Chapter 7 Getting a Ton of Timber!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Ten days. That’s how long it’s been since I hit the streets. I still haven’t figured out a steady way to bring in any coin. To be fair, I spent more than half that time acting like a feral animal in heat. But if I keep slacking off and thinking I had all the time in the world, I’m going to be backed into a corner before I know it.
My six-month budget was for one person. Even at a cheap inn, buying supplies for two means our savings won’t even last three months.
It’s not like I’ve been totally useless, though. My level shot up thanks to that Bat Mimic rush. I’m already Level 10, right on par with Charlotte. She told me that between getting lost and the bat swarm, I’d leveled up at a pace that was practically unheard of.
Since my Mana pool grew with my level, I’ve been experimenting with my Processing¹ skill on the bat parts I’d squirreled away. The wings were incredibly stretchy and soft, so I tried crafting a hair tie for Charlotte. That… didn’t end well. She looked so damn cute that I ended up pinning her to the bed, and the rest of the day was a total wash.
Anyway, I’d finally made it outside, and the basic level-grinding was out of the way. It was time to actually start earning.
”Alright, today’s the day! Let’s go gather some materials!” I said, trying to pump us up.
”Yes, Master!” Charlotte chirped back, matching my energy.
I took her hand as we left the town and trekked deep into the forest. But someone was tailing us.
…Yeah, it was obviously government surveillance. I’d been playing the part of a guy with no money and no talent perfectly. Mostly because I actually don’t have any. I haven’t made any enemies, either-I’ve been holed up playing house this whole time. No common criminal would risk a bounty to jump a nobody like me.
”Charlotte, did you notice?” I whispered.
”Eh? Did something happen?” she asked.
Right, I guess most people wouldn’t notice. They were staying well out of sight. But ever since my level went up, I’d started to sense people’s Mana. I could feel things close by before, but my detection range had exploded with every level I gained.
Monsters feel the same way, so I couldn’t be 100% sure it was human, but the Mana signatures had moved from the main road to follow us into the brush. If they came from the road, it was a safe bet they were people. Two of them.
I’d expected this, but it meant I couldn’t do anything too flashy with my gathering. Man, this country really is a cage. I need to get out of here as soon as possible.
I decided to store some rocks and wood before they got too close, just to be safe. I veered off in the opposite direction, stashing fallen branches and large stones into my inventory as I went.
”Ibuki-sama? What are you doing?” Charlotte asked, looking confused.
”Nothing, just… I think some creeps are following us. I’m not sure what their deal is. If they’re just watching, whatever,” I replied.
If it was just a tail, I could ignore it for now. But if they were actually hunting us, we were low on options. A pair of amateurs like us couldn’t win a sword fight against professional assassins.
I moved fast, using my skill to craft a few compact crossbows-four of them, pre-loaded. I spun the bat materials into a high-tension wire and used Processing on the wood, focusing my Mental Image² on extreme compression and reinforcement.
”Wait! I… I understand! I’ll be the decoy!” Charlotte said, her voice trembling.
”Absolutely not! Your life is worth exactly as much as mine, Charlotte. Don’t forget that. That’s an order,” I told her firmly.
”B-but… Yes. I understand,” she muttered.
Her face fell into a bitter scowl before she forced herself to look composed. It made my chest ache to see her suppress herself like that, but I didn’t have time to argue. Right now, I needed her to obey, even if she hated it.
They caught up a moment later. My gut had been right, and it wasn’t the good kind of “right.” Two men in black robes came charging out of the trees, swords drawn and ready for blood. I played the part of the panicked victim, shouting as I pulled Charlotte along.
”Whoa, hey! What the hell do you want!?” I yelled, trying to see if they’d actually talk. They were way faster than us.
I’d messed up. I’d gotten too comfortable because things had been easy. I’d spent way too much time acting like a beast and not enough time preparing for the worst.
”You’ve got nowhere left to run,” one of the attackers spat.
”Fine. At least tell me why I have to die? Give me that much,” I said, letting my shoulders slump. I played the part of the guy who’d given up on life.
”Heh. A little something to take to the grave, eh? Why not. You’re just bait to get the Hero to fight the Demon Race. If a countryman gets slaughtered by ‘demons,’ even a coward like him will finally get serious, right?”
”…Right. I get it. That’s all I needed to hear,” I said quietly.
