NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
Chapter 3
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝ [Balance] Everything is balanced. ＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
“Since it mentioned something about a balance skill, I decided to check it again… So, is this what it means?”
Gazing intently at my unique skill’s description, hello there.
It’s me, Yamamoto.
“Everything… In other words, because I only acquired two out of the three major production skills, it judged the balance to be off and automatically gave me the last skill…?”
If that’s the case, this is an absurd skill.
Claiming to balance things, it’s actually breaking the game balance under the name of ‘Balance’ with its overwhelming unbalancing power.
“What should I do about this? Should I contact the administrators?”
I open the system window to contact the administrators, but there are so many icons that I can’t tell which one is for contacting them.
I focus my mind, but…
“Huh? It’s not showing up?”
Is it not possible to contact the administrators from within the game? Hmm.
“Well, I guess I could log out and contact them via my PC. But for now, I’ll play a little longer.”
Even if my data might get rolled back, I’ve come all this way into this VRMMORPG that looks just like reality.
I want to play a bit more before logging out.
I mean, I decided to play intensively, so having to stop because of a developer’s issue is a bit frustrating.
“Well, as long as I don’t allocate SP to the skill, it should be fine.”
So, let’s check my status again.
Name: Yamamoto
Race: Dullahan (Fairy)
Gender: Female
Age: 0 years
Level: 1
HP: 170/170
MP: 24/120
SP: 26
Physical Attack: 22 (+12)
Magic Attack: 8
Physical Defense: 25 (+15)
Magic Defense: 25 (+13)
Vitality: 17
Agility: 5
Intuition: 4
Spirit: 12
Fate: 7
Unique Skill: [Balance]
Race Skill: [Summon Carriage]
Common Skills: [Blacksmithing] Lv1 / [Alchemy] Lv1 / [Mixing] Lv1
In terms of stats, the low agility and intuition are concerning.
But that’s only if I focus on a combat role.
If I’m going to focus on a production role, should I be increasing physical attack, magic attack, vitality, and fate?
You know, [Blacksmithing] gives the impression of hammering iron, and [Alchemy] gives the impression of using magic. Plus, the quality of what you create probably has some luck involved, so fate might be necessary too.
“It costs 1 SP to increase a stat, huh?”
By the way, stats also randomly increase by 2 points upon leveling up.
That’s what the strategy guide said.
“Maybe it’s more efficient to raise stats through leveling up.”
I don’t really feel compelled to spend SP.
“Well, maybe I should try a battle?”
I can’t just stay holed up in the safe area inside the carriage forever, so I step out of the carriage.
The forest is still dark and eerie as ever.
It feels like monsters could attack from anywhere.
“This is amazing. It looks so real.”
The graphics of the trees, the underbrush at my feet, and the scent of the forest—it might even have the therapeutic effects of a real forest while playing the game.
As I was thinking that, I heard the rustling sound of the underbrush.
Wondering what it could be, I turned my gaze and…
“Whoa!?”
I got charged by a rabbit with a horn on its forehead.
“Ouch…”
The impact made my body shake, and I ended up falling on my butt.
The HP bar briefly appeared at the edge of my vision, showing that about ten percent of my HP had been quickly reduced.
There was a damage effect that scattered when I got hit, so I knew I had taken damage, but without the effect, it would have felt like I was genuinely attacked by an animal due to the realism.
“Being too realistic can be a problem… It’s a bit scary.”
The horned rabbit that charged at me made a scraping motion with its hind legs. Like a bull preparing to charge.
“Oh, I should’ve gotten [Appraisal]! I don’t even know its name!”
For now, I’ll call it Horned Rabbit.
The Horned Rabbit scraped the ground three times with its hind legs and charged at me again.
Sitting on my butt, I had no way to dodge, so I took another direct hit, and my HP bar decreased significantly again.
“Wait, wait, time out! Time out!”
I shouted, but of course, the Horned Rabbit didn’t listen.
I had to get up somehow!
With a determined grunt, I stood up, just as the Horned Rabbit charged again.
“Yikes!”
I nearly fell from the impact of the charge but managed to brace myself.
Eek! These monsters are too strong! And to top it off, I’m supposed to be a tank build, but I don’t even have a shield! My gear is all wrong!
“What! Again!?”
The horned rabbit was scraping the ground with its hind legs again.
Seeing that, I hurriedly readied my sword.
It’s a beautifully decorated longsword that looks more like a ceremonial sword.
I don’t know how to swing a sword properly, but since the horned rabbit is charging straight at me, all I need to do is place my sword in its path, and it should be cut down!
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
Oh no, the horned rabbit started glowing red!
Could it be using a combat skill!?
“Eek!”
I was so scared that I crouched down instinctively, and then there was an incredibly heavy impact on my sword!
What? What’s happening!?
While I was confused, I noticed damage effects scattering at the edge of my vision!
When I looked up, I saw the horned rabbit caught on the blade of my sword, which I had held up in defense!
“Get off!”
I swung my sword, slamming the horned rabbit to the ground with a flashy damage effect…
Is this… a chance?
The horned rabbit struggled to get up, dragging one leg and trying to distance itself from me.
Feeling a bit of sympathy for it, I mercilessly swung my sword down.
▶ Gained 33 experience points.
▶ Acquired 8 reward stones.
▶ [Balance] has been activated.
Adjusting the balance of acquired items.
▶ Additional 25 reward stones acquired.
“Wha—… huh?”
The joy I felt instantly vanished.
So, if I understand this correctly, despite gaining 33 experience points, I only received 8 reward stones—money in this world—which is unbalanced, so the skill automatically adjusted it?
So, it added more reward stones to make it 33 in total.
