OriginStory 26: Chie the Tailor

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Chapter 26: Chie the Tailor

“Alright, transaction made.”

“Yay~!”

Chie looked over her VERY full inventory.

Technically, the trade of materials and the 2 gold was made.

Since I actually know Chie well enough, I don’t have to worry about her ripping me off for the armor.

No way would this be okay with anyone else.

By the way, Chie was only able to buy all of my materials because she pulled out all the equipment she needed to make a crafting facility and entered Workshop Mode.

The bonuses of Workshop Mode, aside from being able to actually craft, is that you can horde material items in a Material Chest. Up to 200 item stacks, with 999 stack limit.

The downside is that Workshop Mode is stationary, and it takes a lot to actually be able to make a portable crafting facility. Also, the Material Chest disappears when you exit Workshop Mode, ejecting all the items into your inventory. If your inventory is full, you can’t leave Workshop Mode unless you eject the overflow as random drops that anyone can pick up.

The other problem with Workshop mode is that most people aren’t be able to afford all the separate pieces, nor want to carry them around in their inventory everywhere.

As proof…

“Oooh, Chie-chan, can I come over nyaa?”

“Chie, Chie, can I use Workshop Mode over there?”

Several of the tailor crafters who had been running stalls flocked over.

“…How many people will your crafting facility hold?”

I can’t help but asking as all the tailor crafters’ eyes are glowing.

Well, if you didn’t have your personal crafting facility you’d have to go find a public-use one, after all. It’s not like it’s all the way across town, but Karolstrem’s public use crafting facility is far enough from the Town Square’s player store/stall area that it’s a little troublesome.

“Just 5 for now, and only Weavers and Tailors. I want to expand so I can include Alchemists, but as expected, it wasn’t easy to make it this far…”

“Nonono, this is already impressive enough!”

“By the way, Chie-chan, about those materials… I’m okay with just leftover, but will you sell some to me, nyaa?”

“Aaaah-! Tama-ko, no fair! You’re trying to get ahead of the rest of us!”

“Chie, me too, me too!”

Chie has kind of a troubled smile.

“W-well, I have a lot, but first I need to make this equipment…”

“Aaah, yeah, sorry. We’ll wait, we’ll wait. We just got so excited…”

“Nyahaha, we’ve been waiting so long, what’s another few hours – or days?”

By the way, the three Tailors who came over are two women, elf and cat beastkin, and an elf man.

I laugh a little and remark,

“Chie’s getting pretty famous here.”

“Because she makes such pretty clothes, nya, and likes helping the rest of us.”

The cat beastkin, who is taking care to say “nya” in all her sentences, answered me.

“I mean, it’s impossible for any one person to make all the equipment for everyone. Naru’s is going to be the first full set of equipment I make. Even with Toru I only made the inner and pants.”

Chie replied.

“Toru is going to use metal armor eventually, after all … But that’s strange. Kiriri, weren’t you going to get your equipment made by Chie?”

I asked.

Kiriri tilted her head in that cute, coquettish manner.

“Uuun… I want to, but there’s no way I can afford it, you know? I saved up soooo much just to be able to afford the outer part. But it’s totally worth it, and Chie makes the cutest and toughest armor, especially for mages! AND she sells the option that she will make it unique for you and never use the same pattern for anyone else for just a little bit extra!”

Heeeh… that sounds familiar.

REALLY familiar.

A certain player did that and made a killing ripping people off with that extra…

“Ane-chan taught you that, right?”

I ask Chie.

“Yes, but Ane-chan charges way too much for it. I like making clothes fit the people who will wear them anyway, so I charge half of what she does. Ah, for Naru and Toru, of course that’s already included.”

“No, I don’t really care, though.”

I say.

“Kiii-! Narunaru’s so lucky to be friends with the Tailor super rookie!”

Kiriri mimics biting down on a handkerchief in frustration.

Just what era is that from?

“Kiriri… how old are you?”

“14, though?”

“… Right.”

