The Abandoned Scarf I Upgraded With Dungeon Materials part1
After safely obtaining the spider silk, I held back the urge to repair the scarf right away and headed home.
My apartment building, Sōrin-kan, was forty‑five years old—honestly, calling it a ruin wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
I lived in a single four‑and‑a‑half‑tatami room.
“Welcome back, Hei‑chan.”
At the entrance, Mossan was pumping air into his bicycle tires.
“Huh? Didn’t you pump them this morning too?”
“When I was riding, it started making this beko‑beko sound. Turns out the air was gone again.”
“…There’s probably a hole in it.”
Mossan—white hair, natural perm, thick bottle‑bottom glasses—pressed his ear gently against the tire.
“Hmm… I don’t hear any air leaking.”
“…If it keeps happening, you should replace the valve or the rubber.”
“Got it!”
Mossan lived two doors down from me.
To be honest, I had no idea what he did for a living. But he always seemed to be around.
There were other residents too, and while we exchanged greetings, nobody really knew what anyone else did. Mossan included.
I passed by him and climbed the rusted, worryingly fragile stairs to my room.
“I’m home.”
No one was there, but I said it out of habit.
Warm air rushed out as I opened the door.
I cracked the poorly fitted window to let fresh air in and changed into my room clothes.
After a simple meal, it was already close to eight at night.
Finally, I felt calm enough to start working.
I took the scarf I’d picked up in the dungeon out of the plastic bag and used Appraisal again.
The same text from earlier appeared before me.
“…Looks like I really can use Appraisal here too…”
I glanced at the wall.
■ Wooden Structure
Age: 45 years
Repair History: None
Remaining Lifespan: A few years at best
Condition: Foundation heavily damaged by termites; exterior severely eroded by wind and rain
Repair requires major renovation, or can be improved via 〇×■＆＃＃＄７！”
There were unreadable characters mixed in.
What the heck is that?
And “remaining lifespan: a few years”…
Yeah, even without Appraisal, I knew Sōrin‑kan was in bad shape.
Still… it’s hard to bring this up to the landlord.
I decided to stop thinking about it.
Right now, the scarf was more important!
I considered washing it first, but figured repairing it before washing would help the stitches settle better.
I took out my sewing box—my grandma’s old one.
I threaded the spider silk through the needle.
The transparent thread sparkled under the LED light.
Time to check the damaged area.
I tried doing it without Appraisal, but then—
“Integrate ‘Sewing’ into Appraisal?”
What? Integrate?
Seriously, how many surprises does today have left?
Couldn’t it at least show a help screen explaining what that means?
A blinking question mark appeared in the corner of the screen.
When I focused on it, a new window opened.
“Skill Integration: When a newly acquired skill shares functions with an existing skill, they may be integrated. Integrated skills will not lose their original functions.”
…
So my only hobby—sewing—won’t disappear.
Still… it’s scary.
The excitement I felt about repairing the scarf suddenly cooled.
I put the needle back into the pincushion, closed the box, and lay down, staring at the ceiling.
Today had been… a lot.
But before today, every day had been the same.
I wasn’t starving, I had a place to live, and while I couldn’t afford luxuries, I had enough money for my hobby.
I had a job.
Nothing changed, but maybe that was fine.
Maybe I didn’t need more.
Another version of me spoke up.
Sure, nothing changes. No losses, no gains.
I know you’re a total chicken, and I get why you think the current life is enough.
But you were excited about sewing, right?
So maybe it’s okay to be a little more positive about what happened today.
Whether you grab the chance in front of you or not—it’s your choice.
But isn’t it better to grab it and regret later, rather than not grab it and regret anyway?
Even if it leads to trouble, you’re the only one who’ll deal with it.
Grandma’s words echoed in my mind.
“If you see hardship, buy it.”
I sat up and sent my intent to accept the skill integration.
“Skill Integration complete. ‘Sewing’ has been integrated into ‘Appraisal.’”
