Free Life Fantasy Online-Chapter 48: 48 Second Official Event Starts

48 Second Official Event Starts

About twenty minutes before the event starts, I head to the meet-up place.

“Good day, Alf-san.”

“Hey, Princess.”

“Ske-san isn’t here yet?”

“Not yet it seems. He’s logged in, so he’ll probably come soon.”

“Well, there is still some time remaining until the event starts. By the way, Alf-san, did you change your weapon?”

“I did. I unlocked a rare Skill so I took it. The requirement is secret… or rather, I don’t even know it myself. Its effect allows for equipping a two-handed weapon in one hand. Thanks to that, I can use a two-handed sword and a large shield!”

“That’s nice. How is the Skill’s treatment?”

“When I equip something in the second hand, the two-handed sword is treated as «One-Handed Sword». So even if I have a buckler on my left arm and hold the sword in two hands, it’s still treated as a one-handed sword.”

“Which means… if you remove the shield?”

“Then it’s switched to «Two-Handed Sword». I started leveling «Two-Handed Sword» when I’m playing solo.”

So rare Skill requirements are unknown by the person who unlocks them? Search by yourself, they mean? Considering the content of the Skill, it most likely has something to do with STR, but...

The number of battle tactics increases, so it’s a good thing.

“So~wwy~ made you wait~~?”

“Shaddup, that’s not a line for bones to say.”

The way he wiggled his body was inexplicable, to say the least. Because of how bony he is, it could only be said to be disgusting. I pretend not to see it and invite the two into PT.

“Thanks!”

“Please take care of me.”

Seems like everyone is really looking forward to it, plenty of people have gathered in the town already and are chatting with excitement.

“Looking at them this way, it does look like the number of beginner equipment has decreased by a lot, hasn’t it?”

“Certainly, there are fewer of it now.”

“That appearance is really poor, after all~. Everyone wants to change it as soon as possible~.”

“Well, changing from beginners’ equipment can serve as a goal.”

“My beginners’ equipment were rags...”

“HAHAHA, I’m a nudist even now.”

“This is Inhumans’ destiny.”

Speaking of which, my Servants can equip items, but Ske-san is still naked. Currently he can only use weapons and accessories… Let’s confirm it with #1 when the event starts.

“AA! It’s Tasha!”

“Oh my, really. Good day, Tasha.”

“Good day, Tasha!”

“Good day, Ellie, Abbie.”

Behind the two, there are Letie-san and Dorie-san. As usual, the two don’t speak and communicate with glances.

It appears that Abbie and Dorie-san managed to safely become Angels. They have angel wings growing out of their backs. Theirs are bigger than wings of Management… or rather, Managements’ wings were just special cartoon-like wings.

“Tasha! I want more of Magiclay!”

“Oh, that. It uses Magic Stones as material so it’s fairly costly.”

“Magic Stones… did not find any yet...”

“Well, they start dropping from some monsters in second areas, so...”

Since they are also a consumable, at this point it should be hard for Abbie to secure the sufficient number. As long as she provides Magic Stones, the only remaining materials are water, soil and slime gel, so I only need to split them into portions and make it...

“So, how is «Puppet Magic»?”

“It’s fun! I can manipulate three at once now!”

“We party with the four of us and plan to fill the remaining space with puppets.”

“I see. Certainly you can summon up to three like that.”

In our case, Ske-san and I summon two each for a party of five. When the puppet Skill level goes up, puppets can be summoned and dismissed like a Summoner does, so they solve everything like that.1

Until then, there is a need to level the Skill up… sounds troublesome.

As we chatted leisurely, the remaining time until the event turned to ten minutes and a flickering icon appeared in the corner of my sight. It seems that once everyone in our party is ready, we will be moved to the event field.

“I go!”

“Let’s meet on the other side, if we are lucky enough.”

“Yes, let’s hope we have the luck.”

After seeing the four off, we manipulate the UI to confirm we are ready. For a moment we drift in pure black space, and when our vision recovers...

“““OHHH...”””

“...A luxury cruise liner?”

