Chapter 16: The Unique Being

"Using Goblin Axes just isn't worth the effort." Having reached that conclusion, I decided to kill time until nightfall by sleeping in real life. I was all fired up to pull an all-nighter and thoroughly conquer this area...! But without a weapon, it would just be that barren Taiko game again.

"Old man, is the weapon ready?"

"Oh, you're here. You sure dress funny, brother. Yeah, it's done."

My policy is to not accept criticism regarding my fashion; I've actually started to like this bird mask. I checked the item, which was handed directly into my inventory rather than by hand.

Marsh Daggers Daggers that, while muddy, show a fragment of brilliance. Crafted from high-quality ore from the Marshlands, these will likely become a warrior's long-time friend. Whether these blades will truly shine depends on the user. Effect: When a critical attack is successful, durability loss is halved for a certain period of time.

"To put it mildly, is this a God Weapon...?"

In terms of using something for a "long time," there is currently no weapon more appropriate than this. The Twin Saws offered an additional damage effect on criticals, but that's probably because Dual Wielding and Dual Blades are styles designed to land many hits and aim for criticals.

"Oh right, I wanted to ask something."

"Aah? I'm lookin' to go to sleep soon..."

"Is there a way to restore a weapon's durability?"

"Ah, lots of guys ask that question. There's no way an amateur can do anything about their weapons, right? Just quietly let us blacksmiths take care of it. We are blacksmiths who make weapons and raise weapons, you know? If you leave your weapons to us, we'll finish them up perfectly."

"Hm? Raise a weapon?"

"What, you don't know? Blacksmiths like me... guys who can use Forging Magic don't just make weapons, we can strengthen them further. Well, for a blacksmith, a weapon is like a child. We don't use dry words like 'strengthen,' we say 'raise'..."

Ignoring the old man as he started getting sentimental, I thought about what he meant by "raise." This game is apparently a treasure trove of hidden parameters, hidden elements, and hidden conditions—enough to make the strategy Wiki surrender. While leveling up normally obviously makes you stronger, things like Unique Jobs, Unique Equipment, and Unique Magic carry enough influence that even a beginner who has only been playing for a few days would attract massive attention if they got their hands on one. In other words, it is entirely possible that "raising" a weapon could trigger a sudden mutation based on certain conditions!

"Thanks. I'll come back when I gather more materials and money."

"Yeah, do your best."

Parting ways with the old man, I headed into the Marshlands of Agony with my new weapons. My quota: "Until my inventory is full."

"Seriously? That's cheating...!"

"Ge-kya-kya-kya!!"

"Gu-gi-ge!"

"Gya-gyaa!"

Calling for help is supposed to be the privilege of weak monsters...!! Since total pitch-black darkness would be too much of a "trash game" element, the Marshlands at night were about as dark as just after sunset in the real world. In that gloom, I involuntarily cursed at the fact that the red-hatted goblin had summoned allies.

I knew that the monsters in the Marshlands changed between day and night, but the strength balancing on these guys is clearly off. The Redcaps (Red-Hatted Little Ogres) surrounded me, wielding hand axes that had ranked up from chipped stone tools to polished stone tools, and rusted straight swords.

When I first encountered them, there was only one. Even then, it had speed you wouldn't expect from a goblin, and while I could dodge it, it would mix in feints filled with enough killing intent to send shivers down my spine. It gave off the strong scent of a monster tuned so that unless you were above a certain level, your only choice was to run—a so-called Unique Monster, or to use a term from other games, an F.O.E.

But this is Full Dive VR. The good thing about this genre is that level disadvantages can be covered by player skill—which is also the "bad" point that weeded out players who were only good at traditional display-based games. And not to brag, but I pride myself on being able to dodge most attacks unless they are full-screen instant kills, unavoidable hits, or bugged hits. The attack power of my newly acquired weapons was also quite good, and by my estimate, I had shaved off two-thirds of the Redcap's HP without taking a scratch... but then this red-hatted bastard summoned his friends.

As a result, I am currently surrounded by four Redcaps...

(Now, what to do...)

It's not like I'm doing a "no respawn" challenge, nor have I imposed a "permadeath" restriction on myself. However, in terms of game systems, a player character doesn't explode into polygons immediately upon losing all HP; the avatar remains on the spot for a few minutes. Furthermore, during the time between death and exploding into polygons to respawn, a third party can open the player's inventory. I hear that Player Killers (PKs) mostly attack players specifically for this kind of robbery. Since I don't have any teammates to cover me or revive me, I want to avoid having my inventory looted by anyone.

Then running away is the optimal solution... but it's also true that I want to try being reckless. After all, it's a game. If I don't enjoy it, I don't know why I'm playing.

"Now then, what should I do..."

Just then, one of the Redcaps was blown into the air with a thunderous roar. Did a kind player perhaps see my plight and help me?

"Grrrrrrr........."

Such a faint hope was drowned out by a growl that clearly belonged to a predator.

[You have encountered the Unique Monster "Lycaon the Night Raider".]

Wow, it's that pattern.

Author’s Notes & Lore

Forging Magic This is a production magic for creating "weapons and limited armor" that can be learned by becoming an apprentice to an NPC Blacksmith. For armor, one needs not only Forging Magic but also "Dressmaking Magic," which requires apprenticing to an NPC Armorer. Because of this, most Player Blacksmiths are weapon craftsmen. Since it allows for self-designing weapons, many players aim to become Swordsmiths, and some players sell their self-made weapons to beginners. Therefore, seasons where new players increase drastically are also chances for Production Class players to solve their financial issues and skill leveling all at once.

Translator’s Remarks

• Taiko Game: Sunraku refers to mining with a pickaxe as a "barren Taiko game." This is a reference to Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Drum Master), a rhythm game where you hit a drum to the beat.
• F.O.E: Foedus Obrepit Errabundus (Field On Enemy). A term popularized by the Etrian Odyssey series, referring to powerful mini-boss enemies visible on the field that are usually much stronger than the current party and meant to be avoided.