Episode 11
Episode 11: Building a Study Villa - Raising Funds (1)
Three things are necessary for human life.
Clothes (衣) to wrap the body from the outside!
Food (食) as the driving force to move the body!
Shelter (住) to let the body rest comfortably!
Without these three necessities—clothing, food, and shelter—people cannot live properly.
Without clothes, you're a pervert; without food, you starve to death.
Without shelter, you're no different from a homeless person.
But these are the "necessities of living"—have you ever considered the "necessities of studying"?
Before we study, what do we look for first? What do we need?
Sweet chocolate to help with concentration?
Comfortable clothes that won't distract from studying?
Or good textbooks and writing tools that fit the hand just right?
No, no.
You only think about these things after the "place to study" has been prepared.
"I need to find a new place to study."
"Yeah. I'll make a place where I can focus and study much better than a library or a reading room."
For Gyeongjun, who had already studied carpentry and experienced making a chair, and whose Dimensional Study Room time increased whenever he studied game knowledge, this was a natural choice.
"What do I need, roughly?"
"Hmm, how much more do I need besides wood?"
When Gyeongjun asked, Timo briefly explained all the materials needed for construction.
Gyeongjun's reaction upon hearing this was...
"Wow... if I try to get all of this myself, there's no answer. I'm building a house to study, but at this rate, the means completely overshadow the end, don't they?"
If it was something that didn't greatly affect his school studies, like making that chair or studying magic, it would be fine.
No, rather, studying magic had helped with his school science studies, and making the chair had greatly helped with his school's Technology and Home Economics subject.
But if he tried to procure and process all the materials Timo mentioned by himself, it seemed like it would take forever.
"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll get the wood myself and buy everything else."
Getting wood wasn't very difficult, so he planned to get it himself.
Because he could raise his Stamina and Strength stats while logging.
When his Stamina and Strength stats were high, his satiety efficiency increased, which actually improved his study efficiency.
"Then I should go to Carpenter's workshop first. I'll go buy the Construction skill book there."
"I don't have money yet. But I'll solve that there too."
Gyeongjun already had a plan to earn money.
* * *
Starting Village, Carpenter's Workshop.
There were still quite a few players in his workshop.
"Phew, the rain stopped so it's a bit more bearable."
"I couldn't hunt properly because of the rain all this time. I spent a ton on potions alone."
Unlike Gyeongjun, who only studied, most players hated the rain.
The reason they logged into The World was to hunt in this fantasy world, level up, and go on adventures.
To them, rain could only be a hindrance.
"Well, it stopped now so it's fine. Ah, give me one Basic Carpentry skill book."
"One Carpentry Work skill book, that'll be 10,000 Rylan."
"Here's the money. Oh, do you have a Wooden Shield blueprint too?"
"If you add the blueprint, that makes 40,000 Rylan."
The player handed money to Carpenter and received the skill book and blueprint.
Then he said to his friend beside him,
"Come to think of it, I saw a player using magic near the library on a rainy day."
"Magic? In the Starting Village? Stop lying. There's no Mage Guild here. Even if you went to another village, you can't come back once you leave the Starting Village."
Unless they were NPCs, if players left the Starting Village for another village, they were systemically prevented from returning.
This was to prevent abnormal gameplay.
It was easy to think of cheat plays like using connections to control beginner hunting grounds, or receiving power-leveling to level up at abnormal speeds.
Since these had constantly been problematic in virtual reality games before The World, The World managed such things quite thoroughly.
Preventing players who left for other villages from re-entering the Starting Village, as was the case now, was one such measure.
"There can't be any mages in the Starting Village except for NPCs."
Therefore, it was absurd that someone had learned magic in the Starting Village where there was no Mage Guild.
Of course, this excluded cases like entering the village through a special quest like the Spirit Girl, or awakening on one's own like Gyeongjun.
"No no, it's real. There was this weird guy on the library roof reaching out his hand and meditating, and mana was gathering in his hand. Looking at his clothes, he was definitely a beginner."
"That's why I'm telling you, you can't learn magic in the Starting Village."
"I really can't believe you. If you're so sure, ask the NPC here. Excuse me, mister. Earlier in this village...."
"Hmm?"
Carpenter tilted his head at the player's question but soon exclaimed, "Ah!" and continued.
"I've heard of it too. I was in the workshop at the time so I didn't see it directly, but it's been on the lips of our villagers lately. Wasn't it called 『He Who Reached Out to the Sky as Rain Fell』?"
Thanks to Gyeongjun's title, most NPCs in the Starting Village already knew of this rumor.
"See, right?"
"Did he get a special quest that let him come back in?"
"But he was definitely wearing beginner clothes?"
"Hmm, maybe it's a veteran mage pretending to be a beginner. Or a hidden piece?"
"Yeah, a hidden piece. That's what everyone else thinks too, so they've all climbed onto the library roof and are reaching out their hands."
The players had seen Gyeongjun handling mana on the library roof and thought it was definitely a hidden piece.
So everyone had climbed onto the library roof and was reaching out their hands to obtain that hidden piece.
Of course, there was no hidden piece in that action.
They were all just wasting their time meaninglessly.
"So that's what that was? I thought they were performing some group ritual. Heh heh."
"It was a pretty funny scene. But not a single person has said they learned magic yet. Isn't it bizarre?"
