You say this is a love game?

After a trip to the hidden area, Mizutani Makoto moved to the island map.

This is how the love game works: you get bored with the old and love the new.

There is nothing fun about Misawa Medical Center. That rift was only created a few years ago and cannot withstand playing. But the archipelago is different. This broken map is obviously a veteran map. For Mizutani Makoto, it is fresh and his desire to explore is much stronger than killing monsters in Misawa Medical Center.

【Number of explorations: 3/3】

Open your eyes in front of the fishing village.

Makoto Mizutani began his exploration in the fishing village.

The houses in this area were exceptionally old, giving it the feel of an undead settlement. As Mizutani Makoto walked through, he saw that most of the houses had their doors and windows tightly shut, some even boarded up, giving the whole place a particularly eerie look.

As Mizutani Makoto was walking, he suddenly stopped. In front of him was a house with vines and moss covering the corners, a collapsed roof, and a collapsed chimney.

Wow...

Mizutani Makoto's ears moved slightly and he heard some movement in the water behind him.

"Humph……"

The gorgeous black double swords were unscabbarded, and Mizutani Makoto, holding the double swords, walked directly into the house.

Behind him, on a wooden boardwalk built along the pier, two wet hands rested on the guardrail, and a monkey-like monster crawled out of the water. Its scarlet eyes revealed a hint of curiosity, but were quickly replaced by an extremely brutal emotion, with a hideous smile on its face.

It looks like a monkey and resembles a kappa, but it is very different from a kappa in that it has thick hair all over its body and emits a foul smell like an epidemic from its mouth. When it crawls out of the water, it looks like a water monkey.

——The Ministry of War.

A monster that is very similar to Kappa. It is like a migratory bird that changes its living environment according to the change of seasons. In summer, Hyoshubu is a monster that lives by the water, but when winter comes, it can't stand the freezing cold water and hides in the mountains, becoming a mountain monster.

This thing comes from the ancient water god and war god in a certain area of ​​Laozhong.

But after it was introduced to Japan, it obviously fell into decline, and directly turned from a legendary god into a foreign monster. There are indeed many shrines that still worship Hyosubu as a god of war, but this concept of "god of war" is fundamentally different from the true "god of war" divinity.

Just like some shrines still enshrine wooden spirits and dolls... This kind of worship is obviously not counted as mythology or belief, at most it is a folk tradition of a certain region.

The soldiers crawled towards the house where Mizutani Makoto was, like a cat in hunting mode, without making any noise the whole time.

But it didn't have time to attack from the front and back with its teammates in the house.

boom! !

A tiger paw came down directly, and the entire head of the Bingzhubu exploded in an instant. The little tiger thrush just tilted its head and saw that the Bingzhubu turned into sand and scattered without any fallen objects. It couldn't help but show contempt, and then flapped its wings and flew back to the boy's shoulder.

These military commanders are all at paper level.

Mizutani Makoto initially thought that the lowest-level monster on this map was the Ama-no-Yoga, but now it seems that the Ama-no-Yoga should be positioned similarly to Miss JK, and the real Jizo monk is the Hyoshubu near the fishing village.

Right.

The Sakai area where the Ama-no-Bo is located is full of shipwrecks. A long distance ahead is the dark and stormy sea... From this perspective, the fishing village in the opposite direction of the stormy sea should be the real birth point for novices.

The monsters scattered all over here are the "Bingzhubu".

"That's why there are so many Paper-level demon requirements in Atakumaru's mission requirements."

"If things go as expected, we should encounter many Paper-level monsters during the island exploration phase."

When Mizutani Makoto stepped into the dilapidated house, two soldiers were ambushed inside. These water monkeys waved their claws and came out from behind the door and the corner. With two swishes, he chopped them into warm [Soul + 100]

Including the ones outside who are preparing to ambush him together, there are three in total in this wave.

A spirit core exploded, along with a small item.

【Little Eggplant of the Hyojubu】

Description: The favorite small eggplant of the soldiers. Purely natural and pesticide-free, it has a sweet and fresh taste. After eating it, you gain a +1 bonus to Strength and a +1 bonus to Agility. You also gain the "Underwater Swiftness" status, which slightly increases your underwater movement speed for 1800 seconds.

【Comment: Really nice~ It’s really nice to live in the mountains~】

Why are you this eggplant?

