After dinner, we decide to head back to our bedroom while letting our parents have time to themselves in the living room. As much as I dislike parental affection for obvious reasons, I feel they deserve it since they’ve had to spend the entire week away from each other due to their jobs. Besides, we have some business to attend in .

In the following few minutes, we log back into the game and quickly go through our inventory in our rooms while also double-checking our current skill, or rather, our current [Mastery] levels through the menu. It’s a bit much since we stocked up only yesterday, but our next destination could be rather dangerous. So we have to make sure our equipment and skills are ready to go and focus on our...

“So, what were you and Dad talking about back in the kitchen earlier?”

The second I hear his question, my focus on the menu breaks as I turn to see Kazu staring at me with a small pout on his face. Out of all expressions I’ve seen from him, this one worries me the most since he’s usually curious about everything. And by everything, I mean everything that involves me.

"Well... he asked me about school last week, and he told me that he might not come home tomorrow because of work."

"Are you sure? Because you two were in the kitchen for longer than usual. I doubt it was just about work and school," Kazu says as he walks closer towards me, at which I awkwardly back away to my bed.

"Like I said, it's nothing important, okay? Besides, you should stop focusing on our discussion for now and try to focus on today's objective, okay?"

Usually, I’d sigh in relief once I tell him this. However, much of what I’ve told him isn’t true since I had promised Dad that I would keep our discussion secret from Kazu. Unfortunately, Kazu is very curious, and I know for a fact that he will do anything to find the truth about our little meeting about that date. Even worse, he’s astute for his age. He hums to himself for a few seconds and then his eyebrow raises.

"Nothing important, huh? Last time I checked, next month is not only Christmas but also my birthday. I bet you two are chatting about my birthday presents, huh?"

I gulp once Kazu said this. To be honest, I was hoping that he had forgotten about next month because of . Guess I’m wrong again. Of course, I have to defend myself once more to avoid our plans falling through.

“Not exactly. But we did discuss about me buying you a birthday cake next month. Heck, we even debated if we go all out with your favorite flavor or mix it up this year.”

I hope that would be enough to satisfy his curiosity. He might’ve been smart, but he was still a kid. To my relief, he just shrugs and smiles at this.

"Well, if you say so." Kazu then waves his hand in the air, closing his menu, and grabs his new staff. "Anyways, we should head out right now. I can't wait to test out my new [Plasma Staff]!”

“Um... Before we do that, we still got some free time to stay in this game, so how about we do something before we go? You know, like preparing for a bigger storm.”

Kazu raises his right eyebrow as he turns towards me and looks at me in confusion. "A bigger storm? What do you mean?"

"Well, do you remember what Star just suggested to us? How about we set up before we head out? If we want to face off against tougher monsters, we should at least gather as many resources as we can."

"Oh, yeah. Good idea! Got any ideas on how we can do it though? I don't know if we can with this game's settings."

"That's true. But don't forget, there are times that some people can make something extraordinary from a crazy idea. And from what you demonstrated yesterday, I think it’s even possible in this game as well. Heck, without those ideas, we wouldn't have what we do in real life right now. For now, we just have to rely on our current skill level and work from there. We'll worry about the kinks in the future."

To be honest, I don't even know if building them is possible with my current skills. But it’s all I had at the moment and besides, Kazu’s with me, and despite how dangerous his [Magecrafting] skill is without using the usual system, I figure it can be useful somehow if we put our heads together. Thankfully, Kazu smiles upon hearing my proposal.

"Alright. But let's do it quickly! I seriously want to test out my new staff against those tough monsters in the !"

Of course, he has to bring that up as usual. I just sigh at this as we leave our bedrooms.

"Let's just be patient and work on our new project for now."

Later, we find ourselves in the town square of , where we see several players running left and right doing their usual shopping before heading out to hunt and gain EXP and others setting up player-made shops to sell their hand-crafted items and equipment to others. I’d have said we were doing either of those right now, but that isn’t the case this time. I’m actually busy working on a new [Woodcrafting] project.

