Frontiers ~Chronicles of Bucket-san’s Detailed Pioneering~ - Chapter 121 – We were thrown into a fairy tale world

“Sorry I couldn’t rush to you when you needed help.” Mika told me.

“What are you talking about? Who was going to command the battle if you left? I’m actually glad that you kept things under control, Mika.” I replied.

“Agreed.” Hime nodded.

“Ah… I guess that’s that, then.” Mika said.

We had now returned to the workshop after talking to the people who fought together with us for a bit.

Some people tried to sell me some stuff or ask if they could be put on priority sales, but Mika and her friends quickly pushed those annoyances away, so there wasn’t much trouble.

The only people I registered as friends were my three assistants. They all seemed to be dedicated crafters, just like me.

We also promised to go on a collection tour together in the future.

As for the rest of the people on Works, we ended up not participating on this event together. Either because some of them couldn’t be online right now, or because they were visiting a different gate when the final battle started.

It would have been a bit easier if we were all on the same gate though.

But well, even if there were some dangerous moments, I think it’s alright because we were able to manage it somehow.

Also, everyone who participated on this final battle got a good amount of event points.

Moreover, defeating the Shadow Lord gave us some wonderful 20 Skill Points.

Though the Shadow Lord only appeared at the South Gate.

On the North Gate, it seems like their facilities were destroyed even before reaching the altar phase, so they couldn’t participate much on the battle.

On the West and East gates they did reach the altar phase, but while they were still struggling with making the Dummy Divine Goblets, the altars ended up being destroyed.

Due to that, it was only on the South Gate that we were able to completely clear the battle. Seems like the number and quality of the producers was what determined our victory.

There were quite a few producers on the South Gate, after all. Not to mention that I already knew how to make the Divine Goblet, so making the dummies wasn’t too hard for me.

Moreover, we already knew the importance of the altars from the start, so we were able to better organize our defense on them.

And then, there is also the fact that the only ones that were able to craft Sacred Silver equipment were us at the South Gate… I guess we were truly lucky with our team composition, in a lot of ways.

I mean, even though I did make a big difference, I still wouldn’t be able to make as many items as I did all by myself. It was only possible because I had three excellent crafters working as my assistants.

And of course, the effort of the other crafters was also great.

It was an unprecedented way of starting an event and getting people to participate on it, but now that I think about it, there were hints of what they were planning.

There was an easy-to-understand countdown on the start of the final battle by looking at the shadows that were slowly growing inside the giant crystal.

Then, the crystals were positioned in a location that could easily be observed from the gate.

And also, the event itself had already allowed us to craft many special event items even before this final battle, so it had already involved producers from the get-go.

A few people on the forums even expected something like this to happen, actually.

But well, most people, me included, were completely taken by surprise by this sudden turn of events. We certainly did not expect to be dragged into the battle while we were on a safe zone.

On another note, the only dropouts we had on the South Gate were the people that ended up dying, but this doesn’t seem to have been the case in the other gates.

Some people had errands to do, so they just logged out in the middle of the battle… I guess that can’t be helped. We were involved without any advance notices, after all.

All things considered, this was probably a very experimental event.

It started with a mob attack in a safety area.

Then it added some event participation rewards to crafters, like the Minicots.

And then it ended with a very unique situation where crafters and fighters needed to work together during battle.

… Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea to force people to participate though.

Still, this was probably done in a trial-and-error manner, so I’ll be looking forward to what will happen in future events now that they have the data from this one.

After all, this entire event was very fun.

******

“By the way, I wonder when the rankings will be announced.” Mika said.

“They still haven’t announced it, right?” I asked.

“Still didn’t.” Hime replied.

“I need to leave now though…” I pouted a bit.

“It’s okay! We’ll look at them for you!” Mika told me.

“I guess it should be announced tomorrow, so… Well, good night.” I replied.

“Good night.” Hime said.

“Good night!” Mika said.

We were excitedly talking about the end of the event in my workshop, but unfortunately, it was now time to log-out.

It’s a bit disappointing that I can’t stay up late with everyone in those occasions, but it can’t be helped. That’s just how my life works.

