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

Chapter 75

Well, it’s not that simple, is it?

“If it looks like a dress, it’s treated as a dress. I tried reinforcing it with internal wires to make it sturdy, but it still feels like a battle dress… I guess appearance matters after all…”

My attempt to sneak armor recognition by lining the inside with metal plates was a spectacular failure.

It seems my assumption that protecting vital areas with hard materials would qualify as armor was wrong from the start.

Apparently, if it looks like a dress, it’s treated as a dress, regardless of how hard or soft the lining is.

Similarly, I tried making cloth armor that protects vital areas with thick fabric, but while it’s classified as armor, it shows up as “unable to equip.”

I made leather armor too, but that also displays as “unable to equip.”

“Why? Am I fundamentally misunderstanding something?”

Is it not that I can only equip armor, but that I can only equip armor with metal parts?

Upon further investigation, it seems that’s not quite it either.

Apparently, there needs to be at least one metal part in the body area for it to be equippable.

In other words, it seems there needs to be some metal protection on either the chest, stomach, or waist area?

I guess the developers’ image of a knight or armor requires metal protection around the torso.

And it seems they want Dullahans to wear knight-like armor designs.

Normally, one would say, “Okay, I understand. I’ll refine the design to be more knight-like.” But I, Yamamoto, dare to say:

I don’t care!

I’ll take the developers’ constraints as a challenge!

So, I’ve decided to design armor that’s mainly cute fabric.

First, I’ll work on the main body part, but…

“A breastplate is too common… What about the waist area? How would that work? Alright, let’s try focusing on the waist.”

I made two large metal rings to hang around the waist, but that didn’t qualify as equippable armor.

It seems it needs to be form-fitting.

So I tried shrinking the rings, but…

“That looks like it would dig into the waist painfully…”

It might be fine for an avatar, but something that looks painful is a bit of a no-go aesthetically.

So I tried making it like a metal belt, but it needs to be a certain width to qualify as equippable armor, and when I made it that wide…

“Is this a Ri*** belt?”

It ended up looking far from fashionable, so I scrapped that idea.

Come to think of it, covering the waist area with metal might be inherently difficult.

So, I changed direction.

I decided to cover the stomach area with metal.

An iron belly wrap sounds unfashionable, but an iron corset suddenly becomes stylish.

But making a corset out of iron would probably restrict movement too much, so I tried connecting small iron rings.

“Well, it turned out see-through, showing the stomach. Let’s not do that.”

I have absolutely no intention of going down the sexy route!

I suppose I’ll have to accept some restriction in range of motion.

So, I decided to combine a white summer dress with an iron corset as the main feature. The summer dress has a ribbon-tie shoulder strap. I’ll add a light frill to the hem to keep it airy.

Then, I’ll engrave fine patterns on the corset to make it look like mesh, which should make it quite stylish… I think.

If I paint the corset white too, it’ll create a unified look.

“Yeah, that’s nice.”

The white base color gives it a refreshingly cool appearance.

Well, the corset does emphasize the chest in an odd way, but…

This outfit shouldn’t be mistaken for the silver-armored woman, so it should be okay.

Now, let’s look at the overall ensemble.

The white summer dress, white corset, and predominantly silver float circlet give it quite a princess-like feel.

But that face-covering veil…

The body says vacation, but the head looks like it’s ready for a masquerade ball or a funeral. It feels incongruous.

Ah, I’ve got it.

Let’s just hide the float circlet completely.

So, I set about making a parasol.

If I attach a white veil all around a white parasol… look, you can’t peek inside the parasol!

In reality, this would probably be quite a heavy parasol.

But in LIA, my physical attack stat is through the roof. This level of weight is nothing.

Then I’ll add some accessories like high heels and a small bag… and it’s complete!

A cool, leisurely young lady set for spending free time.

I tossed in the materials needed to create it, and the actual items appeared before me.

I ended [Divine Artifact Creation] and immediately changed into the new equipment.

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[Iron Corset Dress]

Rarity: 3

Quality: High

Durability: 200/200

Creator: Yamamoto

Performance: Physical Defense +12

Magic Defense +8

Notes: A cool summer dress with an integrated iron corset.

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[Parasol]

Rarity: 3

Quality: High

Durability: 50/50

Creator: Yamamoto

Performance: Physical Attack +3 (Piercing)

Notes: An elegant parasol that matches the cool summer dress

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So a parasol is a weapon.

And you’re supposed to stab with it?

But it looks like it would break easily if used…

I changed into the outfit and twirled around on the spot.

The skirt floats up nicely, which is kind of fun.

It reminds me of school uniforms.

You see, I always wore pants at home.

I didn’t wear skirts much, so this feels really fresh.

But I can’t tell if this outfit suits me or not without a mirror.

“God, are you awake?”

Just as I was thinking that, perfect timing.

Tsuna came knocking at the door.

I opened the door with a click.

I was about to ask Tuna for his opinion, but he gave me a strange look.

I wonder what that expression means?

“Hm? Excuse me. I seem to have the wrong room. Sorry.”

“No, you’ve got the right room.”

“I do? Then… who are you?!”

“It’s me, it’s me.”

“…God?”

“Yep.”

“Impossible! God was supposed to be an obnoxious presence wearing stuffy silver armor that stood out like a sore thumb in any situation! To think you’d transform into a sheltered young lady…!?”

Well, it seems my previous self was about as subtle as Rudolph’s red nose.

If even Tsuna can’t recognize me, I probably won’t be easily identified.

