Chapter 13: Polyphenolic Bindings

  The transition from the physical world to the digital one was always a sensation of weightlessness, a shedding of gravity and consequence. The lingering adrenaline from the alleyway, the smell of damp cardboard, and the image of Rika’s terrified face all dissolved into static before reforming into the crisp, high-definition reality of Riverwood.

  Welcome back, Yuta.

  Yuta opened his eyes. The charcoal-gray iris of his avatar adjusted instantly to the ambient light. It was night in Riverwood, mirroring the time in the real world. The village was bathed in the soft, silver glow of the twin moons hanging high above the treeline. The central fire pit was still roaring, surrounded by players who were either AFK, trading, or boasting about their dungeon runs, but the noise felt distant, like the hum of a refrigerator in another room.

  Yuta took a deep breath. The air here didn't smell of city exhaust. It smelled of pine needles, woodsmoke, and the clean, cold scent of the river.

  He checked his inventory.

  Funds: 1 Silver, 33 Copper.

  Key Items: Polished Granite Mortar & Pestle, Stag Hide (Rank F+) x2, Animal Fat (2 lbs).

  He had the raw materials. He had the capital. Now, he needed the reagent.

  Yuta turned away from the village square and the easy comforts of the NPC shops. He walked past the blacksmith’s forge, which was quiet now, the bellows still for the night, and headed toward the dense tree line of the Western Woods.

  Most players went to the woods to hunt. They saw the trees as obstacles or scenery. Yuta saw them as a chemical warehouse.

  He stopped in front of a massive, ancient Oak tree. Its trunk was thick, gnarled, and covered in patches of silvery moss. The canopy above rustled softly in the wind, a soothing, organic sound.

  "Quercus," Yuta whispered, running his hand over the rough, deeply fissured bark. "High tannin content."

  He didn't need to cut the tree down. That would be inefficient and require a woodcutting axe he didn't have. He only needed the bark, specifically the inner layers where the tannins were most concentrated.

  He drew his Sharpened Skinning Knife. The blade, honed on the whetstone two days ago, glided out of its sheath with a silent gleam.

  Yuta knelt at the base of the tree, finding a section of root that had been exposed by erosion. He carefully inserted the tip of the knife under a thick flake of bark. He didn't hack at it; he pried it gently, listening for the fibrous snap of the wood releasing its hold.

  Snap.

  A curved strip of dark brown bark came loose in his hand. It was heavy, rough on the outside but slightly damp and reddish on the inside.

  Item Acquired: Oak Bark (Material).

  Description: Thick bark harvested from an ancient oak. Bitter to the taste.

  "Perfect," Yuta murmured.

  He spent the next hour moving from tree to tree. He was careful not to strip too much from a single source, a habit from the real world's ecological consciousness transferring into the game's mechanics. He worked rhythmically, the snick-snap of his knife the only sound accompanying the crickets.

  By the time he had filled his pouch with five pounds of bark, his Stamina bar had dipped by twenty percent. It was manual labor, unglamorous and repetitive, but Yuta found a strange peace in it. There were no social hierarchies here. No bullies. Just the honest friction of steel against wood.

  He returned to the riverbank, finding a secluded spot downstream from the village, away from the prying eyes of other players. He needed water, and he needed fire.

  He gathered a small pile of dry driftwood and used his flint to spark a flame. Once the fire was crackling steadily, he set up his workspace.

  He placed the Polished Granite Mortar on a flat rock. It looked out of place in the mud—a pristine, professional tool amidst the dirt. The moonlight reflected off its smooth, gray surface.

  Yuta placed a handful of the oak bark into the bowl. He gripped the heavy pestle.

  Grind.

  The sound was deep and solid. The weight of the granite did most of the work, crushing the fibrous bark into a coarse pulp. It was vastly superior to his old chipped mortar. There was no wobbling, no wasted energy. The stone pulverized the wood cells, breaking them open to release their chemical secrets.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "Surface area," Yuta reminded himself, working the pestle in a steady circular motion. "Maximize the extraction rate."

  Once the bark was reduced to a reddish-brown fiber, he transferred it into his Cracked Clay Pot. He filled the pot with river water and set it over the fire.

  Now, he waited.

  Alchemy wasn't just about mixing; it was about thermal dynamics. The water began to simmer, small bubbles rising to the surface. As the heat penetrated the wood fibers, the water began to change color. It shifted from clear to a pale amber, then to a deep, rich tea color, and finally to a dark, opaque brown.

  The smell rising from the pot was sharp and astringent. It smelled like strong tea left to steep for a week.

  "Tannic acid," Yuta noted, watching the steam curl into the night air. "A complex polyphenol. It binds to the proteins in the skin, preventing putrefaction and turning it hydrophobic."

  He let it boil for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally with a stripped twig. When the liquid was thick and dark, he pulled the pot off the fire and set it aside to cool slightly. He didn't want to cook the hides; he wanted to cure them.

  He retrieved the two Stag Hides (Rank F+) from his inventory.

