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After I was engulfed in a blinding light――――
When I came to, I was standing in a giant stone-paved plaza.

From the architectural style, it felt like a city from medieval Europe.
The city felt really realistic, enough that I could be tricked into thinking that I time-travelled into the past.

“Clan Clan is awesome.”
“Is this really a game..?”
“The wind feels nice.”
“I smell something delicious!”

As I observed my surroundings, dozens of people suddenly appeared, most likely other players who have just logged in.

Anyone would have admired this new world. No one could keep their excitement contained.
Of course, I was one of them.

This is a game that completely simulates the five senses, something that was unheard of in the previous era.
Especially for a VRMMO world, this was a spectacular feat.
As if to bless my adventures from now on, the sky was clear and blue.
The rustling wind tenderly stroked me as if to gently encourage me.
The hustle and smell from the bustling street in front of me was filling me with anticipation of my future adventures.
“This is really amazing…”
Looking at the whole plaza, it looked like the place was elevated, compared to the rest of the city. I weaved through the sea of people, thinking that I could look out into the streets if I go to the edge¹.

I felt a few gazes on me, but I paid them no heed.

And so, after I reached the edge of the plaza, I held onto the brick(?) handrail with both hands.

“Suuuuuu――――”

I breathe in deeply.
“Haaaaaa――――”

And I breathe it out.

This is good.
I minded my cute voice a little, but I’m feeling good.
The view beyond me was absolutely amazing.
I couldn’t see the whole city from here, but I could see the colorful rooftops and buildings made with countless types of materials, be it wood, stacked stone, or others.
I also caught sight of a building that ignored the laws of physics, a miraculous Tower of Babylon-like building that grew wider the higher it rose.

The world’s setting had taken a lot of inspiration from medieval Europe, a typical fantasy world.
Surrounding the buildings, there were countless people going through the streets.
“…so lively.”

Perhaps because they picked up on my muttering, persistent gazes from the surrounding male players concentrated on me. For example, the closest player, a green-haired young man, was behaving like he wanted to ask whether or not I’m lost.
He was between 16 and 18 years old, not much different from me. He was wearing what seemed like a beginner player’s armor.

I increased my wariness. Right now, I looked like a 10 year old girl from the outside.
The man who seemed like he wanted to talk to me would be a… lolicon… perhaps he wanted to start a battle with me after deciding that I’m weak.

If this was a normal game, you wouldn’t overthink it to that point, but in Clan Clan, PK, or Player Kill, is an endorsed aspect of the game.
It’s a VRMMO that claimed that mercenaries (players) could fight each other for equipment, money, items, and loot, live as you desire, and anything else you want.
Subsequently, a system where PvP, combat between players, commonly occurs was introduced.
It appeared that there were regulations on PvP in relation to age, but I didn’t know the details.

Even though I’m new to online games, if other people suspect my cluelessness at the game, I might be stripped of all my possessions.
That green-haired young man was either a lolicon or a battle junkie.

I decided my next move after reaching that conclusion.
I will make the most of my experience from my failed poopfession.
I calmly and quickly make my decision.
That is… to dash away without saying anything!

After distancing myself from the plaza where newbies gathered, I found a wooden bench that was in good shape and sat down. Shortly after, I decided to check my status.
I wished for the menu to appear, and a menu window appeared in the lower left corner of my field of view.

Character name: None
Level: 1
HP: 30 MP: 20 Strength: 1 Magic power: 14 Defense: 2 Magic defense: 8 Agility: 18 Intelligence: 27
Money in Possession: 1000 Eso.

Equipment
Head: None
Torso: Sooty Cloak
Arm: Sooty Leather Gloves
Leg: Sooty Leather Shoes
Right hand: Rhone’s Wooden Sword
Left hand: None
Accessory: None
None
None
None
None
Skill: None
Title: Experienced Girl

That was it.
I haven’t decided on my name yet.
I decided that it would be better to decide on this quickly. My real name was Jintarou, so I simply decided that my name would be Taro²

About my status, the part that concerned me was my awfully low strength and defense, which was compensated by my high agility and intelligence.
As for my protective gear, well, it’s understandable. However, my weapon was “Rhone’s Wooden Sword”?
What’s Rhone?
And what’s with having a wooden sword as the starting weapon? Wasn’t it established that the players were mercenaries?
In what world would mercenaries choose a wooden sword as their main weapon…

I tried tapping on the name in the menu screen, from which a simple explanation text, the prerequisite status to equip it, and its attack strength appear.

