Chapter:15 Grinding?

Hori burst into laughter at Renko's plea about Yuki.

"Sure, Renko. I'll talk to Yuki and clear things up. And don't worry about the whole situation. It's just a big misunderstanding. Now, let's enjoy the Daifuku Mochi you brought!"

The tension in the room dissipated as the trio sat down to enjoy the sweet treats. Souta, who had been observing the entire exchange with wide eyes, seemed to have picked up on the awkward atmosphere.

"Um, is everything okay now?"

Hori ruffled her little brother's hair, offering him a reassuring smile.

"Yes, everything's fine, Souta. It was just a silly misunderstanding."

Renko joined in with a nod, feeling a sense of relief that the situation had been clarified. As they indulged in the delicious Daifuku Mochi, the awkwardness transformed into a shared moment of laughter and joy. 

She learned that Miyamura, the gloomy emo-moe guy, was, in fact, a pretty normal kid with issues. Though, she never got over her assumption that he had a few screws loose.

For one, he had nine piercings... not one or two but fricking nine. Four on each ear and one on the lip, not only that but he also said that he pierced them himself. 

Fricking Masochist.

As for Hori, well, her concerns were more about her insecurities than actual worries. She feared being outcasted just because she had to look after her younger brother and the house instead of going out with her friends. 

'Pretty silly if you ask me.'

Apparently, Hori's parents semi-divorced. 'Divorced' because they fought over something and started to live separately, and 'Semi' because they hadn't filled an official divorce papers. Not only that, they were both busy with their work, burdening Hori with the responsibility of looking after the house and her younger brother.

As for Miyamura... he was plain stupid and pierced his ears on impulse.

Renko was on her fourth bite when an epiphany hit her...

'Wait, he pierced *himself*!?'

As more of the details sank in, she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of admiration for Miyamura.

"I think I've changed my mind... this guy definitely has a few screws loose,"

she said through mouthfuls of cake.

Hori and Souta burst into laughter, causing Miyamura to blush and swallow the mouthful of cake.

After spending some time chatting and enjoying the snacks, Renko decided to excuse herself.

"I should get going. Oh, and Hori, sorry again for the confusion. I'll see you at school."

Hori waved her off with a smile,

"No problem, Renko! Take care, and see you on Monday."

As Renko left Hori's house, she couldn't help but shake her head in embarrassment at the misunderstanding. 

'Lesson learned: always double-check before assuming someone is married with a kid.'

With a chuckle, Renko decided to take it easy for the rest of the weekend... or not.

Instead of returning to her apartment, Renko made her way over to the secluded mountainside to try out her Cursed Techniques.

The secluded mountainside had a rather peaceful and serene atmosphere, not only that, there was still the melodious sound of the narrow stream nearby. She found herself a quiet spot near the stream, quite a distance away from prying eyes, a kilometer away from the mountain path to be exact.

Seating herself on a large rock, Renko started to retrieve the cursed tools from her inventory. She decided to start with the Cursed Flintlock Pistol, its durability had already started to wear out.

Renko set down the pistol and musket on the ground and looked around the clearing, the sky was clear and there was not a single chirp of a bird in the air. This was the perfect time to start practicing her skills.

She took a deep breath and started to load the flintlock pistol, one shot at a time it is them.

"Taking Aim"

She aimed the pistol at one of the trees across the stream and, 'Observe.'

"Fire!"

*BANG*

The cursed pistol discharged a powerful blast, sending a cursed energy projectile that struck the tree with remarkable force.

[Skill Firearms Mastery Active: +10% Damage]

[Skill Marksmanship Active: Critical Damage! (+20%)]

[Damage: 5+0.5(10%)+1(20%)]

[Maple Tree 

Durability: 493.5/500]

[Notification]

[Firearms Mastery(1): +1 EXP]

[Marksmanship(1): +10 EXP]

[Inferior Cursed Flintlock Pistol: Semi-Fourth Grade Cursed Tool

Durability: 7/10

- Damage: 5

- Range: 20m]

As soon as she finished reading the notifications, she began to load the pistol yet again. 

"*Sigh* This reminds me of the training camps."

Indeed, in the training camps, she had to monotonously shoot a hundred rounds a day to keep her sharpshooting grades at the top of the class.

