A Certain Middle-Aged Man’s VRMMO Activity Log

Here is the Apollo’s Bow Guild’s Guild Area.
They are conducting a meeting in conjunction with Crystal Rain’s representative for clear the Under Dungeon; Bow Area.

“Then, what you’re saying is that, right now there has been no progress on the crafting front at this time, ne?”

Ayame said with a stern expression; even now the crafters in-house were unable to make a bow stronger than the aforementioned Atk29.

“My bad, but to get it any further, we’re going to need a lot more good wood, that’s the conclusion we’ve reached…”

“And about that, the resources are also already unreliable. We’re going to have to take a break from research and enter a time of gathering resources, or else…”

These words aren’t only from the woodworking crafters; the blacksmiths are also in agreement.

“If you want to make it a unique shape, you’ll have to have a crafter with the corresponding skill level to handle it … like the Fairy Husband’s bow, na. But even then, we shouldn’t avoid improving on the orthodox form…”

These words only made things more unclear.
As if to console the woodworker who said these things, the wind fairy who contracted with him snuggled up to him.

“Well then, I, the Guild Master … bought a new bow. The Atk is 47.”

At that statement, just about all of both Apollo’s Guild and Crystal Rain’s guild members stood up.

“”””””No way, Generation 4!?””””””

Let’s explain the Generation 4 they yelled.
Since they’re the largest bow guild, they’ve constantly been verifying things about the bow.
What these people have mostly been verifying is how to get the bows to demonstrate the maximum power.
And what these people discovered was, although they don’t know if it’s the same for other weapons, the power of the bow clearly goes up every 11 numerical increases in Atk.

Because of that, 0-10 is Generation 0, 11 and up is Generation 1, 22 and up is Generation 2 … and so like that, every multiple of 11 is denoted as Generation ~ like that.
And so right now it should be 33, in other words Generation 3, that they’re trying to attain as their goal, but some outsider has already far surpa.s.sed it.

“Yes, it’s a Generation 4 bow; I want all the crafters to look at this and give me your opinions. I’ll say it simply; is it possible to ma.s.s-produce this bow or not, that is what I want you to consider.”

Ayame started them off with that. If they could ma.s.s produce this bow, the bow guilds would become extremely powerful.
Even if they couldn’t do it perfectly, copying it to some degree would still give them a great amount of power, and so that is why they bought it with a huge price of 300,000Glo.

“—ku, it’s the wood and metal we gave up on getting … This is Light Metal, but this bow is made with it on both sides…”

“That ain’t all; this, the wood too, it’s made with 2 kinds, na.”

“We can’t make this; this was made with a method that sneers at us and forces the conclusion that it’s impossible at this point in time…!”

The crafters swarmed around the bow that was made viewable with Rental.
For 1 reason, they were filled with the desire of gaining a new crafting method, but for another, it was because they where filled with hate-like envy and feelings of frustration.

“Master, who the h.e.l.l made this!? It was
made with a hateful method that we conclude is impossible for all of us at this time, this bow!”

“And this is our conclusion, but at this time, copying this is impossible! Originally, this type of composite bow should have an especially bad affinity with this world…”

“If it was just the wood, or if it was just the metal we could make it, but with just wood we hit the current limit of 29, and with metal we can exceed 33, but it becomes extremely heavy and way too rigid…”

One after another the crafters raised their voices.
To sum it all up simply, at this point in time, the conclusion they reached about making it is, [Impossible].

“Is that so … as expected, to capture the Under Dungeon, we’ll have to have me using this, clearing the way ahead, ne…”

Ayame was unable to give any conclusion other than this.
She had promised not to tell the origin of the bow, so there was nothing else that could be said.
Trust is built in 10 years but lost in an instant; she knew this.
To go any farther than this was the absolute 1 thing she could not do, since it is impossible to completely stop up other peoples’ mouths. When she glanced over, she could see Noah was also frustrated over not being able to tell.

“For Master to not want to say, there must be some sort of reason, but the guy who made this bow must be loved by just about all the elements, na…”

“For crying out loud, you’re right; metal, strong in the fire element, and the wood element trees should be things that have a bad affinity with each other, but to have them together in harmony, just what kind of art did he perform?”

“But you know, this point, about joining several types of wood together, we might be able to imitate that, ne~. Want to investigate around that?”

“That’s right, na, if we can make this kind of jointing, with the raw materials we have now, we might be able to ma.s.s-produce Generation 3s.”

Consultations between crafters began as they mutually began to search out the possibilities.
If you ask Ayame, if, with this bow as the starting point, the in-house crafters could ma.s.s-produce Generation 3 bows, then the 300,000Glo investment she had put down was a cheap thing to pay.

“Then I will ask you to research that, ne. And then, I will begin selection members that will head to the Under Dungeon.”

While keeping the fervor that was heated up with the new bow, she began a new topic.
Since they had gotten a hold of an easy-to-understand flag called Generation 4, it had been a long time since the two guild collaborative meetings that had a gloomy atmosphere from discussing the capture had been filled with enthusiasm.

But, Ayame and Noah couldn’t say it.
That the one who made the bow wasn’t a player specialized as a crafter.
And, something more unspeakable, about the Generation 4; the truth that this manufacturer, with the hunting bow that many even within the guild use, he had already made a Generation 5…

“Even if I were to regret it, there’s nothing we can do, ne…”

To Ayame’s murmur, Noah replied.

“Un, in the first place, we got our hands on a powerful bow, and the possibility of capture has increased. It would be best if you just changed your feelings about it.”
The few people who heard this conversation thought, “What’s there to regret?”, but in the excitement of the meeting, they soon forgot it.

A/n: If you’re a specialized crafter, you can handle more advanced materials and draw out the capabilities of those materials.
In exchange, your versatility is severely limited.

Furthermore, if you’re like Earth who can use various techniques, you can combine it to make something, but players’ own inspirations are necessary, and the degree of difficulty is extremely high because of the adaptibility.
And, say, to make something like a bow; there is also a hidden stat of the unshown dexterity; if you don’t have enough dexterity, even if you did it right, there’s still a chance of failure.

Again, if you look at the big picture, to make a powerful weapon, it would be better to be a specialized crafter.
No matter how many techniques you can use, there will be a point were the difference in materials will not be able to be overcome.