I calmed my excitement.
At times like this, I needed to keep my wits about me more than ever.
There was a good chance only the entrance was like this.
I briefly examined the surroundings with Nature's Eyes.
When I extended my vision as deep as possible—
"There's even more!"
The place was packed.
And the quality was quite high too.
"I never imagined I'd find a gold mine like this in Han River Park."
-You are fortunate. Normally, a place like this would have appeared together with a Gate and become a popular destination long ago. Still, be careful. Somewhere like this has a high probability of containing high-ranked monsters.
"Thanks for the warning. So this is why the pickaxe appeared."
An SSS-Rank Item really was something else.
To think it could even anticipate what I would need in the future.
Still, it was too early to celebrate.
I returned to the cave entrance, poked only my head outside, and thoroughly scanned the area.
Things would become troublesome if anyone else discovered a place this valuable.
I waited for a while in case someone happened to pass by.
But there was no one.
Everything remained quiet.
'There's no reason anyone would come all the way here when every path is blocked off.'
It seemed I had nothing to worry about for now.
"Squeak!"
"Yeah, thanks. I'd like to give you something in return."
But I did not really have anything suitable.
All I had were Mana Stones and materials.
It was a rabbit.
Giving it something like that seemed a little strange.
-Waaah. Slurp.
[Fire(EX) asks whether he can eat it.]
"Hey. Of course not."
I was not about to repay kindness with betrayal.
After thinking for a moment, I came up with the best option.
"Give it your Blessing."
Apparently, granting his Blessing to a mere rabbit was beneath the dignity of the King of Fire Spirits.
Fire hesitated.
But when I promised him plenty of Mana Stones, he reluctantly infused the rabbit with his Blessing.
The rabbit hopped around excitedly before eventually disappearing.
At least it seemed happy.
With the Blessing of the King of Fire Spirits, it should be able to live just fine on its own.
Would it come back someday with some treasure in repayment, like a bird returning a favor?
Whatever.
I pushed the pointless thought aside.
"Let's get inside!"
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) cheers you on and tells you to mine plenty!]
[Fire(EX) says he'll cheer for you from inside the Spirit Shelter!]
I tilted my head.
What did he mean, from inside the Spirit Shelter?
"Why am I doing this alone? You're coming with me. We don't know what might be in there."
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) laments that he may have chosen the wrong Contractor!]
"So you're not going to eat anything?"
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says he was joking and takes the lead!]
Why did he complain so much when he was going to do it anyway?
We entered the cave.
Mining could wait.
First, I decided to inspect the surroundings.
Even Nature's Eyes could not reveal the cave's entire interior.
That meant it was considerably large.
And I was right.
The cave's only passage continued straight downward.
Even with Nature's Eyes, I could not find any other path nearby.
I could not see the bottom either.
We had no choice but to keep descending.
Even after going down for quite a while, there was still no end in sight.
"How long have we been descending?"
-It has now been thirty minutes.
"It's been that long?"
It felt like less than ten minutes.
Just how deep was this place?
I had never heard of a material-gathering area extending this far underground.
Even Clone seemed surprised, repeatedly warning me to remain cautious.
After another five minutes of descending, an enormous cavern finally awaited us.
There was nothing particularly unusual about it.
A vast, circular cavern.
Materials visible everywhere.
And no further passages.
"...It's quiet."
There was complete silence too.
-How strange. There should undoubtedly be monsters here.
The entire route down had been covered with Mana Stones and various materials.
If anything, it would have been stranger for there to be no monsters.
My confusion did not last long.
[Annihilate the Giant Earth-Poison Ant Nest.]
[Giant Earth-Poison Ant Nest: 0/1]
-I understand why there were no monsters. This is the nest of C-Rank monsters, Giant Earth-Poison Ants.
"What kind of monsters are those?"
-They possess the habit of luring prey with enticing Mana Stones and materials, then devouring them once they enter the heart of the nest.
