CH 5

APRIL 9, 2016 ~ SILENTWOLFIE

TL: The next update for this series kind of depends.

Chapter 5 – First party (1)

[Gathering of the materials for intermediate potions? No can do, that’s not a place for a rookie to go alone when there are so many orcs.]

The male receptionist at the adventurer’s guild —– Carlo heard my request and replied.

….. Hmm, so it’s a no huh.

There are limitations to receive a quest.

One of the limitations is levels.

If one does not exceed a certain level, it is not possible to apply for the quest.

Most likely, this particular request has some corresponding conditions.

My level went up again, up by one to reach level 6 after the killer bees battle.

It seemed that there are many quests that I cannot take on, perhaps these are recommended quests only for parties.

A party, hmm……

For this type of MMORPG, there are more players who group up together to accomplish things, rather than have solo players doing stuff. This is called a party.

There are merits like receiving the protection from allies in a party, the group can continue longer and fight against stronger monsters.

The de-merit would be splitting up the XP from monsters to all the players.

During the beginning, a single person would be more effective to gather XP by moving alone, although there are things that need to be avoided with the lack of an ally’s support skills, and it is move effective to in a party compared to having just high levels.

‘It is far more enjoyable to talk with your allies instead of continuing to play alone’ —- And with that reason many people group up.

Well that is how the previous MMORPG works, and perhaps it’s the same in Another World.

But, there’s a need to join a party at some point right?

If I think about it, I kind of regret about missing the opportunity during my first meeting. (TL: He refers to the girl she met in the forest for the first time.)

If I got to make friends with that person, perhaps I would not need to be troubled over the partying issue right now.

To be honest, I remembered stuff regarding partying in the previous MMORPG that I played. In that game, that was a feature called ‘Party Matching’, which would display the information about classes and level if players wanted to join in.

At that time, I did not know much about MMORPG as a beginner and I tried registering as one who was looking for a party. But no matter how long I waited there was no voice to alert me that a party had invited me.

At the end, my name was the only one which was left in the Party Matching window, and the day ended with the players who registered later than me getting invited. (TL: …How unlucky can you get. How bocchi? Are you the universe’s unluckiest man?)

Even so, I continued to register myself in the feature, and I finally got invited on the fifth day.

When I entered the party in high spirits, the person who invited me apologized as he replied, “Sorry, I wanted to invite someone else.” He explained in detail, — He had keyed in the words wrongly and he wanted to invite the player below me, as he fulfilled the recovery role —

That day my heart was broken and I logged out from the game. (TL: …)

After that I later learned that my profession had decent firepower with lots of interference skill which was used in PvP fights and not really useful for hunting monsters. It was a trap profession that was only useful for parties who were masochistic in nature.

Therefore I tried inviting the players of other professions on my own, but the people took a look at me and……

Respectfully rejected me and said that I should party up with players of the same profession, but the fact remained that these players were left alone in the Party Matching list. I felt a strange sense of camaraderiewith these players, but I decided to play alone.

Even though I had fun in that game, I would still like to think that it would not happen this time round.

The class ‘Magician’ is a DPS type and this sort of thing should not happen like the previous time, I hope.

In any case I should try and level up so that I can hopefully get the quest, and I’ll think about the stuff regarding a party again.

Or should I check with Carlo to see if there’s any new quests?

But what’s with that man with the unshaven face nearby me? Huh? What is going on?

[Hey, if you’re applying for this quest, can you do the quest together with us?]

………….. P, Pardon?

What did you say just now?

[The truth is we don’t have enough manpower for this quest. We’re still on the lookout for someone appropriate, are you willing to join us?]

Eh, did I just got invited?

Really?

[…… Why does it has to be me?]

Before I knew it, my voice came out.

That is because there were a dozen bald brawny-looking people within the guild that looked like they had been burglars who had deep scars on their faces.

(だってギルドにはスキンヘッドや顔に深い傷を負った賊をやったほうが似合うんじゃないかと思うほど屈強そうな男が十数人ほどいる。 Not entirely sure if TLed correctly.)

I am not sure if they are players or not, but even if the possibility is low for all of them to not be a player, it is still fine to choose them right?

Well, since it is a game, it does not mean that their appearance would necessarily be linked to their strength.

It is possible to have a scene where a small girl with the body of a child carry a huge weapon and freely rampage around. I personally think that there is not much of an advantage to invite a low level player like myself. (TL: I wonder if that really happens in MMORPGs. Usually their weapons are appropriate for their body size.)

