chapter 54
54 – 3rd Floor, Hard Labor.
He made a pickaxe.
It was enough if he could just strike down roughly.
He mined magic stones.
Clang-!
While doing so, he felt something different.
“`
【99】
The rock had durability.
Bang!
【98】
Bang!
【97】
“Damn it!”
To mine one magic stone, you had to swing the pickaxe 100 times.
It wasn’t ordinary labor.
‘This is madness.’
Now I understand why the pirate crew saved slaves.
‘It wasn’t like this on Island 1.’
There was no durability system for trees.
Whether it was a golden dagger or a hand blade, you could just roughly cut it down and that was okay.
But it was different from Island 2.
Bang!
【96】
My mind is getting hazy.
‘When will I ever get this to zero?’
Stamina was more of a problem than time.
【0】
“Huff, huff!”
It’s harder than I thought.
My arms are so numb, I can’t do this twice.
[Lowest Grade Magic Stone][F]
Checked the information of the barely mined magic stone.
It was of the lowest grade.
The 100 swings of the pickaxe felt futile.
‘If only I had the potential to grow like other race players…’
Even a speck would be good.
“`
If my stats increased or my skill level grew, I might have felt a thrill while pickaxing.
Earthlings didn’t even have that kind of joy.
“…….”
That’s what I thought.
[Soul System has successfully found potential in the player’s soul.]
[You can acquire ‘Mining (F)’.]
There was nothing else to do but mine magic stones.
I had to do this, at least.
With that mindset, I focused on pickaxing for dozens of minutes.
I acquired a skill.
“A skill, all of a sudden?”
It’s not strange to acquire a skill.
Other races often blossom their potential.
‘But I’m an Earthling?’
Far from potential.
So I couldn’t believe it.
“Ah.”
After checking the skill information, I could understand the situation.
‘Simple skills are possible for Earthlings to learn.’
Mining was a miner’s skill.
By mining magic stones, I had entered the path of a miner.
[Mining][Lv.1][F]
It even had a level attached.
It meant there was potential for growth.
‘I’m suddenly interested?’
I struck with the pickaxe.
Clang-!
Durability decreased by 1 each time.
Clang-!
Sometimes it decreased by 2.
‘So this is what efficiency means.’
The corners of his mouth twitched.
He had only gained one growth skill, but mining had become incredibly fun.
Bang! Bang-!
He invested all his time in mining, except for sleeping and visiting the temple to catch the holy knights.
He mined magic stones, hoping only for his skill level to rise.
Level 2.
Efficiency increased by 1%.
Level 3.
Efficiency increased by another 1%.
When he reached Level 4.
A guest arrived on Island No. 2.
Yuki, whom he had met on Island No. 1.
And a face he had never seen before.
Judging by her golden hair, impossible to achieve with bleaching or dyeing, she seemed to be a superhuman too.
“I am Hikari from the 1st Division of the Great Japan Empire Public Security’s Special Rift Combat Unit.”
“…Great Japan Empire? Hikari?”
Since Yuki had a Japanese name, he had vaguely thought she might be Japanese too.
But he hadn’t expected the Great Japan Empire to appear.
‘Is this a world where imperialism hasn’t disappeared?’
He didn’t show it outwardly.
Who cares about the political situation of another dimension?
“Oruin.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Hikari bowed at a 90-degree angle.
Isn’t it too much for a first meeting?
He felt rather embarrassed.
He smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.
“Was the reason you stayed on Island No. 1 because of Hikari?”
“Yes. She’s a reliable subordinate.”
Hikari’s eyes sparkle.
It seemed she felt good after hearing the compliment, even though it wasn’t really a compliment.
‘She follows well.’
I could roughly sense the nature of their relationship.
“What’s with the pickaxe?”
Right after the brief greeting, Yuki asked.
She immediately showed interest in the labor I was doing.
Even though we hadn’t seen each other for four days, we didn’t ask about each other’s well-being.
We weren’t that close.
“First of all…”
I told her about Island No. 2.
And the tasks that needed to be done.
“So those ships back then were from another team here to mine the magic stones.”
“Those ships back then?”
Yuki told me about what she saw four days ago, after I had crossed over to Island No. 2.
‘Blanco team.’
It seemed they fled immediately after being attacked.
Their actions were really swift.
‘They wouldn’t have thought I’d kill them all.’
If they had, they wouldn’t have left.
“Just in time.”
I took the two of them to the temple.
It was about time for the spawn, so I intended to show them the dungeon’s holy knight.