To be honest, the Bingzhu tribe really did run to the mountains in the middle of winter and turned into cavemen...

Mizutani Makoto held up the small eggplant in his hand. The appearance of this thing was no different from that of an ordinary eggplant, with no signs of being bitten.

"Is this the snack for the new map?"

The origin of this thing is that according to legend, Hyoshubu's favorite food is eggplant. That is, a group of water monkeys gnaw on eggplants in the same way as ordinary monkeys gnaw on bananas. Eggplant is also an important offering to the Hyoshubu Shrine.

“It’s still a useful tool.”

"It should be quite useful when exploring the seabed map."

As expected, the so-called mechanism-killing method usually has an antidote within three steps.

Mizutani Makoto also understood that the ocean of this archipelago map is a very important part of exploration. If he wants to explore this ocean in the gap, he will most likely have to get the approval of Atakumaru, and then drive Atakumaru to start the great adventure of the Grand Line.

In the early stage, you should use this eggplant and other props to continuously hunt down the surrounding Ama and some strong-level BOSSes.

"Put it away first."

Makoto Mizutani collected the [Little Eggplant of the Hyoshubu], then explored the house, found two [weak souls], and found a diary in the corner.

[Fragments of a Fishing Village Diary]

[Description: Today, the body of a craftsman was found on the dock. It seems that half of his body was eaten by a sea woman... An uneasy atmosphere spreads in the village. More and more monsters gather near the fishing village. Are they coming for our secret?]

treasure?

What other treasures could this fishing village hold?

Makoto Mizutani put the diary away and continued his exploration.

This fishing village is not big, it feels like a small fishing village, with dozens of households and a total population of definitely no more than two hundred.

It wouldn't take long to completely plunder such a small village.

Just as Mizutani Makoto expected, the main monsters on this island were the Hyojubu. They were hiding in the water and in the rooms. About every third house, there was a Hyojubu ambush. And in this fishing village, the most common items he looted were [Weak Souls].

【Weak Soul】

[Description: Gain 50 souls after use]

【Evaluation: My forging skills have improved! 】

Due to the lack of information, Mizutani Makoto would take a second look at the evaluation of these souls.

However, the messages from the souls are basically only one or two sentences, which are very brief. In addition, there are many screams of victims as their last words. The amount of information contained in them cannot be compared with that of the "diary".

Of the dozens of [weak souls] that Mizutani Makoto found, most of the messages they left were like, "I've forged a better sword!" or "My forging skills are truly inspiring!"

, and if we remove the meaningless screams, the only thing left is "No fishing today, focus on ironmaking!" This statement is quite different.

"This village, isn't it a fishing village?"

"Why does it seem like everyone here is... a blacksmith?"

An entire village of blacksmiths? Part-time fishermen?

Mizutani Makoto raised his eyebrows and suddenly felt extremely confused.

In ancient times, the profession of blacksmith was very popular. No matter where you went, there would be people willing to hire blacksmiths. It was a great thing for a village to have a blacksmith. Sometimes, several neighboring villages even shared one blacksmith to meet their daily needs for ironware.

Blacksmithing is a craft that is passed down in a very conservative way...or in other words, any craft in ancient times was conservative when it came to inheritance. The principle of teaching the apprentice and starving the master is the same everywhere.

Can so many blacksmiths be gathered together?

Or maybe so many blacksmiths give up their normal lives and come here to work as fishermen and blacksmiths. What are they trying to achieve?

"Forging skills?"

Mizutani Makoto seemed to be thinking about something.

After exploring along the way, I unexpectedly walked into a small house that looked like a grocery store. Some dry food and old fish hooks were scattered on the shelves, and a few broken fishing nets were piled in the corner.

He reached out and touched the counter, a thin layer of dust falling from his fingertips.

And in the drawer of this grocery store, Mizutani Makoto found the second diary.

[Fragments of a Fishing Village Diary]

[Description: On the seventh day, another craftsman disappeared... Offering sacrifices alone is no longer enough. The monster we placed our hopes on has not fully lived up to its promise to protect us. It will still release some monsters to harm us...]

What are these guys doing?

Mizutani Makoto frowned slightly, but the puzzle was indeed like this. He got used to it after the first copy and continued to explore deeper into the village.

Until inside a building that resembles a shrine.