I focused. Ten meters above their heads, I opened my inventory and dropped a massive pile of heavy boulders. At the same time, I leveled my newly crafted crossbows. I watched the rocks fall, predicting where they’d dive for cover. They’d dodge toward the open space. I aimed and pulled the trigger the second they moved.
My prediction was spot on. My timing wasn’t perfect enough to make it a kill-shot, but the bolt tore right through the first guy’s shoulder. The other assassin didn’t even have time to look up. A massive rock, falling silently from my inventory, slammed into his head with a sickening crunch. He went down instantly.
I didn’t know if he was dead, but an unconscious enemy is a convenient one. I swapped for a fresh crossbow, pulled the rocks back into storage, and dropped the whole pile directly onto the guy with the shattered shoulder.
The pain must have slowed him down. He couldn’t dodge in time. Once the rocks pinned him, I aimed for his head.
God, this cheat skill is terrifying. Even the construction of the weapon felt “corrected” by Mana. I looked through the sights, and the bolt punched through his skull like it was paper. Without missing a beat, I put another bolt through the head of the guy under the rocks.
I waited until they stopped twitching. We were alive. For now. I let out a long, shaky breath.
”Haaa… holy shit. That was terrifying. I’m still shaking,” I muttered.
”M-Ibuki-sama… what just happened?”
”Yeah, about that. We definitely can’t go back now. I’ll tell you everything,” I replied.
I laid it all out-the summoning, everything that happened after. Charlotte stared at the corpses, her brow furrowed. “How could they do something so horrible…”
”I mean, I didn’t have a choice, right? They attacked us,” I said.
”N-No! Not them! Ibuki-sama, that means you’re a Hero, too!!” she cried.
Oh, thank God. I knew Charlotte would see it that way. I’d misinterpreted her expression because she was looking at the bodies.
”Yeah. I mean, the ‘Hero’ is someone else, but I was supposed to be part of the group. I just didn’t think they’d go this far to get rid of a Crafter.”
The world is bigger than just one kingdom. If this were a real international crisis, a stunt like this would get the whole country condemned. The seniors probably realized the “Demon Race” were just people and refused to commit genocide. But I couldn’t wrap my head around why they’d hunt me down when I wasn’t even in their way.
”I can’t forgive them!! If only I had a combat class…” Charlotte hissed, glaring at the bodies.
”Hey, no. Don’t go looking for danger. We’ll handle things, but only when we’re ready. I’m not putting you in the line of fire just to get back at some pieces of human garbage,” I told her.
”B-but, against a whole country, it’ll never be safe…”
”I don’t know about that. If a basic crossbow worked this well, I think we’ve got a shot. But look, I already decided back when I was slacking off-if revenge means putting you in danger, I’m walking away.”
I tried to keep it light with a joke. She gave me a look-half-annoyed, half-smiling-with those big, feline eyes.
”Honestly, Master… but you really are a Hero. To predict the attack and have all this ready… ♡”
She looked at me with those shimmering, adoring eyes again. It felt good, but I had to be honest.
”No, this was a total fluke. I got lucky. I was literally crafting those rocks and the crossbow while we were running for our lives,” I admitted.
I tried to explain that misreading the situation is a death sentence in this world, but she just sounded more impressed.
”Wait… isn’t that more incredible!?” she asked.
”Yeah… this skill is broken. I haven’t even really ‘built’ anything yet, and it’s already this powerful. It almost makes me feel like I could actually take them on…”
Realistically, taking on a kingdom without a death wish is insane. But if I can master everything a Crafter can do, I might end up with more raw power than any combat class. Unless “High-Level” means they can literally shrug off tank shells… but since the crossbow worked on these guys, I think I’m in the clear.
”Anyway, we need a place to lie low. Where should we go? We could just head into the wilds and live off the grid…”
Fortunately, the human-controlled territory in this world is tiny. This kingdom isn’t even that big. No wonder the castle looked like it was made of cardboard. Human society here is still primitive and small. Just a few towns and a bunch of villages. We could slip over the border through the woods easily. I’d spent my downtime gathering at least that much intel.
Getting to another country or leaving human territory entirely wasn’t just a dream; it was doable.
”In that case, why don’t we head to the neighboring Kingdom of Karl for now? Our currency should still be good there, and we can restock on materials before we make a final plan,” Charlotte suggested.