While we were talking like that, the other Tailors who have been given permission are setting things up excitedly.

“Need new armor? I can custom make one here for you!”

“Mix and match your stats, nya! Cloth and leather armor ready to be made!”

“… You two, using Chie’s crafting facility as a store.”

Well, that’s probably more lucrative than just sitting at a stand.

Although the girl elf just rolls her eyes and comments snidely at the other two. She looks like she’s processing materials so she doesn’t join in.

Even so, lots of players flocking in ask for Chie.

“… Matchi, can you handle this? I’m not taking any new orders until I finish Naru’s and start on Kiriri’s…”

The elf girl laughs and, without stopping her hands, calls over to the people who are flocking around Chie.

“Yes, yes. Hi hi, over here! You want Chie? You’ll have to come back in at least a few hours!”

“Yay! Kiriri is next!”

Kiriri winks and charms several guys who come by, acting cutely.

They’re leaving with looks like, “Well, if Kiriri is next, it can’t be helped.”

I bet she’ll get some new Yohtube subscribers tonight.

“…You’re famous enough to enlist other crafters as secretaries.”

I remark, turning back to Chie.

“Well… They’re nice people, to do it for me, and they get business when I turn them down…”

“That’s right, nya! It’s a really good give-and-take relationship!”

Chie laughs.

“By the way, the beastkin is Tama-ko, the elf girl is Matchi, and the guy is Horohoro.”

All weird names.

“Anyway, Naru, you want all leather armor, right? I can’t help you if you want any metal armor, of course.”

“Oh, yeah, all leather is fine. Or like, I’m not sure where I want to go with it, and it sounds like Chie’s leather can rival metal armor.”

“Ok. Any other requests?”

“Hm… No, not really. Easy to move in, and something where you can strap these damn boobs in so they don’t move.”

“…”

“… Come to think of it, Narunaru. You weren’t always so big, right?”

Kiriri’s eyes flash green as she unashamedly stared.

“There was a problem with the avatar adjustment –“

I started to say, but Chie cut in.

“No, that’s how she is in real life, so she just forgot to slim down in this game.”

Kiriri’s eyes are a little scary.

“… Hmph! Just wait, when Kiriri gets as old as you, she’ll have a hot body too!”

… I don’t even want to add anything to this conversation.

I also ignore the,

“Kiriri is sooo disappointed. I even thought she was an ikemen who was mis-identified by the machine.”

“No, that kind of thing only happens in manga, right?”

Type of conversation they’re having.

I clear my throat and change the subject.

“Ahem. So how long do you think it will take? I’m in no hurry, but everyone’s giving me crap for being in beginner gear.”

Chie thinks.

“Hm… A few hours, I think. I already have the basic motif in mind, so…”

“Hours?! What. How do you make these things?!”

I was expecting, like half an hour at the longest. The other Tailor crafters have already popped out a few equipment items just in the time we’ve been bantering.

“Well, there’s like, two ways to do it. Eh!”

With a cute sound, Chie manipulated a dialogue box and a mannequin popped up out of the ground next to her.

Well, rather than mannequin, it’s like a 3D model. You can see all the polygons… and there’s a looot…

“Un, change to female.”

The mannequin disappeared and a female one popped up instead.

“Right, so you have your materials, and you can trace the area on the mannequin that you want to be covered in clothes, like this, and if you have enough material, it ends up on the mannequin in that area.”

Chie traces an area on the mannequin, and the material she had selected wrapped itself around the polygons she selected.

Chie canceled the action, though.

“This way, it won’t fall off, and it can scale so anyone can wear it.”

I see. I see, but…

“Won’t that just make everything look like painted-on outfits? And that wouldn’t have a lot of options for fashion, I’d think.”

“Exactly! There is also another way, that’s very much like making actual clothing, where you can just trace the edges of the polygons and use them as measurements to cut your clothes. You can make anything, that way.”

“…But then you have to make it according to size and make sure it fits perfectly. You couldn’t just make one and have it fit anyone, right?”

