CHAPTER 169 - A FAN-TOM MENACE
🙞❤︎🙜
I removed most of the furniture in my living room and then placed a large worktable in the middle of the open space. Taking out the [Fan Skeleton], which was made of the fan sticks already bound together, I piled them on one side of the table and made another pile of [Firebird Feathers] on the other side.
Then I mentally clicked [Use] on the [Firebird Feathers] before clicking on the [Fan Skeleton].
The items then glowed a candy apple red and flew to the middle of the table where the [Firebird Feathers] started gluing themselves to the [Fan Skeleton].
“Yes!” I couldn’t help but cheer the process on.
In almost no time at all, the [War Fan] was complete.
Made of vivid red feathers and pale polished wood, the fan sparkled like the legendary object it was. It was hard to imagine that something this lovely could wreak havoc on the Vermillion Bird’s enemies.
I picked it up and practiced opening and closing it in the most elegant way possible. I even put on a red outfit to match it and pranced around the room, using the fan to gesture or flirtatiously cover half my face. The way that it sparkled with every movement was almost hypnotic, but I did eventually get tired of playing around with it and went back to work making more [War Fans].
The [Firebird Feathers] had been enhanced using [Automatic Alchemy] and though I didn’t use a cauldron while making the completed [War Fan], I still got Alchemy exp, and it was a lot! Since Alchemy was a sub-skill of Herblaw, this exp was reflected in the parent skill. I was definitely going to level up Herblaw soon.
Creating the items in the quantity I needed was an easy but long and tedious process. Every half an hour, I got up and stretched or walked around the room to soothe my stiff muscles.
Though [War Fans] are the Vermillion Bird clan’s iconic and best weapon, they were extremely easy for players to make because the World Boss Event was meant for everyone to enjoy, so even low-level players could make this key item.
As I continued crafting the weapons, I went over my memories of the event in Adventure Incarnate. Of course, I knew it wouldn’t be exactly the same in this world, but surely my knowledge would be useful nonetheless.
The game’s first cooperative event was a huge deal when it was first held. We were all excited to fight a boss together with everyone on the server, and the event did not disappoint. It was laggy, as expected, but the game developers had added a [Hide Players] button for those who had no patience with lag or had older computers or slow internet connections.
[Hide Players] reduced the graphical lag and let the players screenshot their big hits. The boss was low defense but extremely high HP, so it was basically just a big punching bag. Players considered it a great chance to try out various combinations of armor, weapons, accessories, buffs, and so forth.
I chuckled out loud when I remembered the incident that made GodIAm famous in the game.
Somehow, by testing various joke items that gave players stats, he found out that there was a special “Mercy Mode” or “Pity System” that was meant for low-level players. If a player did zero damage 99 times, the game heavily boosted the player’s 100th hit.
There was an outcry in the forums when GodIAm posted lots of screenshots of him hitting enormously high damage on the boss. Many claimed it was impossible to hit those numbers even with max stats and the best items in the game, and GodIAm admitted it was true.
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I laughed again when I recalled how everyone had abused Mercy Mode when GodIAm revealed his method.
The devs were very good-natured about it and declined to nerf the damage players did. Instead, they gave the boss even more HP and an automatic self-healing skill.
I took out a pen and paper and jotted down everything I knew about the event, then continued making [War Fans] the whole day, with short breaks for lunch and dinner with Prince Baiyu.
That night, I stayed up late until I got the System popup that I was waiting for.
“Come on, sweet exp!” I was a little hyper from drinking coffee to keep myself awake past midnight.
[Congratulations, you just advanced an Herblaw level!]
[Your Herblaw level is now 23.]
“Yes!” I did a little victory dance with Mr. Bear.
[Player Name: Violet
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 25, Fishing Level 12, Woodcutting Level 22, Cooking Level 6, Herblaw Level 22→23, Foraging Level 7, Hunting Level 7, Mining Level 4]
I went to bed in a wonderful mood and woke up in an even better one. Flinging the bed sheets aside, I jumped up and blazed through my morning routine.
“Good morning!” I said to Prince Baiyu.
He had been waiting for me at the gate to my [Ranch House]. We met each other almost every day, either very early in the morning or in the evening after his work was done.
“Good morning,” he said.
He took my hand in his, and we walked in comfortable silence to the nearest rice paddy where he stayed by my side as I inspected the crops.
It was a warm summer day with the rice paddy glistening in the dappled sunlight, a sea of emerald green punctuated by the occasional ripple caused by a breeze. The rice and fish were growing well, and Prince Baiyu and I admired how they worked together harmoniously.
“You’ll have another bountiful harvest this season,” said Prince Baiyu.
“Looks like it,” I said.
We walked to the other rice paddies. Everything was in order.
Then we entered the shaded area under the protective canopy I had placed over the tea field. Here the air was deliciously scented by the tea plants.
I took a deep breath and savored the delicate, invigorating aroma. “Smell that. I never get tired of this.”
“Smell this?” Prince Baiyu leaned down and sniffed my neck. “Wonderful. I never get tired of it.”
“Oh, you!” I playfully swatted his head away. “Stop it! I’ve been sweating.”
Shaking my head at his teasing, I went back to work.
I made my way through the rows of plants, my eyes meticulously scanning each one for any signs of disease or pests. I knew that the System would probably be able to identify any problems for me, but I still manually checked each one, just in case there were things from this world that the System wasn’t equipped to deal with.
Crouching down, I peered intently at the stems and undersides of the leaves, searching for any discoloration or abnormalities such as the yellowing of the leaves or the tell-tale webbing of spider mites. The dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy cast intricate patterns on the ground, guiding my path as I diligently inspected each and every tea plant.
“Here, drink some water.” Prince Baiyu handed me a bamboo water flask.
“Thanks.” I took a drink and handed it back to him.
To my surprise, he took the lid off and lifted it to his lips, making sure to touch the exact spot I had drunk from.
An indirect kiss?!
What for, when we could just kiss directly?
Smiling, I stood up on tip-toes and put my hands on the back of his neck. We were just about to lock lips when I heard people squealing in excitement. The corners of Prince Baiyu’s lips twitched and we both burst out laughing.
“You guys ruined the mood!” I complained to my apprentices who were still some distance away and probably couldn’t hear me. I reluctantly disentangled myself from Prince Baiyu.
Kharli and Mo were embracing each other and still shrieking shrilly. Lari was looking away from us into the distance, pretending to be disinterested, but I had heard him cheering along with the other two.
I waved at them to join us, and they walked over and greeted us.
“Let’s get to work,” I said to them. “These plants aren’t going to water themselves.”
***
I continued to take care of the farm and make more weapons until the fateful day I was waiting for arrived.
[System Announcement: Advent of the Demon Monarch
Countdown: 10 days]