Chapter 44
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: A Mountain of Sheet Music
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Two days had passed since then.
The square of Rutetia was bustling with novice adventurers, as always.
Looking for party members for a level 20 dungeon! We have a tank and a DPS. Need a healer, and we can go right away!
Adding friends for a fee. 4 gold!
Players recruiting for parties, players selling friend slots for a fee
It was a familiar and fond scene, almost to the point of being tiresome.
Twine it, twine it
Twine it, twine it
Just one thing.
Except for an unfamiliar song coming from somewhere.
Wind it, wind it
Wind it, wind it
What were they supposed to be twining, and what were they winding?
The players gazes turned toward the direction of the singing.
Heat it and beat it! Heave-ho!
Heat it and beat it! Heave-ho!
This time, the deep voices of sturdy men could be heard.
The song was coming from an alleyway in Rutetia, from the Artisan's Union where the crafting NPCs gathered.
The sight was so unusual that the players looked on with confusion.
Hey guys, its not just me hearing this, right?
Hearing what?
There's some kind of song coming from that alley. I tried turning off the sound in the options menu, but I can still hear it. I was wondering what it was.
Oh, that? Its the NPCs singing.
Huh?
One of the players in the conversation narrowed his eyes.
NPCs singing? What reason could they possibly have for that?
Why are the NPCs singing?
I don't know either. They started a couple of days ago.
Isn't there some kind of event going on?
I went to check, just in case, but it wasn't anything like that.
What is this? I can't figure out what's going on at all.
NPCs were, by nature, beings who gave quests to players and provided appropriate rewards.
No matter how realistically they were designed, they were nothing more than devices for game progression.
So it was no wonder it seemed strange to see such beings singing cheerfully.
Weirdly enough, it's actually pretty nice to listen to.
I've already memorized all the lyrics.
Some players were even leaving positive comments about the song.
A simple melody that stuck in your ear, with easy lyrics that etched themselves into your mind.
It was so addictive you could probably call it the best earworm of 2033.
Twine it, twine it
Wind it, wind it
It was around the time players started singing along with the NPCs.
Hm-hm-hmm.
In the middle of a dense forest.
A man sat perched on a large tree, humming a tune.
He had a handmade recorder at his waist and striking silver hair.
Unlike the carpenters who were sweating profusely, he exuded a noble and classical aura.
It was, of course, Yuhyeon.
I'll add a harmony here
Yuhyeons hand moved briskly, painting ink across the staff paper.
With each stroke of the fountain pen, new notes were layered onto the parchment.
Though beads of sweat formed on his forehead, he showed no signs of fatigue.
If anything, he seemed to be enjoying the moment of creating the score.
Finished.
Having completed the score, Yuhyeon murmured softly.
At the same time, a familiar notification popped up before his eyes.
Tiring!
Sheet Music creation complete.
This sheet music was created without using a skill.
Assessing the rank of this sheet music based on system criteria
Yuhyeons eyes narrowed as he looked at the message.
He had composed this piece at a moderate level to gauge the criteria for sheet music ranks.
Tiring!
The passive effect of the Mythic skill Magical Sheet Music Creation has been activated.
A special magic is bestowed upon sheet music created without using a crafting skill.
The effect of the bestowed magic is increased by 30.
The number of available uses for the sheet music has increased from 25 to 125.
Itll be C-rank.
The moment Yuhyeon thought this to himself.
Tiring!
The rank of this sheet music is C.
Would you like to name the sheet music?
The sheet music had turned out to be the exact rank he had predicted.
This was possible only because he had found the baseline after creating several scores.
I'll name it 'Twelfth Work Song'.
Yuhyeon smiled faintly as he named the score.
Ive already made this many.
Over the past two days, he had created several scores while completing the quests given to him.
The fact that he had already done so twelve times was deeply gratifying.
Now, I just need to replicate it
Yuhyeon replicated the finished score and then approached the carpenter.
Here is the song you requested.
Oh. Is it finished already?
The carpenter asked with a bewildered expression.
It had only been two hours since he had requested the song.
Could he have just slapped it together?
It was a short enough time that it wouldnt have been strange if it were just scribbled together.
However, the carpenters eyes widened in an instant as he checked the score.
Sheet Music: Twelfth Work Song
Creator: Yuhyeon
Rank: C
Buff: Joy of Logging
20 chance to acquire 1 additional piece of lumber when logging.
10 chance for a Lucky Strike to occur when logging (random drop up to 4x).
Labor is enhanced, reducing the time required for logging by 10.