After logging out, I was at my usual room.

The outside was pitch black, so my curtains were already closed.

I’ve been living here for quite a while, so I’m pretty used to this environment, but it’s also true that I long for living a normal life.

Though it’s not like my current life is inconvenient.

Mika and Hime both come to visit from time to time, and above all, we can meet one another at Frontiers almost every day.

Now, let’s get ready and go to bed.

Tomorrow I’ll be busy checking the event rankings and doing various other things.

I’m looking forward to seeing what will be next month’s event too.

… I mean, there will be one, right? I’m a bit worried because there was no announcement about it yet.

******

Good morning.

It was now October.

The outside temperature has dropped significantly, and there were no more signs of summer out there.

It also feels like the sky is farther up than normal, but I’m probably just imagining things.

In any case, let’s get into Frontiers, check the final results of the event, and see if there was any information about the next event on the forums.

Frontiers kept a comfortable temperature and humidity as usual. It was a wonderful… Outwordly feeling?

“What’s that!?” I exclaimed to nobody in particular.

Pumpkins and bats were all over my workshop, which was looking completely normal when I logged out yesterday. As if it was cursed by Halloween…

Oh, it’s Halloween!

And apparently, I can cancel the unusual appearance on the settings, though the Halloween appearance is on by default.

I guess it makes sense that one is able to turn it off, as some people would certainly complain if their home was decorated without their permission.

Still, it’s on by default, so it must be a Halloween event thing.

Most people on the forums were expecting one to happen, but this still surprised me… Well, I guess that was the goal of the development team all along.

In any case, let’s go gather some information.

******

I spent a while checking the forums and the official website.

In the meantime, I kept the workshop at its Halloween appearance.

Also, when I brought out Singy, it was wearing a pumpkin hat… It transcended its previous levels of cuteness.

I also tried checking the other Minicots, and I found out that they were all wearing some sort of cosplay.

Magic Mirror was wrapped in bandages and it gave a bit of a strange feeling.

Count Woof had a Halloween-themed crown and scepter, though he was still as plumply as before.

A lot of other small changes from Halloween were reported on the forums. And apparently, the event started once the date properly changed. There was even a Goddess Announcement about it.

Apparently it is being treated as an incident, but… It’s more like we were thrown into a fairy tale world?

Also, there doesn’t seem to be any event mobs this time around.

Instead, it’s just the scenery that has been changed in not only the city, but also in various other places.

The devs put quite a bit of effort into this, didn’t they?

Anyways, that seems to be the gist of this Halloween event. An appearance change in many locations.

Also, I checked the results of the Mysterious Shadow Servant event, and Mika was able to get 3rd place in it.

Hime sadly fell to the 14th position.

It can’t be helped with her studies taking a fair bit of her time away though. She surely worked very hard to get her final position.

Also, the difference in number of points between the first and second placed people weren’t nearly as big as the one in the last event, so I guess everyone ended up putting a great fight on this event.

And Mika got some pretty good prizes from her 3rd place rewards.

Hime’s 14th place also got some decent rewards.

On another note, they actually announced the cumulative points earned too, and apparently I got 10th place on that ranking.

Just how many points did Mika earn to get to 3rd place…?

In any case, the positions of the people on the normal rankings were almost the same as the ones in the cumulative rankings… It was a bit embarrassing to see my name suddenly drop in the middle of the rest who got top spots.

Though to think that if I hadn’t spent all my points in Minicots, I’d have ended up in 10th place on the normal rankings… Well, I have no regrets.

Singy is very cute, after all.

I also tried checking a bit more about the Halloween event, but it really seems like they just changed the appearance of things with it. There isn’t a single event recipe available.

However, the city does seem to have gone through considerable changes, so I guess it would be a good idea to go out for a walk to see what it looks like.

Not now though. It’s currently midnight in-game, after all, and the city doesn’t seem to be lit up or anything

I think I’ll wait until it’s noon to see things better.

Therefore… Let’s get started on crafting in this workshop that gives a different than normal feeling.