  They were still "raw." In the game logic, they were stable items in his inventory, but if he placed them in the world, they would technically be prone to decay. They were soft, fleshy, and vulnerable.

  He took his knife and performed the "fleshing" step, scraping the underside of the hides to remove any remaining membrane or fat. The sharpened blade made this easy, leaving a clean, smooth surface.

  Then, he submerged the first hide into the pot of dark tannin liquor.

  System Alert: Crafting Process Started...

  Tanning (Soaking).

  Estimated Time: 20 Minutes.

  In reality, tanning took weeks or months. Elixir Online accelerated the process for gameplay purposes, but twenty minutes was still a lifetime for an impatient player. For Yuta, it was a break.

  He sat back on the grass, wiping his hands on a rag. He watched the river flow by, the moonlight dancing on the ripples.

  A group of players walked past on the main path, heading toward the Wolf Caverns. They were loud, their armor clanking.

  "Dude, I need 500 XP to hit Level 10," a warrior shouted. "Let's pull the whole room."

  "I'm out of mana potions," a mage replied. "We need to go back to town."

  "Just buy them! Who cares?"

  Yuta watched them go. They were running on a treadmill. Kill, loot, buy, repeat. They were consuming the content. Yuta was analyzing the engine.

  He looked back at his pot. The hide was soaking, the chemical bonds shifting on a molecular level. The tannins were replacing the water in the collagen structure, locking the fibers together, making them tough, flexible, and resistant to rot.

  Ding.

  Process Complete.

  Yuta reached into the pot with a stick and pulled the hide out.

  It had changed. It was no longer the pale, fleshy beige of raw skin. It was a rich, deep mahogany brown. The texture had transformed from floppy and slimy to firm and pliable.

  He rinsed it in the river to wash away the excess acid, then wrung it out.

  Item Created.

  Analyzing...

  Item: Tanned Stag Leather.

  Rank: E.

  Description: High-quality leather treated with oak tannins. Durable, flexible, and water-resistant. Suitable for crafting light armor and utility items.

  "Rank E," Yuta smiled. He had taken a Rank F+ raw material and, through processing, elevated it to Rank E. He had created value.

  He repeated the process with the second hide.

  By the time he was finished, the fire had burned down to embers. He had two large sheets of high-quality leather. He also had the remaining Blacksmith’s Ash from his previous sessions and the leftover Animal Fat.

  He looked at his own gear. The Novice Tunic and Cloth Pants offered almost zero protection. He had 1 Silver coin, but buying armor was expensive. A basic leather chest piece cost 80 Copper.

  "Why buy it?" Yuta asked the empty air.

  He laid the leather out on the flat rock. He took his knife. He didn't have a needle and thread yet, but he had the leather itself. He cut thin, long strips from the edge of the first hide.

  Leather cordage.

  He used the tip of his knife to punch holes along the edges of the main piece. It wasn't going to be a tailored jacket. It was going to be a primitive, functional cuirass.

  He worked with focus, lacing the leather cords through the punched holes, creating a simple vest structure that could be tied at the sides. It was rough. It lacked the aesthetic polish of the store-bought gear. But the material—the material was superior.

  System Alert: Crafting...

  Leatherworking Skill Unlocked.

  He finished the knot on the side. He held up the creation.

  Item: Hand-Stitched Leather Vest.

  Rank: F+.

  Defense: +4.

  Durability: 25/25.

  Effect: Slightly increases resistance to cold.

  It wasn't a legendary item. It was barely better than the starting gear in terms of stats. But it was his.

  He equipped it. The brown leather vest appeared over his tunic, hugging his torso. It felt solid. It felt earned.

  He sat there for a moment, feeling the weight of the digital leather. He thought about Hina. He thought about Rika.

  In the real world, he had used fear to protect his sister because he lacked the social standing to do it any other way. It was a desperate, messy solution.

  Here, he was building a foundation where he wouldn't need to be desperate.

  He looked at the Granite Mortar. He looked at the leftover bark. He looked at the river.

  "I need a binder," Yuta mused, his mind already jumping to the next project. "I have the leather. I have the fat. If I can find beeswax... I can make waterproofing polish. I can make leather that doesn't soak up rain."

  He stood up, dousing his fire with river water.

  He walked back toward the village, the new leather vest creaking softly with his movements. He passed the same warrior and mage who had walked by earlier. They were respawning at the village square, looking frustrated, their armor durability red and flashing. They had died in the dungeon.

  Yuta walked past them, alive, profitable, and progressing.

  "Slow and steady," Yuta whispered to himself.

  He logged out.

  The transition back to his dark room was gentle this time. He took off the helmet and placed it on the desk. He felt tired, but it was a good tired. The mental exhaustion of the bullying incident had been replaced by the satisfying fatigue of productivity.

  He looked at the clock. It was late.

  He crawled into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. For the first time in two days, his mind wasn't racing with worry or anger. It was filled with formulas. Tannins. Collagen. Lipids.

  He closed his charcoal-gray eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.