Prev Next
  Chapter 1: Murderer 1 As usual, Akatsuki entered a pathway which was not very wide. In a deep corner of the production street, this zone was a remodeled basement full of wooden boxes. This was the storefront of the production guild Amenoma, evident from the large number of worn-out Japanese swords on display with the 'pick up' option disabled. Among the many weapon crafting guilds, it was a weird guild that specialized exclusively on Japanese swords. The members who ran such a strange guild were not normal themselves. Because of their enthusiasm in crafting, ingredients and tools were overflowing from the grand-scale forge inside. Even the storefront had crates of unfinished blades and ingredients, looking more like a warehouse. But this was convenient for Akatsuki. Being bombarded with greetings of 'welcome' pressured her and she would be put off by a sales clerk recommending her products. Akatsuki was shy by nature. Although she could converse freely with her guildmates Naotsugu and Nyanta, and was warming up to Tohya and Isuzu, she still found it hard to handle people other than them. Akatsuki was thankful that she could browse Amenoma's merchandise in peace (because of the laid-back nature of this guild). "Hmmm..." Akatsuki recalled the way around and walked to a corner of the store. Japanese swords that could be used by many classes were displayed in this section. Glass displays were uncommon in this world. The swords were simply hung on the wall. This zone was owned by the guild Amenoma so the sale items had been set to be immovable by others. Akatsuki who was not a guild member was unable to take the items with her even though she could touch them. She could examine the items and see the stats on her status screen, so it was not an inconvenience to shoppers. They did not need to worry about shoplifting either, a very convenient setting. There were dozens of swords in this section. Akatsuki had set her eyes on several of them. In Elder Tales, the conditions for equipping an item could be seen through its status screen. For example, this 'green steel Kodachi-black wrought hilt' could be equipped by Guardians, Samurai, Assassins, Swashbucklers, Bards, and Kannagi; these 6 classes. Samurai could basically equip all swords, but if the status screen of the sword did not include Samurai in its user list, they would not be able to equip that sword. On the other hand, Monks could not equip most swords, but they could equip the ones that specifically stated that they could be equipped by Monks. The main weapons in Akatsuki's Assassin class were bows, swords, blades, and whips. But they could also equip a wide array of other weapons because they belonged to the weapon-based class. Akatsuki had used the Kodachi since Elder Tales was still a game because she thought it was cool, but she had grown to love it because of its practicality after the Catastrophe. With her experience in Kendo, this was the weapon she found easiest to use. It was tough to choose a weapon. Akatsuki browsed through the list she was familiar with after repeated usage. There were probably tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of weapons in Elder Tales. But it was common knowledge that the choices were much more limited for an Adventurer seeking an ideal weapon. In terms of weapons, there were one handed swords, two handed swords, spears, axes, pole arms, bows, staves, clubs, gauntlets, throwing weapons, whips, and other special weapons. The number of each weapon type was different, but each type had about 10% of the hundred thousand weapons available. Another issue was the levels needed to equip weapons. In Elder Tales, there would be higher-tier weapons available for every ten levels you gained. Every Adventurer needed to refresh their equipment after leveling 10 levels since they would lose out to players of the same level if they did not upgrade their gear. Hardcore players would pay even more attention to their equipment and review it frequently. With the level cap at 100, they would need to change their weapons 20 times if they upgraded every 5 levels. Another thing to note was the 12 classes available to players. Take a Kodachi for instance. Assassins focusing on agility and attack power would consider different attributes compared to a Kannagi concentrating on magic power and elemental defense, and they would choose different Kodachi. Similarly for Assassins, their preference between higher damage and higher attack speed would affect their weapon choice. Applying these conditions would filter the choices further down from the 10% suitable by level rank. The choices would dwindle down to a manageable amount despite the overwhelming total number of available weapons. For Akatsuki, there were about 10 choices. Here lay another giant problem. The possibility of obtaining them. In Elder Tales, without exception, the most powerful weapons were the rewards of major raids. Akatsuki had no experience in major raids. She was confident of her level and gaming skills, but that was the limit of Adventurers who only went for party battles. Also, 90% of the raid weapons dropped had a 'no trade' attribute. That meant they could not gift or sell the items obtained from raids. Unless you took part in the raids and picked them up on-site, you would never be able to obtain them. Although Akatsuki had 10 weapons on her wish list, only 2 could be traded without taking part in major raids.

