That’s What You Call a Hardcore Gamer!
Translator: Kagura
Editor: Millinia
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 7: Situation in town
The next morning, I went down to the first floor and took out the rice balls and green tea from my inventory, and placed them on top of the front counter for our guild members who couldn’t log out. The inventory can be accessed from anywhere.
One by one, the guild members lined up calmly and received them.
In between bites, I announced to them,”…and that’s about it. If you have your own house, check there and make sure you have enough underwear, clothes, equipment, and so on. Also, it looks like it’s a mess outside, so be careful out there!”
I said this with a hopeful smile, and everyone nodded as they ate. Within this guild, there hasn’t been any noticeable disorder—yet. However, I know very well that this is just the situation at our guild hall . Nachi has been busy chatting away with his friends since this morning, and from what he told me, the situation is very different elsewhere.
After the meal, I checked the inventory again. I’ve already expanded my inventory to the maximum size, so it can store 99 items per slot and has 8,000 slots… so it is capable of storing 8,000 multiples of 99. Currently, there are 200 vacancies. The rest of the inventory is being used to store materials, processed goods, recovery items—now including food and drink—and some equipment that I quietly made with my crafting skills, which I planned to give to novices as support.
I’m not a particularly hardcore player, so I don’t typically need powerful equipment. And while my character’s level is high, the status and skill levels aren’t maxed out. I was just… wondering if it would be better to distribute some of my equipment to the guild members considering the chaos outside, even if it doesn’t necessarily count as clothing…
I am troubled by it.
“Neji!”
As Nachi suddenly called out to me, I reflexively hit the inventory’s exit button. The inventory window that had been unfolding in front of my vision closed.
“Hmm?”
“Well, I was thinking, why don’t we check out the situation in town for a bit?”
“Ah… That’s what I was thinking too. Depending on the situation, it might be better to ration a rice ball, or something, once every three days.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I guess everyone in the guild is going to check their inventories and private houses today, right? Why don’t we go first?”
“That’s right. In a way, I think it’s up to you and me to decide what direction to take in the future.”
When I agreed, Nachi laughed softly. Maybe the reason I’ve been able to maintain some level of composure is because Nachi has been so calm all this time.
Thus, we ate rice balls and green tea with everyone for lunch as well, and then decided to take a stroll around Clock Town. Normally when I’m in the square, I don’t carry much of a weapon to use my skills, but just in case, I kept my spear on my back.
Even though I have a spear weapon, there basically aren’t any offensive skills for a bard—it’s the weakest class by itself in the game. Even so, I can still wield the spear as a physical weapon and use my bard skills to take out the early bosses with a single blow. I’ve been using those to help novices so far—although I can only help them up to about lvl 100.
Nachi also carried a staff on his back. We both tied our shoelaces together, gave each other an unspoken nod of affirmation, and walked out of the guild’s front door.
Since the guild house was on the outskirts of the plaza, we decided to first head to the center of the plaza where the announcement board and official general store were located. There were no longer crowds like there were at the time of the event announcement, but I noticed some people lying down on benches—obviously having slept out in the open. I opened the console window to see what the general store had for sale, and it was sold out yet again today. Normally, most people don’t buy food items like eggs, milk, rice balls, etc. because they are cheap and ineffective—but now they are all sold out. The official general store was supposed to reset every morning at 5:00 a.m. to replenish, and that didn’t seem to have changed. The reason I could tell was because there was a sign that read, “Sold Out Today”.
After looking at the surroundings, Nachi spoke up, “Everyone seems to be in need of food, clothing and shelter after all. Especially the light users who don’t pay for in-game items and don’t have any in-game currency.” 1
We consider ourselves casual players, but we enjoy the game as much as we can, so others probably think of us as being more hardcore. Although, not all of our guild members are like that.
“The guild members of Mashed Potato are lucky to have Neji.”
“I wonder…”
“Neji is cheerful, gentle, a bit of a pushover, but also a hard worker.”
“Why have you been flattering me, since yesterday?”
“In a situation like this, it’s to be expected that the only people you can trust are your real friends…” Nachi strangely lowered his voice, “but to be honest, I’m very worried.”
It was surprising because he seemed so calm. But I understood what he meant, because I would have been worried too if Nachi hadn’t been here.
“Well just in case, let’s take a look around the whole city. Around the corner, there’s a rental stall for the F2P players, a trade board, and an official cafe.”2
Nachi regained his composure and spoke, “That’s right. I want to know if there’s no food there either.”
So we turned the corner, and then entered a winding, usually deserted, back alley as a shortcut to the stalls area.
At that moment, a voice suddenly called out to us, “Ah, you’re the two from Mashed Potato.”
Nachi and I both abruptly turned our heads. There were five men standing there. Everyone was well equipped to some degree. From their equipment, I could tell that they were a group of axe-wielders.
“I see that your avatar was shared with your real appearance.”
“I always thought you were pretty cute but… wow.”
They surrounded us, grinning. I was wondering what this was all about and then Nachi narrowed one eye.
“We are in a hurry, please let us through.”
Then the men gave us vulgar smiles.
“We can’t even log out because of the situation. But we can still kill’ya. If you disobey us, the weak and chatty ones like you will die in one shot. You know that, right?”
My eyes widened when I heard that. Next to me, Nachi gasped.
“This game was originally about sex too, ya’ know? How about you let us fuck you? See?”—the man crudely gestured towards his genitals—“you know what they say about your sex drive going up before you die?”
“Which one should I fuck?”
“I’ll use Neji’s mouth.”
“Then I’ll take Nachi’s back.”
I was shocked and in disbelief. Nachi furrowed his brow and kept his eyes downcast for a long time. He seemed to be controlling something with his eyes. At this point, I clearly understood that I was about to be raped as the men crowded me and tried to touch my clothes. I turned pale and felt like my whole body had gone cold. Considering the number of people involved, their skill level, and the quality of their equipment, there was no doubt that we would be killed if we defied them. Sure, we were told that we would be revived, but there would still be pain in the process.
I instinctively blurted, “Just take me. Let Nachi go.”
Nachi opened his eyes next to me and he then glared at the men.
“Neji. Never mind that. You’re out of your mind for messing with us.”
“Wow, you’re a lot tougher than I thought.”
One of the men laughed mockingly. Then he picked up his axe. He swung it.
Ah. I am going to be killed. Despite my fears, I picked up my spear to somehow protect Nachi.
At that moment, a cold and hoarse voice emanated from behind us.
“What are you doing?”
TL note: Guess whose voice is it? Place your bets Heath or Mao.
I guess Mao, because when Nachi was lowering his head, he probably was asking him for help.
No more chapter!! Nnoooo!
Oh well. I thinks it’s Heath. Because he’s the ML, right?
I thinks it’s Heath, and btw, I think he has liked Neji since he helped him, but he’s maybe reallly shy?
Hmm… Maybe it’s Heath
Anyhow. I’m still impressed at the 8000 inventory slots. Like, sure, maybe it’s total slot combined between the inventory and storage, but daym man. 8000 slots. Muthafuckin 8000 slots for Bahamut’s sake… that’s a lot
But it kind of makes sense when Neji said he hoard newbie equipment to be given away to new players, considering how equipment didn’t stack in the inventory. Maybe about 3000 of those slots were newbie equipments, who knows, LOL
Also, thanks for the chapter!
Ehhhhh i bet on Heath.
Somehow dust flew into my eyes at the end of this chapter, idk why. QAQ
Thanks for the chapter!^^