Frontiers ~Chronicles of Bucket-san’s Detailed Pioneering~ - Chapter 116 – Ooh… Isn’t this quite nice?

There was less than a week left until the event’s end, and just like last time, the position and points of the people on the top of the rankings became hidden.

Differently from the last event though, the rankings are fluctuating a lot on this one.

That said, even with hidden points, the people at the top aren’t worried about leaving the leaderboards, as they’re sure they’ll remain in one of the top placements.

However, with the last spurt now starting, the Shadow Tears’ price started raising again.

Also, quite a few discussions speculating about the next event started appearing on the forums. Plenty of people seemed to be expecting a Halloween event where candy producers would be highly requested.

Some other people are expecting a lighter event that isn’t as competitive as this one though. Partially to let the top players relax a bit, and partially to appeal more to the new players.

After all, Frontiers’ playerbase is still growing, so having a newbie-friendly event could be nice for increasing player retention.

Though well, old timers still hope that whatever event appears ends up being something that we can enjoy too.

Though we’ve only been playing for about two months, so it’s not like we’ve been around for that long.

Though wow, almost two months… In-game the time passes three times faster, so it’s been about half a year since. And I certainly feel that with how long my login times are.

Well, I have no intention of quitting any time soon. I’ll keep on doing my best!

******

The people on my priority sales are looking quite forward to getting steel items with two useful Options in them.

Especially because Mika requested me to focus on armor, so I’m making things that everyone can use.

Of course, subpar Options are being put up for sale on the store, and the competition for those is being quite fierce.

Like, my store may be open 24h a day, but there are still break periods where no steel items are up for sale, as they sell out shortly after each restocking.

Especially when I announce on my blog that there are items with two Options on the store. A giant line is formed on the shop’s doorstep every time this happens.

Some player Pioneers have even started trying to ask to pay for the best items on installments due to lacking money, but the Pioneers surrounding those annoyances quickly push them out of the store.

After all, if someone tries insisting on this installments nonsense for too long, they’ll actually get a temporary store ban, so the surrounding players end up stopping it from happening out of kindness to the person that is lacking funds to make the purchase.

My store only accepts upfronts payments. The only people that can purchase things on installments are my close friends, like Mika and Hime. I won’t accept this from anyone I’m not close to.

I wonder what even goes through the mind of people asking for installments payment, I mean… Sure, there is a system of rental trading that can be used, and I could definitely collect the item whenever I wished if the person delayed the payment, but…

This kind of system is too troublesome, and I’d still end up receiving less money on the short term. Not to mention having to deal with people that can try finding holes on the system and the like.

I’m not sure how that would be handled though. Maybe I’d need to ask the guards to take care of the person?

Well, that’s why I don’t deal with this kind of system. Only upfront payments are accepted on my store.

And like this, the equipment of my acquaintances on priority sales is little by little getting strengthened.

On another note, I’ve been purchasing more and more rare event materials these days, so I’m also crafting quite a few of them, but… For how long should I keep on purchasing those things?

I mean, I could technically keep on purchasing until the last minute, but those items will probably be worthless once the event ends. If I make a mistake on identifying when to stop, I might end up having a huge loss.

Therefore, let’s reduce the amount purchased once I obtain all Minicots. I’ll purchase as much as possible for now, then slow down afterwards.

It will take a while to get there though, so I’ll do my best to get event points!

That said, the Magic Mirror Minicot doesn’t look very promising even if it costs the most event points… The reason behind it costing this much is truly a mystery.

******

The days passed by quickly.

Especially recently, I really felt like time flew.

It’s strange that time was passing by so fast when Frontiers had three times as many days as real life had.

Is it because things are too fulfilling over here? Or is it because there are no big events for me, so my days go by as I go through my normal routine?

My production activities certainly haven’t changed much. I make event items, read books, craft steel gear with two Options… Same as always, I suppose.

There were also no further changes in the event. No Shadow Knight nor Shadow General appeared to substitute the Shadow Elite.

Though well, that was within our expectations.

Nonetheless, I got the Magic Mirror Minicot, which… Just looks like a Magic Mirror alright.

Like, the entire circumference of its sphere is coated with a mirror, and it is certainly beautiful and reflects light sparkly.

It also is always floating and follows me around, differently from Count Woof.

But of course, it doesn’t speak.

It does have an interesting feature though. When I intentionally apply light to it, it starts rotating and makes the light reflection more beautiful.