"For real. What the heck is it? Let's get going."
Just as the two players were finishing their business in the workshop and trying to go outside.
Thud.
Because they'd been talking to each other and hadn't been watching where they were going, the two collided with a man.
That man was Gyeongjun.
"Ah, sorry."
"No, my fault."
"Well, enjoy your time."
"Yes, you too."
The two simply thought Gyeongjun was an ordinary beginner like them and passed right by.
They had no idea that the person they'd just passed was the very subject of the rumor they'd just been discussing.
With everyone gone, only Gyeongjun and Carpenter remained in the workshop.
Gyeongjun was the one to speak first.
"Carpenter, it's been a while."
"Haha, so you've come?"
Carpenter received Gyeongjun very warmly.
Thanks to having studied in his workshop, they had built up a certain level of intimacy.
"So, did you make that chair well the other day?"
"Actually, that's why I came. Could you take a look at the chairs?"
"Yes, of course. Let me see them."
Gyeongjun immediately took the chairs out from his inventory.
All 19 chairs except the posture-correcting chair he used for himself.
"Oh! They look almost exactly like mine! You made them well."
"It's because the blueprint you gave me was good."
"Haha! I'm glad to hear that. Though I see a few rough spots here and there, for a first-timer, this is incredible."
Unlike other players, Gyeongjun wasn't someone who had simply learned the skill from a skill book. He was someone who had studied the skill book and learned carpentry from the ground up.
Carpenter couldn't help but acknowledge such a Gyeongjun.
"Anyway, let me take a look."
Carpenter approached the chairs and began checking them.
[Gyeongjun's Sturdy and Solid Ash Tree Chair: 19]
▶Modeled after the comfortable chair designed by Carpenter, the carpenter of the Starting Village. Though the clumsiness of a novice carpenter is visible, the energy of a water spirit resides within, providing comfort to body and mind.
"What! The energy of a water spirit?!"
Carpenter's eyes went wide as he read the chair's description.
Spirit!
Just as the Spirit Master was classified as a rare class, the existence known as a spirit was rare even among NPCs.
Yet the energy of such a rare being was contained plainly in a chair made by a novice carpenter!
To Carpenter, this was an unbelievable fact.
And what was even more unbelievable was the ability resulting from this.
▶HP/MP recovery 1.5%(Normal) 3%(Rare) per minute
▶Item Grade: Normal (12) Rare (7)
"Gasp...! 3% HP and MP per minute...! I've never seen such a chair!"
It was only natural.
After all, most carpenter NPCs or players didn't possess spirit skills.
In the first place, carpentry was merely a life occupation that warrior-class job changers with high Stamina and Strength took up as a side job.
He had never heard of a rare-class Spirit Master who invested in Intelligence and Magic Power doing carpentry.
Normally, such special effects didn't attach unless special materials were used.
But Gyeongjun was different.
He had awakened to magic through studying, and his Magic Power and Intelligence stats had long since exceeded 100.
Furthermore, he had even formed a contract with Bonguri, the lower water spirit Undine.
Though his Strength and Stamina stats were still lacking so the chairs might be a bit crude, Gyeongjun was the only carpenter who possessed magic power and the energy of spirits.
"What in the world are you? Ah...! Could you be the very person from the recent rumors?"
"Rumors?"
"About the library roof. They say there's a player there reaching out his hand and handling mana."
"There were such rumors? If it's about the library roof, I think that was probably me."
"As I thought! More than that, a carpenter who handles mana—it's practically a complete overturning of existing woodworking!"
To Carpenter, who had become a carpenter by raising only Strength and Stamina, this was something he could never have imagined.
Gyeongjun smiled awkwardly at Carpenter's continued astonishment and soon stated his business.
"So, could you sell the chairs I made here on my behalf? The player auction house fees are too high. Wasn't it 30%?"
The player auction house of The World had fees as high as 30%!
This was a sort of mechanism to guarantee the activity of merchant NPCs and merchant players within the game.
Because the player auction house system, which allowed trading anytime and anywhere, could eliminate the very existence of merchants.
Therefore, it was common to consign items to NPCs or merchant players for lower fees.
Just as Gyeongjun was trying to do now.
"Of course! It is a great honor for our workshop to be entrusted with such precious chairs!"
"That's a relief. I was busy studying anyway, so it was a bit difficult to sell them myself."
Gyeongjun was inwardly joyful, thinking he had bought himself time to study.
"So, how much should I pay for the consignment fee?"
"Usually, the average consignment fee is 20%."
"Still a bit high..."
Still, it was much better than paying 30% at the auction house.
Just as Gyeongjun was resting his chin on his hand, pondering, and about to make a decision.
[The effect of the title 『He Who Reached Out to the Sky as Rain Fell』 is activated.]
▶Fame +50, receives better treatment from Starting Village NPCs.
"But I couldn't take 20% from someone like you as I would from ordinary people! I'll make it 15%!"
"Oh, really? Then let's go with th—"
...But his intimacy with Carpenter was too high.
[Carpenter the Woodworker is greatly impressed by your work.]
[Intimacy with Carpenter has increased by 10.]
[Carpenter's behavior toward you has become much more friendly.]
"But for the honor of being entrusted with such a masterpiece, I should be the one paying! 10%! I'll do it for 10%."