Akatsuki dismounted near 'Birdland Duvacha'. She was not planning anything sinister, she just wanted to move in silence. After traversing the overgrown forest for a while, her view was blocked by the greenery. This was a well-traveled path in the forest, designed to meander about by the developers. This was a design technique to make a small area look bigger than it really was. 'Birdland Duvacha' was a type of field maze. Even though it was outdoors, the area was confined by the meandering paths and was set as a place to fight monsters. But after the Catastrophe, you could bash through the maze in a straight line instead of sticking to the meandering path, although it might be troublesome and slower. It took some effort to climb up and down the cliff, but it was an easier route for the light and agile Akatsuki. 'Birdland Duvacha' was about 40 minutes away from Akiba by horse. As a zone with level 80 monsters, Akatsuki who was level 91 would not be able to get EXP here, but it was a safe place for her to travel in. The monsters that appeared here could be beaten by her safely and would not fall in one hit, a suitable place for her to try out her weapons and skills. Akatsuki had visited this place for battle training many times before. The group she was looking for was also training. After bashing through the bushes for a while, she could hear the sounds of battles. The sound of iron clashing, the harsh sound of freezing air and the sharp noise of lightning. The Black Sword Knights were going through group training today. Akatsuki looked for a depression in the ground and lay low. She could see the whole training ground through the vegetation from her position. Two parties of Black Sword Knights were going through a fierce mock battle. Akatsuki used her Tracker subclass to hide her presence as she watched the Black Sword Knights train.

The Roderick Firm was one of the 3 major production guilds, but the direction it was taking and its goal differed from other crafting organizations. When Elder Tales was just a game, items were crafted by choosing the ingredients using the game menu. The items that could be crafted varied from subclass to subclass and there was a need for many ingredients. Before going into production, the craftsmen needed to gather numerous 'recipe scrolls'. Take Pharmacists for instance, they could create instant HP recovery potion, HP increase potion, HP recovery over time potion, all kinds of ability enhancing agents, 3 types of antidotes, preventive anti-toxins, dozens of poisons (to be applied on weapons), speed increase potion, attack speed increase potion... etc. There were new stronger potions available to the subclass with every 10 level increase so Roderick was able to mix over 600 types of potions back in the game days. That was the number of recipes he had. But it was hard to gather all available recipe scrolls, even more so for beginners or normal Adventurers. To reach the stage where you could make any type of potion at required a huge investment of time and in-game wealth. The Roderick Firm was started with the goal of completing the library of recipe scrolls. The recipe scrolls could be duplicated using rare ingredients. The craftsmen working in a guild gathering recipe scrolls would be able to learn from the recipe scrolls they had on hand, which was a big advantage over other craftsmen. It was only natural for The Roderick Firm to shift their focus to research and development after the Catastrophe. So far, all those interested in research and development as well as high-quality craftsmen were all gathered in The Roderick Firm. Adventurers who applied techniques from the old world, trending towards mechanization and mass production would join Oceanic Systems. Those who liked doing business and working with the People of the Land congregated at the 8th District Shopping Center. Oceanic Systems had their own sales department, but The Roderick Firm outsourced their retail to 8th District Shopping Center and other merchant guilds. His members were all academics spending their spare time thinking about new experiments. The Roderick Firm guild towers gradually became a mess, stuffed with complicated experimental apparatus and scrolls tabulating their experimental results. MMO games were popular among high school and college students. Since they were still in school, they were comfortable in this guild that was like a research facility. Most of the members referred to themselves as part of the Roderick Research Laboratory, or Rod Lab for short. For them, this was a place where they could have fun doing research, just like a school with lax discipline. With activities like the popularity poll for the girls of 'attachment rice ball house', compared to a homely guild like Crescent Moon Alliance, they were growing accustomed to this world in a different way. In this gigantic room with high ceilings located in the center of the guild hall, Roderick turned his head. A young guild member was calling for him. The young boy went off after leaving a guest behind. Roderick stepped down from the stepladder and greeted his guest. "Good day Nyanta-san." "It's evening already nya." Roderick thought for a moment. (It should still be morning...) "The night will still come even if you skip lunch nya." Nyanta answered the question in Roderick's heart. Nyanta looked at the surroundings with interest as he brushed his whiskers, and then nimbly took out a letter from his pouch for Roderick.