“Well, they still scale, but it’s just a generic, overall size change so there’s some clipping through the clothes and stuff. So, see, you really have to get used to using both ways. See, you can take a piece of material and attach it to certain “problem” areas on the model, and then there won’t be any problems if you scale it. Of course, with things like laces, or layered materials, you’re going to have to get a little more technical, so …”

Too much info.

“…Ok, I don’t really get it, but I feel like there’s a huge learning curve. What if you just want to make armor with good stats? You don’t have to be some amazing tailor in real life just to do that, right?

“Ah, that’s possible, of course. Really, there’s only, like, a REALLY small handful of people who are capable like Chie-sama, you know? But then, that’s why they can charge such high prices~.”

Kiriri said.

Oh, I see.

“So everyone else is like Uniqlo, but Chie’s a fashion designer?”

I say.

“Eh. That’s one way to put it.”

Kiriri said as she shrugged.

It explains why certain people who want to be “famous” in the game, like Kiriri and Goya, are going to Chie to have unique clothes custom-made for them.

“Yeah, the rest of us make equipment using preset appearances. You can customize the colors and a few styles, and you can even do a little bit of alterations by taking it into Mannequin Mode if you’re talented, but our main focus is on stats and bonuses. Since it’s a lot easier- and quicker – to make, you can sell them super cheap, and there are actually a lot of presets. We get more customers, but Chie makes the big bucks.”

Matchi said with a laugh.

I see. So they can finish equipment in a few minutes before doing other things, while Chie spends most of her time crafting.

“… Chie, just why are you playing this game…”

My shoulders drooped in exhaustion just from hearing about it.

“Ara, wasn’t Naru the one who said it would interest me because of the outfits?”

I can’t deny it when Chie says it so clearly like that.

“Well, to keep up with Chie, we’re going to have to expand our preset repertoire, nyaa… but you have to deconstruct a bunch of drops to obtain their appearances, nyan, and we’ve pretty much gotten everything in the area that people aren’t still using…”

Tama-ko sighed and propped her head on her hands.

Ah. Now I remember.

“That’s right. A merchant I talked to said you might want these equipment drops from the next area…”

Chie shrugs, already half absorbed in making my new equipment.

“Un. I don’t need them, since I think it’s better if I only focus on custom-made clothes, so if the others…”

I barely got away from being mobbed.

Crafters are frightening sometimes.

—

I messaged Aki and Yaji, the two fools from university, but they were in the middle of hunting so I gave up on them.

Hm… What should I do now that I have a few hours to kill?

Now that I’m aware of my armor deficiency, I don’t really want to run out into the field until I get new armor.

“I guess the real question is if I go to the Wayfarer’s Society, or if I go to the library, I guess.”

Well that makes it easy.

I’m leaving the troublesome matter of the Wayfarer’s Society for last.

I don’t even have the Mysterious Letter-Black anymore, so I wonder what I’ll do…

Anyway, I head over to Karolstrem’s library.

“Wow, this place is huge… and surprisingly has a lot of people.”

When I walk into the large marble hall I notice that there are quite a few players at the front desk.

In a VRMMO, normally there’s only one or two players doing fetch quests or something in a library. If the game even has it.

One of the players, a construct archer (puppet-looking android type), overhears me and says,

“Well, there are a lot of things to find in books. Like Skill enhancement books, or recipes for crafting. And some books add things to your map, or you can find quests. Reading some books about your Talents can give you some ExP, too.”

“… Books are OP in this game, huh?”

“Not OP, but nice things to read, like in real life. Why’d you come if you didn’t want to read?”

The construct player laughed a little.

“Because it seemed interesting. The building, I mean. And for any quests.”

It’s an old, interesting marble and wood building, and you can always find a quest or two in an old book if you hunted… although this amount of books is…

“Ah… well since you just started, I’d suggest going over to the section with your main Combat Talent and looking around there.”

“Right.”

I pretend to take his advice and just walk around.

