VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～
chapter-42

Chapter 42: Selene, the archer

I waited until Selene-san calmed down and explained our current situation.

The members of the party, each of our jobs and regarding the area we plan to head towards.

「I see, the desert…」 (Selene)

「Do you dislike it by any chance? In that case, I don’t mind if you decline joining our guild now.」 (Hind)

「Nope, I don’t mind. Rather, there might be rare metals that you can’t find in the mountains lying there.」 (Selene)

「Ah, that’s true. If you thought it like that, the desert is not all that bad.」 (Hind)

「It’s standard for an RPG, there might be hidden treasure in the desert, right?」 (Selene)

Be it in the real world or games, the fact that there might be treasure hidden in the desert is something that’s talked about usually.

If there were stuff like pyramids or ancient ruins, it’d probably increase the chances that they existed.

「However, that won’t change the fact that it’s the sort of stuff that’s difficult for crafters. I’d say especially for those specializing in agriculture.」 (Hind)

「However, since we are talking about you here, you probably thought about something right?」 (Selene)

Selene-san looked at me as if she was testing me.

Well…honestly speaking, it’s not like I don’t have a few ideas.

「Well, more or less.」 (Hind)

「As expected of you. In that case, guess I should have high expectations.」 (Selene)

「That gives me quite the pressure, though I’ll do my best.」 (Hind)

I’m happy that Selene-san’s back to normal.

The rhythmical tempo of this conversation is something I find quite pleasant.

Wait, now that I think about it, I had something for her.

From my inventory, I took out the armour that I made while my legs were numb…though I should call them clothes and showed them to Selene-san.

「This is…?」 (Selene)

「In society, fashionable jumpsuits are still things that are not that well known. So I made this while looking at magazines and the internet…what do you think about it?」 (Hind)

「Eh? By any chance, is this for me?」 (Selene)

「Yes. I made this for you.」 (Hind)

Like that time with the invitation, I directly showed my intention to offer this to her as a present.

When I saw Selene-san turning red because of those words, even I started to feel slightly embarrassed.

Since Selene-san focuses mainly on blacksmithing, there was the option that she would have preferred practical clothes instead of something fancy but…

She was still wearing the beginner gear…

「Well, even if I talk about it being fashionable, jumpsuits have their limits…but how about you try it out?」 (Hind)

「Y-Yes!」 (Selene)

Compared to a normal jumpsuit, the buttons were engraved and there were things like the collar being sharp and other minor differences.

Selene-san opened the inventory and changed her equipment and after a burst of light, what she was wearing changed.

The size was made by eye…but it seems like there’s no issues.

Jumpsuits are that type of deceptive clothing after all.

However, how should I say this…Selene-san wearing a jumpsuit is…

「It suits you. This kind of casual clothing.」 (Hind)

「T-Thank you…? Is that a compliment?」 (Selene)

「There’s nothing bad implied when someone tells you that it suits you, right? So, should we put on the belt now? After that, we change the placement of the inventory pouch…」 (Hind)

「Ah, Yup. Can you make it so the bottom of the neck is slightly more open? It might be a bit tight.」 (Selene)

「Yes. Because of it’s design, it should look good even being worn plainly like that. In fact, it’s probably better like that.」 (Hind)

Like that, I kept making small adjustments…

A metallic belt accentuated by a buckle button, while being casual it also gave it a lean look.

Yup…what will she think of it?

「With this, it’ll be done. Can you try it out?」 (Hind)

「Ah, eh, where’s the mirror!? The mirror!」 (Selene)

「There’s none here…but if you open the equipment window, there’s a button to look at your current status. Use that.」 (Hind)

「Really!?」 (Selene)

It’s supposed to be something really basic, but maybe she didn’t know because she didn’t particularly care about her own equipment?

She opened her menu and stared intensely at her herself.

「At first glance, instead of a blacksmith it makes you look like a mechanic but…

「Ah, I thought it would come in handy for when you do blacksmithing, I tried adding fire resistance to it-」 (Hind)

「…Yup. Yup!」 (Selene)

How is it? before I was able to ask that, Selene-san firmly grasped my hands.

It’s an action that reminded me of when we first met…I wonder if she has a habit of doing this when she’s deeply moved?

「Thank you, Hind-kun! I’m really happy! It’s the best present I could ever get!」 (Selene)

「No worries, you have helped me out a lot since the first day so…oh, and…

「I look forward to working with you from now on.」 (Hind)

「Yup, that’s what I should I be saying. I’m really grateful!」 (Selene)

Selene-san, whose face was blushing from happiness, looked like a pure maiden.

However, I wonder if it’s about time she let go…if she keeps grasping my hands this firmly, even I would start feeling embarrassed.