“What happened to the setting?”

“Well… it is an event field, so...”

“Seeing armed people on a luxury liner is really surreal.”

Players other than us teleport in one after another.

“Oh, there are multiple other ships as well, hmm?”

Told so by Alf-san, I looked toward the sea and saw different looking luxury liners. I guess one is not enough to carry everyone. Seems like everyone was split on different ships.

If I’m not wrong we are going to be set adrift, so possibly each ship will have a different starting location.

Some players of races that fly tried to fly over to another ship, but were blocked by an invisible wall. ‘Well, yeah. Of course’, is my only impression.

There are some people who came in swimsuits and are playing inside the cruise liners’ pool. Surrounding us is the sea, so harpoons… are certainly one choice. They must be aiming for seafood.

At five minutes remaining until the start, suddenly the weather has become suspicious. And once again, the icon started flickering. I check it, and it appears to be an overview. A simple summary.

Confirm that you have the items you have registered. If you don’t, you will start itemless.

During survival, the time experienced will be changed to eight days. You can become unable to fight only once. Second time you will be removed from the event. You will be removed from the event if you log out four times.

Sleep is necessary. You receive a penalty for lack of sleep. Races such as Immortals also require sleep due to the fact that a player requires sleep, but there is no lack-of-sleep penalty.

There are no safe zones. All areas are also PK-able areas.

Only one item type can be brought in. Money held during the event is set to 0.

The durability of equipment and state of consumables brought is saved, and they will automatically recover and replenish after the event. Use them without hesitation.

Items found during the event are registered in “Event-exclusive item list” and after the event can be found among the reward item list. This list is shared among all players, and it is enough that a single person finds it. Items that have been processed into different items do not have the finished products registered and are confiscated, so do not hesitate to use them to survive.

If you acquire Skills during the event, your personal evaluation will decrease. How much it decreases is up to the Skill you acquire. The evaluation will be revealed as ranking after the event.

After the event, it will be possible to exchange evaluation points for some useful rewards.

“Oh, there’s a list of prizes. Lessee…?”

“Combat consumables box? Crafting materials box? ...Is this the weekly quest’s?”

“Oh, I want this one. Gushing Flask.”

“Ehh… Gushing Flask, by registering a fluid it allows for creating that fluid by pouring Magic Power inside. Not applicable to magical drugs. ...I see.”

“I would love to put in some high quality water for cooking. Like water that is in a troublesome place to go scoop.”

“Oh, there are stat enhancement accessories! Though, their increases look quite modest.”

“They are event prizes, it’s pretty much how it will be.”

There is nothing that could be called really strong. Oh, housing items. It might be a good idea to exchange for this.

Also, the event-exclusive item list is all ???. It has yet to start, so there are no items found - so it’s only natural.

“Fuhahaha! HAA HA HA! It’s MEe! Hello, Yatsuzuka here.”

“It has been a while, most of you. I’m Mitake.”

Last time I met them was during the combat tournament. People for whom it has not been a while, must have been in GM’s care for some reason...

“The second official event “Summer Means Camping” begins now!”

“And the main homework is “What will you bring to a deserted island?”.”

“Did you confirm the information, hm? These are the event rules, so make sure to check them.”

“Although you can exchange points for a bit of useful rewards, the main goal of this event is leveling, so other rewards are modest.”

Well, if they gave too good rewards it would turn into a hideous contest… But I guess since this time’s event is cooperation-based, getting ahead of others is almost impossible?

“Did you confirm your items, mm? If they aren’t in your inventory, you will be sent without holding anything! By the way, your possessed money will turn to 0, so don’t panic!”

“There is no need for money during survival, after all.”

It must be so that no one can buy equipment from the first batch with intention to use it after the event… most likely.

Conversely speaking, there is a possibility for anyone to try out Ertz-san’s and other top crafters’ equipment during the event. And even if they cannot master the equipment, it will disappear after the event anyway.

“Eight days in game, experienced time is a week and a little. Enjoy yourself to the fullest! By the way, the reason it’s eight days, is because a week in game is four days!”

