Name: Vermillion; Étranger À L'arc Rouge Raw Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n0088bq/ NU Link: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/vermillion/ Why It Should Get Picked Up: Side character that actually have motives and personalities, romance is starting to pick up the last time i read this. It got a strong start too with everything that happened during the first 12 chapter. Previous translator kinda went MIA, previous previous translator dropped it because irl problem and the author went to hiatus. But as far as i knew the author started writing again recently. Description: Western VRMMO【DEMONDAL】was known for its extremely harsh game system. To begin with, there were no levels. There were no skills. There were no guilds. There was no inventory. There were no convenient system messages or maps of any kind either. It was so needlessly realistic that it was already basically a VR life simulator. As for anything game-like, it was basically limited to weapon masteries; a proficiency level that you got from using your weapon, as well as physical strength that increased as well. That was it. It was a fantasy game so there was magic, but forming a contract with a spirit was extremely difficult, and only 1% of the playerbase were magicians. In this VR game【DEMONDAL】that was ridiculously close to reality, the protagonist Kei who was a well known mounted archery expert, was one day sent to another world with his Russian【DEMONDAL】friend. The game that was severe to begin with had turned into a reality, and the harshness increased again――
It's been a long time since I've heard Vermillion. I wasn't even actually aware someone picked up the novel after Nanodesu. Personally, I really enjoyed the realism since it went away with Blue Boxes and snarky game systems and the paradoxical materialization and quantification of abstract, conceptual experience. I also enjoyed how they were introduced into the world, without throwing away their survival instincts and common sense out the window. Spoiler By not giving high-grade elixirs to that old lady, it shows they clearly value their lives with it. In their situation, it was likely to be a finite resource, unobtainable for at least a long time. It was a surprise to see an author not write the MC to be paragons of selflessness, and adds realism by incorporating them feeling quite selfish in refusing a request from their benefactors, yet finding it necessary to. Despite having good gear, they are still serious when fighting against bandits. I don't remember if the bandits had good gear as well (they probably didn't), but they had the numbers and the MC did not mistakenly think his superior equipment can carry the battle. Without a system and being both a limited skill and resource, it gives magic a mystical quality. You can't wantonly cast spells and have some pop-up appear with the exact mechanics. There's no "Meteor Shower" or "Instant Death," so it makes it a lot more reasonable without some kind of broken mechanic. It's not prevalent at all; you don't find kitchen sink faucets embedded with "heat magic" and "cold magic." The magic depicted seems a lot more magical, so to speak, than in other novels.
No recent translate chapters of Vermillion so I just enjoy it on syosetsu with google translate adds on. It's even have new chapters today.