“Rhone’s Wooden Sword” rarity: 0
– A wooden sword made from an assortment of trees growing around Rhone.
– Prerequisite status: Strength 1 HP 20
– Attack strength +2

I needed to have a strength stat of 1 and an HP of 20 to equip this.
It might just be me, but I thought this was a really weak weapon.

The other starting equipment was also in the same trash tier.

A girl wearing a dirty cloak and carrying a wooden sword on her waist wouldn’t look like a mercenary in the slightest, but she would instead be mistaken as a shorty.
Could that be why the mercenary-like people walking down the street have been stealing glaces my way? How gloomy.

But, even though the equipment provided me with unparalleled disappointment, everyone must have also started in the same way, so I can accept it.
However, even in that aspect, I have one thing that anyone else definitely didn’t have.

The title.
I tapped on it the same way I tapped on the Rhone’s Wooden Sword earlier, and a description popped up.

“Experienced Girl”

A magical girl whose outside and inside don’t match. Since an older soul inhabited this young vessel, she can produce much more efficient actions than others.
Her vast magical power that maintains her eternal youth overflows from her hair. She is a witch indeed.

Acquisition requirement: Restoration of youth.
Effect: Receive three times the number of skill points upon leveling up.

So it was written.
I didn’t understand how, but I fully understood that Clan Clan was an excellent game that could also respond to male-to-female gender swaps and rejuvenation.

…
…

No way that could be it³.
What’s with this title?

“Is this a bug? Is this very thing a bug?”
Not only that, the title’s effect was totally on the level of a cheat. Gaining three times the normal amount of skill points upon leveling up? I still haven’t understood the importance of skills in Clan Clan, but don’t you use skill points to increase your mastery over a skill by increasing your skill level?

When you think it like that, this is a terrifying title, isn’t it..?
Besides, I don’t even know what a skill is.
“Skill, skill…”
I immediately pulled out the map to look for any nearby skill-related facilies, and then to check out the whole city to find out… that I can’t.
It appears that in Clan Clan, places where you have not travelled through by foot at least once won’t appear in detail on the map.

Luckily for me, there’s coincidentally a shop across the street from the bench I was sitting on, called “George’s ☆ Skill Arts Shop”⁴.

Naming sense aside, I may be able to find out how strong the skill-related title “Experienced Girl” is.
Besides, the outside was cold, and the ambiance of the store looked okay.

It’s a shop with a simple wooden design and a lot of windows. From the rooftops hung a thin metal pole, bent and twisted to form a stylish ornament that looked like a coat of arms.

Long story short, the atmosphere felt like that of a stylish coffee shop.

Let’s try walking into the store.
I quietly opened the wooden door that has two layers of rectangular, colored glass.

“Pardon my intrusion~”
“Yes, welcome~~~ hm, hmmm?”

I was greeted by a dark-skinned, permed, and heavily made-up effeminate man with purple and pink mascara, as well as eye blush. For a moment, he had a twinkle in his eyes.

“Araaa~n⁵ Look, another cute one has come♪”
“Please excuse me.”

According to what I learnt from the poopfession, I calmly and quickly reacted.
Turn 180 degrees around.

“Calm down ♪ Don’t・be・has・ty.⁶”

Moving at the speed of light, the shopkeeper caught my hand that was about to close the door.
To be frank, I felt a chilling dread of death when I saw the wink was sent my way.

“Geez, mou. What a hasty mercenary. That ・won’t・do・☆”

The effeminate shopkeeper pulled me back into the shop.
“A, ha…”
“What is it, you’re making an unpassionate face. Today is the first day of Clan Clan, go on a lot of adventures.⁷”
Exactly, an adventure of meeting you.
So an NPC (Non Player Character) with this kind of amazing personality also exists.
An NPC is a character that’s not controlled by a player, but by a program, in other words, they were like a robot.