“In-game, the number of Outsiders will drastically decrease over these two weeks.”

Normally it’s two days worth in real. One day in real is four days in game. Four days in game are in-game week. However, this time the experienced time is tweaked, so within several hours there will be a week worth of deserted island survival experience.

“Second batch aims for the second to third areas. First batch will use this event to reach the fourth areas!”

“Normally you don’t have many chances to interact, so this event also has a goal of allowing the first and second batches to get along.”

“Enjoy this slightly-dangerous survival full of monsters!”

I really hope it ends at “slightly”...

“Oh right, about boards. Until you join up with other groups, you can only communicate with the players that were on the same ship.”

“You should first aim to join up with everyone!”

Hm-mm? Well, if we follow the coastline we should be able to meet up. All of us are going adrift, after all.

The surroundings have turned completely dark, it started raining and waves grew larger. Is there seasickness in this game? Feels like there would be...

“Now, THE STORM HAS COMETH!”

“Also, running into the sky won’t work.”

“We’ll kick you down into the water!”

Physical compulsion of all things.

It has completely turned into a storm. However, a cruiser liner of this size should not go down so simply...

『”H-hurry...up...I’ll throw up...』

So… there was seasickness… It’s time, you are saved.

“NO NO NO NO, this isn’t the level of “high waves” is it?”

“How many meters is that?”

“About 10 meters-class? Just hitting us should be dangerous.”

“So we’ll be swallowed by that, huh.”

“It has a punch to it~...”

“Oh by the way, you don’t need to wait, you will get moved if you jump into the sea!”

『”OH C’MON, YOU’RE LATE! GWAHHH!”』

Waves are really fast, see? Along with a tremendous sound we were swallowed by a wave and my vision turned dark.

It’s pure black, my body won’t move. It appears that I am already at the coast, but there is a countdown showing when I will wake up, and there is a little longer remaining.

“Oh, found Princess. Can I get you up?”

Looks like Alf-san is up. A little longer for me.

“Hm, voice is not enough? Let’s try shaking.”

When I was swayed, the remaining count was blown away and I got up.

“Mornin’.”

“Good morning. Voice alone did not affect the countdown at all.”

“So we need to shake people, hm? For now thanks for the treat, but make sure to use【Clean】.”

Ahh, wet clothes are sticking to my skin. There’s also sand, so I【Clean】myself up.

“Nnn… is it stat-based? Equipment wise it’s STR… no, VIT? Anyway, in this case… we should first wake ladies up. Let’s do so.”

Hm? Certainly heavily equipped players wake up quickly. If the time required to wake up is stat-based… that would be VIT-based. Even if Alf-san did not wake me up, there was just 4 seconds remaining for me until waking up. My STR is disastrous, but my VIT is high after all.

For now, let’s wake up others starting with women. No, it would be correct to do it after using【Clean】on them. First need to get a few up and have them help out.

“Oh, here you are, Ske-san.”

Metallic bones thrown onto the white sand of the beach. Looks like a horror scene. For now, I get him up.

“Good morning.”

“Mornin’! The countdown was super long dammit.”

“We think it’s VIT-based. In other words, you are on the better side, Ske-san.”

“I’m on the low side among Immortals, but still higher than others, huh?”

The number of people waking up and waking others up has increased, so everyone should wake up soon. Oh my? That’s… I shake lightly to wake her up.

“So you were on the same ship, Mead-san”

“Oh, Princess. This helps.”

“Elves do have low VIT… Did you have any acquaintances with you?”

“Fairellen was around, but...”

“I haven’t seen her yet. ...Won’t a Fey be hard to find?”

“Certainly. And their VIT is fairly low as well.”

“...Excuse me everyone! There should be Fairellen-san the Fairy somewhere. Could you help looking for her?”

Let’s search while praying that no one steps on her.

“FOUND HEEER?”

“AIN’T HEERE.”

“Hnn? Found a Salamander.”

“OOH, HERE SHE IS!”

“UHAHAHA! Saved me there! Thirty minutes is way too long, Management! I know it’s under assumption everyone is woken up, BUT STILL!”