Holy knight.
I had caught it three times in four days.
This was the fourth time.
Coordinates and chronicles dropped at a certain probability.
Catching it didn’t guarantee obtaining them.
Getting both on the first day was pure luck.
“…Looks quite strong.”
Yuki watched the holy knight and left a comment.
I felt the same way when I first faced him.
“Can you kill him with your superpower?”
“I can, but…”
Trailing off, he made it clear he didn’t want to.
Seeing his discomfort, I decided not to force him.
‘Just like Kim Min-sung, he hesitates to kill people.’
It was a similar reaction to Kim Min-sung during the crew-making days when he had never killed anyone.
Of course, Kim Min-sung eventually realized that if he didn’t kill, he would be killed, and changed his mind.
‘A strong superpower user still has the right to ponder bioethics, I suppose.’
Such concerns were a luxury for the lowly Earthlings.
“What about Hikari?”
“I can’t do it. Unlike the boss who can but won’t, I simply can’t.”
“No superpower?”
As if to answer my question, Hikari transformed into light and flashed.
“Living up to your name, huh.”
“But I have no physical power.”
“What if you kick at the speed of light? Wouldn’t that work?”
“I have no mass.”
“……”
Ah, this is hard.
‘I got into Busan University with life sciences and chemistry.’
But physics?
My mind was spinning.
I scratched my head vigorously.
“Ugh…!”
Hikari recoiled in horror.
I chuckled.
“You’ll be like this soon enough.”
Do women not get greasy hair?
Not at all.
“First. Let’s finish that off.”
There’s a familiar combo.
Frozen Prison and Bomb Launch.
Tzuzut.
Bang-!
The consecutively activated skills didn’t even give the paladin a chance to defend.
[You have slain an unknown paladin.]
The paladin fell, and I checked if there were any dropped items.
“There’s nothing.”
I didn’t really expect anything.
I haven’t gotten anything except on the first day.
“Now we just need to go back and mine the magic stones.”
“…You’ve been repeating this? For four days straight?”
“Yeah. I’ve gathered quite a few magic stones. 400.”
I don’t know how much a ship can be powered by a magic stone the size of a fist.
I don’t think it’s that many.
‘We’ve only been mining for four days. We can’t expect this to last a lifetime.’
I took the two of them to the magic stone mine.
And handed them pickaxes.
The pickaxe I handed to Yuki was slightly stained with Yuki’s handprints and then passed to Hikari.
“Why are you giving this to me…?”
“This kind of thing is usually done by the youngest.”
I’m used to it because I was in the sports club.
I didn’t feel guilty about making my juniors do it.
Yuki was the same.
Public Security Special Combat Unit?
It seems like a place similar to an army of psychics?
‘It must be a place with strict hierarchical order.’
The way they naturally passed the task, it wasn’t their first time.
“…….”
Hikari, with a tearful face, began swinging the pickaxe.
Clang-!
Not auto-hunting, but auto-mining.
‘…This feels somewhat comfortable.’
I think I understand why those pirate b*stards go around capturing slaves.
Yuki and I built a ship.
We planned to reinforce the ice spirit’s raft to increase its size.
“It seems like there’s a limit with just ice.”
“That’s why we need to use wood too.”
I recalled the pirate ship.
‘The basic material was wood.’
I hadn’t seen any modern ships made of steel.
Maybe they appear in the later islands, but for now, wood was the best option.
“I’ll try shaping it first.”
When I created ice with Frozen Prison, Yuki used it to build the ship.
We had to cut down trees nearby, so it was quite busy.
“Boss, this is too hard.”
We couldn’t work indefinitely.
We had to rest when the sun went down.
Hikari whined about the afternoon tasks.
Yuki ignored her complaints.
We repeated this laborious lifestyle.
A week passed.
“…….”
Ships gathered along the coast.
Flags with white skulls fluttered.
‘I’ve seen that picture somewhere before.’
My memory is hazy.
A flash of light.
Hikari returned to the ship.
Though lacking in physical strength, Hikari was unmatched in activity.
“They say they’re here to kill the one who messed with the White Skull Pirates?”
“The White Skull Pirates? What’s that?”
Yuki expressed doubt.
“Ah.”
It came to mind.
“I left it with them a week ago. They’ve come to return the ship.”
The two superhumans tilted their heads as if to ask what I was talking about.
No need to explain with words.
It’s best to show through actions.
I took the ship out of the inventory.
It was the departure ceremony.