"We're here."
"Hmm, well, it looks pretty ordinary, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it's the standard before renovation."
I brought Marie-senpai to the Eden guild house, and when she saw the building, those plain words just tumbled out of her mouth. Well, I thought it lookedpretty ordinary too. We haven't renovated it yet, after all.
"Apparently, a guild called «Fight of Swordsman» used this place until before summer break. But they lost a «Ranking Battle» to «Success Brain,» so the ownership changed. Then, after summer break, «Success Brain» ranked up from its C-rank to B-rank guild, beating «Temple Saber,» then a B-rank guild, in another «Ranking Battle,» and the ownership changed again. And just recently, «Eden» won against «Temple Saber,» which was a C-rank guild then, so the ownership changed again. You're looking at a building that has changed hands three times in such a short period."
"No wonder they haven't had time for renovations~."
Academy rules allow guilds to freely renovate their guild rooms and guild houses within specified limits. Beyond just room modifications, C-rank guilds and above could even change the exterior of their guild houses and convert them into shops to do business. Quite an astounding academy rule, wasn't it? But that's the game world for you!
Because of this, the «Dungeon Activity» game was even more engaging, offering interior design job classes and specialized merchant job classes for buying and selling goods. Maria's «Merchant», Melina-senpai's «Secretary», and Satoru's «Hard Worker» were originally designed for this very purpose.
For interior design, there were jobs like «Plushie Maker», «Interior Artisan», and «Coordinator». There were even players who completely ignored dungeons, just messing with wallpapers and shop layouts, posting their work online.
It was alright up to intermediate level, but that'd all changed entirely when the wallpaper recipes from Advanced or Ultimate dungeon made their appearance. Those recipes were beyond fantastic, offering design themes such as outer-space, and deep-sea temples. It was quite a sight to see the same crowd lamenting "Damn, I'm a final year student in my final month and I haven't cleared anything beyond the Intermediate-high dungeon......". Those were truly some times~.
"Renovations are fine and all, but do you have enough in reserve for when it'll be time to remove all the decorations, Mister?"
Marie-senpai asked.
Ah, right. Guilds were free to modify the guild house per their preference, but that all got cleaned when changing hands. Hence, why the current guild house of «Eden» was completely ordinary-looking. And the price to remove all those modifications must be forked by the guild who'd put those decorations in the first place.
If the guild was unable to pay, they would be enlisted for volunteer work!. Sometimes, a guild might renovate only to lose a «Rank Battle» right after, so it's wise to think carefully about when to renovate the guild house.
"Of course. And the timing is just right now."
"That's because guild battles are currently banned, isn't it?"
Yes, that's right. Guild battles were currently prohibited by the academy. Obviously, the reason was the after-effect of «Job Transfer System».
At least 1/3rd of the academy's student population completed this procedure, putting them right next to newbies in terms of job strength. You might think this would lead to a «Ranking Battle» frenzy like the ones in April and May, but the academy had put a stop to it.
The reason was to avoid creating a negative image of high-ranking jobs constantly losing. While one might outwit superior opponents with remarkable strategies, the fact remains that high-ranking jobs that hadn't even unlocked their 3rd order skill tree would turn into fodder in these cases.
It would be foolish to let the academy's fresh start stumble right out of the gate. So, guild battles were banned for one month after the «Job Change System» was implemented, until the end of October.
And so, today was Tuesday, October 15th. The hustle and bustle of class changes and new member additions had settled down, making this the perfect time to renovate.
"I'd like to ask for your advice as an expert, Marie-senpai, especially regarding the shop layout."
"It'll be good for my own learning too, so no problem. Well then, let's take a look inside right away."
"Welcome!"
I opened the door and led Marie-senpai inside. As we reached the large back room where everyone usually gathers, Hanna was the first to approach.
"Oh! Marie-senpai, welcome! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Hannah, you look well too. I heard that you're planning to set up a shop, right?"
"Yes. Well, my production party used to sell things at «Marts,» but we really wanted to have our own shop, like you, Marie-senpai."
"That's great, that's great! It's a natural dream for a production class to want their own shop. And with your skill, Hannah, having received a special award for production, you're more than capable. Your quality is second to none, even among those on C-Street; in fact, it might even surpass them."
The «Mart» Hannah mentioned were essentially personal vending stalls, like a flea market. Students could set up a stall for free. I knew that Hanna had teamed up with other production-focused students and was selling the goods they gathered and crafted it there.
Marie-senpai's statement over Hannah's item was undoubtedly true. C-rank street was basically the area C-rank guilds were centralised, which meant the production job guilds there had their own shops and their expertise in the products were on another level. You would find many of the productioners in the combat guilds were incomparable to them. The production focus guilds were simply cut above them in yield rate and quality. In particular, a freshman could never hope to compete.
To put it short, Mart meant Rookie level and C-Street handler were Learner or Expert level. Oh, Hannah should be Expert. I mean, she'd advanced job, after all.
"Marie-nee, long time no see!"
Next to rush over was the dwarf, Aruru.
"Aye, it’s long time no see. How are things? Have you gotten used to Eden?"
"I'm screaming because so many intermediate-high boss materials are being delivered!"
"Ah, I know that feeling~"
"Right!"
They were both going "Ahhh" together. They seem to get along so well!
"Speaking of which, Aruru, if you're getting so many intermediate-high boss materials, how's your level?"
"It's been shooting up like crazy! I'm already Level 73!"
"!! Really?!"
Marie-senpai's eyes widened in astonishment at Aruru's level. Hmm, yes, of course.
Aruru's growth was truly remarkable. To level up as a production class, the user must produce things, but do all materials grant experience? No, they don't.
It was no different from combat jobs, the experience gained varies depending on the material's grade and value. For reference, a combat job could level up to a maximum of Level 65 after clearing intermediate-low dungeons. Production job could gain equivalent experience using intermediate-low materials.
However, boss materials were an exception. Production jobs could actually gain experience from any boss material. They could even reach the level cap by continuously using materials from the weakest «Bear-Anteater.»
This was considered a relief measure, as unlike combat jobs, production job's ability to gain experience depended on the recipes they could craft, which had an element of luck. Boss materials provided a wealth of experience, making them excellent for leveling up production jobs if used frequently.
Lately, I'd been giving Aruru tons of materials from the intermediate-high dungeon's rare boss «Iron Mountain Beast -Donkonga». She's been leveling up at a rapid pace and was almost at the cap. It was just a matter of days when she, too, gained her «Advanced Job Ascension Ticket». Then she'll be able to craft advanced-grade armor and weapons. Kukuku, and that would open the door to countless possibilities!
"Is it me, or is the mister having a fishy expression?"
"Now there, you know that's not the case. I am merely thinking about when Aruru gets the advanced job."
"The very idea of making a production job an advanced class is......"
Marie-senpai looked at me with a bewildered expression for some reason. But I didn’t get why.
T/N - Vol.2 illustration page has been fixed! (Really had to dig in my too many folders). But it appears Vol.1 page is also bugged, and Vo.10 page need to be confirmed. Welp, this weekened.