But the letter this time was not as clear as his previous correspondences. It had just a few lines. "That seems to be the case nya." "Do you know about the contents of this letter Nyanta-san?" "Not at all." Nyanta shrugged his hands at the stunned Roderick. Nyanta apparently had no idea. '... I would like a catalog of magical items owned by the major guilds, and to investigate their effects. Especially the items with flavor text, would it be convenient?' "Wait, anyway... I won't decline this request. But to investigate this, I will need Phantasmal and Secret level items, it's going to be expensive. Is that why he is asking me for help?" "There are no such treasures in Log Horizon nya." "There should be quite a few at your place right?" "Nya haha. A lot of our family is in their growing phase, so we need money everywhere nya." The calm laughter of Nyanta displayed the steady side of an adult. He could only be described as a gentleman with his usual neat and stylish demeanor. Roderick sighed to signal his acceptance. Since Shiroe said so, this experiment would benefit them sooner or later. Although this research required a big budget, it was still a manageable amount. The task of investigating these items was definitely most suitable for The Roderick Firm to take up. Most of the recipes in Yamato could be found here, and there were fanatics who were more interested in research than food here. "There are several issues I want to consult you about. Join me for lunch?" "I already told you it's evening nya." "Then let's have some ramen." "If you insist nya." Roderick and his long-time friend left the research lab he had stayed in for several hours. This friend of his shrugged. Winter had come. A meal with hot soup would definitely be delicious.     4 It was a freezing night. The metallic breeze that was colder than yesterday blew through the city. Kyouko sneezed loudly and looked around her. That was a big one, how unfeminine. Soujirou would be disillusioned with her if he saw this. She continued to rub her itching nose as she thought about this. For Adventurers above a certain level, a cool breeze in the winter was nothing to worry about. But they would be lying to say it was not cold. With visual and audio information telling them 'this cold is unbearable', the cold attacked their psyche more than their body. That's why Kyouko was quickening her pace and was returning to her guild house. Probably half the members were already sleeping in the guild house. The negotiation with the 8th District Shopping Center... or rather, the idle chat with them made her return this late. But the result was the large amount of goodies in Kyouko's Bag of Holding. She even managed to get 3 salted salmons. With this, some of her friends would definitely shed tears of happiness, this was the taste of their hometown after all. (If this goes well maybe Soujirou-sama will...) Kyouko smiled as she fantasized about Soujirou. (Lunch with just the 2 of us, the menu is rice ball of course, with salmon inside. 'Soujirou-sama, there's rice on your face okay?' 'Eh? Where?' 'It's on the right.' 'Eh? Where?' 'You are such a messy eater... Let me get that for you'.) Then she would eat it. Fufu, something like that. Kyouko blushed in the dark alley. In the chilly winter breeze, the 12-chamber engine of the young girl was running at full power. The athletic Kyouko raised her temperature easily. This was a body with a good metabolism rate. If it were Fragrant Olive, she would have collapsed from a nose bleed by now. Kyouko could not hold a candle to the anemic elf's delusions. "Ahchoo!" She let down her guard imagining the lunch scene. A young maiden sneezing so loudly, that was careless of her. In middle school and high school, she was teased a lot for her sneezing. 'Why are you acting like an old man Kyouko!' She could remember that even now, the lines of her schoolmate from the wind instrument club. And she really liked that boy too. How dare he compare a maiden to an old man. That really hurt. With her one-track mind focusing on the sports club, she was a girl who laughed out loudly in class and was not really a maiden. But he should have picked something else to comment about instead. Such as 'I caught a glimpse of your great talent from your grand sneeze'. No, wait, that would be even more infuriating. Kyouko thought about such things as she rushed towards the guild house. She just noticed that sneezing in this world was the same as the old world. Although this was within expectations, it still seemed remarkable when she considered it in depth. (Just coming to an alternate world is already unbelievable.) She retorted to herself. She was not in top condition because of all that sneezing.

