The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 43

Walking through the town where the sun’s glare is still harsh, I pondered with my arms crossed.

“What should I do about the food stall…”

As I stroll through the town, I can see a few stalls here and there. Most of them seem to be selling food made with seafood.

They’re really leveraging the local strengths, aren’t they?

…Ah, grilled squid.

“One, please.”

“Coming right up!”

I couldn’t help but buy some grilled squid when I saw it.

It’s a bit larger than the squid I’m used to, but I’ll take a small bite…

…

Ah, it’s delicious even when it’s not festival time!

I’m doing market research while walking to the library, but the food and drink sector seems to have a high barrier to entry despite appearing simple.

Well, it’s not so much a high barrier as there being too many rivals to envision winning…

I’d probably get a fair number of customers, but I doubt it would be a “flying off the shelves!” situation.

You might think, “Do you really want to sell that much?” but it’s lonely to be at a festival and not be busy, just sitting there in a daze, you know?

Source: Social media posts from artists with quiet circles at summer and winter events.

By the way, I’ve never been to those events.

It’s a bit too intimidating for a shut-in, and my sister has firmly told me, “Big sis, you absolutely must not go to crowded places or events.”

Apparently, I cause chaos whenever I go somewhere that attracts attention. When she asked, “How many couples are you planning to break up?” I wondered what she thought I was.

But I digress.

Anyway, if I’m participating in a festival, I want to sell at least as much as others.

So, what to sell… Maybe seafood is a no-go?

It’s obvious that supply will exceed demand.

Another point to consider is that many players will gather.

Among players, there are gourmets like Tuna-san, but also people like Tatsu-san who treat meals as mere flavor text…

Just because you provide delicious food doesn’t necessarily mean sales will increase.

Then, how about making and selling special accessories as Grand Martial Festival souvenirs?

The demand for souvenirs might be quite high, but I’m also worried about whether gamers would jump at souvenirs.

It feels a bit like a gamble.

“Ah!”

I had a flash of inspiration.

The people gathering are gamers, players, so of course they’d want that, right?

Besides, that person seemed to be struggling with money too. If I tell them they can make a profit, wouldn’t they be on board?

“If I handle the customer service and exterior, and have that person focus on the behind-the-scenes work… Ah, I think this could work.”

Hehe, I’ve come up with a brilliant idea!

The only remaining issue is what genre to report to the Commerce Guild…

Let’s definitely avoid calling it a restaurant.

I can only see trouble in the future.

“The genre has to be…”

That’s the only option.

Well, I’m not sure if it’ll be approved though.

■□■

Humming the theme song of a certain anime in a good mood, I arrived at the library!

Man, I got to eat grilled scallops, deep-fried octopus, and a teriyaki burger on the way here, so I’m quite satisfied!

That last teriyaki burger was probably from a player’s shop, I think?

It was quite busy, so I curiously lined up, and was surprised when what came out was a regular teriyaki burger.

I guess many people miss the taste of reality. It seemed to sell well, with a constant stream of customers.

“But still, this is a huge library.”

While most of the surrounding buildings are like square boxes, this place alone stands out as a regular Western-style building… Maybe it was built by different people? Or did they put extra effort into it because it’s a public facility?

Well, I have no way of knowing.

“Here we go.”

I push open the large double doors and enter.

The first thing I see is a forest of tall bookshelves reaching almost to the ceiling in a space as large as a gymnasium. Wait, how do you get books from such high places?

As I was thinking that, I noticed self-propelled ladders running between the shelves. I guess you ride those to search for the books you want?

There are so many hint marks floating in front of the bookshelves.

If I were to properly investigate everything, it would probably take until nightfall, so I’ll go ask the receptionist lady by the entrance.

“Hello. Is this your first time using the library?”

“Eh? Ah, yes.”

I haven’t used libraries much in reality, but it seems this world’s library has rules.

According to the receptionist’s detailed explanation:

– Reading books in the library is free.

– However, you need to pay 10,000 reward stones to enter.

– If nothing happens, you get the 10,000 reward stones back when you leave.

– If you damage a book, the 10,000 reward stones are confiscated, and you might have to pay additional compensation.

– Borrowing books is not allowed.

– You can copy the contents.

