Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 27: Star's Deal

A few minutes after our introduction to the girls, we decided to follow them to their shop. At first, I expected that they had the usual standard stand that most players used when opening up a vending store. But when we arrived, I was surprised to find that it wasn't at all what I imagined. On the outside, it looked like a small shack. But upon walking inside through the curtains, I saw many rolls of fabrics, two tables on each side, and some toolboxes near the chairs behind the tables. It was basically a setup that you could find in real-life tailor shops if you ignored the shack's size. Still, I was impressed at how she made this her base of operations for her crafting business. But Star's shop aside, we decided to take the time to sit down and discuss what she is offering to us.

As I sat down, I asked, "So if I can understand completely, the catch is that you want us to use some materials that we gathered in order for you to make our new equipment, correct?"

"Exact-o-mundo. I'm not lazy when it comes to my combat [Masteries], but considering that I have to keep up with so many orders and my tendencies to want to help out newbies around town, I doubt I'd have enough time to get out of town and hunt monsters along with farming the materials I need for my future crafts," Star explained as she sat in front of the table while spinning a pair of scissors around her right hand. "It doesn't help that my real-life obligations also hamper most of my playtime in this game, and then the added fact that I have to keep Annie out of trouble until her brother gets back."

As much as I questioned her decisions for her plans in this game, I had to admit she did have a good point. Due to our obligations to study and go to school early every day, our time in <Isekai> was very limited and we had spent most of our time for the last few days selling and crafting items for many players just to earn some [Lapi]. Heck, most of our ingredients were starting to run out due to us not being able to hunt monsters and gather herbs and other items. So I could understand Star's situation very much.

"Thankfully, I have a full free schedule ahead for today, so I can take and start on your orders immediately. It might take a few hours or so depending on what kind of armor and materials you provide. Unlike other crafting [Masteries] like [Cooking] and [Alchemy], armor crafting doesn't have the [Mass Production] ability, and the steps on making a single armor without a menu are more complicated, to the point that you need basic knowledge on real-life sewing and leather-making. Thank goodness, my grandmother's pestering on teaching me about sewing really saved me a lot of trouble in grinding [EXP] to my crafting [Masteries]."

At that moment, something about her words made me a bit curious. "Well, didn't you try to use the crafting menu at all? You did say that using your [Mastery] without a crafting menu is complicated and time-consuming."

"I did try to make leather armor using the menu during my first foray into the crafting scene. Problem was, not only were the stats similar to store-bought armor, but the bonuses I got were totally useless to my current [Mastery] build. It was only after I crafted another armor without the menu that I managed to get the better stats and bonuses this time. I guess that by not using the menu, you're able to control what kind of effects, additional defense, and stat bonuses you could use and achieve by using any kind of method you often use in real life. And even just deciding on material or the amount of what you use without the reliance of recipes can highly affect the item's quality and effects in general."

Control the effects and bonuses? Now that I thought about it, I did make that delicious rabbit steak without using the menu and Kazu made some potions that not only boosted my stats but had a delicious flavor that reminded me a lot of a fruit juice. Looking at what Star had told us so far, I doubted that our luck and our current experience on these expertises in the game might've had something to do with producing these high-quality items and food. Maybe the game's crafting system had some sort of risk and reward mechanic, which worked depending on how much you relied on the in-game recipes and crafting menu. "Did you try the same thing with your other crafting [Masteries]? Without any recipes or the menu, I mean."