I don’t really want to talk about the [Scribe] Talent to some random person I just met, after all.

… Hang on, did he mean “just started” as in I just started the game?

I turn around for a sec, intending to correct him, but … eh. Not important.

Besides, I’m wearing beginner armor. I’m totally asking for it.

From the main hall, which you enter from the west into, there are two wings.

To the south are just rows and rows of bookshelves.

To the north is an open space with long tables, although there are bookshelves lining the wall there, too.

If you go up the stairs, either in the north or south wing, you are on a balcony that goes around the edge of the two rooms with a walkway down the center where the wall dividing the north and south is.

You can easily cross between the wings from the balcony area, and here too has bookshelves lining the walls.

There are some staircases going down in both wings as well.

These also end up going to the same place, connected from east-to-west by a corridor.

The ceiling is low down here, and the main corridor between the staircases are, of course, lined with bookshelves, but the shelves only go to mid-waist, leaving large windows clear.

Those are… looks like there are study-rooms behind the glass.

There’s another corridor that cuts into the main corridor midway.

This corridor is much narrower, so no bookshelves here.

Hm?

A wisp of green caught my eyes and I turned to look.

At the end of the smaller corridor, a girl in green is pacing back and forth.

“Oooh, I just know this is … SOMETHING.”

Back and forth, back and forth, pause, tilt head, stroke the hair next to her face in frustration, then repeat.

She’s doing all the steps exactly the same.

If it were an NPC, I’d think nothing of it, but because this person is a player, it’s hilarious.

“Yo nee-chan, how’s it hanging?”

At my unexpected intrusion the girl freezes for a second.

Then, gigigi, her head turns creakily and she shoots me a glare.

“Just because we’re in an MMO, don’t think it means you can pick up chicks easily – eh. You’re a girl.”

“Hahaha!”

“Jeez, saying something so out of place, you can’t blame me for being confused.”

The woman rolled her eyes, but she had a small, wry smile.

“It’s because it’s out of place that it’s funny.”

I look around the little room she was pacing in.

Well rather than a room, it’s like the lobby at the end of a hallway. There are doors to get into the study room(ish places).

“So what are you doing here? It has something to do with the engravings on this wall?”

That’s right; down here there are engravings all along the walls, but here in particular the engravings look especially… un.

“The motifs look pretty different, right? And look down here, near the floor.”

Fumu fumu.

“It’s a map of the building?”

I say.

“Oh, you recognized it fast. Yes, although ornate and disguised to look like another relief like the others, it’s the map of the building.”

Yah, it looks like it could just be a rectangular pattern with the three levels done in ornate lines like that, but I walked the entirety of the library, see.

“Now see, here. There’s these symbols here, here, and here? And then there’s these pictures on the other side? Well, I went to those places and found these.”

She pointed to some books on the small end table in a corner of the room.

“3 books for the 3 marks, huh? How did you know it was these books?”

The girl picked up a book and showed me the spine.

“Ah, I see. The pictures, well, icons really, are on the spine.”

“And on the back covers, there’s more things that look parts of this engraving, right?”

“Ah. Yup.”

Although if you didn’t have anything to compare it to, it just looked like some old, patterned design.

“Aaaand that’s where I’m stuck. I found the 3 books, I figured out the images, but now what? Even though I’m so close!”

“I see…”

She did well to even notice this, though.

The fact that there isn’t anyone else down here with her proves that it’s not exactly the most obvious thing.

Like the secret door in the Hidden Ruins, this engraving-based puzzle really needs to be more obvious.

And besides that,

“By the way, what’s your name? I’m Naru, though.”

We’ve been having this entire conversation without even introducing ourselves, lol.

The girl stands still for a moment, then laughs.

“Ah. Haha, I’m Ellis. I’m a Water Magic and Foil player.”

“Foil, huh? That’s an odd one to pair with magic.”

I glance down at Ellis’ rapier next to her hip.

… Then again, it really matches Ellis’ image somehow.

