**Accessory:** Ring of Fairies and Blacksmiths
**Notable Effect:** Resonance Enhancement, Location Sharing, Immunity to Destruction and Theft
**Character:** Phoebe
**Gender:** Female
**Status:** Unknown
**Skills:**
- **Regenerate:** Continuous healing
- **Fairy Wish:** Effect unknown
- **Slip Guard:** Continuous damage reduction
- **Power Up:** Strength increase
- **Speed Up:** Agility increase
- **Element Boost:** Attribute enhancement
- **Light:** Illumination magic
- **Stun Guard:** Stun prevention
**Equipment:**
- **Armor:** Little Rabbit Robe
**Notable Effect:** Significant Luck increase, High Cold Resistance
- **Accessory:** Ring of Fairies and Blacksmiths
**Notable Effect:** Resonance Enhancement, Location Sharing, Immunity to Destruction and Theft
At school on a Monday, most students return with a lingering sense of lethargy after the break. However, the magic of impending summer vacation fills the air, making them feel a bit more upbeat than usual.
"Hey, Renna! Let's go have some fun during summer break!"
"First, you need to finish your homework."
In the midst of the morning hustle, I coldly brush off my elementary school friend Taylor, who called out to me. The reason for my indifference? Taylor always procrastinates on summer homework and then asks me for help at the last minute. That's why I reject him so sternly when summer break approaches.
"Come on, summer vacation is almost here! You shouldn't worry about homework now..."
"It can't be helped. This is simply the difference between those who tackle it early and those who don't. Honestly, watching those who leave it to the last minute suffer every time makes me naturally fall into the early finishers' camp."
Despite Taylor's impressive qualifications in programming and office work, her biggest weakness lies in her tendency to procrastinate on crucial tasks, allowing them to pile up until she self-destructs. If only she'd find the motivation, she'd truly shine.
"Hey, where are we going this summer?"
"Well... I don't know. We need to coordinate family plans, but first, maybe I could just lock you up with your sister and make you do your homework."
"Hey, don't joke about that!"
Because of her habit of putting off homework and other important matters, Taylor often gets into trouble and finds herself relying on her sister for help. This has led to her being dominated by her sister, who has a strong personality and tends to overpower her.
"Honestly, if all you do at home is train as a blacksmith, study, or help with chores, it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun!"
"I'm doing other things too, like playing the games my sister recommended."
"What?! You're playing games?! The epitome of seriousness is gaming!? No way!"
"That's too shocking; it bruises my heart."
"I'm the one physically bruised here!"
In a moment of surprise, Taylor impulsively flicks her forehead. Just then, their teacher enters, interrupting the conversation and signaling the start of class.
During lunch break, as Taylor eats the bento her mother made, she approaches him with a casual greeting.
"Hey, what game are you playing? I bet it's something impressive if your graceful little sister recommended it."
"Yeah, I knew you played games, but this is the first time someone asked me to play on their birthday."
"Oh really? What's it called?"
"…I'll tell you once you finish your summer homework."
"Ah, that means you're not going to tell me, right?!"
I could see that if I told him, he'd get caught up in Fantasy Freedom and leave his homework piling up. So, I decided to keep it to myself.
"Come on, don't be stingy!"
"Well, it's your own fault for procrastinating all the time. You should just buckle down and finish your homework this summer."
… Besides, if I told him and he started playing Fantasy Freedom, he would probably look for me… My avatar is randomly generated, so being a girl makes it less likely he'd figure it out, but if he did, I'd never hear the end of it. I absolutely have to keep this a secret.
As I pondered this, I went through my afternoon at school, anticipating the summer vacation starting Thursday.
After school, I noticed Taylor getting sent to the staff room for delaying a request from a teacher (he asked for help, but I warned him not to procrastinate; it's his own fault, so I left him). I made my way home.
"Once I get back, maybe I'll study a bit, grab some dinner, and then dive into Fantasy Freedom."
Since my father insists I focus on my studies during the week, I can't commit to training or assisting at the forge. I figure a little less studying shouldn't be a problem; after all, I scored 78 on the last test. Maybe I'll start my game of Fantasy Freedom early.
"Welcome home, big brother!"
"Yuna, you got back before me? I'm home now."
After a quick dinner, I was studying when Yuna approached me.
"Big brother, how much have you leveled up?"
"I'm at level 11 now."
"Wow, that's fast! Did you fight that much with just your starting shovel?"
As she asked, I shared tales of my adventures: exploring caves, meeting the leader, crafting a new shovel called Archie, and traversing mountains to get to Two Town. I also mentioned grinding levels at the Spirit Ruins.
"…Even with upgraded gear, you rushed through to Two Town pretty quickly," she noted.
"Really?"
"Yeah, the recommended difficulty is meant for a party of three around level 10. Either your shovel is impressive, or you have great battle instincts…"
Wait, was I really walking a dangerous line? I did nearly lose all my health from poison, so I should be more careful. Well, my studying for now seems sufficient.
"Alright, I'm done studying. Time to game."
"I'm logging in too…I want to give Phoebe a souvenir."
