what kind of Production Job would working with rubber fall under?
I suppose since the rubber was being collected from rubber trees, a Lumberjack?
「No matter how much I try to recycle the rubber, the Grade just won’t go up… There’s still much research to be done.」
「Yeah, where are you guys making the rubber, anyway?」
「Ah, there’s a workshop two buildings from here working on rubber. Go there and talk to the Farmer Ryukahn. He’ll tell you about all the troubles he’s been through trying to work with natural rubber.」
「A Farmer?」
「Yeah. Both Ryukahn and me belong to the Player’s Guild at Kaya’s place.」
「Oh?」
「Oh, excuse me. Could it be that you are…?」
We agreed to use 【Identify】 on each other.
His name was Muto.
He certainly was a merchant.
~o~
I went to visit the workshop afterwards, but it was unfortunate that all the other players working on natural rubber were currently logged out.
What a shame…
Muto was the only one doing business in a street stall. It looked more like he was just killing time though.
Oh well. It couldn’t be helped.
I could try again at another time.
~o~
I finished up by taking one more look around the whole Area Portal.
Thinking of the Grey Forest from a player’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad place…
For the time being, my base was still set to the Relay Portal at bottom of the crater where the 12 Zodiac Shrines were. That meant that if I were to use Return Home, I would be sent there.
But the Grey Forest looked like it would make for a good base too.
Alright, I made up my mind.
I decided to make the Grey Forest my new base for the time being.
I recalled all my Summon Monsters.
I set up a tent to log out.
Well, I was planning on going back very soon anyway.
~o~O~o~
I logged in.
Well then, where to go…
I decided to use Call Monster to do some hunting and training for a bit.
There was no need to go a long distance.
There were plenty of monsters just outside the Area Portal, after all.
Anyway…
What about my Summon Monster team?
There was no need to focus on exploration.
I didn’t have to move over any long distances either.
I decided to summon Goki, Ninetails, Tigris, Gokame, and Denier.
It was a good team to intercept enemy attacks with.
I wanted to train Denier too, and bring him up to everyone else’s level.
And of course, Gokame was already quite close to his Class Change.
It would be good to spend some time hunting for a bit.
~o~O~o~
I had a lot of room in my own MP bar too.
About 80%.
I started by using many strengthening spells on myself and my Summon Monsters.
Well then, it was time to look for Killer Apes.
I take back everything.
The forest is the best.
I take back everything about the terrain being disadvantageous. The terrain was amazing for Denier!
The idea didn’t pop in my head until I actually saw it, but Denier could use the trees to set up plenty of web traps.
To think that the Denier would be most effective in a dense forest of all places!
~o~
A strategy that I grew to be quite fond of was getting Denier to set up a web trap in a bush.
Using Call Monster, I would then call Drone Beetles my way.
I knew what direction they were going to come from, so all I had to do was wait behind the trap for them to come charging at me.
After they were trapped in Denier’s web, dealing the finishing blow was very easy.
Wow… It was really quite something.
The strategy was so fun that I wanted to keep going until there were no more Drone Beetles around me.
But there were other monsters I had to deal with too.
There were many Killer Apes.
I wanted to try fighting them too. I couldn’t let them get away.
~o~O~o~
The time was 6 pm.
I got a few Magic Stones from all the Drone Beetles I took down, but after a few Killer Apes, they dropped an item too.
I thought they wouldn’t drop anything, but it seemed like I was mistaken about that.
~o~
【Material】 Killer Ape Bone Raw Material Grade C Rarity 3 Weight 1
The bone of a Killer Ape. Light and durable for its large size.
【Material】 Killer Ape Skin Raw Material Grade C+ Rarity 3 Weight 2
The skin of a Killer Ape. It is thick and hard, making it difficult to process.
~o~
As time passed and I took down horde after horde, the number of Killer Ape Bones and Killer Ape Skins I had started to accumulate.
But compared to the rate at which I could get the same item drops from the Wendigos, it seemed a bit lacking.
Well, it was a lot of items, so I could probably sell them off to make some money.
After I gathered and took down a horde of eight Killer Apes, several info screens came in at once.
~o~
《【Dagger】 Level Up!》
《【Water Magic】 Level Up!》
《【Fire Magic】 Level Up!》
《【Magic Effect Amplification】 Level Up!》
《【Magic Range Expansion】 Level Up!》
《Summon Monster 『Goki』 Level Up!》
《Please add 1 point to a desired stat.》
~o~
Out of all my Summon Monsters, it was Goki who first got a level-up that evening.