Fay are small so it took a while. It appears that some other Fay were also woken up.

“Everyone should be up and free now.”

“They’ll do what they like, right. What about us, mmm?”

“Minimap turned into the type which only displays places you have been to.”

“Would me flying around solve everything~?”

Nnn… Fairellen-san flying around is one idea, but there is high risk to it. The map information has a function of sharing the information… in which case...

“Fairellen-san, please fly along the coast so that we can contact others through BBS. As for the map, Ske-san and I will use Servants to reveal it.”

“Yeah, let’s do so.”

“Okaay! Then I’m off right away!”

I see off Fairellen-san as she flies away and check «Necromantic Secrets». Let’s make costs low and… high flying speed… a Hawk-type it is. I also set Skills useful for scouting from the sky and let’s save it as a template. I improve its eyesight with «Sensing» and «Uncover», as well as «Hawk Eyes».

“#1, scouting mission. Please fly around just enough that we have a rough grasp on this island.”

“*KLOK*”

“Also, when you are a Skeleton, do you have a penalty when wearing armor?”

“*KLOK*”

“...Margin of error?”

“*KLAK KLAK*”

“Let’s remove it...”

So he can use equipment but receives a penalty when equipping it, curse you management, what an impudent trap you make… I remove the equipment and let’s have #1 do scouting.

“Now #1, take care of it. And make sure not to fight enemies you can’t win against.”

“*KLAK KLAK KLAK*”

He flew away together with Ske-san’s Servant.

I checked the map, and it was certainly changing. First it changed from an unknown area to a vaguely-displayed map. And the area #1 has passed by already, was displayed richly like usually a map is.

“Hm, it’s using the dungeon map mechanism, isn’t it.”

“Is that so?”

“The dungeon made for the second batch is also this way~.”

“Oh, that.”

“Vaguely displayed are the areas you saw from afar. Richly displayed are the areas you have properly passed by. We have yet to find a proper dungeon, so we don’t know if that’s how it will be in them.”

“So by seeing the road ahead you can tell what is there, but details such as traps are unknown… is it?”

“They say that is most likely. And that there might be a Skill for scouts regarding that...”

“Hm-mm… in any case, it is enough that we know the geographical features, let’s leave the field of vision in a vague state for now.”

“For details we need to look from the ground, so I guess that’s good enough~.”

“So that is that. Mead-san, what will you do?”

“Let’s see… there are second batch here, so enemies in surroundings should not be too dangerous. And so, I’m thinking of entering the forest.”

“Then I will share the map with you in its current state.”

“This helps.”

We see off Mead-san as she enters the forest spreading ahead of us.

Ohh, right. Let’s confirm the items I am carrying now.

“I have… only the Cooking Kit, and the storage is… annihilated. I knew it.”

“I guess it didn’t pass, eh?”

There is storage other than Cooking, after all. Considering that, it was impossible in the first place. And if items from storage could be used for the event, smiths would go in red. And above all, everyone’s possessed money turned 0.

“Ske-san, how is it?”

“Nn… found a forest. In the North there’s a mountain, but...”

“There is a forest on this side as well. Considering how large the trees are, it must be the ones on the horizon...”

“OWAAH! MY SERVANT WAS KILLEEED!”

“Seriously?”

“It’s better not to let yours go North.”

“So you say, but...”

“Right~?”

At this point we can only give commands by voice… I believe we will eventually become able to give orders telepathically, but… hm? Oh, as expected of #1. His movements, he must be escaping now? There is a little of the map missing in the North, but we have uncovered more than enough of the island’s overall image.　

According to the map, it has a triangular shape… the points are slightly rounded, so onigiri-shaped? We have drifted to the lower left… the Southern part of the West side.

Ske-san’s Servant flew North from the West, and #1 flew North from the East. And on the way North #1 started escaping, then returned through the West side.

“#1 well done.”

“*KLAK KLAK KLAK*”

“Flying enemies in the North?”

“*KLOK*”

“Were you attacked from the surface?”