Reduces fatigue and mental stress.
Repeatedly singing the work song enhances these effects.
Buff lasts for 6 hours.
H-Huh! W-What is this!
The carpenters hand trembled as he held the score.
So, what I heard from the farmers wasnt a lie!
In all his time working as a carpenter, he had never received a blessing.
He wasn't going into battle; there was no one who would cast a blessing on a simple carpenter doing the most ordinary of jobs.
With a blessing like this, it wouldnt be strange if my production doubled.
To be honest, he had been half-skeptical of the rumors from his colleagues when he requested the score.
And now, he had been given a score with such incredible effects?
It was truly like a treasure that money couldnt buy.
Th-Thank you
With that thought, the carpenter was about to thank Yuhyeon profusely.
Oh, huh?
The carpenter looked around with a dazed expression.
Where did he go?
But the silver-haired man was already long gone.
Alright, I've hit my target.
Yuhyeon said energetically with a satisfied expression.
Time to take stock.
He opened his inventory for the first time in a while to check his belongings.
Tiring!
Yuhyeons Inventory
Items
Beginners Tunic
Ring of the Skeleton Knight (Epic)
Gessins Bastard Sword (Epic)
Sheet Music: Weave the Thread
Sheet Music: Weave the Thread
Sheet Music: Weave the Thread
.
.
.
Gold: 943G
Aside from the Epic items he had obtained earlier, his inventory was filled with nothing but sheet music.
Sheet music here, sheet music there. Stacks of yellow parchment filled his bag.
This was the result of using his replication skill on the finished scores.
Heh, I made quite a lot.
Yuhyeon grinned as he looked at his inventory.
The fact that he had created all this sheet music felt surreal.
I used up all the original parchment and even bought another 100 sheets.
In fact, he had used up the first 100 sheets of parchment he bought and had to purchase 100 more.
Meaning, he had used 200 sheets of parchment to create the work songs.
To be precise, he had used 195 sheets.
I couldnt make an A-rank one in the end.
Yuhyeon had created a total of twelve different work songs for the NPCs.
Among them, he had made one A-rank, three B-ranks, and eight C-ranks.
Excluding the one I gave to the farmers, I guess I only really made B and C-rank ones.
Unfortunately, apart from the very first score, all the others turned out to be B or C-rank.
Then again, if they were all A-rank, the brokerage would go crazy.
He had spoken so confidently to Ned, as if he could bring him A-rank scores whenever he wanted.
It's fine. I learned a lot.
Still, he had figured out a great deal through this experience.
I learned that the number of replications changes with the rank.
The first was the number of possible replications per rank.
While the replication cooldown was the same at one week, an A-rank score could be replicated 5 times, a B-rank 10 times, and a C-rank 20 times.
A D-rank hadn't appeared yet, but it seemed likely it would allow for 40 replications.
This was because he had discovered a pattern where the number of replications doubled.
The number of uses per score also changes with the rank.
The second was the number of uses per score for each rank.
An A-rank score could be used 500 times, while a B-rank could be used 250 times, and a C-rank 125 times.
This also followed a rule of halving with each decrease in rank.
The Diligent Ant was C-rank and had 100 uses.
Yuhyeons scores had 25 more uses than a normally crafted C-rank score.
He didnt know the exact mechanics, but it seemed to be the influence of his Mythic skill, Magical Sheet Music Creation.
And the last thing'
The third thing he learned about was Fame.
Yuhyeon opened the interface to view the Fame Points he had accumulated.
Tiring!
Fame Points: 458
My Fame went up by 1 each time the song was played.
His Fame Points increased by one each time his sheet music was played by someone else.
If one person used it, he gained one point, and if they were in a party, the points increased by the number of party members.
In other words, the more people who used it, the more his Fame would rise.
They said your stats increase when your Fame gets high enough.
There were several advantages to be gained from increasing Fame, but the most outstanding effect was undoubtedly the stat increase.
Was it 1 to all stats at 500?
Every time he reached 500 Fame, all of his stats, including Divinity and Charm, would increase by 1.
Since this included Divinity and Charm, which couldnt be raised through simple leveling, it was an exceptional reward.
Most players have given up on it, I hear.
However, the consensus among players was that raising stats through Fame was pointless.
This was because, aside from special classes like merchants or alchemists, it was difficult to raise Fame at all.
But even if those special classes raised their stats through Fame, no one was jealous.
After all, they rarely participated in combat.
My situation is different, though.
