The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 23

It’s been a day since Gaga-san expelled me, but I, Yamamoto, still can’t quite believe it.

Hello there, everyone.

After having a heartfelt “Let’s both do our best!” exchange with Gaga-san, I returned to Evil Grande. It seems there are still many people searching for Yamamoto.

It looked like a hassle, so I impulsively used some SP to acquire the [Invisibility] skill.

This skill apparently allows you to erase your presence, and unless you initiate conversation or take action, others won’t notice you.

I hesitated a bit to acquire a skill that would make it harder for acquaintances to call out to me in town… but then I realized I only know Tatsu-san and a few NPCs anyway, so it wouldn’t really affect me… So I ended up getting [Invisibility]!

…Why does that make me feel sad?

Well, anyway, after returning to town, I secured a base at the “Dragon’s Slumber Inn” and then casually dropped by the Commerce Guild. There, Milene-san caught me, and now I’m in the back alchemy room in the middle of making [Regeneration Potions].

It seems the perpetual shortage of [Regeneration Potions] is true. Milene-san’s face clearly said, “I won’t let a maker escape, you know?”

“Hmm…”

By the way, I’ve already finished making the [Regeneration Potions] in a flash.

When you create them with the [Alchemy] skill, the materials gather, there’s a flash of light, and the [Regeneration Potion] is instantly complete.

Well, the quality is another matter…

Normally, this situation would be a “No second chances for failed requests!” But in my case, there’s more to it.

Here, I’ve produced two high-quality [Regeneration Potions]. They’re leftovers from what I made for Gaga-san.

If I place these two alongside one low-quality [Regeneration Potion],

▶[Balance] has been activated.

Equalizing the quality of [Regeneration Potions].

There’s a flash of light, and the low-quality one becomes high-quality.

I guess [Balance] adjusted the quality balance, upgrading the poor quality one to match the good ones…

So, with three high-quality [Regeneration Potions] lined up, I then add two disappointing ones – and it becomes a doubling game.

The delivery request for fifteen [Regeneration Potions] was completed in no time.

Well, since Milene-san gathered the materials, the request fee is minimal after subtracting material costs, but there are two reasons why I accepted this request.

“This is difficult…”

Yes. What I’m struggling with now is the C-rank production requests needed to reach B-rank.

Wanting to check the C-rank production requests was the first reason.

Last time, I was too busy making [Regeneration Potions], you know? I needed to stop by the Commerce Guild to check the request details.

By the way, I’ve already confirmed all the C-rank production recipes in the reference room before secluding myself in the alchemy room.

But the problem isn’t there; it’s the difficulty of the C-rank requests.

I’m checking the request details on a full-screen screenshot, but there are loads of material names I’ve never seen or heard of.

I call up the World Market menu and search for the material names, but most of them can’t be found.

And when I do find some, they’re ridiculously expensive!

Not that I can’t afford them, but I hesitate to pay more than the request fee just to clear the request.

“I wonder if these might be materials from later areas…”

Given that I’ve almost completed gathering materials from the forest, and I’ve never seen or heard of these, that seems likely.

Well, I haven’t been to the deepest parts of the forest, so I don’t know everything accurately…

By the way, I’ve stepped into the deepest part of the forest beyond Gaga-san’s workshop once.

What I saw there was clearly a Jurassic World-like environment.

Dinosaurs roamed about, enacting a world of survival of the fittest among themselves.

And then there was this poisonous-looking salamander casually killing those dinosaurs.

That must be the Poison Salamander, I guess?

Anyway, I felt the sudden increase in difficulty as I crossed into an area of brutal combat, so I hurriedly fled.

It was way beyond the level of gentleness of the previous areas. Honestly, I couldn’t envision winning there.

…………

Well, setting aside the talk of that brutal world.

It seems that to become a B-rank guild member, I need to progress a bit more in the game.

Probably, in terms of game balance, they intend to let players rise to D~C rank in Areas 1 and 2, and then to C~B in Areas 3 and 4, right?

No, at that rate, you’d be able to reach A-rank pretty quickly.

Do you need to go even further to become B-rank…?

Or maybe the environment near Gaga-san’s workshop was already equivalent to Areas 2 or 3…

Is that why I became C-rank so easily?

That place was really the frontier of frontiers.

So, while reason #1 was to check the Commerce Guild requests, reason #2 is…

This one is really simple – I wanted to check my skills somewhere quiet without being disturbed.

One of the skills I wanted to check is this:

==========================

[Magic Steel Refining]

MP Consumption: Arbitrary

The ultimate achievement for those familiar with minerals and magical power.

Creates magic steel using magical power as a medium.

Production quantity varies based on the amount of magical power consumed and the mineral chosen.