“*KLAK KLAK*”

In the North there were flying enemies, but there were no attacks from the surface.

There is a river splitting the East and West which flows from the North… there is a lake in the West. Near the center of the island there is a grassland and the Eastern and Western forests are not connected, which makes me curious… but let’s put it aside for now.

In both the center of the Eastern and Western forests there is a large tree, but the one in the East is clearly much larger.

The outer layer of the island are sandy beaches and the sea. I could not see North, but presuming from the map, there should be a cliff. Does not seem like there is a beach in the North.

This is about all I know so far… And so, I share the map with the two.

“Hm-mm… I see...”

“Well… right now we should go North and search the forest on the Western side, hm?”

“Sounds like a staple choice. What about summons?”

“Forest, huh… a horse won’t work~. Your capacity, Princess?”

“Right now… I have 6300.”

“I have more now, but… in this case it doesn’t change much. Maybe I should put out a Bear or an Ogre.”

“I wonder what I should do myself. How about flying?”

“It’s a forest, so scouting would be hard. How about having attackers and use them preemptively?”

“You can use three, you know? Using two at triple cost will take 6000 in total for me.”

A Bear and Ogre are costly because of size.

Nnn… Skeleton, Wolf, Owl. All of them at triple cost. Skeleton and Owl with custom class, Wolf with two customizations - total cost at 6000.

#1 is a Soldier with a two-handed sword. #2 has a one-handed sword and a small shield. #3 is an Owl with no equipment, but has Thief class. Their Skills are all combat-type.

Alright, let’s go North to the forest now. Mead-san has already headed there, so I wonder how her progress is. I hope Fairellen-san wasn’t eaten by the flying enemies up North. If she loses and is eaten, it’s treated as instant death...

I laughed when I heard that there is a special, drastic way of fighting for small races where they fly into the enemy's mouth to use spells inside. Apparently the inside of an enemy’s mouth is usually a weakness. In most cases after hitting inside the enemy mouth, there is a falter effect and it is possible to escape from inside.

“Nnn… enemies are weak, aren’t they? Maybe we need to head further into the back.”

“Let’s take a look at the boards. It’s about time everyone joined up, no?”

Alf-san and Servants are wary of the enemies in the surroundings. Ske-san checks the boards. I look for items in the surroundings.

Herb, Poisonous Herb, Stimushroom, Shadlysishroom, and so on… there is plenty of familiar materials.

“My, a fruit is it?”

“Oo, an ingredient?”

[Material] Bursting Fruit　Rarity: No　Quality: Ｃ

Bursting with tastiness...

«Cook»

Not. Explodes when stimulated to a certain extent and releases a horrible stench.

«Alchemycraft»

By throwing it directly or after making a potion out of it, it is possible to drive away animals.

“...This is horrible… what a trap.”

“Ahhh… «Identification» is shared in the party? I could see it too...”

“I guess it’s up to whether everyone notices it’s treated as a Material?”

“Certainly… it’s not an ingredient.”

[Ingredient] Fragaria　Rarity: No　Quality: Ｃ

Sweet and tasty.

«Cook»

It’s good to eat as is, but apparently it’s great when squeezed, cooled down and mixed with milk.

“Oh my, there are some that can be normally eaten. #3, could you gather that for me?”

Strawberry must be the base for it. Let’s close my eyes to the fact that it’s hanging on a tree. It’s a game, GAME. In a way, this does give it an other-worldly feel, so it is a good move.

“Strawberries growing like apples, huh.”

“And they’re big. We can’t eat, though.”

“I will gather them for trading.”

““Okaay.””

We are cooperating in a situation without money, which will boil down to barter. Let’s gather base items for exchanging. While gathering herbs and similar, we head deeper in.

“Hn? Ohh, it’s Mead-san. How is the progress?”

“Questionable. Enemies are weak, too. Princess, can you identify this?”

“Bursting Fruit? It’s a landmine.”

“The category was Material, so it was correct to be wary of it. Then what about Fragaria?”

“That one is edible.”

“I see, this helps.”

