I completed the pickaxe.
With this, the iron ore piled up inside the forge had also completely run out.
Now, if I failed to mine with this pickaxe, future crafting would become quite difficult.
Therefore, I absolutely had to succeed in mining.
“Let's go!”
I headed to the mine with a much more serious expression.
The left side of the crossroads, the entrance made by stacking stones.
As I stepped inside.
“As expected, it is a mine.”
I could see walls completely blocked by dirt and stone.
As if it were an undeveloped mine, the free space from the entrance to the inside was only about three meters.
The ceiling was also just high enough to swing a pickaxe.
Looking at this, I tightly gripped the pickaxe I had just made.
[ Standard Pickaxe ] Form: Pickaxe Rank: S Restriction: Level 1 or higher Description: A mining pickaxe made using suitable wood and iron ingots. Attack Power: 27 Abilities: Mining Lv 1, Vigor Lv 1
An S-rank pickaxe.
It had a Mining skill attached to it, as well as Vigor, which increased stamina.
Even though I had never swung a pickaxe once in my life, I trusted the item I made.
However, I wondered where I was supposed to hit with it.
-If you use the Mining skill, you can locate 'Points'.
“Points?”
The moment I used the Mining skill as Ember had instructed.
“Oh, I see them!”
I was able to discover the points Ember mentioned.
It was because I could see a dim light flowing from various places on the walls inside the mine.
Without hesitation.
THWACK!
I struck the pickaxe down toward a point.
However.
“Huh?”
The pickaxe sank right in.
Remembering how I had to chop the trees dozens of times during logging, I had anticipated a difficult mining process.
The solid wall caved in as easily as tofu.
After I swung the pickaxe a few more times like that.
ROLL.
[ Lowest-grade Iron Ore ]
“……Really? This is it?”
An iron ore rolled down from the dug-out wall.
When I picked it up, it was indeed a proper piece of iron ore.
It was so much easier than I had thought that it almost felt anticlimactic.
Perhaps, this was the exact power of an S-rank pickaxe.
It was certain that if I returned for logging with a newly made S-rank axe, the trees would be chopped down just as effortlessly.
“This works out perfectly for me!”
Excited, I swung the pickaxe even faster.
Every time I did, the walls were effortlessly carved away.
Every time I did, iron ores tumbled down.
Since the money I earned each time I made an item with that iron ore amounted to several hundred thousand won.
It felt as though hundreds of thousands of won were rolling in every time a piece of iron ore rolled down.
“Hiyah!”
ROLL.
Naturally, I could not help but be excited.
Thanks to the Vigor ability attached to the pickaxe, energy returned to me, and I was able to swing the pickaxe to my heart's content.
The mine passageway, which had only been about three meters long, had instantly expanded to roughly twice its size.
Thanks to that, I was able to mine dozens of iron ores in an instant.
The problem was.
GRUMBLE.
“What the, why am I so hungry?”
It was my stomach violently growling.
I mean, it had not even been that long since I ate the braised pork hock set.
To think I was already hungry.
I had heard that when someone became an Awakened, their calorie consumption increased, causing their appetite to increase as well.
It seemed that was not just an empty saying.
Still, I wondered if this was actually normal.
“Should I stop here for now?”
Even putting my hunger aside, my body was already completely drained of strength.
It was only thanks to the 'Vigor' attached to the pickaxe that I was able to swing it this much.
If it were not for that, I would not have even been able to do this.
Still, looking at the dozens of iron ores piled up next to me.
“Hehehe.”
A smile naturally formed on my face.
“Now, shall I start crafting right away again!”
It was time for exciting crafting once more.
No, unfortunately, before that.
GRUUMBLE.
I needed to eat something before starting.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!
My hammer swung without rest.
[ Crafting is complete. ] [ Crafting Evaluation: A ] [ You have obtained the 'Standard Dagger'. ]
Items were created every time I did so.
