Laying the Groundwork (2)

I am different from ordinary heroes. I was aware of this. The system logs that appear as the master manipulates the game are visible only to me.

There's one more thing.

I can bring up the status window. While seeing the logs can be dismissed as incidental, this is a different story.

It means I can interfere with the system of my own will.

Even if just a little.

I recalled the conversation I had with Isel last night.

Isel said that the status window I bring up is not displayed on the master's screen.

A being half-mixed with the master and the hero.

That was me.

'In that case.'

It should be possible.

To invade the realm allowed only to the master.

I picked up a wooden shield and a bow from the armory.

"You wait here."

I took the cart filled with materials from Jenna.

[Blacksmith Lv. 1]

I opened the small iron door to the left of the armory. A wave of hot air rushed out. Inside the blacksmith shop, there was a small, blazing furnace, an anvil, and various tools for crafting.

[Finally, we're crafting!]

Isel appeared, circling above my head. Her cheeks were flushed, possibly due to the heat of the furnace.

"Let's give it a try."

[So, Loki! What are you going to make? Levatein? Or Gungnir? Stormbringer? Fragarach?]

"Here?"

I don't have the materials, and the facility level is low. There's no assistant to help with the crafting. On the other hand, if the conditions were met, I could make the 'super-grade weapons' Isel mentioned, but it wasn't the time for that yet.

"Display the equipment crafting window."

[Okay!]

A holographic window appeared in a flash on one side of my vision. It was the same screen that appears when you press the equipment synthesis tab in Pick Me Up.

[Equipment crafting begins!]

I pressed the crafting button at the bottom of the screen.

As the screen changed, a window asking for detailed conditions appeared.

'It works.'

Type: Normal.

Form: Longsword.

Method: Casting.

[You have selected casting. Are you sure? A penalty will be applied.]

"Yeah,"

There are three methods of equipment crafting. Enhancement, which reinforces existing weapons, casting, which creates new weapons from materials, and commissioning, which entrusts all processes to a craftsman.

[Please insert the materials.]

I placed 2 iron ores, 1 leather, and 1 cardboard into the furnace. The flames inside the furnace flared up fiercely.

"Is it correct to put the materials like this?"

[Yes, just like that.]

I touched 'Start' at the bottom of the equipment crafting window.

[Insufficient facility. Penalty applied.]

[No craftsman. Penalty applied.]

[No blueprint. Penalty applied.]

[Success rate: Extremely low - Without extraordinary luck, it will fail! Please try under better conditions. Are you sure you want to proceed?]

[Would you like to synthesize?]

[Yes (selected) / No]

I flicked my fingers.

Despite the long hiatus, the sensation remained in my fingertips. Triple penalties for low facility level, no craftsman, and no blueprint. But this level was nothing to me.

[Would you like to proceed manually...?]

"Manually."

[Got it!]

Whatever you prefer.

In the center of the field of view, a hologram screen appeared. The screen was composed of thousands of lines, laid out like a chessboard. In the middle of the screen, the longsword I wanted to create was displayed. The image of the longsword was implemented in dots.

[Ding!] [Insufficient facilities!]

Part of the horizontal axis rotated, causing the sword to distort.

[Ding!] [No craftsman available!]

Part of the vertical axis rotated, causing the shape of the sword to warp.

[Ding!] [No blueprint available!]

The intact sword disappeared, and the screen was covered with white and black dots.

It was similar to a toy cube. By rotating the screen horizontally or vertically, you could solve the puzzle. The difference was that the puzzle target was a polyhedron. It was a kind of mini-game. Of course, most Masters didn't bother with such tedious games. As long as the conditions were met, it could be done automatically.

[Select puzzle difficulty. Higher difficulty increases rewards!]

Choose Inferno.

[Inferno? Isn't that a penalty for the tree?]

"Just do it."

[You have selected Inferno difficulty. Would you like to waste your materials like that? I won't stop you!]

15x15.

15 lines horizontally.

15 lines vertically.

In Inferno mode, there's a time limit of 3 minutes.

