Ch.119[Chapter 119] Equipment Slot

3:05 PM, Market Area entrance.

“He’s late…”

Unryu Hime looked around to check if Sir Dominic was coming.

The Sir Dominic she knew wasn’t someone who would arrive this late.

They must have missed each other somewhere, or perhaps he got caught up in some incident.

“I apologize, Lady Hime. I’m late.”

Ah, as expected. We must have missed each other somewhere. Thinking this, Hime turned toward the voice.

And then she froze.

Next to Sir Dominic stood a woman who wasn’t Alice.

“Sir Dominic…? Who is this person beside you…?”

“Ah, right. Lady Hime, this is…”

And the woman was someone Hime knew well.

There was no way she wouldn’t recognize her.

After all, they had just had a memorable encounter.

“Oh? We meet again?”

The woman next to Sir Dominic.

“Lady Hime, this is Ms. I’m Not Little. Ms. I’m Not Little? This is Lady Hime.”

“Ah, hello. Nice to see you again.”

Hime forced a smile and greeted I’m Not Little, but she couldn’t make sense of the current situation.

Why on earth had Sir Dominic brought this woman to their “date”?

Hime couldn’t bring herself to ask Sir Dominic directly and just racked her brain.

That’s when it happened.

“Oh? Little Sir Dominic?”

Apparently feeling cramped in Alice’s backpack, Little Sir Dominic popped out, waddled over, and hugged the legs of Star I’m Not Little.

For someone who knew the inside story, this wouldn’t seem particularly strange.

“Sir Dominic…?”

But Hime, who knew nothing of the background, couldn’t understand the situation.

Sir Dominic and the woman he brought.

And a child resembling Sir Dominic who suddenly appeared.

In fact, it wasn’t a child but a stuffed doll, though it was understandable to mistake it for real, either because it had been rolling in dirt until just now or simply because it was so well-made.

Think, Hime. Think.

As she rolled her eyes trying to organize her thoughts, Hime finally reached one conclusion.

You’ve deceived my heart again.

Hime burst into tears on the spot.

“Uh, huh? Why are you crying?”

“Lady Hime?”

And Sir Dominic and I’m Not Little, who had no idea what was going on, had to work up a sweat trying to console Hime.

…

“So, actually, this Little Sir Dominic here is a doll, and Ms. I’m Not Little here is its owner?”

Hime, still sniffling despite the misunderstanding being cleared up, asked.

“Yes. And I was on my way to the forge to register this little one as an official product.”

I’m Not Little handed Hime a handkerchief.

It had Sir Dominic’s face prominently displayed on it, which is why I’m Not Little carried it around for promotional purposes rather than using it herself.

Hime took the handkerchief and blew her nose loudly.

“I’m sorry. I’ll wash and return the handkerchief… oh.”

Hime said this out of politeness, but then realized she didn’t even know where I’m Not Little lived.

Before that, the two had just met for the first time today.

“It’s fine. You can keep it. It’s for promotion anyway.”

I’m Not Little rummaged through her pocket to show several similar handkerchiefs and smiled brightly.

The forge.

It was a facility located in the industrial district that handled equipment growth.

However, it was actually closer to the Market Area entrance than to the industrial district entrance.

It used to be in the center of the industrial district, but during a period when money needed to be poured into reinforcements, it was relocated closer to the Market Area to quickly find funds.

The cost of relocation was cheaper than the cost of their operations.

Anyway, after walking a bit further from the Market Area entrance to reach the industrial district, they could see massive furnaces and chimneys.

Numerous blacksmiths and factories. Handicrafts and mass production systems.

Multiple cogs gathering to form a single district functioning like a large machine.

This was the industrial district, so vast it wouldn’t be strange to call it an industrial city.

“So.”

Sir Dominic, who had been following behind Hime and I’m Not Little, asked.

“Where exactly is the forge?”

Sir Dominic had been looking at the map on his phone, but it only showed that they had arrived, without giving proper directions.

“Well, about that…”

I’m Not Little, who visited the forge most frequently, replied with apparent difficulty.

“This entire place is the forge.”

That’s right.

What Sir Dominic had mistaken for the industrial district was actually the forge, and the industrial district was a place consisting of thousands of underground levels below this forge.

It was truly an enormous scale, though it was also a place the people of System Industries used when criticizing the Executive branch, saying “I can hear them wasting invisible industrial district resources.”

A place where tens of billions of equipment and hundreds of billions of blueprints circulated daily, and where each visitor consumed thousands of equipment and tens of thousands of blueprints.

The industrial district was truly the embodiment of economies of scale.

Sir Dominic was so amazed by the enormous scale that he stood with his mouth agape, forgetting to speak.

“Everyone reacts that way at first. I felt the same when I first left home.”