“So, since you came peeking in, could that mean you want to buy an ‘art’?”
Alright.
This really was a shop related to skill.
But, what was an ‘art’?

“Hmm? Could you not know anything about ‘arts’?”
“Ah, yes”
I affirmed the NPC’s enquiry. This came just at the right time, I can just ask for information from this effeminate guy.
“Ara, is that so. Aren’t you with your papa and mama?”
The AI was even capable of worrying about me this much since I looked like a young girl. Kouya had told me that Clan Clan, which promoted PvP, also made use of a child protection program. Was this an instance of that?

“I’m playing alone.”
From his expression and how he looked at me, I can tell that he was worrying about me from the bottom of his heart. Let’s reply to him for now.
“It’s too dangerous for a kid this cute to play Clan Clan alone- “You have worried about me enough, so please tell me about ‘Arts’.”
I interrupted his words and started asking him.
I didn’t know if this AI was equipped with the ability to answer questions, but I would rather explore the “starting town of Michelangelo” than be stuck with a weird effeminate NPC.

And so, I decided to keep this exchange brief.
“Hmm~ let’s see… firstly, do you know what a skill is?”
“No.”
The effeminate guy answered my question without showing any discomfort at all.
It’s just as expected since he was just an NPC, but for it to be able to conduct a conversation like this, and enquire me instead, after considering the situation and condition… Clan Clan’s NPCs are amazing.
“Then, I will explain skills first, before arts.”
“Okay.”
“About skills, using skill points acquired, skill levels will increase, and you will acquire an ability.”
“Ability?”
“Let’s see, in a nutshell, an ability is a ‘technique’.⁸”

I see.
So by allocating my skill points, my skill levels will increase and I will acquire an ability, a technique.

“But even if you get a hold of some skill points, wouldn’t it be pointless if you don’t have skills?”
“Yes.”
“And that’s where I come in.”
He drummed his bulky chest quite loudly.

“See, look at what I have ♪”
The NPC gestured at the shop window display.
My neck turned, following his gesture.

There, radiant, sparkling crystal-like items were displayed, reflecting the light coming in from the window. When I looked at the crystal-like items carefully, I can see short swords stuck into them from above.

“That is…”
“Yes, these are the ‘arts’ you need to acquire a skill. If you use that, you can acquire a skill, you know. Now, my cute angel. What kind of skill would you like to buy?”

“I see. This is the kind of shop where you buy arts in order to acquire skills.”
“Well, aside from buying from an arts shop, you can also get them from monster drops, dungeon treasure boxes, and special events ♪”

I began looking at the various lined up arts. The crystals came in a large variety of color, from amber to scarlet red, sky blue, jade green, light purple⁹, a golden color, dark gray, translucent, and so on.

“We also have some rare arts that other shops don’t sell ♪ Please take your time to look around.”

After briefly looking around, I found a few interesting arts.
I was captivated by those five types of magic in particular, fire magic, water magic, wind magic, earth magic, and lightning magic. Since I have come all the way to a game world, I want to try out some flashy magic.

But, obviously, none of them were within the range of my beginner allowance.
Every single magic skill would cost me 800 Eso.

There were also weapon skills, such as short sword, one-handed sword, two-handed sword, dual sword, shield, great shield, spear, staff, wand, axe, bow, short bow, flail, and hammer.
All of these cost 500 Eso each.
There’s no skill for the main wooden sword at all…
On the next level of the shelf, there were skills geared toward production, such as weapon blacksmithing, armor blacksmithing, carpentry, jewelry, leather work, cooking, and sewing.
These cost 3000 Eso.

And above that one… yup, can’t see it.
I’m so short, I can’t see it.

“Little angel, you can use that stool over there.”
The shopkeeper pointed at a cube of lumber.

I wordlessly move the stool to the front of the display case and climbed on top of it, while taking care not to fall.
With this, my point of view was now higher, and I can catch a glimpse of the highest level of the case.

Lesser summoning magic: 50,000 Eso. Magic sword arts: 35,000 Eso. Lightning magic: 45,000 Eso. Freezing magic: 40,000 Eso.
There were such expensive ‘arts’ lined up in front of me.

