#410 Hammer Song & The Daruma Tower

And so, I made building blocks for Junior. I’m such a responsible dad.

But I was not content and wanted to make one more toy.

I remembered something when I saw Junior playing with the blocks, albeit morbidly.

A similar toy, which is...

“A daruma otoshi!”

You hit, push out, and drop each of its cylindrically stacked pieces! 

As long as it doesn’t collapse, you can keep going.

Although Junior may take some time to understand this toy, it’s not a bad idea to have it ready in advance.

In fact, I, too, have been itching to play with a daruma otoshi for a while now.

I used the leftover material from making the building blocks and got the paint from Mieral to color-code each piece. 

Otherworldly daruma otoshi.

Anything made in another world automatically gets named ‘otherworldly X.’

“The face’s craftmanship turned out horrible, though...”

It is what it is.

The Hand of Supremacy doesn’t manifest on the artistic side, which has varying degrees of appreciation depending on the person!

That aside...

Let’s try out the daruma otoshi.

“Steady... hah!”

I hit the second piece from the bottom with a hammer.

With a satisfying click, the piece pops out, and the top part of the daruma fills in the empty space.

“...Oh no, the Hand of Supremacy is active.”

My ability can pop out the pieces with precise force through the mallet I hold.

“I never thought I’d have a body that couldn’t enjoy Daruma Otoshi with a god’s gift!” 

It was still fun, though.

I smoothly knocked out all the pieces and easily cleared the game.

Being overpowered is fun.

However, the simple structure makes me get bored easily, and this is even more true if the difficulty level is zero.

Oh well, I’ll just put it away until Junior is old enough to play with it.

Or so I thought, but...

“What’s this? Oh, it’s not food?”

Veil has already sniffed it out.

Veil, who comes in seconds when I make a new dish, was certifying it as a miss because it wasn’t food.

She would’ve shown up when I was making the building blocks, too, but her sensors must have been dulled at the time.

Soon after, other residents start gathering.

“It’s unusual of Lord Saint to make something other than food. But what’s this?”

“Hm... some kind of toy?”

“It looks like you play with it by hitting from the side with a wooden mallet.”

“Ohh! That’s new!”

“This is called daruma otoshi? Wow!”

You’re using that cliché line now?

“Ah! The entire thing crumbled!”

“Must be hard for the orcs to adjust their strength accordingly.”

“I’m not good with tiny articles...”

Daruma otoshi became all the rage on the farm before Junior could even play with it.

Orcs, goblins, elves, mermaids, satyrs, earth spirits, and students all became obsessed with popping off the daruma’s cylindrical body pieces. 

I thought it would be nice to have such a lively atmosphere once in a while, so I left them to enjoy themselves.

But a few days later...

***

The situation had taken an unexpected turn.

“What is this...?!”

A looming tower stands in front of me.

I think it’s about four to five meters in height?

It’s a huge structure, but it’s not a building.

It’s a toy.

A giant toy comparable to an architectural structure.

Is this supposed to be a gigantic daruma otoshi?!

“Did you guys build this?!”

I look at the excited orcs, goblins, and elves, astonished.

It seems they were so impressed with the regular toy that they copied it, only on a much larger scale.

Combining the building ability of orcs, the skill of elves, and the dexterity of goblins, it must’ve been a piece of cake for them.

But there is an equal but stark difference between what one can do and putting it into action.

Why did they put it into action?

“Because it’d be fun?”

“We thought we’d give it a try and make it the new attraction at Orkubo’s Castle next year!”

They even thought that far into it?

Anyway, the life-sized daruma otoshi is here.

But it’s not only its size that’s different.

It’s the daruma face that’s supposed to be nested on top of the cylinder.

There are people in place of that characteristic piece!

“Gyahaha! Good of you to come here just so I can beat you!”

“Er, but don’t you always lose in these kinds of activities?”

“A sense of balance developed in the woods! I’ll show them what we elves are made of!”

“My, it’s been so long since I’ve been this high!”

I see Veil, Platy, Aileron, and Panu.

I don’t know how they came up with this lineup, but the game is on either way.

On the ground, the orc pounds with a wooden mallet the size of one used for pounding mochi.

Its movement is like full-swing batting, as its superhuman strength doesn’t pose a problem if the target is large enough.

Naturally, when the orcs hit with all their might, the cylinder piece flies through the air with tremendous force.

The goblins catch them just in time before they whack any surrounding onlooker.

At the top...

“Ah!” “Kyaa!” “Hah!” “Heh-he!”

The four women are pulled down by gravity with the rest of the pieces. 

The impact and vibration are so intense that it’d be quite difficult to keep standing.

“Is this why they removed the daruma head?”

One game element in this giant daruma otoshi doesn’t exist in its original counterpart. 

If the person on top loses their balance and falls down from the impact, they’re out.

The player on the ground quickly hits the pieces, and the player on top utilizes their sense of balance to stay on.

Is this the true essence of the game?!

“The impact is stronger than I thought... I feel like flying away just from the recoil...!”

“Wahaha! What an inferior being. Already so distraught over something so trivial!”

It looks like Veil is showing off the dignity of being the most powerful creature, the dragon.

No matter how rough they fell, she did not even flinch, as if she felt nothing.

“Ah! If she keeps her solid form, they’ll hit the pieces even rougher down there!”

“I’m the one who will reach the bottom the fastest! First place is all mine!”

They have such a rule?

If that’s the case, the upper players’ good sense of balance is directly related to their chances of winning.

Until they regain their positions, the bottom cannot pop off the next piece.

It’s proportional to how fast or slow the pace of this game is.

“Veil’s balance is no joke...!”

It’s as if the intense impact doesn’t affect her one bit.

This would allow the hitter to keep hammering at a fast pace and easily remove the remaining pieces in the process.

That’s Veil for you, all right.

Dragons always fly, so they must have a good sense of balance in the air!

Actually, she looks like she’s just hovering even now!

“...Hey, wait.”

Doesn’t she look like she is hovering?

She’s using the same levitation magic that she used when she was in her dragon form.

“No fair! If you do that, you won’t feel any of the shaking!”

“Yikes, they found out.”

Inadvertently drawing attention to yourself on purpose does backfire.

Veil was disqualified for violating the rules.

In the end, the first to reach the ground and win was not Platy or Aileron but the satyr Panu.

She was a dark horse, but as a goat-human mix, she was already an expert at traversing rough and steep terrain and could climb vertical cliffs easily.

In fact, her sense of balance is the best on the farm.

Thus, our residents developed a new form of entertainment.

I have a feeling it has the potential to spread around the world.