I don’t know what other people’s unique skills are like, but this unique skill is definitely weird, right? No matter how you look at it, it feels broken. It’s definitely going to get nerfed!
“Okay, I’ll think about the unique skill later… For now, let’s hold a strategy meeting considering the fact that I struggled even against a weak monster…”
With no other choice, I sluggishly return to the carriage.
It’s really fortunate I have my own safe area…
With my current mental state, there’s no way I can handle consecutive battles…
Lying down lazily in the cockpit designed to look like a spaceship, I open the status screen.
“After actually fighting, I’ve realized that close combat is impossible for me…”
It was a rabbit just now, so it was still okay, but if it had been a big spider or a mantis, honestly, I’d have thrown my sword away and run.
It was that realistic and scary.
So, I thought…
“These stats aren’t too bad for magic, right? So maybe I should learn some magic?”
With magic, even someone clumsy like me can aim from a distance and still manage, right?
I should also pick up the appraisal skill.
When it comes to crafting and using herbs, it’s essential to know what the herbs are, so I’ll choose it as a necessary expense.
“However, magic… There are quite a few types. And it looks like you start with magic from the magic arts, not actual spells…”
It seems that the initial skills are magic arts, not spells.
And spells are the advanced skills.
The magic arts available are Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, and Darkness.
For now, I’ll prioritize the Dullahan’s image and try to learn Darkness magic.
I selected the appraisal skill at the same time, spending 6 SP.
Oh, it turns out that learning magic arts is quite costly in SP, consuming 4 each.
I was lamenting that my SP was down to 20…
▶ Acquired [Dark Magic] Skill Lv1.
▶ Acquired [Appraisal] Skill Lv1.
▶ [Balance] has been activated.
Adjusting the balance of skills.
▶ Acquired [Fire Magic] Skill Lv1.
▶ Acquired [Water Magic] Skill Lv1.
▶ Acquired [Wind Magic] Skill Lv1.
▶ Acquired [Earth Magic] Skill Lv1.
▶ Acquired [Light Magic] Skill Lv1.
▶ Obtained the title [Sage].
Additional 5 SP awarded.
▶ Acquired [Storage] Skill Lv1.
…I got 5 SP back?
Whoa!
Isn’t [Balance] doing a bit too much work!?
“And also, by acquiring just one type of magic arts, I ended up with all the attributes!”
Wait, did it really balance everything out by giving me all of them because one type was unbalanced? This unique skill’s effects are definitely bizarre! This is definitely going to get nerfed!
Hmm…
Well, I’ll deal with that when the time comes. For now, let’s enjoy the game…
I want to heal since my HP is low, but…
Since I have all the magic attributes now, I’ll check them out.
[Fire Magic Lv1]
Converts magical power into fire attribute to attack enemies.
Fireball Lv1
[Water Magic Lv1]
Converts magical power into water attribute to protect allies.
Water Barrier Lv1
[Wind Magic Lv1]
Converts magical power into wind attribute to support allies.
Follow Wind Lv1
[Earth Magic Lv1]
Converts magical power into earth attribute to hinder enemies.
Sandy Soil Lv1
[Light Magic Lv1]
Converts magical power into light attribute to heal allies.
Heal Light Lv1
[Dark Magic Lv1]
Converts magical power into dark attribute to confuse enemies.
Dark Mist Lv1
Normally, you would think that healing magic would only be available in Light Magic, but since this game’s developers have been known to mess things up…
If the Dullahan, being an undead, uses Heal Light on itself, and it ends up taking damage instead of healing, there’s a possibility of instant death…
“HP bar, come on~”
I call up the HP bar to check it.
HP: 106/170
That doesn’t look like I’m at risk of instant death, right?
But I still want to take as much safety margin as possible.
“Should I put points into stats…?”
By allocating SP to the Vitality stat, it should increase HP.
If I increase my maximum HP, my current HP will also go up, providing a greater safety margin.
“The 5 SP from the title are like free money, so I might as well use all of it! Let’s put it all into Vitality!”
Opening the status screen, I see that 1 SP increases the Vitality stat by 2. So, 5 SP will raise Vitality by 10! And since HP is ten times Vitality, that’s effectively a 100 HP increase!
That should be enough for a safety margin!
“Alright! All in on Vitality!”
▶ Vitality increased by 10.
▶ Maximum HP increased by 100.
▶ [Balance] has been activated.
Adjusting the balance of stats.
▶ Physical Attack increased by 17.
▶ Magical Attack increased by 19.
▶ Physical Defense increased by 17.
▶ Magical Defense increased by 15.
▶ Agility increased by 22.
▶ Intuition increased by 23.
▶ Spirit increased by 15.
▶ Fate increased by 20.
▶ Displaying stats.
Name: Yamamoto
Race: Dullahan (Fairy)
Gender: ♀
Age: 0
Level: 1
HP: 207/270
MP: 129/270
SP: 20
Physical Attack: 39 (+12)
Magical Attack: 27
Physical Defense: 42 (+15)
Magical Defense: 40 (+13)
Vitality: 27
Agility: 27
Intuition: 27
Spirit: 27
Fate: 27
Unique Skill: [Balance]
Race Skill: [Carriage Summoning]
Common Skills: [Blacksmithing] Lv1 / [Alchemy] Lv1 / [Mixing] Lv1 / [Appraisal] Lv1 / [Storage] Lv1 / [Fire Magic] Lv1 / [Water Magic] Lv1 / [Wind Magic] Lv1 / [Earth Magic] Lv1 / [Light Magic] Lv1 / [Dark Magic] Lv1
“Fortune, sooooo gooood!”
My lament echoes emptily inside the carriage.