A souvenir? I almost asked what that was, but Yuna had already headed back to her room, so I couldn't get my answer. Well, I suppose I'll find out about this souvenir for Phoebe soon enough.
With that decision made, I put on the VR headset.
"Hey, Phoebe! This is a gift for you!"
Upon arriving at Lily's virtual home, I saw her presenting Phoebe with a towering pile of books, a colorful mix of romance, fantasy, and everyday stories.
"That's an incredible number of books... Where did you find them all?"
"I scavenged them from various towns! I thought it would be a great way to pass the time while my brother is away!"
"Thank you so much, Lily!"
Phoebe beamed with joy. Lily explained that this world has relatively high crime rates, and since Phoebe is a rare presence here, she needs to stay safe in Lily's home while we're at school.
However, I hadn't prepared any activities to keep Phoebe entertained… Was I lacking consideration?
"Thanks, Lily… for buying those books for Phoebe."
"Don't mention it! I wanted to do it, so it's no trouble at all. So, what are your plans for today?"
When she asked, I replied, "I'm thinking of selling some items to earn money."
If yesterday was about leveling up, today I aimed to fill my wallet!
"Earn money? How do you plan to do that?"
"I'm planning to sell a bunch of golem cores I collected from the earth spirit ruins. But I'm also wondering if I could process them into something valuable."
Saying this, I took out the golem's core and showed it to Lily. If possible, I want to create something much more valuable than just cores and sell them in bulk.
"Hmm, I think it could be used as a weapon component, but do you have the recipe?"
"I have the recipes for a shovel, a ring, and a robe."
"…Most players don't use shovels as weapons, so making one isn't a great idea. Even if we had a weapon recipe, a golem core alone wouldn't be enough... If we're short on other materials, we might as well keep about ten and sell the rest."
Hmm, it seems like processing and selling them won't be easy...
"Plus, while you're thinking of mass-producing them for profit, if you want to earn from weapons, a few high-quality, one-of-a-kind items would be better. If you collaborate with Phoebe, you could create some good weapons, but making too many might put a strain on her."
"Oh… I hadn't thought about Phoebe's workload..."
I wonder if making them alone would significantly reduce their performance?
"Hey, Lily… if we were to sell the Lena-Phoebe Sword, what do you think it would go for?"
"Since it comes with a curse that activates only on your sister, you can't sell it for too much."
Ah, I had forgotten about the curse.
"What if there was no curse?"
"If we take out the curse with those stats… it might go for around 250,000 to 350,000. But the value of money can fluctuate quite a bit, so it's hard to say. By the way, the cost to buy a house is 1,000,000."
"I'm not quite sure if this is expensive or cheap…" I suspect it's probably expensive, but not knowing the material costs for the Lena-Phoebe Sword makes it hard to gauge the true price. "If I take requests to make equipment, I have to negotiate well, or I'll be lowballed. Plus, with my current skill level, I barely look like anything more than a beginner, so it's tricky... Oh!"
A light bulb appears above Lily's head, glowing brightly—a phenomenon one can't see in reality. It feels oddly enchanting to witness such a game-like expression in real life.
"That's it! We should use the auction feature!"
"What's that?"
"It's a feature that will unlock in the next town! It requires a certain quality of weapons, but with your skills, that won't be a problem. I might not be able to use the feature myself yet, but I can represent you at the auction!"
I see, the auction feature… that could definitely work. I should rely on Lily for this.
"In that case, I need a recipe for popular weapon types, like swords and staves…"
"I've got those! I have the recipes for popular swords and staves! I can give them to you, but can we agree that I take a cut of the auction profits for being your representative?"
"Sounds fair. If you're helping me, sharing the profits is only natural."
I receive the recipes from Lily. Now, what kind of staff and sword should I create…?
That said, the materials consist of iron, a bit of silver, a large quantity of golem cores, and a decent number of damaged golem bodies. I wonder what we can create with this?
Together with Lily, I walked into the workshop where her team works. First, we checked the recipes for the staff and the sword.
**Minimum Material Requirements for Staff Creation**
- Handle: Metal or Wood ×1
- Tip: High magic conductivity material ×1
**Minimum Material Requirements for Sword Creation**
- Blade: Metal ×6
- Handle: Any one of Fabric, Leather, or Hide ×1
The sword requires more materials. The staff needs a material with high magic conductivity... which one should I make first?
"Phoebe, which one do you want to make first?" Lily asked.
"I'm curious about the staff. If we put the wood into the smithy, wouldn't it burn...?"
"Wait, what would happen in that case?"
Until now, our crafting had felt very game-like, producing everything at once, but what would happen with the wood included?
"That's an interesting question! We have some wood, so give it a try! Oh, do we have any wood for fuel?"
"Oh, I completely forgot about the fuel wood and the magic for the smithy..."
"Unlike crafting and sewing, the smithy requires additional utilization costs for the materials, which has drawn a lot of complaints. Yet, for some reason, they never fix or adjust it... This time, I'll send my magic to activate the apparatus."
As we pondered, Lily, perhaps intrigued, offered me some oak for the materials, and it seemed she would also provide the magic needed to power the device.