I explained to Tsuna the circumstances that led to my transformation.

“I see, so that’s what happened… I was asleep, so I didn’t know. By the way, if you want to fight that squid, you could just dive deep into the sea. There are tons of monsters that size down there.”

I didn’t realize the sea was such a dangerous place…

Also, I think part of the fuss is because that squid was a named monster, you know?

“Do you remember that world announcement from before?”

“No?”

“Apparently, some sea route was unlocked, and a lot of players are looking for it.”

“Oh?”

“And it seems they think we’re hoarding that information too.”

“What a nuisance.”

Yes, it really is a nuisance.

And even if we say we don’t know anything, they’ll probably accuse us of lying. Just imagining it is exhausting.

“So, here you go.”

“What’s this?”

“A disguise set for you, Tsuna.”

I handed him a kimono, tengu mask, and tall wooden sandals. I made these while working on my own equipment.

I think these will suit him better than the hooded coat.

“Do I need this too?”

“You were seen by various anglers at the rocky area yesterday. Wear it. Also, I added the [Invisibility] skill to that mask, so it should help conceal you a bit.”

“I see. Still, your unique skill is as impressive as ever, God.”

Hm?

Wait, does Tsuna think [Divine Artifact Creation] is my unique skill?

But I guess that’s natural when you think about it?

Considering I’m casually creating items that shouldn’t be possible in the current state of the game, it’s not unreasonable to assume it’s a unique skill.

Well, there’s no need to correct him. It might be more interesting this way.

“Anyway, it’s almost time for dinner. Let’s go downstairs.”

Tsuna’s appearance changed as he quickly equipped the items I gave him.

Yeah, the perverted look is gone, and he looks a bit cooler now. Or rather, he looks kind of interesting.

“Hey.”

“What is it?”

I thought he might ask if wearing Japanese-style clothes in a Western fantasy world looks strange, but instead…

“This mask covers my mouth too, making it hard to eat…”

Ah, that’s what he’s worried about.

Of course, it’s Tsuna after all.

“For today, just push the mask up when you eat or figure something out. I’ll make a tengu mask that leaves the mouth area exposed later.”

“Got it.”

As we were about to head downstairs, another problem arose…

“The veil is in the way, making it hard to see…”

With the float circlet’s veil and the parasol’s veil overlapping, I can barely see my surroundings!

“Why are you using a parasol indoors anyway?”

That’s a fundamental issue too!

To solve this visibility problem, I might need to acquire [Mana Sensing] later. I have some extra SP from leveling up and titles, so it should be fine.

So, I closed the parasol and went down to the inn’s dining area.

Thanks to [Invisibility], we were able to take empty seats without anyone noticing us.

I surprised the waitress when I called out to her, and ordered today’s pasta special.

Today’s special is a seafood pasta with shrimp and shellfish.

While waiting for Tsuna’s extra-large portion and my regular portion, I listened to the conversations around us. There seem to be quite a few players, and I could hear them gossiping about us.

“So, a named monster. I wonder if it was really strong?”

“I heard from an adventurer who came back to town in the middle of the night that they saw a huge tsunami approaching. Apparently, it lost its shape and collapsed in an instant.”

“Does that mean the named monster tried to create a tsunami, and whoever was fighting it defeated it in an instant?”

“Who knows. We don’t even know if that guy’s story is true.”

“Well, I’d like to ask them if we ever meet. I have no idea what actually happened.”

“It’d be nice to hear about strategies or how to fight named monsters too.”

“Maybe it’d turn out to be surprisingly easy to win.”

“Then we could use the materials to make equipment and suddenly be among the top players? Ah, the possibilities are endless.”

I think it’s better if those dreams stay dreams.

I don’t think there are any real strategies for something like that. Maybe just surround it, beat it up, and pray you don’t get hit?

In any case, I’m sure normal attack power wouldn’t be enough to defeat it. Its regeneration ability was quite high.

“Sorry for the wait.”

The pasta arrived, so we dug in.

The pasta is similar to vongole, but with shrimp added, it feels more substantial. It’s filling and satisfying.

Tsuna’s pasta is disappearing at an incredible speed. His eating style is truly impressive.

“Hey, have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

While watching Tsuna eat, I eavesdropped on another conversation between players.

“Apparently, PROMISE has started moving to find the named monster killer.”

“Ugh, are those guys active again? Didn’t they act like military police during the EOD killer incident too? Standing at the town entrance and interrogating everyone. It’s such a pain to deal with them.”

“I don’t like them either. I don’t know if they’re a subsidiary of SUCCEED or what, but they look down on us so blatantly. Sure, their skill compositions based on SUCCEED’s strategy information are bound to be strong, but they say things like, ‘Why did you choose that skill composition? Do you want to die in this death game?'”

“I know, right? They’re completely dependent on SUCCEED, but they act like they’re the righteous ones. It’s so annoying.”

“We’re choosing our skills based on our own thinking. There’s no reason for them to mock us, right?”

PROMISE?

I don’t really understand, but it seems they’re looking for us?

Sigh, how troublesome.

I think it would be more constructive to focus on enjoying the game themselves rather than worrying about others.

“What’s wrong, God?”

Noticing that I was lost in thought, Tsuna paused his eating.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about which skill to acquire next.”

“I see.”

I deflected the question casually, and Tuna resumed eating without suspicion.

As I watched Tsuna eat, I continued with my own pasta.

Yeah, it’s delicious.

For now, I think I’ll focus all my attention on the pasta in front of me.