Now I bet you’re wondering, why am I crafting a new project in the middle of the streets instead of working it in the ? The project I’m building is a vending machine!

I know vending machines don't exist in this world and time period. But I don't want to build it just because it might gain me some huge EXP or allow me to build something unconventional just like Kazu's staff. If we want to earn more money and hunt monsters for [EXP] at the same time, I figure we might as well break a few fantasy setting rules if we want to multi-task as much as possible.

However, I know that wood and machinery don't go well together and I don't know if this will work. I’ve only read the basics of machinery from a book I have rented at the school library and I am a bit worried that it might fall apart once it’s finished. Sure, the system would inform us about its failure, but just the thought of it breaking down makes me a bit nervous that I might mess up and lose our hard-earned materials. My original plan was to create a primitive-style machine that contained several gears and contraptions that would operate as a normal vending machine would.

It’ll a bit confusing if I explain how this all works in long detail, so I'll just simplify every detail that I can:

Just like any normal vending machine back in real life, customers have to press the corresponding button on what kind of item they want, and the machine itself will drop the chosen item down through the chute and into the take-out port. Since the technological advancements in this virtual world are seemingly low, I put up some small mechanisms to attach in each chamber and add some small chutes to fall into the port when it is pressed. As for how these items will be purchased, I’m planning to add a money slot just like any other machine. However, as I've mentioned before, this world's technology isn't much like ours, so there’s a chance that someone might abuse it just to avoid payment. Luckily, I have Kazu to come up with a solution.

“Kaz, did you finished with the parts I gave you?” I ask as I assemble the last of the finished internal machinery into the vending machine.

“Yeah. I just need to finish up with the last of the enhancements over here. I know I might lose some of the magic stones, but hopefully, it well worth it in the end.”

I hope so. While that incident has slightly traumatized me, I’ve learned from Kazu that the enhancement spells from his [Magecrafting] skill weren’t just for enhancing normal weapons. If he uses the right chant, he can enchant an item to cast a spell automatically if given the right command. Now that I know this, I ask him to enchant some of the machine’s parts to create a security system that allows it to cast some basic spells towards a thief if it detects any signs of attempted robbery. I don’t know if the game has a system that prevents any kind of breach through the self-service-type shops, but it is the best solution that we had so far. The main obvious flaw is that it might not work against hackers, but I hope the game can detect them if they happen to strike.

Eventually, after 30 minutes, we finally finish the world's first vending machine. As expected, it is a bit crude since it’s made entirely of wood and most of the paintwork was a bit weird. Not to mention when I test it out, the response is a bit lagging since wood and machinery are usually like water and oil – they don’t mix. Also, we don't have time to do more tests to check for any signs of bugs or defects since we’re running on limited time. All we care about is that it’s finished and ready to sell some of our handmade wares.

"Alright! The Windy Kaz Vending Machine is now open for business!" Kazu declares as he pumps his fists in the air in glee.

"What a relief that's over..." I muttered. "But could you give it a better name than that?"

Kazu then pouts as he turns towards me. "What about you? I like the name "Wind", but you have a lack of creativity when it comes to names."

My eyes widen in annoyance when he mentions that detail. "Come on! You know I'm not a creative type of the family!"

"Yeah, you’re not... But still, I can't believe we’ve managed to build it in two hours. It's a relief since we only get to stay here for a few more hours until bedtime."

"I agree. But we do have a schedule to keep and we’ll have to work out the kinks in another time."

I know it was out-of-character of me to say that. But I know Kazu. He hates waiting and he really wants to try out his new equipment in the . Besides, not only would we be busy tomorrow with our studies, but I do want to try and brave that forest one more time. Honestly, I’m rather curious and I do want to get stronger alongside my little brother. We had promised to enjoy the game without any worries and I have to make sure I'm strong enough to protect Kazu at any cause.

"Good! Cause I can't wait to go out and try out my all-new staff! I can't wait to test it out against those strong monsters there! Maybe it’ll be strong enough to kill a pack of wolves."