"So this place is...?"
-Yes. This is the heart of the Giant Earth-Poison Ant Nest. We have fallen into their trap.
There was no time to ask anything else.
I sensed Giant Earth-Poison Ants approaching from every direction.
They were closing in rapidly.
A few days ago, I probably would have panicked badly.
These were C-Rank monsters.
The strongest monsters I had faced so far had only been D-Rank.
The difference in strength multiplied every time a monster's rank increased.
On top of that, I had walked straight into their trap.
I probably would have frozen in confusion and died.
But Heart of Steel restored my composure.
More importantly, I had merely fallen into a trap.
That did not mean I was actually in danger.
"Fire, control the power carefully. Don't destroy the Mana Stones or materials."
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) raises both hands high and shouts that he understands!]
Just as they arrived—
[Fire(EX)'s possessed skill, 'Hellfire(EX),' activates.]
"KIEEEEEK!"
"KIEEEEEK!"
ROOOOAR!
Hellfire descended.
Because Fire had weakened the attack, more than half survived.
Still, after taking such a powerful blow, they could barely move properly.
I finished those ones off myself.
Merely stepping on them made their bodies CRUNCH apart.
But it was not over yet.
'Four east, six west, five north, five south.'
They kept pouring in without pause.
There were even more behind them, but I had roughly figured out where they were coming from.
Stupidly enough, they were approaching in straight lines.
Meteor normally descended from above.
I had Fire alter its trajectory so that it struck forward instead.
We aimed toward areas with as few Mana Stones and materials as possible.
Meteor.
[Fire(EX)'s possessed skill, 'Meteor(EX),' activates.]
BOOOOM!
[Fire(EX)'s possessed skill, 'Meteor(EX),' activates.]
BOOOOM!
…….
…….
Whenever Fire became tired, I used the Warm Bed to fully restore him.
Then Meteor again!
After repeating that for about thirty minutes, the overwhelming number of presences surrounding us completely disappeared.
Even so, I could not afford to lower my guard.
I remained vigilant until a System message finally confirmed that it was truly over.
[You have annihilated the Giant Earth-Poison Ant Nest!]
[Giant Earth-Poison Ant Nest: 1/1]
[Giant Earth-Poison Ant Carapace × 413 has been awarded!]
[Giant Earth-Poison Ant Fang × 255 has been awarded!]
[Giant Earth-Poison Ant Sturdy Body × 156 has been awarded!]
[Giant Earth-Poison Ant Leader's Antenna × 11 has been awarded!]
[You have successfully overcome the Giant Earth-Poison Ants' trap!]
[You may now acquire all Mana Stones and materials gathered by the Giant Earth-Poison Ants!]
[The Gate will disappear in 48 hours!]
[If you do not leave before it disappears, you will disappear along with it!]
That was the end of the hard part.
"Now the happiness begins!"
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) cheers loudly at the thought of being able to eat all of this!]
Because we had fought while carefully controlling our power, there was almost no damage to the materials.
We also had a generous forty-eight hours.
That meant there was no need to finish everything today.
We could take our time.
I was going to strip this place clean down to the smallest scrap.
Fire had done practically all the fighting, so I did not need to rest.
Time to start immediately!
I pulled out the Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck.
Its abilities did not work only on minerals.
When I swung it down onto a piece of Burning Stonewood—
CRACK!
[Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck's Efficiency activates!]
[Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck's Luck activates at 3×!]
[Burning Stonewood × 3 acquired!]
One piece became three as if by magic!
And although it happened only rarely, sometimes a single strike produced as many as six pieces!
Its efficiency was incredible too.
There was no need to use miniature Meteors.
One swing was enough to effortlessly harvest Burning Stonewood, Mana Stones, or Purification Stones alike.
I never knew mining could be this enjoyable.
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) asks, 'Want me to help?']
What had gotten into him?
Still, there was no need for Fire to help this time.