No matter how much I did it, I never got tired of this crafting process.
Then again, that must have been why I was able to take the number one Blacksmith spot in Final Gate.
Doing this made it feel like I had returned to my roots.
It also felt like I was playing Final Gate again.
I could not stop hammering even if I tried to.
Of course, the most exciting thing was, as expected.
[ The 'Standard Dagger' has been sold. ] [ The 'Standard Short Spear' has been sold. ] …….
“Hehehe.”
It was the sales notification sound coming from the Exchange.
Seven hundred thousand won each.
It was the fair market price I figured out while listing the Standard series on the Exchange.
Of course, it was fine to sell them for more than this, but then it took quite a bit of time to make a sale.
Since they could be whipped up with just a few hammer strikes anyway, I was listing the Standard series for seven hundred thousand won with the intention of making and selling them quickly.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!
Perhaps because my concentration had dropped, they did not come out often, but whenever S-rank equipment was made, I could sell it for even more.
As I was frantically swinging the hammer like that.
“Are the iron ingots already gone?”
All the iron ore I had mined from the mine had run out.
It felt like a waste to stop here, so I stood up from my seat.
Right after, I tried to pick up the pickaxe leaning against the wall and head to the mine.
“Urgh?”
The pickaxe would not stay in my grip.
It was because I could not put any strength into my palms.
When I raised my hands, I saw that they were trembling uncontrollably, regardless of my will.
My forearms were the same.
Come to think of it, all the strength had drained from my entire body to the point where it was difficult to even stand.
-You have overexerted yourself.
-Rest is recommended.
Crafting in reality was so much fun that I seemed to have focused entirely on it, forgetting my physical exhaustion.
As Ember had said, it was impossible to be any more active in this state.
Since the night was also late, I decided to rest for now.
“Wow, what a long day.”
The effect of the 'Forge of Time' was truly amazing.
By my perception, it felt as though I had swung the hammer until the early hours of the morning.
But when I actually came out, it had only just turned ten o'clock.
Satisfied with the fact that I had created that many items.
FLOP.
As soon as I lay on the bed.
“Zzz……”
I fell into a sweet, deep sleep.
Normally, I tended to fall asleep at least an hour or two after lying in bed because I would look at my phone.
I did not know how long it had been since I had slept so wonderfully.
“Wow, I really slept well.”
When I woke up, the sun was already up.
Although I did not have insomnia, there had not been many days when I felt refreshed upon waking up.
I had no idea that a deep sleep after hard labor would be this refreshing.
“Now, shall I energetically make some items today as well!”
If anyone saw me, it sounded like, "Now, shall I energetically go to work today!"—a line that made one wonder what kind of nonsense I was spouting.
But I was entirely sincere.
Crafting was incredibly fun.
I was confident that I could happily swing the hammer even if I were told to repeatedly make the same item all day today.
The moment I thought that and raised my body.
“Aaargh!”
A terrible pain surged through my entire body.
It felt as though hundreds of needles were piercing my whole body.
No, it felt as though someone grabbed my body from both sides and was wringing it out like a rag.
No, it felt as though my entire body was burning up.
“This is crazy, what is this?!”
I gave up on getting up.
Before I knew it, I lay back down on the bed.
Even so, the pain that had flared up did not stop.
Still, once I lay on the bed and calmed down, I quickly realized the true identity of this pain.
“This is muscle pain?”
It was an extreme muscle pain that I had never felt once in my entire life.
In particular, it felt as though my arms, shoulders, and neck were twisting even at this very moment.
It was probably because of the hammer I had swung without resting.
I felt like I had heard that I needed to calmly stretch during times like this, but the moment I tried to carefully move my neck.
“Gaaaaaagh!!”
An even worse pain shot through me.
This would not do.
Forget about stretching, I could not even move.
“Do I have to sleep more?”
I would eventually recover if I rested.
However, how long would I have to rest to cure such a terrible muscle ache?