I hope Kaz is just exaggerating. I know our new equipment was upgraded, but I doubt they can stand up to all the monsters in this world. Regardless, I just hope that mess in the was worth it considering how hard Kazu worked to make it.

"Alright. For now, let's set up shop and be on our way."

With that, we put some several items we've made beforehand in the machine. For me, I put in some of the rabbit steaks, as well as some juice drinks and some snacks that I had made last week on the bottom, and set the prices very carefully. I don’t want them to be too expensive for anyone to buy. As for Kazu, he adds in some of his restoration potions as well his stat-enhancing ones at the top and also set his desired prices. Once that was done, we leave the vending machine alone and head outside town.

Like before, the plains outside are as busy as ever. While it doesn’t have as many players as the launch day had, many of them are busy beating up monsters and gathering materials around the plains and forests nearby. Even the non-combatants are busy taking their time sightseeing the virtual landmark and starting up conversations with each other. As much as I want to join in, we already have another destination in mind.

As we pass through the plains, I take the time to use [Eagle Eye] to scan around the area for any signs of monster ambushes around or if there is a rare material nearby. Yeah, using a skill to search for monsters might be kind of useless since this is where new players try to level up to get stronger. But as Kazu previously pointed out, I’m a cautious person and never the type to get reckless and go into a dangerous situation without assessing things first. And even if he’s always annoyed at this, I haven't stopped being this. Kazu is my brother and if anything happens to him, I will be held responsible for any injuries and consequences.

Eventually, after a while, we arrive in front of the entrance of the . As expected from our previous visit, the entrance is enveloped with several trees covered in overgrown vines while we can see that it is too dark for us to see through inside. Thankfully, Kaz has already learned a spell to counteract the darkness inside, so all that’s left is the monsters themselves. Heck, just seeing the entrance made me feel butterflies in my stomach the first time around. I know this time that wouldn't happen again since we’ve learned our lesson. But the real question is if getting our new equipment and high-level skills were worth it. I know we're ready, but...

"Wind?"

I jump as I hear Kaz's voice behind me and turn around. "Are you okay? We're about to enter and you look like you've seen a ghost."

I’m not really surprised at his notion. To be honest, I’ve been a bit traumatized since after our first visit. The last time we were here, we barely entered the forest thanks to those monsters and nearly died before we managed to escape. It was probably because of our lack of experience against these types of dungeons at the time, as well as our initial equipment being too weak against the monsters in the wilds. Sure, we have new and stronger equipment now, but I'm worried that we might not survive like last time.

"O-Oh... Don't worry about it, Kaz. I'm fine," I say, feigning reassurance, while I’m completely scared and nervous. "I-I'm just... You know..."

"Trying not to get scared?"

Ugh... Yep. But I seriously didn't want him to worry like me! He really wanted to go back, and yet...

"Come on, Wind! Lighten up! You know that this isn’t like the first visit! We already know what those monsters are going to do and this time, we have some experience and stronger weapons as well as the new equipment that Star and Annie made for us. Trust me Wind, things will be different this time. I'm sure that we can get our revenge against those monsters! You did say that we can beat anything if we work together."

True, I’ve said time and time again that we would fight and play together and I’m not planning to back out now. "You’re right. We spent almost our entire weekend training and getting new equipment. Plus, I rather face my fear than getting yelled at for being overprotective again."

"That's the sp- Wait, what?"

"Never mind that. Come on."

With that, Kaz and I enter the once more, not knowing what's inside the deeper parts of the wild.

Wind's Masteries

[Archery] Level 11

[Woodcrafting] Level 7

[Swordsmanship] Level 10

[Cooking] Level 4

[Wind] Level 9

[Physical Enhancement] Level 3

[Hunting] Level 10

Kazu's Masteries

[Arcana] Level 10

[Thunder] Level 11

[Wind] Level 7

[Alchemy] Level 12

[Magecrafting] Level 10

[Magical Affinity] Level 11

[Scribe] Level 4