A balance patch intended for special classes was unintentionally becoming a huge advantage for Yuhyeon alone.
It made sense; Yuhyeon was a 'Conductor of Melody,' a bard who could also fight.
Actually, I'm curious about the skill effect
But there was something else he was more curious about.
Namely, that the effects of his Mythic skill would be unlocked upon reaching a certain amount of Fame.
He had no way of checking how much Fame was required, so for now, all he could do was wait.
Well, I'll find out eventually.
Lost in thought, he soon found himself in front of the Rutetia Brokerage Exchange.
Opening the door, he saw countless players engaged in brokerage trades.
Customer number 127. Please come to window A.
Customer number 129. To window B
While everyone else was taking a number and waiting for their turn, Yuhyeon alone walked straight inside without taking one.
He was heading for the VIP room where the senior manager, Ned, was stationed.
Oh? You're here already, Mr. Yuhyeon.
Ned spotted Yuhyeon and greeted him warmly.
I did say I would visit you soon.
Heh heh
Ned's eyes curved into crescents.
He had said "soon," but it had only been two days.
I wonder what kind of outlandish thing hes brought to surprise me with this time.
Could he really have created sheet music in such a short time, just two days?
What if its another unbelievable item like last time?
Ned looked at Yuhyeon, his face filled with anticipation.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to create any A-rank scores.
Ah
Ned was about to sigh in disappointment.
But I brought a lot instead. Here you go.
Tiring!
Do you want to give Second Work Song (10) to Ned?
Do you want to give Third Work Song (20) to Ned?
Do you want to give Fourth Work Song (20) to Ne
Do you want to give.
.
.
.
A veritable feast of sheet music bundles poured out.
Watching this, Ned hurriedly accepted the items and spoke.
W-W-What is all this! H-How many did you make?
195.
Ned mumbled blankly.
195?
I'd like to entrust them all to you for sale.
Is it too many to handle?
H-Handle? Of course not! Don't you worry about a thing.
He stared at Yuhyeon with a dumbfounded expression.
A quick glance revealed that while there were no A-ranks, there were several B-ranks, and the rest were all C-rank.
Since even the 'Diligent Ant' score had sold, all of these were certainly marketable.
He made 195 in two days?
He was simply stunned by the fact that someone had created 195 of them in just two days.
Given the quantity, this transaction will likely take some time.
That works out well. It'll be difficult for me to create more scores for a while. Please take your time.
What? Difficult to create scores for a while?
Ned asked cautiously, his arms full of sheet music.
There's somewhere I need to go.
If you don't mind my asking, where might you be going?
I'm thinking of going to get a violin repaired.
A v-violin?
Neds expression showed he had no idea what Yuhyeon was talking about.
It's just as important to me as creating sheet music.
He had hit level 20 after creating all that sheet music.
The moment had finally arrived when he could complete the hidden quest he received from Gessin.
Yuhyeon said with a gentle smile.
Then I'll leave it in your hands.
The twelve types of sheet music that were about to cause a storm in the brokerage.
Y-You can count on me!
He handed them to Ned in a massive pile.
In a certain mine on the Caldea continent.
There was a place known as a graveyard for NPCs, a slave camp.
Get up!
A mans shout echoed through the mine.
P-Please, spare me. I can't go on
An elderly NPC collapsed to the ground, begging the supervisor relentlessly.
But the supervisor merely gripped his whip, his expression murderous.
Crack!
Gah! Y-You might as well kill me!
The old man, knocked down by the whip, screamed at the top of his lungs.
It was all or nothing; he figured the supervisor wouldnt actually kill him for saying that.
Unfortunately for him.
Is that so?
Swish!
The supervisor drew the sword from his waist and slit the NPCs throat in a single motion.
I'll grant your wish.
It was over in an instant, too quick for even a single scream.
Anyone else want to die? If not, get back to work.
He then growled lowly at the other workers.
Y-Yes, sir!
The NPCs, their faces pale with terror, trudged back to their tasks.
Stupid things. If you're an NPC, you should just do as you're told
The supervisor said, looking at them with a pathetic expression.
Just then, a colleague approached him and whispered quietly.
Bartrand. An order has come down from the Master.
The Master has given me a direct order?
Yes. The message is to pack your things and head to the Gald Mountains.
Alright, you can go.
The supervisor gripped his whip tightly and thought to himself.
So hes finally proceeding with what he mentioned before.
The Dark Gamer, Bartrand.
The Gald Mountains I believe they were near the city of Rutetia.
His cold gaze turned toward Rutetia.