It would certainly make things easier, but he could not reproduce the Efficiency and Luck effects of this pickaxe.
"It's fine. You worked hard, so go rest comfortably in the Spirit Shelter."
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) asks for some high-ranked Mana Stones too!]
[Fire(EX) asks whether any Spirit Stones appeared!]
His attitude changed in an instant.
I almost smacked him, but he had done well today, so I restrained myself.
"I'll give you a Spirit Stone if I find one."
Come to think of it, he had eaten the last one I had today.
Even a Lowest-Rank Spirit Stone provided such an excellent buff that I should buy more on the way home.
For now, I focused solely on mining.
There was a tremendous amount to gather, but the pickaxe was so good that the work progressed quickly.
Exactly eight hours later—
The cave that had once been packed with Mana Stones and materials was completely empty.
Meanwhile, my Inventory was filled almost to its limit.
I thought I was going to die from exhaustion.
Even with excellent stamina and a great Item, there had simply been too much to harvest.
"I thought becoming Awakened meant I'd get to make other people do the hard work. Somehow, I'm working even harder."
Still, looking at everything I had collected filled me with satisfaction.
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) asks whether any Spirit Stones appeared.]
"Nope."
There had been so much stuff that I had assumed at least one would appear while I was mining.
I had thought there was no way something this abundant could fail to contain even a single Spirit Stone.
'And yet there really wasn't one.'
I had no choice but to stop by Namdaemun and buy some.
It was also time to sell all the monster byproducts I had accumulated.
Fire pouted over the missing Fire Spirit Stones as I led him out of the cave.
The stuffy underground air disappeared, replaced by the fresh air near the Han River filling my lungs.
"Ahhh! I feel alive again!"
After resting briefly, I headed straight for Namdaemun before the shops closed.
I sold all the monster byproducts and bought Spirit Stones.
After everything, I had 37.25 million won left.
If I sold the Mana Stones, I would easily make more than one hundred million won.
But—
'As if.'
My ultimate goal was making money, yet my savings still had not even reached nine digits.
I decided to look on the bright side.
I had gathered a huge amount today.
Once I got home, I was in better condition than yesterday, so I immediately checked my haul.
Burning Stonewood ×702
Purification Stone ×504
Along with all kinds of Mana Stones.
Thanks to the pickaxe, today's harvest had been enormous.
I immediately started crafting.
First, the water purifier.
[Burning Stonewood: (45/45)]
[Purification Stone: (20/20)]
[You have successfully fulfilled the condition!]
[Buff Water Purifier(E+) has been successfully crafted!]
<Buff Water Purifier(E+)>
Description: A water purifier crafted by properly combining Burning Stonewood and Purification Stones! Water produced through perfect purification possesses slight restorative properties, and inserting Mana Stones grants buffs.
I installed it beside the bed.
It looked like an ordinary bottled-water dispenser.
But its effect exceeded my imagination.
When I inserted an F-Rank Mana Stone and Fire drank the water—
[Mana Stone-Infused Water(F+) consumed!]
[Hunger fills 1.05 times faster than usual!]
[Hunger depletion is reduced by 1.05 times compared to normal!]
[Duration: 6 hours!]
Then I added a Spirit Stone on top of that!
[Lowest-Rank Fire Spirit Stone(C-) consumed!]
[Hunger fills 1.2 times faster than usual!]
[Hunger depletion is reduced by 1.3 times compared to normal!]
[Duration: 24 hours!]
The buffs stacked.
Apparently, using a higher-ranked Mana Stone would strengthen the effect even further.
At this rate, reaching 200,000 Hunger by tomorrow should be easy.
There were still more pieces of furniture I could craft and more floor area I could expand.
I decided to examine those slowly tomorrow.
"Let's eat first! What do you want?"
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says he wants the chicken he didn't get to eat!]
"Okay! Chicken it is!"
First, we needed to fill our empty stomachs.