She’s an elf with dull blue-gray hair, half braided up, wearing light, cloth armor that looks fencer-like.

Hm. She has Juri’s same glasses, but in green.

It must be something easy to obtain for the glasses-wearers.

Although, on Juri it made her look like an airhead, but on Ellis it makes her look smart.

… I set that thought aside for now.

“But Naru’s an odd one. You’re in beginner armor, but your weapons are definitely a grade above the rest.”

“Whoa. You can tell?”

I glance at the Spectre’s End axe.

Ah, it’s somewhat sparkly and high-end looking.

I guess it is obvious, ne.

“Some stuff came up, but forget that. Let me see if I can do anything about this puzzle.”

“Hm…”

Ellis gives me a look like, ‘I couldn’t do anything, but you think you can?’

Well, it can’t be helped.

There aren’t many people who have [Scribe] right now, right?

I pull out my Decoder, which has the terms “wooden” and “inferior” in the description.

Perhaps I should look into getting a better one.

When I set it on the table, sure enough, a dialogue pops up.

There are items nearby that can be used to make a Crystal Key.
Would you like to use the Decoder?
Y/N

“…What is that?”

Ellis looks at the inferior Decoder curiously.

“Well, just watch. You saved me some time by pulling it all together.”

I grin and shoot her a party invite, since I think this is going to be a quest.

Ellis has accepted your party invite.
Ellis has joined your party.

Although she’s suspicious she obediently joined, huh?

I select “Y” and the dialogue box from the Decode prompt changes into the interface. I select “Make a Crystal Key”, and it prompts me to “Insert a Crystal Key[Blank]”

As I follow the prompt step by step, obediently following only because this is my first time using the “Make a Crystal Key” option, Ellis is watching curiously.

“That… is that the [Scribe] tool?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“I can’t believe there’s someone who already has one of those ‘found Talents’! Even though people are past Avg Lv 5, it’s been so hard to get over there that no one has even found the place where the quests are!”

There are two of us, though…

Maa, it’s understandable that no one knows about it.

Crystal Key[Blank] confirmed.
Checking for scannable items… … 3 items are available.

Please check that all items are using the same Code.
Chance of Failure increases if multiple Codes are included in one scan.

Make Crystal Key[unknown]?
Y/N

 

So [Scribe] is a Talent that unlocks puzzles after all. I’m secretly amazed at Ellis’ ability to dig up a puzzle without having any prompts.

Well, thanks to that she did most of the work for me so I have no complaints.

I confirm with “Y” and the Decoder begins to scan the 3 open books.

“So is that what people are calling them? ‘Found Talents’, I mean.”

“Yes. At least, that’s what the players are calling them. So how is it? [Scribe], I mean?”

Ellis asks that eagerly as she watched the Decoder.

“Hm. Well, I only got it a little while ago. This is the first thing I’ve done with it since I got it, and you did most of the work for me, so…”

“Ah… Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I enjoy figuring things out, but it’s not like I’m the type who wants to do all the puzzles myself. I mean, I think this is the only really non-crafting one of the 4 of those Talents, and I kind of wanted to be like a certain archeologist who gets into trouble.”

Ellis laughs.

“You’ll need a hat and a whip, I think.”

“Maa, what I’m saying is that I don’t mind solving puzzles, but I really enjoy seeing where the puzzles get me, instead of doing the puzzles.”

Tiraring!

Success!

Crystal Key[Scribes’ Code(1)] has been made.

“Oooh, it’s done.”

“Oh, what did it figure out?”

“It made a key for something called the ‘Scribes’ Code’.”

Ellis puffs out her cheeks a little at my reply.

“Ah… I wish I had [Scribe] already… Even though I was debating between [Scribe] and [Crystallographer], as expected, I really want to do things like this after all.”

Yeah, [Scribe] was definitely designed for players like Ellis. Or like, if she doesn’t take it, I wouldn’t be able to come to terms with it.

“Well, come on. Let’s see what this key will ‘unlock’, so to speak.”