While I was talking with Mead-san, Ske-san who was looking at the boards started confirming with Mead-san.

“What was the level of enemies here?”

“So far the highest was 23.”

“So this part is for the second batch? East and North are thirties. However, in the mountains up North they are fairly strong.”

“But they are still in the thirties, yes?”

“Based on our acquaintances, Cecil, Ruzebarm and Tomo’s party seem to have a hard time.”

“...Aren’t those the top teams? What are the enemies?”

“Be surprised - they’re Wyverns! Looks like that is what took my Servant down.”

I see, although it’s the weakest, it’s still a Sub-Dragon. In which case, they must be strong thanks to their racial traits. Just like Undead and Animals have a lot of VIT.

“That does make me interested, but… first we need to secure food and a place to rest. If this forest is the lowest level-wise, then the base will be on this side.”

Mead-san is an Elf after all. She needs both food and sleep.

“Princess, I will put the map on the board, okay?”

“Yes, I don’t mind, but… how about we merge with Mead-san first?”

“Let’s do so.”

“Oh wait, in that case, umm… let’s have Cecil’s map and… there.”

“This helps. So this is how it looks like.”

“A’ight, now put this on the board… done.”

For now, it appears that the plan is to gather in the Western forest we are in now. Second batch will die to 30ies, so they are heading this way while being guarded by the first batch.

North has Sub-Dragons and Golems, most of them being large-types. It’s confirmed that East has plant-types. West has Animals and Insects, as well as birds.

Seems that Mead-san will be aiming to get to the big tree near the Western forest’s center, so we split for the time being.

“Shall we aim for the lake?”

“You mean this thing in the North of the Western side?”

“Either the big tree or the lake. It would be nice if there was something in either place...”

“Let’s go then.”

“There is no information at this point, anyway~.”

Once again Alf-san and Servants put their guard up. Ske-san checks the board. I collect materials and distribute roles, and we head North to the lake.

“Oh, Appl...”

[Ingredient] Appran　Rarity: No　Quality: Ｃ

A fruit that has a mixed taste of apple and orange.

«Cook»

Squeeze it out and throw away fibers. Causes Confusion when eaten as is.

“...Yup. Seems like Fragaria is quite valuable as something that can be eaten normally, isn’t it?”

“Well, it wouldn’t be too interesting if we could eat everything normally, right?”

“Now that you say it.”

Let’s gather them for now. They look like oranges, but have the taste of an apple.

“Mm, prepare for combat!”

“A pack of Raptors? Did they come here to hunt?”

“...Oh? They went back.”

“They clearly decided we aren’t too tasty, haven’t they…?”

“1 armor, 6 skeletons, 1 zombie. Clearly no reason to fight us for food.”

“Agreed… hm? We comment going with the flow, but if that is the case, then this event’s AI is fairly special.”

“Ohh, agreed.”

“But isn’t Alf-san fighting for a while now?”

“Ahh...”

“Isn’t there a possibility they attack to defend their territory rather than for food?”

““I see...””

“Well, it doesn’t go out of the range of a wild idea. It might be purely because there were more of us than them.”

“Considering they hunt in packs, they are kind of smart? Well, let’s continue moving.”

Up to one minion does not count as a party member, so there are eight of us in total. There were five Raptors at Lv28. Base-wise, they were of appropriate level for us.

Should we think it was good that we did not need to fight… or knowing that they will escape, should we think that it turned troublesome to acquire meat? We don’t need to eat, but it does seem like the ingredient supplying team will have a hard time?

It’s best to hunt in groups of few but strong members. For gathering it’s best to move in full parties. Well, it will take a little longer until we have enough information to conclude.

“It’s getting quite fun, isn’t it?”

“Agreed~.”

“The problem is that the fact we don’t need food, makes me kind of sad...”

“In a way, we have no need to bother about the most important part of survival, don’t we...”

It’s easy for us when we play normally, but during an event like this one it makes us feel kind of lonely. Right now everyone must be desperately searching for ingredients all over. North and East might be in deep and not have the leisure to do so, though.

For now, we aim for the lake.