There were only strong-sounding skills there.
As I was excitedly anticipating eventually learning these skills, I discovered something extraordinary.

Amongst all those lined-up expensive goods, there was one “art” that stood out.

The name of that skill was…
…Alchemy.

It cost 800 Eso.

The Alchemy skill cost merely 800 Eso.

The alchemy that can convert iron into gold. It is an art that can change anything into previously unknown items, a forbidden art that intrudes on even the gods’ domain.
That is alchemy.

“Sir shopkeeper, this please.”

A lesson from the poopfession. Be calm and quick.
Make a swift decision.

“Oh my~, let me see.”
I guess the effeminate NPC didn’t check which ‘arts’ I took.

“It’s the alchemy art.’
“L-little angel…”

The effeminate man repeatedly blinked his eyes, to emphasize the purple eye shadow as much as possible.
“I can’t recommend this skill…”
“That’s fine, this skill please.”

The effeminate NPC started to persuade me somehow impatiently.

“This skill looks convenient at the first glance, doesn’t it? Actually, it can’t do a lot of things. Besides, you need tools specialized for alchemy, you know?”

…

This, this can’t be.

The only ‘art’ that was too cheap, placed alongside expensive items.

Was recommended to be avoided by the shop’s NPC…

Could it be that this is a hasty balance patch put in place because the skill was too overwhelming to be owned right from the start of the game?
Putting together all the circumstantial evidence, that’s the conclusion I came up with.
Yes, could it be wrongly priced because of a zero-day bug from service starting!?

Alchemy must cost more than 10,000 Eso in actuality. It must be an extremely rare skill.
I have decided not to repeat the same mistake I made during the poopfession twice.

I shan’t hesitate to push forward.
“I don’t have anything else I want to buy other than this. I will buy this alchemy ‘art’, right this moment.”

I declared my steadfast stance.
“I really don’t recommend it… I only bought it from another shop because it was sold for a huge discount.”

The other shop also sold this… at a discount.
In other words, the other shop must have sold this many times over! It can’t be anything else.

“I’m buying!”

“This is a trash skill though, are you sure?”
“I’m buying!”

“…Haa. I get it. I will sell it to you.”
“Yay!”
I reflexively shout out my delight.

The effeminate NPC looked at my reaction with a sorrowful expression.
I give away some Eso and bought the alchemy ‘art’.
The remaining money in my possession was 200 Eso.
I was holding the tortoise shell-colored crystal with both of my hands.
A log appeared, saying that “alchemy ‘art'” has entered the item storage.

After I immediately tried using it, the faint light shining from the crystal disappeared, and the light converged into the blade of the short sword.

“You stab that into your chest.”
“Eh!?”
I yelped without thinking at the effeminate shopkeeper’s advice.
I stared at the shining blade.
“When the light fades away, you can’t learn the skill anymore. The short sword with become just a normal short sword.”
A-are you for real?! I mustn’t miss the opportunity to acquire this very rare skill just because I hesitated.

This was an NPC of the beginning city. This effeminate man can’t be lying.

I stabbed the shining sword into the chest of the immature young girl, my own chest that was a little plump.

As I did that, a rainbow light shined from the hole in my chest, and at the same time, the crystal was sucked in.

Immediately, a log announcement appeared,
{Skill, alchemy acquired}
{Ability, “conversion” learnt}
so went the messages.

The time has come!

My new ability, “conversion”.

I promptly read the explanation.

“Conversion”
Using the “scale” alchemy tool , it is possible to convert material or item.
You can convert both ways, from a low grade item to a high grade item, or vice versa.

Hmm.
I need the “scale” alchemy tool.
Let’s save up some Eso and test the ability “conversion”.

“Hmm. Little angel, I will give you a service. Take this with you.”
The dark-skinned effeminate NPC with a punch perm, with an elbow propped on the counter, staring at me with sad eyes, was holding what looked like a scale.

“Eh?”
“This is the scale, the tool that the alchemy skill’s ability, “conversion”, requires. I’m giving it to you.”
Was it an illusion that the weird wink looked strangely beautiful?

