A Certain Middle-Aged Man’s VRMMO Activity Log c20

Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki
Author: Shiina Howahowa

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Now that we’ve talked a lot about shoes, let’s go to town on bows.

“Here, the bowstrings are done!”

I received the 30 bowstrings I’d asked a tailor crafter for.

That’s because the new bow concept I have uses 2 bowstrings.
It’s easy to say that, but I’m going to have to surpa.s.s the boundaries of reality to make it work.

“By the way, those are some nasty looking shoes, nee. Are you going to go all slasher1 on your opponents?”

The tailor oneesan2 asked, interested.

“Aaa, these shoes wouldn’t be able to do that.

Instead of killing by slashing, it’s more like these are for ‘whittling down’ my opponent’s health.”

In the first place, the movements between swordsmanship and kicking are too different.

They’re called “Blade Shoes”, but in reality it’s a weapon that shaves off damage by aiming for places on the opponent where their defenses are thin, and on humanoids their neck or fingertips.

It would be hard to cut through an opponent while only having a blade that measures about 3cm.

And whittling away at the opponent little by little, digging in a bit and gouging; they’re splendid battle strategies.
Since there aren’t any Arts for [Kick], this kind of thinking is indispensable.

“You also made such a dangerous thing, nee, even though you’re a chef.”

“It was driven by necessity so it couldn’t be helped”, with that explanation as my parting farewell, I hurry to the woodworking station.
It’s true that if I used these shoes and went after a PVP opponent’s neck, in “Real” it would become a horror situation you wouldn’t want to see, wouldn’t it; I’m thinking that kind of stupid thing.

Now then, finally it’s the time to craft the main weapon, the bow … I’d like to say that, but before that my [Bow] skill reached LV30 and I have to choose a specialty.
There are three choices: [Short Bow], [Hunting Bow], [Long Bow].

[Short Bow] has a short induction time to give characteristic of rapid-firing, and it’s easy to handle.
In exchange, the range and offensive power will fall no matter what.

[Long Bow] is the exact opposite with a long induction time, and the bow is bigger so it’s a pain to maneuver.
In exchange the range and offensive power of each shot is perfect, exactly suitable for becoming a sniper.

The two I just gave are simplified explanations, since I’ve rejected both.

This has to be for people who can handle acrobatic fighting at short-range.

[Long Bow] is even more “Nope”. Because of the maneuverability needed with [Kick], [Long Bow]’s large size will just get in the way.

It’s more for people who often join parties, and taken by people who choose to specialize as a sniper.

Since it’s like that, other than the [Hunting Bow] that’s not too much bigger or with too different of a range

From the beginning, the choice couldn’t be too different.

Of course since the skill is a tier higher, there are increased benefits like better offensive power.

It takes 3 EXP to change [Bow]LV30 to [Hunting Bow]LV1.
I’ve finally specialized, long after everyone else’s combat specialization.

Now let’s regroup and go back to bow production.

Also, thinking about drawing the bow, the right bowstring would be nearly vertical while the left bowstring would slant so a perfect “X” shaped bow isn’t possible.

Why would I try to make such a bow?

Because trying to make something that would never exist in “Real” is interesting.

Because it’s a game, something like this is allowed.

Since I’ve already drawn up the blueprints I’m furiously whittling the form.

For the wood that will draw the left and right bowstrings I use wood with more elasticity.

Learning from the previous connected-double-bow attempt, I positioned a stabilizing coupling joint made of wood together with the bow arms and clamped them together.

In particular, if I’m not careful when I slant the left bow in front of the right bow, the base, it won’t become an “X”.

The strength is insufficient when I make it according the blueprint, so I went back to the forge to make a reinforcement.

I repeated this for several days.

Even so, the process of making this new type of shape, succeeding little bit by little bit, is fun.
And then, after a lot, it’s finally complete!

Because the bow’s grip is the foundation, and for making the “X”, just wood won’t cover it, so I made an iron grip a bit thicker than the wood.

And so the difficulty in the grip is somehow or other cleared.

The right one was stabilized at about a 10 degree slant.

The bowarms’ tips are also reinforced with iron, increasing the strength.
The previous time with the composite bow I didn’t have [Blacksmithing] so I couldn’t do it, but doing this increases the durability by a lot.

Both of the bowstrings are drawn back together. And then released.

Compared to the previous skill LV, my abilities seem to have gone up and I can suitably handle this bow without any problems.

In the end, the wood I’d gathered from the forest area has just about all disappeared.

For that, there’s a meaning; there’s merit to it.

—

X-Styled Composite Hunting Bow

A bow aiming to increase offensive power by adding 2 bows together in an “X”.

The handling’s difficulty is greatly increased; a beginner with bows will absolutely not be able to use it.

ATK+32     Quality6

—

The Prototype Composite Bow I’ve been using had an attack strength of +12, so this one is a drastic jump. It’s a powerhouse.

Unconsciously I muttered, “Good work, I’ve been in your care.”

Even though it’s just a piece of data found inside a game, even so it’s my buddy that’s worked hard up ‘til now, so it’s fine to say a word for it.
I have some attachment to it. Even if it’s in the virtual world, I brought it into being with my own hands, so I can say it definitely existed here.

SKILLS

[Hunting Bow]Lv1   [Kick]Lv27   [Farsight]Lv25   [Wind Magic]Lv18

[Cooking]Lv34   [Woodworking]Lv18   [Alchemy]Lv30   [Blacksmithing]Lv19
[Physical Ability Boost]Lv35

Reserved Skill(s)
[Stealth]Lv20

EXP  12

And so, from hereon my main weapon is this really unreasonable bow.

* I have a tendency to go in this direction.

Since I can have a bow that would never exist in real-life, this so-called impossibility would be interesting so I’d love to see it.

“kiru” – in j.a.panese there is a verb for “killing/destroying by cutting/slashing through your target(with a blade)”. There isn’t a term that convenient in English. Unfortunately, the way the story goes, it points out EVERY DANG NUANCE of the verb.

I also considered going with “dismembering” in place of “kiru”, but decided against it. oneesan –  in this case, used as indicating the tailor is a young woman, but not a girl. In other cases, can refer to a shop attendant (waitress, usually), an older sister/cousin…