I’m Not Little nodded as if she understood Sir Dominic’s reaction.

“I need to go this way. I need to get official manufacturing rights.”

I’m Not Little held up a manufacturing application.

The application already had Sir Dominic’s signature on it, which was something they had agreed upon before meeting Hime.

“Since you two are here for crafting and enhancement… you should go that way. Sir Dominic, see you later!”

With those words, I’m Not Little, hugging Little Sir Dominic, entered an alley.

From I’m Not Little’s arms, Little Sir Dominic waved his short arms as if saying goodbye until the very end.

After I’m Not Little completely disappeared from sight, only Sir Dominic, Hime, and Alice remained, looking at each other.

“…Shall we go?”

“Let’s.”

Sir Dominic and Hime overcame the awkward atmosphere and continued their conversation.

Alice, true to being a girl who carried a bag full of weapons, was distracted by the equipment around them.

“…Come to think of it, I should probably explain a bit.”

“Pardon?”

“About equipment.”

Sir Dominic tapped his shield.

“Ah.”

Hime let out a short exclamation.

“It’s nothing special. You just need to obtain equipment and enhance it. This varies by season, but… this season probably has three slots. The standard rule is armor, weapon, accessory—”

“Season? Three slots? Standard rule?”

Ah, that’s where it starts, Hime thought.

“GachaLand’s equipment system is under the Executive branch’s jurisdiction. The period until the Executive branch changes is called a season, and when the season changes, equipment slots can change too. As for the standard rule… how should I explain…”

Hime thought for a moment, then took out her card to show the equipment section.

Three slots consisting of weapon-accessory-accessory.

“Like this, when you first activate the equipment system each season, you can open slots as you wish. I tend to compete with damage and utility, so I sacrificed survivability for an extreme damage build.”

Sir Dominic, having learned a bit by now, could somewhat understand Hime’s explanation.

“And the most balanced way to open slots is usually to have a 1:1:1 ratio of weapon-armor-accessory. This ratio is commonly called the standard rule. I don’t know why it’s called that though.”

The term “standard rule” was a mysterious ancient language that had existed since GachaLand’s early days.

Hime only vaguely knew what the term meant, but not its origin.

As they continued their conversation, the awkwardness faded somewhat, and more importantly, they quickly arrived at their destination.

“We’re here. Now we take a number and wait.”

Hime drew a number ticket for Sir Dominic.

With a ding-dong sound, the number 3 appeared on the electronic display board.

The paper Hime handed over had the number 3 written on it, so it would be their turn right away if nothing went wrong.

“Customer number 3! Please proceed to counter 1!”

The number was called immediately, as there seemed to be no one else like Sir Dominic who hadn’t yet opened their equipment slots.

“I’ll be right back. Alice? Stay close to Lady Hime.”

“Yes! Master!”

Sir Dominic got up and headed to counter 1.

There sat a dwarf with a magnificently braided beard.

“By my beard, I’ve never seen someone coming to open slots just now.”

The dwarf looked at Sir Dominic as if seeing a rare specimen.

“To open slots—”

“I know, I know. Our eyes see everything. We can clearly see the quality of your equipment and slots. That’s why I said earlier, it’s the first time I’ve seen someone coming to open slots only now.”

The dwarf grumbled.

“Sit down. Your level seems sufficient, so you can open all three slots at once.”

Sir Dominic followed the dwarf’s instructions and sat down.

“Give me your arm. If you don’t like that, you can offer your leg, pelvis, clavicle, or skull instead.”

Sir Dominic obediently extended his right arm.

As Sir Dominic primarily used a shield, he preferred his left arm over his right.

If something went wrong, it would be better to lose his right arm.

“Hmm. The right arm.”

Usually it’s the left arm, the dwarf thought as he looked at Sir Dominic with interested eyes, then pulled out a chisel and hammer from under the desk.

Placing the chisel against Sir Dominic’s right arm, he said:

“This might sting a little.”

And before Sir Dominic could say anything, he brought down the hammer.

There was a clang sound of something colliding.

Sir Dominic flinched at the piercing metallic resonance.

“Bear with it.”

Clang! Clang! Two more sounds followed.

“There, it’s done. Not painful, right? Nothing feels off?”

Sir Dominic looked at his right arm.

And realized there was nothing there.

“I don’t see anything. Is this correct?”

“That’s right.”

The dwarf said.

“Open your card. An equipment section should have appeared.”

Sir Dominic took out his card to check, and indeed, an equipment section had appeared.

“If you go into that section, there are three slots. Combine them as you wish. But be careful when confirming your choice. You only get one chance.”

I know someone who regretted their equipment slot configuration many times after making the wrong choice.

The dwarf said something, but Sir Dominic had already made up his mind.

He configured the slots and pressed confirm.