Renko continued her practice, each shot filled with a burst of curse energy. The rhythmic sound of gunshots echoed through the mountainside, accompanied by the occasional rustling of leaves and the gentle flow of the nearby stream.

***Another Seven Rounds Later***

With each shot, Renko felt a sense of satisfaction and nostalgia. But it appears that her luck was taking effect and half the shots hit a critical strike.

'What the fuck!'

Yes, not only that, but she never missed a shot as well.

'What's the point of Marksmanship skill then!?'

However, at this moment, a sudden cracking sound caught her attention.

[Warning!]

[The Durability Of The Item 'Inferior Cursed Flintlock Pistol' Has Hit 0 Points]

[Item Is No Longer Usable.]

[Using It Now Would 100% Cause A Minor Explosion.]

'Huh?'

A crack was slowly spreading along the barrel of the flintlock pistol in her hand, she was pretty sure that if she wanted to, she could easily snap the barrel in half.

*CRACK*

And she did just that.

[Junk: Broken Flintlock Pistol

Description: A poorly crafted flintlock pistol, further damaged due to wear and tear. Now there's a 100% chance of it exploding... wait... now there's no way to fire it again and any attempt is a pure waste of good ammunition.]

'Ah. So what should I do with this junk now?'

[Salvageable Material: 1kg Of Cursed Steel] 

'Eh?'

So, she just had to separate the wood and metal parts and then melt the metal parts while burning the wood part for fuel.

'Got it!'

So, she picked up the musket for the next few rounds.

'Loading!'

She bit off the paper cartridge, poured most of the gunpowder down the barrel, stuffed the cloth path with the lead ball down the barrel with the help of the ramrod, and finally, primed the rifle.

*Sigh*

'So it's a minute and a half for a round, huh?'

'Aim!'

'Fire!'

*BANG*

[Skill Firearms Mastery Active: +10% Damage]

[Skill Marksmanship Active: Critical Damage! (+20%)]

[Damage: 15+1.5(10%)+3(20%)]

[Maple Tree 

Durability: 428.5/500]

'Sigh!'

***Another 8 Rounds Later***

[Warning!]

[The Durability Of The Item 'Inferior Cursed Flintlock Musket' Has Hit 0 Points]

[Item Is No Longer Usable.] 

[Using It Now Would 100% Cause A Minor Explosion.]

'Not this too!'

[Junk: Broken Flintlock Musket

Description: A poorly crafted flintlock pistol, further damaged due to wear and tear. Now there's a 100% chance of it exploding.

Salvageable Material: 3kg Of Steel] 

'Ah, this too.'

She began crafting a new flintlock pistol without much thought.

Her reasoning for choosing a Pistol instead of a Musket? Well, the musket did use too much curse energy to create and she was mostly thinking about leveling up her Firearms Mastery. 

Also, she noticed a subtle increase in her reloading speed when the Firearms Mastery was active, so that was something at least.

With a sigh, she began to look through all the notifications. First of all, her attention went to the ammunition section under the curse technique.

[Cursed Flintlock Musket: 80CP (Available) (Lv. Inferior: 5/100)

- Inferior Lead Ball Ammunition (Lv. Inferior: 80/100)

Advantage: +5% Reload Speed

- Inferior Minie Ball Ammunition (Lv. Inferior: 10/100)

Advantage: +10% Accuracy

- Inferior Nessler Ball Ammunition (Lv. Inferior: 10/100)

Advantage: +10% Armor Penetration]

[Maple Tree 

Durability: 272.5/500]

[Notification]

[Firearms Mastery(1): +16 EXP]

[Marksmanship(1): +160 EXP]

[Level UP]

[Marksmanship(2): 90/200]

Description: Increase precision and accuracy with ranged weapons.

- An 11% increase in accuracy when firing a firearm.

- A 0.75% increase in chances of landing a critical hit.

- Critical Damage +25%]

[Inventory]

[1*Flesh-Cleaver(14/15) - Grade Four Cursed Tool]

[1*Inferior Cursed Bayonet(5/5): Semi-Fourth Grade Cursed Tool]

[83*Paper Cartridges: 120 Grains or 7 Grams]

[83*Cloth Patch]

[63* Lead Ball Rounds]

[10*Minie Rounds]

[10*Nessler Rounds]

[20*Snicker Bars]

'Whelp, let's hop to it then.'

Once the pistol was fully created, Renko began to shoot again.