They say to strike while the iron is hot. I needed to craft items right away and list them on the Exchange!
“Ah, the Exchange!”
A good idea came to mind.
I immediately opened the Awakened Exchange.
The Exchange could be operated by hand, but it could also be operated through speech.
“Potion! Muscle pain potion!”
I urgently searched for the item I needed.
There was no such thing as a muscle pain potion, but fortunately, the Exchange selected the items I wanted based on its algorithm.
[ Phoenix's Regeneration Feather ] [ Troll Blood Potion ] [ Blood Demon's Serum ] …….
The problem was the price.
The Phoenix's Regeneration Feather, which appeared first, had a price tag exceeding one billion won even at a glance.
The potions below it were a bit cheaper, but they were still ridiculously expensive by my standards.
I changed the filter to lowest price order, but things like 'Soft Slime's Thick Liquid' did not seem reliable at all.
Even if I went just a little higher, the prices jumped up ridiculously.
But I knew my own condition very well.
'This is not an ordinary muscle ache!'
An extreme muscle pain that I had never experienced once in my life.
Because I felt anxious that my muscles might actually rupture if I left it like this.
'Still, the money I made yesterday alone exceeds ten million won!'
Since I was going to buy one, I decided to purchase a proper potion to drink.
[ You have purchased the Orc Warrior's Elixir. ]
As soon as I purchased the item, a green potion was placed in my palm.
Even though it looked like this, it was a potion worth a whopping one million won.
One million won for just a single bottle of potion.
It was something unimaginable for me, but this was also an investment.
After all, I was an Awakened who earned ten million won a day.
If I remained collapsed like this for a few days, I would be missing out on all that profit.
Well, thinking about it like that, one million won also seemed cheap.
Anyway.
“Uuuugh.”
Enduring the pain of my arms twisting, I struggled to bring the Orc Warrior's Elixir to my mouth and drank it.
What kind of taste would a one million won elixir have?
Drinking the elixir with that thought in mind.
“Blergh.”
Did they not say that good medicine tastes bitter?
If so, just how bitter would an even more expensive potion be?
It was a taste so despair-inducing that it made me have such thoughts.
But perhaps because it was a one million won elixir in name at least.
“Ugh, this is a bit better……”
The muscle pain slowly began to subside.
My twisted muscles relaxed, and my deeply heated muscles cooled down.
Then again, it was said to be the elixir drunk by those muscular Orc Warriors, so it had to be at least this effective.
Let me say it again, it was a whopping one million won elixir after all.
“Still, is it not fully healed yet?”
Fearing that the ridiculous muscle pain might strike again, I stood up from my spot as carefully as possible.
Fortunately, there was no muscle pain, but it felt as though the traces of the muscle ache remained in my body.
If there was any good news amidst all this.
[ Through extreme hammering, your Strength has increased by 1. ] [ Through extreme hammering, your Vitality has increased by 1. ]
It was exactly this.
Generally, the method for an Awakened to raise their stats was through 'Leveling Up'.
Raising one's level generated something called bonus points, which could then be invested into desired stats.
There were various other methods besides that, but the most representative one was.
'Training.'
It was training.
It was said that undergoing extreme training would slightly raise one's stats.
However, even knowing this, there were not many Awakened who actually tried to raise their stats through training.
The probability of stats increasing through training was extremely low, and even if they did go up, it would only be by one or two stat points at most.
Since such stats had gone up unintentionally.
It could definitely be called good news.
However.
“I cannot continue like this.”
Even if my stats increased, I could not fall into this kind of muscle pain every single day.
The muscle pain would get worse every day, and what if I had to buy and drink an elixir every time?
Worse, what if I developed a tolerance to the elixir and had to buy even more expensive potions?
This would not do.
This was not the way.
I needed some sort of countermeasure.
While thinking that.
GRUMBLE.
“……Should I eat first?”
I urgently searched for a food delivery app.