”Yeah, sounds like a plan. I’ve got some supplies stored, but is five days of food enough?”
”No, probably not… I’ve heard it takes about ten days by carriage. We’ll have to buy food at the villages along the way,” she replied.
I hummed, thinking it through. I’d snagged a map from the Guild-it was basic as hell, just the local area, but it marked the forests, rivers, and dungeons.
”Do all the dungeons have guards posted?” I asked.
”I… I don’t know. I’ve never been allowed to travel… I’m sorry,” Charlotte said softly.
Right. I forgot. Charlotte was a slave. She didn’t exactly have a vacation fund.
”Don’t apologize. It’s only because of you that we’ve made it this far. I’m grateful, truly. So… do the monsters in the woods always attack on sight?”
”Yes. Though monsters rarely appear around the Capital, and the few that do are weak. But the further you head toward the frontier, the more dangerous they become. Unlike Dungeons³, their levels and species aren’t fixed. It’s unpredictable. I’ve heard there is a cardinal rule for the outer villages: if you’re a production class⁴, you stay out of the woods.”
I see. But the monsters around here aren’t even edible… Honestly, I don’t ever want to step foot in a town or village in this kingdom again.
”Well then, let’s move out and prep as we go,” I said. “We’re in trouble if we run out of food.”
I decided it was time to leave. I stashed the assassins’ gear into my inventory⁵ and started walking. If we cut through the forest away from the main road, the mountains should come into view. They’ll be our landmark.
”Um, Ibuki-sama!? It’s dangerous to…”
”Yeah, I know,” I replied. “I’ll consult with you as we go. If it doesn’t look safe, I won’t do it. Worst case, we’ll head for a village, but that feels like walking into a trap.”
We blazed a trail through the pathless wild. Once the word gets out that the assassins failed to return, the soldiers will move fast. We kept walking until we cleared the dense brush, and then I stopped dead.
Wait a second.
Just to test a theory, I used a skill to craft a stone axe. I swung it against a tree. Clink. Hardly a scratch. This was going to take some serious effort. But I needed the timber.
I need this right now.
I put everything I had into it. Two swings. Three. On the third strike, the entire tree just… vanished.
”What?” I muttered. I looked down. Nothing but a stump remained.
Charlotte let out a stunned gasp. “What…?”
A wide, slow grin spread across my face.
Are you kidding me!? This follows game logic, too!? This is a total cheat. Absolute god-tier!
Completely forgetting to explain myself to Charlotte, I gripped the axe tight and gave the next tree three quick taps. Thwack, thwack, thwack. Another stump.
Ho. So I don’t even need to swing hard. Alright, what happens if I hit the stump?
Three more taps. With a heavy WHUMP, the ground seemed to swallow the remains. The stump was gone.
It was sitting right there in my Inventory.
This felt like playing in sandbox mode. On top of that, I could tweak the properties of the wood I gathered, so I don’t even have to be picky about the wood type.
”I’m taking everything,” I said, refashioning the axe into a smaller, faster tool and beginning to harvest the treeline with rapid taps.
”U-um, can I ask what you’re doing?” Charlotte asked.
”Ah! Sorry, sorry! I got so hyped over how broken this skill is that I forgot to explain. But you can see it, right?”
”Then, it really is…”
”Yeah. Everything is going straight into storage.”
”Wow… but Ibuki-sama, what are you going to do with that much lumber?”
”You’ll see soon enough. You’ll see exactly why I took us so far off the road.”
If I tell her now that I planned to build a house from scratch, she’d worry about how long it would take. I’ll save the surprise for when the foundation is laid.
I told her to look forward to it and kept moving, clear-cutting the edge of the woods as we hiked. I knew how this worked-in crafting games, you can never have enough wood. Grabbing it while you have the chance is a survival fundamental. In some games, if you leave an area, the resources are gone for good. Usually, you’re just clearing space for a camp, but the bottom line is: you always run out.
Especially during construction.
I needed a massive stockpile.
I told Charlotte it would take a while and asked her to bear with me, then I went back to harvesting as we traveled.
”You really do need an incredible amount…” she noted.
”Yeah. I’m thinking ahead. Besides, I’ve been dying to do this. I didn’t want to show even a glimpse of my skills to that kingdom, so I had to settle for stashing twigs and fallen branches.”