==========================

The description is simple, but when you actually use it, it goes like this:

==========================

▶Used [Magic Steel Refining].

Please select the ore to refine.

▶Magic Iron

Mithril

Fairy Steel

Crystal Steel

Hihiirokane

==========================

There are a bunch of metals I’ve never seen before, you know?

And isn’t Mithril supposed to be pretty expensive?

Yet you can make it by consuming MP… isn’t that a bit much?

Couldn’t this destroy market prices?

I don’t know if the developers thought that far ahead, but for me, it’s just another way to make money. It feels like “hehehe.”

For now, I try exchanging (?) 1000 MP to make some Hihiirokane as a test.

What comes out is a rod about two fingers long.

Huh.

That’s it?

“So little!”

1000 MP is quite a splurge, you know.

And this is all I get…

Well, let’s try [Appraising] it for now.

==========================

[Hihiirokane]

Rarity: 7

Quality: High

Performance: Production Material

Notes: A legendary metal of unknown manufacturing method that contains large amounts of magical power. As it’s always wrapped in magical power, equipment made from this metal can have strong resistance to magic. However, it’s brittle physically, so it’s recommended to be mixed with other metals when used.

==========================

Yeah. It seems to be a magic-specialized ore… or rather, metal.

[Crystal Steel] was hard and full of magic power, so at first glance this might seem inferior, but I can see an aura-like thing floating around this two-finger-long piece of [Hihiirokane], so I can tell it’s pretty amazing.

When you want to make equipment imbued with magic power, I guess you should gather a lot of this metal, melt it down, and make ingots?

Still, the quantity is so small…

“With so little, how much would you need to make a full set of armor? The amount decreases even further when you do [Smithing]…”

—Ah.

Then, I suddenly realized.

“I used to think female warrior bikini armor covered too little, but maybe it’s because they use rare metals and can’t afford to cover more area?”

Rather than being for sexy appeal, could it be due to budget and material constraints?

If that’s the case, if it’s difficult for me to gather materials too, as an emergency measure, I might have a chance of making and wearing bikini armor—

…No way.

There’s no way I could wear something so embarrassing!

MP recovers when you sleep anyway, so I’ll steadily gather rare metals!

Come to think of it, I think there was a [Magic Potion] in the C-rank [Compounding] recipes.

This is also something I can’t make because I don’t have the materials, but if

Come to think of it, I think there was a [Magic Potion] in the C-rank [Compounding] recipes.

This is also something I can’t make because I don’t have the materials, but if I could make it, [Magic Steel Refining] would progress much faster.

Well, I’ll look forward to the future.

And here’s the problematic skill part 2:

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[Divine Artifact Creation] 〘Secret Skill〙

MP Consumption: 1000

The ultimate achievement for item creators.

It is said to awaken in those who have mastered the production of magic swords, magic armor, and magic items.

It’s said that one of the heroes who went around liberating the continent possessed this, and it was the driving force behind their achievements.

==========================

Yeah. Just hearing the explanation makes my head hurt.

By the way, when I tried using this, the scenery in front of me changed instantly, and I was thrown into the space-like environment from the avatar creation screen.

A vast expanse of space.

I was thinking how beautiful the twinkling stars were when suddenly,

▶Please imagine what you want to produce.

Those words suddenly appeared in front of me, so I casually imagined a takoyaki plate, and then an image of a takoyaki plate floated up in front of me.

Is this perhaps the same as during avatar creation?

When I thought about changing the design, I could deform it like clay, so it seems to have the same or even more functionality.

So, after messing around with it and thinking “this is good enough,”

▶Please decide on the necessary functions for the item.

That message appeared.

So, I thought about wanting it to automatically warm up and have temperature control, and then,

▶The following materials are needed for production:

Magic Iron *3

Hellfire Grass *2

*Insufficient materials.

That’s what came up.

So I used the skill, but…

Do you understand how dangerous this skill is?

This skill doesn’t start with materials; it calculates the materials based on the desired performance.

In other words, as long as I can gather the suggested materials, I can create anything I imagine.

Even something like shield funnels isn’t just a dream! That’s what it means.

…………

Yeah. It’s an insane skill by any normal standard.

No matter how you look at it, it’s a balancing mistake. Anyone can see it’s definitely dangerous.

If it gets out that I have this skill, I’d definitely be locked up somewhere and forced to produce things for the rest of my life…

When I first learned about this skill, I was a bit excited, but then I felt a chill run down my spine as if ice water had been poured down my back.

It’s a convenient skill, and I intend to use it to master its usage, but I’ve somehow understood that I shouldn’t reveal its existence…

I think this game needs meticulous balance adjustments more than it needs to be a death game, but I wonder what’s going on?