In short, it seems they’re using cash as collateral to encourage people to take care of the books.

Now that I understand the rules, I immediately hand over 10,000 reward stones to the receptionist lady… the librarian.

Hehehe, thanks to [Thousand-Changing Flower], I’m a bit wealthy now! I can easily afford this amount!

“By the way, where can I find materials on the Giant Boulder Worm?”

“The Giant Boulder Worm?”

The librarian didn’t seem to recognize it, so I explained that it’s apparently a monster that’s lived in the Forzine Underground Labyrinth for a long time…

“In that case, you might find information in the historical materials section on the far left, or in the monster materials section around the center-right area.”

That was her answer.

Well, I might as well start with the closer one, so I check two or three books in the monster materials section in the center-right area, but… hmm, I can’t find anything.

▶[Balance] has activated.

Adjusting the balance of monster information appearing around Forzine.

▶Acquired all information about monsters appearing around Forzine.

Well, [Balance] is in top form, but…

Even in the information [Balance] gathered for me, there’s nothing about the Giant Boulder Worm.

Huh? Why?

Maybe EODs aren’t considered monsters?

Come to think of it, Gobuzou-san was also surprised like, “That legendary…!”

Maybe EODs are a separate category from monsters?

So, I move to the historical materials section.

“Wow. So many…”

I can’t help but exclaim at the sheer volume of stock.

Or rather, the swarm of hint marks.

I flip through two or three books, and–

▶[Balance] has activated.

Adjusting the balance of historical information around Forzine.

▶You’ve become a bit more knowledgeable about Forzine’s history. (60%)

A new display appeared?

Maybe if I read all these massive materials, my understanding of history will progress to 60%?

▶[Balance] has activated.

Adjusting the balance of historical understanding.

▶You’ve understood Forzine’s history. (100%)

What just happened?

Um, since the historical understanding exceeded 50%, [Balance] did its usual rounding up?

It’s a bit scary to suddenly reach max understanding without doing anything!

▶By understanding Forzine’s history, your understanding of the Giant Boulder Worm’s ecology has progressed.

▶Acquired [Giant Boulder Worm Knowledge] Lv1.

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

I can’t keep up.

Let me calm down and think about what just happened.

So, I think the management intended to disclose information about the EOD, the Giant Boulder Worm, to players who properly studied Forzine’s history?

But thanks to [Balance], my understanding was rounded up and suddenly maxed out.

And then the lock was removed, and information about the Giant Boulder Worm was disclosed as [Giant Boulder Worm Knowledge]?

What is [Giant Boulder Worm Knowledge] in the first place?

I can’t see anything even if I fiddle with the status…

Oh, it looks like I just hadn’t turned on the display for knowledge.

Come to think of it, I couldn’t see titles either, but that’s because I hadn’t turned it on here.

Titles are like commemorative trophies in LIA, so I won’t turn them on, but I’ll switch on the knowledge display and check [Giant Boulder Worm Knowledge] in the status–

====================

[Giant Boulder Worm Knowledge]

Proof of having more detailed knowledge about the Giant Boulder Worm’s ecology. Increases the encounter rate with Giant Boulder Worms.

====================

Hm?

Wait a minute.

Isn’t my encounter rate already 100%?

Huh? There’s no effect like increased damage against Giant Boulder Worms or knowing their weaknesses?

I read the flavor text over and over, but this is all it says.

So, um…

Originally, without this [Giant Boulder Worm Knowledge], it would be difficult to encounter Giant Boulder Worms?

So if you want to encounter an EOD, you need to research Forzine’s history and something else in town?

Then the lock on the Giant Boulder Worm encounter rate is removed, so go challenge the Giant Boulder Worm after that! Is that it?

I think that’s probably correct, right?

Then, what about the crucial information on the Giant Boulder Worm?

“Don’t tell me the information is recorded somewhere in these books with floating hint marks…”

Um, the books in LIA are real books, you know? You want me to properly look through each one?

Well, I skipped a lot of knowledge that you’d normally gain that way, so I guess it can’t be helped… maybe?

“Can’t be helped. I guess I’ll work hard and look through them one by one…”

And so, I end up spending about a week coming to the library, but at this point, I still didn’t know that–