”I see. You’re right-if they realized your utility, they’d never let you go. Looking at how they’ve acted, there’s no telling what they’d do to you. I wonder if the other Heroes will be okay…”
Yeah. Enslavement⁶ hasn’t happened yet, it seems, but it’s a toxic situation. If they already had the Heroes under a literal Enslavement spell, they wouldn’t have felt the need to try and “motivate” them by murdering me. But the second any of us become an “inconvenience,” they won’t hesitate.
Well, I’ve made up my mind. Once I have enough power to make them regret this, I’ll pay them back in full. If I can save the others then, fine. But I’m not going to lie-Charlotte is my absolute priority.
The second those words left my mouth, she lunged at me, hugging me tight even while I was mid-swing.
”Whoa! Hey, watch it! That’s dangerous!”
”I don’t care! You can’t just say things that make me this happy! Ibuki-sama! I love you so, so much! ♡”
No matter how much I scolded her, she wouldn’t let go.
Fine. If that’s how it is.
I put the axe away.
—
Summary:
Ibuki and Charlotte are targeted by government assassins while gathering materials in the forest. Ibuki uses his ‘Crafter’ skill to create reinforced crossbows and uses his inventory to drop boulders, killing both attackers. Realizing the kingdom intended to sacrifice him to motivate the real Hero, Ibuki decides to flee to the neighboring Kingdom of Karl.
Ibuki and Charlotte flee into the frontier forest to avoid the kingdom’s pursuit. Ibuki discovers that his crafting skills follow broken ‘game logic,’ allowing him to harvest entire trees with just three hits. He begins stockpiling lumber for a future home while reflecting on the dark nature of the kingdom’s treatment of Heroes.
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Trivia:
- Ibuki’s Mana sensing range increases with his level.
- He is crafting weapons and items on the fly while running for his life.
- The assassins reveal that the ‘Demon Race’ are actually demi-humans, not mindless monsters.
- Ibuki and Charlotte are both exactly Level 10 now.
- The country’s map shows dungeons, forests, and lakes, implying future exploration points.
- The 3-hit rule for harvesting trees.
- The danger level of frontier monsters compared to Dungeons.
- Ibuki’s past restriction on using skills to avoid detection.
- The reason Ibuki wasn’t enslaved (the kingdom wanted to use his death as a motivator instead)
—
Character Insight:
Ibuki shows a ruthless side when threatened, killing the assassins with cold efficiency. Charlotte’s devotion deepens as she realizes Ibuki is essentially a ‘Hero’ himself, regardless of his class. Ibuki’s protective nature overrules any desire for revenge.
Ibuki shows a shift toward self-reliance and protective ruthlessness, explicitly prioritizing Charlotte over his fellow summoned Heroes. Charlotte’s devotion is reaffirmed by Ibuki’s verbal commitment to her safety.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The ‘monkey’ metaphor (saru ni naru) is common in Japanese web novels to describe base, animalistic lust. The author subverts the ‘useless class’ trope by making the crafting process instant and physics-defying (dropping stored weight from inventory).
Classic ‘Minecraft’ or ‘Survival Game’ tropes are being applied to a high-fantasy setting to establish the ‘Cheat’ capability.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Charlotte – Late‑teen slave girl, short and skinny, messy brown hair, feline eyes. Used to be a Level 8 farmer, now Level 10 and bound to Ibuki. Still wears rags but ties her hair with a band he made from bat wings. Crazy loyal, blushy, and way too affectionate—calls herself his wife, fights beside him, and watches his back like he’s the only light in her world. Sensitive to his moods, fiercely protective, and quick to tear up with gratitude.
• Ibuki – Broke high‑schooler from Earth who got tossed into another world with the “Crafter” class he first thought was useless—turns out it’s totally busted. Black‑haired, germaphobic, and low‑key bitter but sharp as hell. Uses Synthesis, Processing, and Inventory skills to survive, craft gear, and haul loot while exploring. Currently a Level 10 otherworlder, wielding a stone axe, traveling the frontier forest with Charlotte, and just trying to stay alive long enough to find a bit of peace.
• Hero – Ibuki’s upperclassman from Earth—summoned as the naive Hero with emotional, mentally fragile personality. Empathetic yet reluctant and inadequate-feeling, lacking survival instincts and political skills. Currently in despair and terrified by his situation.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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