The image on the screen shook before stabilizing once again.

Now, it was impossible to recognize the shape.

[Puzzle start!]

Why did they create such a useless feature?

Except for a few die-hard fans, no one really uses it.

'Is there any other meaning to this puzzle?' Since it wasn't an ordinary game, there might be something more to it.

But for now, it was unclear.

Time elapsed, 27 seconds.

[★!Great Success!*] ['Han(★)' has crafted a 'Well-Forged Longsword (C-)'!]

A handle of the sword popped out from below the furnace.

[Well-Forged Iron Sword] [Grade: C-] [Masterpiece!] [Sturdy, lightweight, and sharp. Enhanced with unbelievable craftsmanship, despite the basic materials.]

Just C-. Since the materials were what they were, there was no helping it. This time, I threw a crude bow into the furnace.

As I inserted the materials required for reinforcement, I pondered.

In the case of a bow, there were two types: a short bow that emphasized portability and rapid firing, and a long bow that focused on range and penetration.

"It's not time for a long bow yet."

Long bows would be necessary from the floors where large monsters appeared.

I chose enhancement for the type, form was short bow, and the method was reinforcement. The weapon to be reinforced was a crude bow of grade E-. The mini-game began.

[★!Great Success!*] ['Han(★)' has crafted a 'Balanced Short Bow (E)'.]

I decided to make a spear as well.

[★!Great Success!*] ['Han(★)' has crafted a 'Sharp Spear (C-)'.]

Finally, I reinforced a shield.

[★!Great Success!*] ['Han(★)' has crafted a 'Sturdy Iron Shield (C)'.]

[This, this is the hand of god! The legendary Sword-hand of Sauron! Kyaaaah!]

I pushed Isel away as she lunged at me. Isel disappeared, cheering.

"That's enough."

As much as I wanted to make more items, what I had done was already enough.

I didn't want Master to misunderstand me.

Even if I'm an independent existence, I'm just an ordinary hero in the end.

Core functions like summoning or synthesis wouldn't be allowed. Equipment crafting was also impossible without Isel's help.

I put the crafted weapons into the cart and came out of the armory.

Jenna looked at the weapons and her mouth opened wide.

"What did you do?"

"Don't ask. Just shut up."

To be precise, I cheated. The method of crafting just now wasn't allowed for heroes. If you watched a scene where a craftsman, not the Master, made the equipment, it was an analog method of carving wood, refining leather, and melting iron. I was skeptical, but thankfully, it was possible.

Jenna took out a bow from the cart and pulled the string.

"It's elastic...?"

"It's elastic?"

"It's killing me."

Jenna smiled and put the bow on the display rack.

Next, the sword, spear, and shield were also displayed in the armory.

"This should prevent people from stealing later, right?"

With the 'exclusive weapon' function, there would be no need to worry about that.

As we left the armory, the door closed less loudly.

The sky was a dull ash gray. Whether it was morning or evening, it was the same gray, but the scenery changed slightly depending on the time. For example, it was a bright gray in the early morning and a dark gray late at night.

"I'm getting sick of potatoes again."

"Tired of them?"

"Of course! Three meals a day of potatoes, potatoes, and potatoes! Just looking at potatoes makes me want to vomit now."

['Jenna(★)' expresses dissatisfaction with the dormitory!]

I was also starting to feel a bit tired of my ramen-based diet.

Should I consider changing dormitories?

['Han(★)' expresses dissatisfaction with the dormitory!] [Tips/Improve facilities to create a comfortable environment! It boosts hero morale.]

Never mind.

The recent message would be displayed in report format when Master logged in. I could ignore it, but then I would have to endure, was there any other way?

After parting with Jenna and returning to my room, I reviewed the strategy guide I had written.

Were there any mistakes, and how should I proceed? It was going well.

The next afternoon, Aaron finally learned basic spear skills.

It was still clumsy, but it wasn't hopeless anymore. I could also practice against humans, not just the scarecrow, to diversify my training.

"Save meeee!"