Well, I wasn’t about to complain.
The stat that went up with the level-up was VIT.
I put another point into INT.
~o~
Goki Rakshasa Lv5→Lv6 (↑1)
DEX 20
AGI 17
INT 17 (↑1)
STR 20
VIT 20 (↑1)
SPI 16
Skills:
Bow Hatchet Sword Buckler Block Evade Hide Dark Attribute
~o~
I guess it would be a good idea to squeeze in a break?
It was about to be night-time anyway, and I was sure night-time would bring with it a new set of monsters.
I would have to change my Summon Monster team accordingly.
But before that, dinner.
I headed back towards the Area Portal.
I recalled Goki and summoned Bunraku to have him start work on making dinner.
I was very excited to see what Bunraku would make me.
It was actually one of the more fun parts of the game!
~o~O~o~
The bowl Bunraku gave me looked like it was filled with… Udon?
Yeah.
After giving it a taste, it certainly was udon.
The soup stock wasn’t making use of a beef base in the Japanese style I was used to, but it was still very delicious.
While Bunraku was working on the meal, I spent some more time trying to dig out whatever was inside the Ancient Stone Pillar, and it looked like it would only take a bit more work until I was done.
No doubt about it, it was definitely some kind of wood log.
But still, the weight just felt wrong.
It looked like wood, but it was heavier than I imagined any type of wood could be.
I still couldn’t use 【Appraise】 on it.
Just a little more.
I was in the home stretch, but I couldn’t get too far ahead of myself, I was going to finish without getting in too much of a hurry.
~o~O~o~
The time was a little past 7 pm.
When I got back, I noticed that the Grey Forest had a lot more tents in it.
But even with the many tents scattered around the Area Portal, there was still more than enough space.
A forest at night, huh?
It certainly looked like a setting for many scary things to happen.
I would probably have to focus on building a strong Summon Monster team.
I kept Ninetails and Tigris in my team.
But I recalled Bunraku, Gokame, and Denier.
I summoned Shishiku, Telomere, and Florin.
I could do some night hunting while heading towards S4.
I knew the Area Portal of S4 was called the Deep Forest.
But even I wasn’t crazy enough to think I could cover the distance between the Area Portals of S3 and S4 in one night.
Using Instant Portals to spend the night, I could probably reach the Deep Forest by noon of the next day?
Well then. There was only one way to find out.
I got going.
Protagonist Keith
Race Human Male Racial Lv23
Job Grand Summoner Lv9
Bonus Points Remaining: 19
Skill Sets:
Sword Lv9 Two-handed Spear Lv8 Club Lv8 Dagger Lv8 (↑1) Rope Artes Lv8
Staff Lv17 Punch Lv15 Kick Lv15 Joint Lock Lv15
Throw Lv15 Evade Lv15 Block Lv15
Summon Magic Lv23 Spacetime Magic Lv13 Seal Magic Lv6
Light Magic Lv13 Wind Magic Lv14 Earth Magic Lv14 Water Magic Lv14 (↑1)
Fire Magic Lv14 (↑1) Dark Magic Lv13 Ice Magic Lv11 Lightning Magic Lv11
Tree Magic Lv11 Dust Magic Lv11 Lava Magic Lv12 Steam Magic Lv11
Alchemy Lv10 Pharmacy Lv8 Glassmaking Lv6 Woodworking Lv9
Synergy Lv16 Appraisal Lv16 Identify Lv16 Discern Lv5 Cold Resistance Lv8
Grab Lv13 Horsemanship Lv13 Precise Manipulation Lv15 Ropework Lv8
Jump Lv7 Acrobatics Lv8 Heat Resistance Lv9 Climb Lv8 Balance Lv8
Dual Wield Lv14 Disassembly Lv12 Swim Lv6 Dive Lv6
Dash Lv6 Endurance Run Lv5
Physical Reinforcement Lv13 Mental Reinforcement Lv13 Speedcasting Lv14
Magic Effect Amplification Lv13 (↑1) Magic Range Amplification Lv13 (↑1)
Summon Monsters:
Goki Rakshasa Lv5→Lv6 (↑1)
DEX 20
AGI 17
INT 17 (↑1)
STR 20
VIT 20 (↑1)
SPI 16
Skills:
Bow Hatchet Sword Buckler Block Evade Hide Dark Attribute
Thanks for the treat.
Thanks for the chapters!