Using the Decoder with the new Crystal Key[Scribes’ Code(1)], I scanned the relief.

The results?

—

The Scribes’ Code

We, who have obtained the secrets of the word, hereby decree:

May your journey along this path you have chosen run well, to both ends of the world and into times that have long since stood still.

Only those who wish to delve further into the truths of this world at the risk of their own lives should pass beyond this door.

At the voice of the golden owl, those who have seen our words should pass through like shades of the past.

—

You have discovered [Seeking the Keepers of Knowledge]
This begins [The Scribe’s Journey] [1/?]

That dialogue pops up.

Although it’s interesting, I dismiss it for now and read the decoded text to Ellis.

I read it to her through party chat in order to keep the contents secret, even though there’s no one around.

Better to be safe about it.

By the way, it’s always obvious when someone is in party chat, because their face takes on the generic “idle” poses while they talk.

“So the voice of the golden owl… is there an owl statue or something in here?”

I ask.

“Yes, that one’s easy if you’ve spent as much time here as I have. The grandfather clock above the entrance desk has an owl figure on top. It animates on the hour and hoots to tell the time, and you can hear it everywhere in the library. It’s cute, so I watched it every hour the first few times I was here when it did that.”

Oh, I see. I haven’t been here an hour yet, so it can’t be helped that I didn’t know.

“I guess “like shades of the past” means like ghosts, so when the owl hoots, we can just walk through, but what does “those who have seen our words” mean? Like, I assume I’m okay, but what about you?”

I ask Ellis.

At that, Ellis looks depressed.

“I don’t know. I guess… I probably can’t do it.”

“Hm…”

I open my Quest Log.

—

[Seeking the Keepers of Knowledge]
This is part 1 of (unknown) for the quest, [The Scribe’s Journey]

You have found a strange relief that is a secret door in Karolstrem’s Library. Enter it to discover what is inside.

Party limit of 3. All members must have the quest [Seeking the Keepers of Knowledge]

—

Un. You have to have the quest…

“Well, let me just try something.”

I hit the “Share quest with party” option, and then watch Ellis anxiously.

She gave a small scream.

“It worked!”

“…It did?!”

I didn’t think it would…

“Yes! It says that I ‘am aiding a Scribe in his/her endeavors to seek out the secrets behind the door’, but I can take it! It also says that this quest will be marked as completed in the chance that I decide to take Scribe!”

Ellis manages to compose herself after her initial scream, but although she’s standing quietly, she’s beaming from ear to ear.

“Man, I love that the devs made sure we wouldn’t have to keep redoing quests.”

I said.

“Yes, that’s been a great thing to see in this game.”

Now I wonder. There’s a 3 person limit, but since this is a quest with certain prerequisites, I wonder if I should have a 3^rd person tag along just so he can experience it?

Chie… I don’t think I want to take her along into a dungeon no one really knows about, and she seems pretty busy.

Toru … even if I don’t take him, I’m sure he won’t have a problem hitching a ride with someone just within his own party.

Hmmm…

—-

—-

EXTRA

Unless the game is trying to be a reality simulator like LMS, most VRMMO crafting methods should not be like real world crafting. (imo)

Thus, in OriginStory there are many ways to craft, but crafting isn’t unlimited in possibilities, since the computer isn’t unlimited in its computing power.

In particular, the stats and effects are the most restricted part of crafting, however, the devs were keen on making the appearances unlimited.

Rather than sewing, understanding 3D modeling would help you craft armor and weapons much more easily, though understanding the nature of clothing does help.

---

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<A/n:

I only remembered that OSO also had an in-city dungeon in the library after I became deadset on this scenario. For a brief moment I considered changing it up, but I graduated from UIUC. There’s no way you won’t have an idea for a maze of catacombs of books and strange ‘study rooms’ that are possibly haunted after going into the Stacks even once.
My memory is probably remembering them creepier than they actually are, though.
New Story: Nai’s Five Senses>