"This game is bullshit!" Yang shouted as another sandbag slid off the board.

"Yang, please try to calm down."

"Yeah, I'm trying to concentrate," Demeter said, standing next to Yang.

Yang grumbled but remained quiet as the farmer took her turn. This game, she decided, was easily the most infuriating thing she has had to deal with since becoming trapped in New Eden Online.

It was pretty simple, just tossing sandbags at wooden boards to score points. Getting the bag to stay on the board was one point and getting it through the hole in the center would give three. First to twenty-one points wins.

"Damn," Demeter said as her sandbag came to a stop just next to the hole. That was her last sandbag for this round, so she stepped back to let Yang take her turn.

"You can do it Yang!"

Yang took a deep breath. 'Okay, just toss the stupid fucking sandbag and land it on the stupid fucking board, and don't overshoot it again!'

Unfortunately for Yang, a game that was considered simple for normal humans wasn't meant to be played by people with superhuman capabilities. Not only was her high STR and relatively lower DEX making it difficult to aim, but players like Demeter or Yin who focused on DEX had significantly better aim even without trying.

This was balanced out by being on the same team as Yin, while Demeter was on a team with a person from the building team, but it didn't change the fact that they were still losing 14 to 19. Yang was also coming to terms with the possibility that she just wasn't good at this game.

'This is why I never do ranged combat,' she thought bitterly. 'No, stop that. Focus.'

Yang threw the sandbag, aiming at the front of the board. Her movements have become smoother with practice but still stiff with frustration. It flew smoothly through the air, hitting the front end of the board before rolling further.

Yang began to smile. Landing there was almost guaranteed to score. She raised her arms and let out an exuberant "Yes!" But the cheer was caught in her throat.

The sandbag came to a stop as it collided with Demeter's, knocking it into the hole.

In Cornhole, points were counted based on the position of the bags at the end of each round. Yang had just handed Demeter's team the game.

The four were silent, Yang staring at the offending sandbag while the others watched her slowly lower her arms. After a moment Yang took a deep breath, picked up her crutches, and began to walk back to the village.

"Fuck this game, I'm done."

"It was a pretty good first try!" Demeter called out.

"Thank you, but I'm done."

Yin quickly apologized to Demeter and her friend before running after Yang.

"You didn't have to be so rude to them."

"Probably, but that game is pissing me off," Yang sighed. "If I stayed I was either going to demand to keep playing until I won or got so mad I smash one of the boards."

"...I see."

"Besides, I still need to figure out what I'm going to do for the next two weeks."

"What you should be doing is resting."

"The timer on my Broken Leg debuff will keep counting down as long as I don't put pressure on it. It'll be fine," Yang said dismissively. "Even if I can't hunt, I need to do something to get more EXP."

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"Well, if EXP is your interest then your only other option is crafting."

Yang sighed. "Yup. This is going to suck."

"So don't do it," Yin urged.

"Not happening."

"Very well then, let's go see Rika."

~~~~~

It took the two sisters some time to reach the Workshop, what with Yang's crutches still being cumbersome on the more busy paths of the village. The Workshop had calmed down significantly now that they had no special projects to focus on. Aside from a handful of players working around some kind of broken furnace the rest were all making or repairing the usual weapons and armor.

Rika was off to the side, surrounded by other players and handing out finished items. She was also being handed what looked like little rectangular wooden plates. The group around them was quickly getting smaller, so Yin and Yang decided to wait before approaching.

"Here you go, don't break it this time," Rika said, handing an ax to the last waiting player.

"Is it always this busy?" Yang asked.

"It's not as bad as last week, but it has been getting worse," Rika huffed, rubbing their shoulder.

"Oh? Why is that?" Yin asked.

"More players are raising their STR, but equipment durability can't keep up. They're just wearing their weapons down faster."

"Can't you guys just improve the quality?" Yang asked, concerned.

"We can't exactly guarantee that," Rika said, waving their hand dismissively. "Even if we do the buffs usually go to things like damage, rather than durability."

"You don't seem particularly distraught on the matter."

"Well, the best fix for the situation would be to use stronger materials," they smiled, "and fortunately, your little crew found exactly what we needed."

Yang shrugged. "Small miracles I guess."

"But enough of my complaining, what do you two ladies need?"

"Well, as you know," Yang said while gesturing towards her leg, "I'm stuck in the village for a while. I don't want to completely give up on gaining EXP but the only way for me to do that-"

"Is crafting," Rika finished. "So you want me to give you a job."

"Yeah. So do you have anything I can do?"

"That depends. What's your STR and DEX?"

"25 and 12."

"If I may, why is that information pertinent?" Yin asked.

"Remember Alexx on the first day?" Yang said.

Yin said nothing, but her understanding was clear on her face as she recalled their friend accidentally snapping inch-thick sticks with his fingers as he had tried to sharpen them.

"So, I don't think my stats should be a problem right?"

"No, you'll be fine for anything that isn't too precise." They thought for a moment. "You haven't created too many Fire-Hardened Spears have you?"

"Yeah, I hit the limit already."

Seemingly as a way to prevent players from too much EXP too easily, item crafting had a limit on how many times they were allowed to benefit from crafting the same items repeatedly. They could still make the items, and crafting higher qualities offered some reward, but after crafting one hundred copies of an item, creating a Common or Poor quality version rewarded no EXP.

"Hm, if you can't do that then..." Rika looked up, staring intensely at Yang for a moment, "how about I teach you how to make your own armor?"

"Armor huh? Is the EXP gain any good?"

"To be honest, aside from discovering new items, crafting isn't that great for gaining levels. Even making a full set of armor would give maybe one or two thousand EXP."

Yang sighed. "Well, it's better than nothing."

"Yeah, it'll mean that you can fix your own equipment and stop being my problem." They said with a glare.

"...Sorry?" Yang said, uncertain where this was coming from.

Rika's expression quickly became more jovial. "Nah, I'm just messing with you. You didn't do anything wrong, but anything that reduces our workload is a plus." Rika pats the ground next to them before standing up. "Anyway, you sit here, I'll go get us some materials." They paused before turning to Yin. "Sorry, did you need anything?"

"No, I was just walking with Yang. Although, do you need anything from the Kitchen? By your explanation, it sounds like you haven't had lunch yet."

Rika visibly perked up at that. "Oh, yeah that sounds great actually. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Yin began walking toward the exit. "What would you like?"

"Something edible," Rika said, straight-faced.

Yin stumbled as she heard Rika's response, but did not comment on it and continued walking as Yang began to laugh at her sister's reaction.

After a few minutes, Rika came back with a large bundle of straight Birch branches over their shoulder.

"Alright, let's get to work."

"Isn't my armor made from Maple wood though?"

"It is, but that's because you were the only one who was trying to be a full-on Tank for a while, so I went all in on your equipment. Unfortunately, Maple wood is still fairly rare so it's getting reserved for special cases." Rika paused as they sat down. "Actually, Maple will probably be primarily for weapon handles from now on, not armor."

"So what about my gear? Am I going to have to downgrade from now on?" Yang asked.

"Sorry."

Yang was disappointed but understood that she had no room to argue, and even with the downgrade, the armor was still stronger than anything available to other players.

"Anyway, let's get started," Rika said, handing Yang a stone knife and picking up a branch. "First, we need to cut these down to inch-thick boards."