['Aaron(★)' feels favorably towards 'Han(★)'.] [Affection bonus generated.]

Is he a pervert?

And the next day.

[Welcome to Pick Me Up!]

The sky sparkled white. Even without reading the message, I could tell.

I closed the notebook with action goals written on it and stood up from my chair. When I stepped out into the square, Aaron's tense face and Jenna's indifferent expression were waiting for me.

"Don't be nervous."

I patted Aaron on the shoulder with a smile.

According to Master's perception, Aaron was backed into a corner, but as long as he practiced on the training ground, he could avoid the worst. As long as minimal activity was shown, he wouldn't be disposed of. Currently, the '1 party' hadn't even filled its quota.

"Come to think of it, I don't have a spear..."

"I have one."

["Open, Gate of Space!"] ["Han, Jenna, Aaron!"]

"No need to call."

Was it going to be a party of three? That was also one way. The difficulty of conquering the tower wasn't high at this point, and adding a level 1, 1-star hero wouldn't help much. I went to the armory and picked up my sword and shield. I threw Aaron the spear I made.

"This one."

"Don't ask, just use it. It would be a waste of two days of hard work if you don't."

"T-Thank you!"

"But don't mess up. Remember that."

"How long are you going to keep calling me "hyung" (older brother)?"

"Okay then, bro!"

Even though he looks older than me when you see his face.

"Hyung, I'll do my best!"

"Well, whatever."

"You guys seem close. Let's all do our best." We entered the interstice of space and time.

The mirror on the left shone, and the location changed. The wind, infused with the scent of trees, blew through the dense forest.

"It's a forest."

[Floor 4]

[Mission Type _ Subjugation]

[Objective - Annihilate the enemies!]

[Goblin Lv.4 X 3]

[Harpy Lv.6 X 2]

Familiar goblins above. Female torso with bird's lower body. And there are harpies. They look as dirty as expected.

The annoying thing about harpies is that they fly around, making it difficult to deal with them mainly from above.

I told Jenna,

"You take care of those harpies."

"I thought you'd say that. I wanted to try out the bow I got from my brother, and now's my chance."

"You protect Jenna. Harpies will be targeting her."

My sword can't reach the harpies in the air.

Aaron, with his long spear, was perfect for them.

I swung my iron sword.

The grip feels good, and the weight is just right. The blade gleamed fiercely enough to dazzle the eyes. Indeed, a weapon I made. It's incomparable to an old iron sword. The shield made of solid iron also shines smoothly.

There are no ranged attackers. Goblins armed with swords and shields approached us while leading the harpies. We decided to wait until the goblins attack. It would be nice to go out and fight, but if I go out, my younger siblings will be in trouble.

One of the basic principles of the Origin.

A swordsman fights the enemy within the range of the spear.

An arrow flew from Jenna's short bow.

The arrow pierced the wing of a harpy on the left.

"Kyaah!"

The harpy with an arrow in its wing rushed at Jenna.

"Aaron!"

"Aaaah!"

Aaron swung his spear randomly.

['Aaron' feels fear! All stats decrease by 30%.]

"This brat..."

I stepped forward. Aaron's spear swept past where I had been.

That guy's too excited. At least he didn't use his spear so recklessly in the training grounds.

"Pull yourself together!"

Jenna slapped Aaron's cheek hard.

Blood trickled from Aaron's nose.

This was Aaron's first real battle. He had only been a spectator from the sidelines, not a combatant. He experiences fear like Jenna and I did in our first real battle. But Aaron doesn't get a second chance.

"If you fail again this time, you die! Are you okay with that?"

"If."

"Don't be so sarcastic."

"I'll, I'll try!"

Aaron's spear began to find its direction. Although fear still lingered, he served as a hindrance to the harpies targeting Jenna.

After that, it was smooth sailing. Aaron and I focused on defending Jenna, and Jenna killed the harpies and goblins one by one without any hindrance.

[Stage Clear!] ['Aaron', level up!] [Rewards - 10,000G, Leather (C) x 3, Iron Ore (C) x 2] [MVP - 'Han(★)']