"Hyah-ha! It’s hunting time!"
With that battle cry, I decimated an entire orc village and hauled in a massive cache of orc meat.
The new equipment Penpen had crafted for me—the Knife Boots—was an absolute game-changer. These boots featured folding blades embedded in the insteps; by deploying them before a fight, I could add lethal slashing damage to every one of Tria’s kicks.
She had even discreetly reinforced them with young turtle shells, giving them the durability of steel-toed safety shoes. Light, sturdy, and made from young turtle parts—simply top-tier materials.
Lately, my combat style had shifted almost entirely to kicking, mostly because I had been strengthening Tria’s legs so much that her kicks had become her most devastating weapons.
On both hands, I wore gauntlets that functioned primarily as shields. These were also part of the young turtle set Penpen had made for me. For someone who looked like a simple ranch girl from the countryside, Penpen’s ability to produce such high-performance equipment was nothing short of impressive.
"So, Tria-shi! How were the boots-ssu?"
"Oh, they were perfect. Absolutely perfect. I wiped them all out, just slashing through orc windpipes left and right."
"We did it-ssu! Then leave the item collection to me-ri!"
I swapped out with Penpen, who had been waiting in the wings. We’d developed a seamless tag-team rhythm: I handled the combat experience and rewards, then passed the raw materials to her so she could craft gear and items.
In turn, Penpen raked in massive amounts of production class experience through dismantling and crafting. She sold off the surplus equipment, making a fortune in the process. By now, we had both reached D-Rank.
"By the way, Penpen, how’s the debt repayment coming along?"
"Oh, I actually paid back half the total ahead of schedule-ssu!"
"Seriously? That was fast."
"It’s way easier to pay back debts in a game-ssu. Though, I know it’s mostly thanks to you, Tria-shi. You bring me so many materials that I can craft a ton and earn even more-ssu!"
It was a win-win for both of us, which was the ideal outcome. This was the peak of cooperative play. Teaming up with a production class player really did make life easier.
Everything was going perfectly.
I chatted with her while doing strength training as she worked on dismantling the orc carcasses. I’d mentioned to her before that training increased parameters, so she’d been doing her own exercises while I was out hunting.
"Speaking of which, do you ever check the Wiki? It’s a mess, but there’s some pretty interesting stuff on there."
"Hmm, not really-ssu. I’m the type who likes to figure things out for myself before looking things up-ssu."
"Fair enough. Well, just so you know, it looks like the stories are individual, and the gameplay systems vary depending on which story you're in."
"Wait, really? I had a sneaking suspicion when I saw how you play, Tria-shi... but they’re actually different-ssu?"
"Seems like it. Penpen, what are your battles like?"
"They’re command-based turn-based battles-ssu. You know, like a standard mini-game-ssu."
So her game was a traditional RPG.
"For me, combat is the core mechanic. I have to manually input rolling maneuvers, jumps, and attacks in real-time."
"What? That’s totally different-ssu! No wonder you can just delete an entire orc village in seconds-ssu."
"Well, my Tria-chan’s parameters are heavily specialized for combat, too. It’s a cakewalk."
"My production-type parameters are the only things going up over here-ssu. Oh, but since I’ve been doing those exercises you taught me, I won’t lose to any NPC townsfolk-ssu! Plus, I’ve got attack magic."
Between the gear Penpen provided and my recent level-ups, I felt pretty well-prepared. I started wondering if I could finally take down the Great Turtle, but I decided to wait until my colleague arrived.
He was currently traveling through various towns on his way to Tsudon. Since he used guns, his long-range support would give us a massive advantage against that turtle.
I didn't count Penpen as part of our combat strength. In fact, I had no intention of bringing her along. If she got caught in the crossfire and died, it would be a tragedy. She was doing her strength training, sure, but it wasn't enough to turn a crafter into a front-line warrior.
Yes, even if she had attack magic—
"...Wait. Did you just say you have attack magic?"
"I did-ssu."
"...You actually have attack magic?"
"Yeah, I have it-ssu."
"Show me."
"I can’t use it unless I’m in a battle-ssu. I can use support magic whenever, though."
Damn! It was one of those systems where offensive spells were locked behind the battle screen. Typical RPG mechanics.
But it made sense. Magic existed in this world; I’d just forgotten because Tria-chan was such a physical powerhouse. There were even elves. Elves were great.
"So, how do you learn attack magic? Tell me, Penpen!"
"Oh, I just learned Fireball automatically when I leveled up-ssu."
"Seriously? Is it tied to the Intelligence stat? Maybe I focused too much on unarmed combat..."
"You tried to physically punch a turtle that looked like it had high physical defense, so I’d say 'no kidding' to that-ssu."
"Urgh... I wonder if there are magic skills I can buy with SP... but SP is so rare. Then again, if it’s magic...!"
Right then, a message from my colleague popped up in the friend chat.
"I'm gathering info while I head toward Tsudon, but it looks like it might take another two days-o!"
"Got it. I'll be waiting. ...Is this world just absurdly huge? How can it take more than a day to travel between towns?"
"Right-o? It's crazy-o! There are stagecoach accidents and all sorts of things... Oh, I hunted a Lesser Dragon on the way, so I'll bring some materials back as a souvenir-o!"
"Nice. I'll tell Penpen. I bet she can make some high-end gear with that."
"Kuh! This Penpen person... I'm the one who invited you first! This is NTR-o!"
"What are you even talking about? Anyway, the gear Penpen makes is getting better by the day."
"I'm so jealous! But I want her to make stuff for me too-o!!"
"Okay, I'll put in a word for you."
"I should arrive by the morning of the next holiday-o! I'm counting on you-o!!"
When I told Penpen about the plan—and mentioned I’d pay her for the extra work—she happily agreed to craft gear for my colleague as well.
I could already see the look on her face when she got her hands on those Lesser Dragon materials. She was going to have a field day.