The worst thing that could happen was dying. But even if she died, she would just respawn in the cathedral. This was the privilege of Adventurers. There was nothing to be afraid of. And there were no beings in existence that could send her, a level 90 player, to the cathedral so easily. Guardians had the highest defense among the 12 classes. Although she was not wearing armor while walking the streets, the physical defense of her body was still effective. No problem, she could handle this. There was no need to panic. Kyouko tried to calm herself. But she failed. The man charged in so close that their lips were almost touching, smiling with his mouth wide open, letting her look deep down into his throat. This ground the calmness Kyouko collected into dust. Too fast. Even her level 90 dynamic vision could not keep up. No, this was not speed, but a skill. If she watched closely, he was squirming like a formless being, like a needle that was sewing the gaps between your thoughts up, closing the distance instantaneously. What she saw was just the first few seconds of the strike of his sword. Kyouko looked at the man holding the hilt of the sword extending out from her belly. Wrong. The man had pierced her with his sword. Instead of screaming, it was akin to vomiting all the air in her lungs out. Kyouko leapt.       But the man was twisting the sword piercing her thigh with a grin when Kyouko landed. Because of a bad status effect, Kyouko was bleeding profusely from her wounds. Kyouko was struggling in the back-alley like a wounded hare. She could not even scream properly, her limbs numbed like a fever patient. But even so, Kyouko fended off several attacks agilely thanks to her powerful Adventurer body. Kyouko continued to shriek unsuccessfully, trying to regain her composure, struggling to figure out how to escape from this predicament. It seemed to have been a long time. Much too long. Shaken by fear of the man who liked to stab as he pleased, Kyouko lost track of time. But it seemed to be too long. "Ah, ah. Ahhh." As he pierced Kyouko's breast, the man's blood red maw twisted into a smile as he looked at Kyouko. "The guards aren't coming." After comprehending these words, Kyouko's mind was full of questions buzzing like background noise. This was against the rules, such things never happened before. Kyouko swung her fist at the man in response to this unreasonable announcement. A blade sprouted out from her fist. This was a rather farcical scene. The man leapt back and stopped Kyouko's fist with his piercing strike. This was a speed and technique that surpassed the level 90 Kyouko. Soujirou's Over level Clairvoyance might be able to keep up, but she could not see through the attack. Kyouko continued to resist with punches and kicks. Although Kyouko had no martial arts training, the body of Adventurers had the ability to toy with a bear in battle. Her attacks were absorbed and devoured by the sword. The single blade in the man's right arm seem to split into thousands of copies to protect the man and cut up Kyouko. She did not get it. Why didn't the guards teleport here? Why was PK allowed in the city? Why was there a monster infiltrating Akiba? Kyouko didn't get it. Kyouko could not even think logically as she fought on, driven by a feverish heat. If Kyouko seemed feverish, the man could only be described as insane. The man with a slimy smile seemed to be torturing or playing around, piercing Kyouko's body everywhere. The late night battle ended in silence. The breeze blowing between the buildings blew away the sound of the battle. Kyouko fell with her head full of questions. The man's sharp blade pierced through her neck like he planned all along. As the color faded from her vision, Kyouko could see her blood staining the blade crystallize in the cold and disperse into the air. Although it was the middle of winter, the frozen blood looked just like the petals of a Sakura flower. Frostbite was settling in the wounds on her limbs. Her messed-up paralyzed limbs made her cry tears that did not originate from sorrow. Kyouko was sent to the cathedral in accordance with the law of this world. When the young girl opened her eyes and reached the guild house where her comrades were waiting, it was already morning. And so, the rumors of the Murderer spread on the streets of Akiba along with the intimidating winter chill. 5 A murderer was haunting the streets of Akiba at night. The news spread faster than the wind throughout the city. There were 3 victims on the very first night, 1 casualty on the 2nd night. A party of 5 fell to the Murderer on the 3rd night. Since veterans of battle guilds also fell to him, this proved the combat ability of the Murderer was beyond that of a level 90 Adventurer. It was believed initially the incident could be solved easily. Firstly, in this world of Elder Tales, numbers were equivalent to strength. Even if the Murderer was stronger than let's say 3 people, the party system could be used to form a group of 6 to take him out if there was a need. There was another unique feature of this world. Although all the victims died by the hands of the Murderer, they were still 'alive'. When Adventurers died, they would respawn in the cathedral. So witness testimonies and intelligence on the Murderer were plentiful. Enbart Nelles. No guild. Level 94, Samurai. A head of dark blue long hair, a mask covering both his eyes. Metallic armor that covered his limbs. With these characteristics in hand, the investigation should have been a piece of cake. The incidents happened late at night, but they could search for him in the day too. West Wind Brigade and Honesty who suffered casualties were leading the search for the culprit. But after looking for a week, they didn't find the Murderer while the body count continued to rise. Adventurers killing Adventurers was known as PK (Player Kill). This was one way to play the game, but was restricted to certain zones surrounding Akiba, enforced by the Round Table Council. Adventurers who persisted in PK activities were known as PKers (Player Killers), but would not be known as 'Murderers'. To begin with, the city zone of Akiba was protected by guards. If any violent incidents occurred, a magic alarm would sound at the guardroom. The People of the Land wearing special armor, the guards, would then move on scene to apprehend the culprits. You could tell there was something strange happening from this point alone. The Round Table Council had already interviewed the guards at the guardroom during their investigation. The result indicated that the guards did not detect anything wrong when the incidents occurred. In terms of the Elder Tales game system, it had judged that no PK occurred.