After that, Selene-san collected her belongings and stood up from her chair within the blacksmith’s workshop.

It should be also around the time Yumir and the others are done with their respective things.

「Well then, shall we go meet everyone else?」 (Hind)

Once I said that, Selene-san started to act all weird.

She started to move both hands around in a panic.

「W-What should I do!? I-I got to prepare a box of cakes…!」 (Selene)

「You are going to meet fellow players there, wouldn’t that be weird…?」 (Hind)

「Eh? Ah, you are right…」 (Selene)

「Let’s go normally, normally.」 (Hind)

「Uu…will it be fine? Will they think I’m weird…?」 (Selene)

While keeping the uneasy Selene-san company, we left Altrowa’s blacksmith’s workshop and headed towards Heathrow.

In order to get her to catch up in level even a bit sooner, I partied up with her and we defeated as many monsters as we could on the way.

Selene-san’s job was archer and she specialized in crossbows. Her weapon was called 「Qaws al-rijl 」.

To load a crossbow bolt, you use your foot to hold the stirrup to the ground, grasp the bowstring, and draw it towards the trigger mechanism by straightening up and using your entire body to pull, with the stirrup holding the crossbow in place. Once the bowstring has been caught by the trigger mechanism, you lift the crossbow up and place the bolt in position, and aim and fire as usual. It’s also called 「Foot-drawn bow」.

Even among that type it’s especially big and the arrows it shoots are also quite big.

I handled it before and since the system makes it lighter depending on your offensive stats, it was quite light. I guess being able to actually use weapons like this is also part of the game’s charm.

Usually, loading one of these bolts would be very hard for a girl.

Among rearguards, archers have the highest strength so it’s possible for a girl to use big bows or crossbows.

It seems that because Selene-san’s level is low she can barely use the Qaws al-rijl…but that should get better soon enough.

From seeing this, imagining a high level heavy warrior girl brandishing a big axe…that kind of image is easily imaginable.

Having left the village, we came out of 「Dondery Forest」 and continued at a good pace.

As a result, by the time we passed through the middle of the 「Homa Plains」 she reached level 10 and it was time for her to choose a skill branch.

While walking, Selene-san opened her menu and tilted her head while thinking about how to distribute her skill points.

「As expected, I guess the single shot type is fine?」 (Selene)

「I guess there’s no need to hesitate. Since you are using a crossbow, it takes time to load a bolt. You like that type of weapon right?」 (Hind)

「Yup. I made it a bit too big, but it’s more fun to use than a bow. Besides, it feels much lighter now than when I was level 5…I guess there’s nothing to worry about. In that case, I’ll take blast arrow.」 (Selene)

Among archer types, the 「Rapid-fire type」 that Cineraria-chan chose with skills like arrow rain is the one that’s most popular.

Even if your aim is bad, if you want stability as an archer, there’s no problems in choosing this type to be able to deal some damage.

There’s another one that lets you equip a short dagger simultaneously and they learned martial art type skills, the 「Close quarters type」. As a matter of fact, it was the romantic type.

It was the hardest to gauge the distance with, but it looked the best when it finished the target with its skills.

Furthermore, the damage it deals was nothing to scoff at either.

Therefore, it was the romantic type.

Then there was the type that prioritized a single strike that Selene-san chose, the 「Single shot type」.

It was the last type for the archers.

Compared to the other types, it’s got bigger skills but the rate of fire decreases and you need to have good aim.

「By the way, what about your eyesight? I was worrying because you wore glasses but I was surprised when your aim was so perfect.」 (Hind)

「Ah, you mean this? The truth is I have hyperopia…since I was young I trained my eyesight, in reality I don’t need to wear glasses anymore. However, I can’t calm down if I’m not wearing them.」 (Selene)

「In other words, those are just for show?」 (Hind)

「That’s right. Actually, my eyesight is better than 20/20. The lenses used for hyperopia are convex ones, your eyes will appear to be bigger than they are.」 (Selene)

「I see…」 (Hind)

I see, hyperopia huh…

Since she hadn’t missed a single arrow until now I found it strange.

「Gaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!」

「!! Ah, right…I forgot.」 (Hind)

「Eh, what? What was that scream just now?」 (Selene)

I was surprised for a moment because of the sudden scream, but when I checked our current position, I saw that we had already walked into the north area.

Regarding the area boss, it’ll appear if someone in the party hasn’t beaten it yet.

Since Selene-san hasn’t gone to another village or town other than Altrowa…

「Goooaaahhh!!」

It struck violently with its club.

The area boss of Homa plains, the 「Ogre」 made its appearance, it was level 15 and this was the third time it had appeared in front of me.

This time we don’t have a single vanguard…but since there’s a level difference between us, will I be able to make it work somehow?