[Fragments of a Fishing Village Diary]

Description: Following the instructions of the gods, we came to this island to refine our skills. However, the ocean is plagued by numerous disasters, and the presence of living beings seems to be attracting even more monsters. Initially, we were able to offer live fish as sacrifices in exchange for the protection of a monster, but it soon became dissatisfied with the fish... Do we really have to take that step?

Living sacrifice?

Mizutani Makoto was stunned for a moment and blinked, but quickly denied this guess.

Because he had seen—

"No, we are blacksmiths. We have knives and swords."

There were many weapons hanging on the walls of the shrine. Mizutani Makoto walked forward and found that these weapons could actually be considered "equipment"!

【Ancient Spear】

【Stubborn Iron Heavy Halberd】

【Black Sword】

……

On the walls of this shrine are hung the masterpieces of the blacksmiths. Every weapon collected will have its description interface as [Masterpiece forged by XXX]. The attributes of these weapons alone are not inferior to his [Sword Demon's Nodachi]. The strength of a few weapons can even be compared with the [Liaoyuan Tachi] and [Shisui Tachi] that he once held.

Full of martial virtue!

Through the clues of this shrine, Mizutani Makoto finally figured out the story of this fishing village.

It should be that in ancient times, a group of blacksmiths came to this island and settled there at the will of "God", where they improved their forging skills. However, as more and more people came to the island, it attracted monsters from the ocean. The end result was that the blacksmiths rose up in resistance, and then this place became a crack for some reason.

"No, the story here may be just one part of it."

"Looking into the distance, there's a vast ocean, and even further out, there's a storm-ravaged sea... The entire rift is enormous, and I've only explored 3% of it so far. The story of these blacksmiths is definitely just one part of it."

“I don’t know what role they play, but the story certainly doesn’t end here.”

As for that "Lord God"...

Mizutani Makoto narrowed his eyes and made no conclusion for the time being.

In Japan's Shintoism, which promotes animism, there are too many gods. The stones offered on the roadside can be gods, and the ancient trees that have grown for hundreds of years and are worshipped in shrines can also be gods. You never know what the "gods" these people are talking about. It might be a monster... Some monsters are even the "gods" that are worshipped.

Any rotten fish or shrimp can be called a god, but whether it is a god or not remains to be determined.

At least, judging from the fact that this "Lord God" guided the blacksmith to settle on the island but allowed him to be attacked by monsters, this "Lord God" is more like a monster in a lewd shrine in the mountains.

"So far, we have basically explored all the information we can about the fishing village."

Makoto Mizutani collected all the weapons, and in the inner room of the shrine, he also made an unexpected discovery.

【Heavy Black Armor】

Description: A set of heavy armor, pitch black and as heavy as stone, is the masterpiece of the blacksmith Takigawa Takashi. It requires extraordinary physical strength and power to wield. It increases defense, hardness, and elemental resistance, but slightly reduces movement speed.

【Comment: Carrying everyone's expectations——Move forward!】

This is a complete set of armor.

In this blacksmith village, there are not only swordsmiths, but also people who can forge armor!

[Heavy Black Helmet], [Heavy Black Wristguards], [Heavy Black Leggings], [Heavy Black Combat Boots]... Makoto Mizutani rummaged through the drawers and cabinets at the back of the shrine, and finally found a complete set of black armor that looked like a samurai's full set. Combined with the [Black Katana] on the wall of the shrine, Makoto Mizutani realized that he seemed to have collected a set of armor inadvertently.

This was the first time he had obtained armor.

He had been fighting soul wandering for so long, and he had always gone into battle naked. Now that he had finally seen armor that he could wear, he couldn't help but feel infinite emotion in his heart.

The style of this set of samurai armor is similar to Kitajima En's set of armor. The color is mainly black, and it is more plain and unpretentious.

"It's quite heavy."

Mizutani Makoto was in a good mood and put on the armor immediately. You won’t believe it - the style of the armor adapted to his body shape. Once he put on the helmet, the majestic warrior immediately appeared in the sight of the shikigami.

Yoshiko Satori's eyes were shining as she circled around Makoto Mizutani.

After completing a complete set of armor, Mizutani Makoto discovered that he had an additional buff, [Ebony Heavy Mountain].

[Ebony Heavy Mountain: The wearer gains Strength +3, Vitality +3, Agility -1, Defense greatly increased, Hardness greatly increased, Elemental Resistance greatly increased, Movement Speed ​​decreased, and the combat skill "Black Iron Defensive" is activated.]