[You’re a rookie right? Actually, I have two newbies in my party right now. In order to train them I’m applying for a request, but it’s difficult to take care of them with handling the quest with just just our numbers, indeed. If it’s possible I’m searching for another rookie to party up with them.]

……. I see. So that’s the reason huh.

When you group up and defeat monsters, there are certain pattern as to how the XP would be distributed to party members.

One of them is where the level difference between the members in the party exceeds 10.

For example, it is possible for characters of level 15 and level 5 in party to receive XP, but if there is a member with level 4, he would not be able to receive XP no matter how many monsters are defeated.

This is the way of curbing extremely high level players bringing along the low levels to level up, and in particular, this method is called power leveling.

There are several reasons why they do not recommend such acts.

The first is how low level players rely too much on others, and they are not able to learn from hunting themselves, and turn out to players with low skill.

Such players are easy to make their allies their victims, and they tend to be unpopular with other players.

Another issue was the monopoly of such hunting grounds, and could develop into quarrels and become exposed to the internet, easily leading to further troublesome complications.

There are also things like supporting the rookies with powerful support magic or lending them strong weapons to aid them with Power Leveling, and it is difficult to separate the lines from people who just want to aid the beginners.

I personally think think that it’s not too good to help out too much, as one would be able to enjoy the game better.

Returning to the topic at hand, I think there is a voice that calling out to me.

……. How fortunate I am!

Perhaps I can get along with them as a start and be able to join their party from then onwards, this invitation that I received is so amazing! (TL: もしかしてこれをきっかけに仲良くなって今後もパーティーに参加しないかなんて勧誘をしてもらったりしちゃうんだろうか！ Seems like he’s becoming delirious with glee, but I’m not sure how to TL this…)

I try my hardest to suppress the joy in my face which had a grin on it.

No, not yet. I need to know what the exact quest is as well as what kind of members there are.

Depending on the combination of the party instead of becoming a force, it is possible to become baggage instead.

It is a quest for my first party.

If possible I want to succeed as much as I can!

I also don’t want to give that embarrassing impression to them that I’m happy from getting friends as a Bocchi player. (TL: Not sure if I mentioned this, but Bocchi usually points towards school students who choose to be on their own or doesn’t have friends.)

Restrain yourself!

[….. Before that I would like to confirm the request, and the party members-]

I carefully make sure that I don’t have any signs of delight in my reply.

The man with the unshaven face acknowledged it with understanding.

[Alright, then could you come over. I’ll introduce my allies. Ahh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Havoc. I look forward to work with you.]

Havoc brought me over to a table with three people, and it seemed like they were his party members.

[Here, lemme introduce them. These are the members that are applying for the quest as well.]

A man with brown hair and blue eyes carried a long sword on his waist, and there was a metal breastplate over his shirt. He had a considerably impressive figure. He looked like a nice youth as he smiled when he looked at me.

My impression of him was a refreshing person who’s in the sports club or something.

There were two girls as well. One of them wore a slightly thick blue and white dress — A magician’s attire? — And she looked like she was about twenty with short purple hair and eyes.

The other girl had long ears —– An elf.

She had long gold hair and red eyes, giving her an intense appearance.

She had a leather breastplate and carried a quiver on her back. There was a bow next to her and she’s probably an archer.

[I’m Chaos. Please take care of me.]

[Liam, yup, please give me your regards, yup.]

[I’m Emilia.]

[….. Cornelia.]

After I greeted them, the sports guy, gentle Nee-san, and the elf girl introduced themselves.

Judging from their appearances, I think they are a warrior, healer and archer.

A warrior with a shield can attract the attention of the monster while there is healing support from the healer. The archer can attract distant monsters and support with ranged attacks.

The balance of the party isn’t bad.

Along with my firepower, the overall strength should be passable.

Since the party limit is six people, there won’t be a problem here.

[Since the greeting is over, I’ll talk about the quest. There has been some testimony from eyewitnesses. They saw a group of Kobold in the southwest and this time it is a subjugation quest. The rewards will be distributed in the participating members. You’re good with that right?]

It’s a reasonable place. I nod with agreement.

[Then we will set off as soon as we’re ready. It shouldn’t take more than a day. The party leader is Emilia, please follow her instructions.]

[Please take care of me, Chaos-san.]

Emilia gracefully bowed.

A window popped up after that.

[Emilia-san has invited you to her party. Do you accept?]

….. Of course it’s an OK!

I joined their party with my heart in it.