… But that’s it. Why is this the most expensive Minicot? I don’t get what was going on through the minds of the development team.

“Hey, Yuri! I came here to sell materials!” Mika exclaimed.

“I’m here.” Hime said.

“Oh, you both came.” I replied.

“Oh my. Is this…?” Mika was staring at my new Minicot.

“Magic Mirror.” Hime stated.

“Yeah, I just got it.” I confirmed it.

“Whoa! So, how is it? How is it?” Mika asked.

“I’m interested.” Hime said.

“Well…” I started saying.

Since both Mika and Hime were here, I told them what I had tried so far and what were the results.

Hime really likes testing things, so maybe she’ll find out a hidden function… I certainly hope she does at least.

******

“Ooh… Isn’t this quite nice?” Mika said.

“Pretty.” Hime commented.

“This kind of function… I guess it does make it worth the first place?” I mused.

“It’s a planetarium, I guess?” Mika said.

“Pretty.” Hime said again.

“So this isn’t a Magic Mirror, but a planetarium?” I commented.

From our testing, we found out it could work as a planetarium.

Mika was playfully shining light at it from all directions, and by chance, we were able to discover this special function.

… I wish the management team had put this information on the item details. Why was this function hidden in the first place?

Well, such thoughts were quickly forgotten as I looked at the pseudo sea of stars that was unfolding in the living room of my workshop.

And it’s not just a planetarium. The mysterious field created by the Magic Mirror Minicot makes it feel like you’re actually in space.

It was uselessly elaborate and very beautiful.

The movement of the stars was also reproduced, so we could occasionally see shooting stars.

“Taurus.” Hime suddenly said.

“Oh!” I exclaimed.

“Whoa!” Mika exclaimed too.

By using a voice input, you can make a constellation be highlighted and its stars connected by a line.

Moreover, there seems to also be a function that randomly connects constellations and teaches you about them.

Hime’s testing was quite successful, it seems.

I’m glad they both came here and helped me out. Otherwise I’d think that this Minicot was just a spinning sparkling flying ball.

Thank you, Mika and Hime!

******

Now that I acquired the Magic Mirror Minicot, the goal of conquering all Minicots would be easy to clear.

Or rather, I just made a few more event items and I was done with it, as the remaining Minicots costed only a few event points to be purchased.

Since I finished my goal of getting all Minicots, I reduced the amount of event materials I was purchasing, just like how I originally planned.

There are two days left on the event.

While many people have given up on the competition by now, Hime and Mika are still planning on going all-out until the very end.

And that’s why they asked me to make more event items for their last spurt.

After all, the best way to get Shadow Tears is to participate on raids.

Most of the event items are out of stock on my store though, and the same holds true for materials, so I guess I won’t have a financial loss by the event’s end.

On another note, the number of people in Dotril seems to have increased now, as some top combat-focused Pioneers have given up on the event and decided to start working on exploring the Dotril Silver Mine.

For this same reason, the speed of woodcutting has also picked up again, so we’re expecting new areas to be unlocked in the near future.

As for my branch office that buys materials in Dotril, the clerks there were having a lot of free time before, but it seems like the number of people that come to sell things on that store is steadily increasing.

That said, I put a limit on how many silver materials I am willing to purchase, so it’s not like the clerks will become too busy even with more people going to Dotril.

I wonder if I should stop opening 24h a day… I mean, the number of jobs there is increasing and the economy of the city is growing due to more player Pioneers going to Dotril, so it should be fine to reduce the number of clerks a bit. And I currently don’t need a branch store that is open for 24h each day.

Though at the same time, it would be hard for my hired clerks to find a store to work at that gives as big of a salary as mine gives, but I can’t really do anything about that.

However, it’s likely that new areas might be unlocked in the surroundings of Dotril in due time, so I guess I should think on it for a while longer before I make this kind of decision.

On another note, there are no problems on the branch store even if it’s mostly empty and the clerks are almost always on free time. The system makes the stores within Frontiers be a lot easier to manage than the ones in reality.

Like, there is no need to worry about thieves because the system handles the security part. And then the guards can take care of any troublesome customers too.

My store also attracts a lot of attention from the Guild, so even if the trouble happens within my branch office, I’m sure they’ll quickly react to any issues.

I don’t know if other stores are handled like that, but it’s fine because I know mine is.

In any case, the event ends in two days, and I have already achieved my goal in it.

I’m looking forward to seeing the results for Mika and Hime though, as they’re both doing their best!