Charlie rushed straight at the two Slimes and swung his battered sword.
A sharp whoosh cut through the air, and both Slimes burst apart.
Only two pieces of Slime were left on the ground, the only proof they had ever existed.
He straightened up and picked them up.
These Slimes were pretty easy to deal with.
Who knew all those “sword techniques” he had practiced with a stick in the fields as a kid would actually come in handy?
After mining the Copper Ore on Floor 2, he found the ladder to Floor 3.
He went down.
Charlie checked the time.
“1:30 p.m.”
There was still plenty of time.
There were no Slimes on Floor 3, only some harmless green flying bugs buzzing back and forth.
When he killed them, they dropped something called Bug Meat.
[Bug Meat: A juicy wad of bug flesh.]
He didn’t spend too much time on this floor.
While gathering Copper Ore, he also found a Topaz.
Aside from the large rocks his Pickaxe couldn’t break, Charlie practically cleared out the whole of Floor 3.
Floor 4 looked almost the same, except this time there were both Slimes and those bugs.
Like before, he dealt with the Slimes first, relying on the “sword skills” he had picked up swinging sticks around as a kid.
Then he cleared out the flying bugs and gathered the ore.
His unexpected find this time was a piece of Quartz.
By the time he reached Floor 5, the routine was starting to bore him.
It was the same few things over and over.
Kill monsters.
Mine ore.
No excitement at all.
There wasn’t even a monster here that could trade a few decent blows with him.
Once he arrived on Floor 5, Charlie noticed it was a little different from the other floors.
Beside the stairs was an elevator.
“An elevator?”
“The abandoned one from the entrance?”
He walked over.
With a sudden ding, the elevator lights came on.
“The lights came on?”
“Does it still work?”
Charlie studied it for a moment, then stepped inside.
There were only two buttons.
0 and 5.
He stepped back out.
“0 is probably the entrance, and 5 is this floor,” he concluded after thinking it over.
But he didn’t plan to leave yet.
After checking the time, he saw it was only around 2:30, so he decided to clear out the floor before heading back.
As usual, he killed all the Slimes and flying bugs first, then started breaking Stones.
“Copper Ore, mine!”
“A Geode, mine!”
“An Amethyst?
Charlie happily scraped the place clean.
Then he walked up to a Stone and swung his Pickaxe down.
Strangely, it didn’t break.
“Huh?
What’s going on?”
Just as he crouched down to take a closer look, the Stone suddenly moved and rammed into him.
He didn’t have time to defend himself and took the hit.
“Holy crap, did the Stone come alive?”
“No.
This is a monster!”
Charlie quickly realized something was wrong.
There were legs under the Stone.
“Damn it, trying to ambush me?”
He immediately summoned his Rusty Sword.
The stone creature charged at him again.
But this time, Charlie didn’t even use the sword.
As it rushed over, he simply stomped it under one foot.
Then he kicked it over onto its back.
Its underside was exposed.
“A crab?”
That was his first thought, since it had so many legs.
“There are crabs in the cave?”
But he didn’t have time to keep messing around with it.
He would rather go spend time with the villagers than play with a rock.
So he raised his sword and thrust it into the creature.
The next second, it disappeared, leaving only a crab behind.
Charlie stared at it, amazed.
“Whoa.
It really was a crab?”
…
After leaving The Mines, Charlie went home.
The day’s haul was pretty good.
He had gathered plenty of Copper Ore and Geodes.
He also managed to craft two Furnaces.
After placing them beside the Chest near the fence where he kept his Stone, Charlie put his hands on his hips.
“Next is the Copper Ore,” he said, letting out a breath.
He picked up the dozen or so pieces he had left and put them in.
But he could only smelt five at a time.
With two Furnaces, he could make two Copper Bars at once, but he didn’t have enough ore.
In the end, he only managed to smelt three Copper Bars.
“Uh… that’s still too few.
Is three enough?”
He looked at the three bars in his backpack, unsure.
Then he checked the time.
It was already five in the afternoon.
Well, that settled it.
Clint was closed.
He decided to take a walk into town.
“Amethyst, Quartz, and the Emerald from yesterday’s fishing treasure chest.”
He didn’t plan to sell them.
He wanted to use them as gifts.
“Uh, I can give the Amethyst to Abigail.
As for the rest, I’ll figure it out.”
With that plan in mind, he left the farm and headed toward town.
When he reached Pierre’s General Store, he went inside.
“Hi, Pierre.
Is Abigail home?” Charlie asked, looking at Pierre behind the counter.
“Mm.
Do you need her for something?”
“She’s been taking online classes lately.
It’s best not to disturb her studies.”
“But if it’s important, she’s in her bedroom right now,” Pierre said.
“Oh, thanks, Pierre,” Charlie said politely.
Then he walked toward the bedroom.
When he reached Abigail’s door, he hesitated.
He could faintly hear her sounding upset inside.
But barging into a girl’s room was the kind of thing that could end with him watching the sunrise through jail bars.
Luckily, this was Stardew Valley, so the door opened easily.
As soon as he entered, he saw Abigail sitting in front of the TV, sulking.
The hair clip on her head bobbed as she moved, making her look especially cute.
“Hey, Abigail!”
At the sound of his voice, Abigail, who had been fuming a second ago, jumped in surprise.
She turned back and saw him standing in her room.
“Charlie!?”
“Why did you sneak into my room?
You scared me half to death!”
He immediately apologized.
“Sorry.
I heard you getting angry through the door, so I came in to check on you.”
At that, Abigail’s cheeks puffed up in anger like a little hamster.
“Ugh, I’ve been playing Journey of the Prairie King for hours…”
“And I still can’t even beat the first level…”
She explained, sounding a little defeated.
“Isn’t this game way too hard?”
Then she suddenly realized something.
“Or… maybe I’m just really bad at it.”
As she complained, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked at Charlie.
He was a little confused.
“What is it?
Why are you staring at me like that all of a sudden?”
Abigail asked excitedly, “Hehe, do you want to try this level with me?”
“It should be easier with your help!”