Ever since the Catastrophe, there had been many strange incidents, with new reports every day. Akiba, the biggest Adventurer city on the Yamato server, gathered all the news in the region. Mysterious things, mildly interesting events, terrifying incidents, worrisome happenings, all sort of news congregated here. Certainly the Murderer was not a trifling matter. But there were more pressing issues facing Akiba right now. The biggest news right now were the "raid on Seven Falls" and the "rise of the giant guild in Minami." The Akiba expedition force that was victorious in the battle of Sand Leaf was finally starting their invasion of the Seven Fall Citadel. The Goblin King who was crowned in the 'Return of the Goblin King' quest would adjust his strength according to the activity of the Adventurers. After being ignored by the Adventurers following the chaos of the Catastrophe, the Goblin King had become the strongest raid boss ever in the history of this quest. He even sent an army in an attempt to conquer Sand Leaf. No matter how difficult the quest got, they were just goblins. They were not a threat according to the game settings. But there was still the possibility the knowledge of the game might not translate perfectly to this world after the Catastrophe. Even if the Adventurers didn't see the goblins as a threat, the goblins could be deadly to the People of the Land. That was the reason why the Round Table Council was sending an elite army to subdue the Goblin King. A 450 men army led by commander-in-chief Krusty. The decision to send the army was to raid the goblins as well as bring peace to the northeast region of the land. At the same time, this expedition was also a part of the negotiations with the League of Freedom Cities Eastal. With Krusty and Issac the heroes of Akiba taking the field, along with Charasin and Akaneya supporting from the back. The burden on the other members of the Round Table Council also increased substantially. They were rumored to be spending their days in the guild building or their guild halls, buried in work. News of the attack on the Seven Fall Citadel was one of the headlines grabbing the attention of the citizens. The 450 men army had already set off, and the people believed they would return victorious. But the supply lines and back-end support were also crucial, so they must be ready to provide them with aid. This was something they needed to be prepared for, and could not be ignored. The other big news was the rise of Plant hwyaden which was dominating the west. Most Adventurers bore complicated feelings about the city of Minami. For the players in Yamato who hailed from Japan, the governing body in Minami was similar to a form of dictatorship. For a game like Elder Tales, it was only natural for countless guilds to coexist. The chaos in Akiba evolving into conflicts between guilds was a natural progression. To unite all the guilds in such a short window of time felt a bit forceful. But it was hard to point out what was wrong with this system. It was too early to say something was wrong just because it was a dictatorship. From the news coming from the Minami, scuffles between Adventurers were dropping. They were going about it a different way than Akiba, but it seemed the Adventurers were living together in peace and harmony. For Adventurers playing on the same Yamato server, it was not surprising to have old friends or comrades living apart in either Akiba or Minami. Stories of Adventurers in Minami inviting friends in Akiba to move over, or players in Akiba asking comrades in Minami to relocate here were common. In the end, it was hard for the Japanese to talk about politics in their daily lives. With the difference in Akiba and Minami you could understand the news with just a general knowledge and a bit of background. But it was awkward to bring it up as a conversational topic, an issue all Adventurers were aware about. Speaking of the difference in population size, Akiba had more citizens. But the Adventurers in Plant hwyaden were twice that of Akiba's biggest guild, Oceanic Systems. The people knew this situation would make waves in the future, but were reluctant to talk about it, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Report error

If you found broken links, wrong episode or any other problems in a anime/cartoon, please tell us. We will try to solve them the first time.

Email:

SubmitCancel

Share