“Is it really, alright?”
“Yes, of course. It’s a service. It would be miserable for a pretty little angel to have bought the trash skill alchemy, and then can’t even use its ability. I don’t want you to quit Clan Clan either ♪ Besides, little angel, you are also a newbie in Clan Clan, right? You only have 1,000 Eso at most, right? The cheapest scale from an alchemist kit would cost 500 Eso.”
“I, I see…”
“That’s why, accept it without hesitation ☆”

The effeminate NPC gave it to me after winking at me in rapid succession.
I didn’t look carefully until now because I felt weirded out, but now when I did look at both of his eyes, every time he winked, both eyes would be closed. He can’t wink at all.
I received the scale from the clumsy but kind effeminate guy and a log came out.

{Received a trade request from lvl 10 George with “Copper Scale” deal.}
{Do you wish to accept?}

Heee, this NPC was called George. Not only that, wasn’t it impressive that he was already level 10? No wonder he was able to grabbed me and pulled me into the shop quickly and nimbly.

When I chose the “accept” option, a “Copper Scale” entered my item storage.

“Copper Scale”, rarity 1
It is a necessary alchemy tool to use the alchemy’s “Conversion”.
Ability: increases “Conversion” success rate by 2%.

It’s undoubtedly an alchemy tool.
I looked at George the NPC.
Now that I think about it, he was quite a nice guy.

He explained ‘arts’ to me, he sold me the super rare alchemy skill for cheap and he even handed over an alchemy tool.

Even if he looks like a brown, thin, macho, punch-permed, perfectly made-up effeminate guy.

I have to thank him.
I naturally smiled at the effeminate guy.

“Thank you, big sis.”
I gave him a little lip service, expressed my gratitude, and walked out the store, turning my back towards the effeminate guy.
“Oh my ♪ I thought you are a cheeky brat a little, but you are a good kid. Moreover, I was charmed by the Angel’s Smile. It’s so cute!”
Immediately after I heard that from my back, a sound effect voice appeared in front of me.

That log came out to me.

Friend.
Since this was its first occurrence, the system showed a simple description.
I read through the explanation regarding friend and friend requests.

To summarize, friend requests are sent by a player to another player, and when they are friends, they can use a convenient feature to communicate with each other, no matter how far away they are from each other, through chat or voice call, so it says.

To summarize it, when a player befriends another player¹⁰, they can use a convenient feature to communicate with each other no matter how far they are separated from each other through chat or voice call, so it says.

Sent by a player to another player…

“Is George a player!?”
“Yes? That’s right?”
The effeminate guy blinked both of his eyes.

――――――――
――――――――

Character name: Taro
Level 1
HP: 30
MP: 20
Strength: 1
Magic power: 14
Defense: 2
Magic defense: 8
Agility: 18
Intelligence: 27
Money: 200 Eso

Head: None
Torso: Sooty Cloak
Arm: Sooty Leather Gloves
Leg: Sooty Leather Shoes
Right hand: Rhone’s Wooden Sword
Left hand: None
Accessory: None
None
None
None
None
Skill: Alchemy lvl 1
Title: Experienced Girl
Receive three times the skill points when leveling up.

1. Look at this for a better idea of the scene. https://re-library.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/p002-003.jpg
2. Yes, that’s right. Taro, not Tarou.
3. I don’t know about you, but I believed the explanation wholeheartedly.
4. Here’s the original Japanese name, since I have to move the star around: 輝剣屋スキル☆ジョージ
5. It is a noise that Japanese woman made when they were pleasantly surprised. This is a variation of Ara~.
6. Original: 「だらっしゃあああああああいい♪ あ・わ・て・ちゃ・めっ」I could have mistranslated it, but I’m quite confident.
7. I’m sure I butchered George’s talking habit. Maybe I will research how effeminate man actually talk soon.
8. I’m sure that this explanation barely tell our English reader anything, but in Japanese, it explain quite much. George told Taro that an ability is a “jutsu”.
9. Those like aster’s. This one, if you want its’ RGB code https://irocore.com/shion-iro/
10. I can’t get it in the translation, but in the original, it’s implied that friend is a feature exclusive for between players.