Once she had everything prepared, she took a deep breath, picked up a mine lantern, and casually chose a tunnel before disappearing inside.
The light suddenly grew even dimmer.
For someone as small and slender as Chang Jiu, the mine tunnels were spacious enough. Every so often, she passed a mining lantern that had yet to go out, but most of them were nearly out of oil. Their faint glow was barely enough to illuminate anything.
With no one else around, the tunnels were frighteningly quiet. The only sound was the soft patter of groundwater dripping from somewhere underground.
To make matters worse, every tunnel had several branching paths leading to different mine shafts. Some even contained dangerous hidden pits that had partially collapsed. One wrong turn was enough to lose one’s sense of direction and end up in serious trouble.
For the miners who had personally dug these passages, remembering the differences between them was hardly difficult.
But for someone entering this place for the first time, it was easy to become completely lost after walking only a few hundred meters.
Chang Jiu stopped and scooped up some of the groundwater that had collected on the ground. She carefully washed her face.
The calico cat, which she had secretly summoned again, pawed at the water. It halfheartedly washed its paws twice before jumping back onto her shoulder and settling down.
The cold water splashed against Chang Jiu’s face, clearing her mind considerably.
That game had been the first true full-dive virtual reality game in the world. Every tester selected for it had been a top-tier player from one of the major games of the past—or even a game developer themselves.
The closed beta had actually been more than just a test.
It had been a competition among the best players in the world.
To uncover the full potential and playability of every class, the developers had assigned more than a hundred testers to each one.
And Chang Jiu, using the ID [Summoner09] and playing the most ordinary Summoner class, had fought her way through two hundred testers who had unlocked hidden classes.
During the twelve-month closed beta, she had held the top spot on the combat rankings for eleven of those months!
It wasn’t because she possessed incredible gaming skills.
She had relied on only one principle—
“Play it safe.”
Especially during the weak beginner phase, when she couldn’t beat anyone, the most important thing was to stay alive and quietly build up her strength.
That was why Chang Jiu didn’t rush deeper into the mine.
Instead, she cautiously consulted the game system first.
“If I die, can I revive?”
【What did you say? I didn’t hear you clearly.】
“I said, if I die, can you revive me? Or send me back to my original world?”
【What did you say? I didn’t hear you clearly.】
Chang Jiu: “?”
When it came to pretending not to hear, the System really was unbeatable.
“What about it, then?”
【If a pet dies, it will be recalled to the summoning space. Fifty percent of its current-level experience will be lost, and it cannot be summoned again until twenty-four hours later.】
Chang Jiu turned her head and stared at the Lv. 0 above the calico cat’s head. After thinking for a moment, she murmured,
“Since it has no experience to lose, that means it won’t lose anything.”
Cat: “…”
She patted the cat on the head encouragingly.
“Go on, Kitty! You’ll lead the charge. Go scout ahead!”
The little cat’s eyes slowly widened. It pointed at itself with one paw.
“Meow?”
Chang Jiu was completely unapologetic about being afraid of death.
“If it’s not you, then who else could it be?”
“…”
First, she reasoned with it.
“You’ll only lose zero experience. I’ll lose an entire life!”
“…”
Then she gave it one final reminder.
“Remember, if you run into danger, die as quickly as possible and come back to report. That way, I can make my escape.”
“…”
Chang Jiu was certain that her calico cat had just rolled its eyes at her.
The little cat resigned itself to its fate. It leaped down from Chang Jiu’s shoulder, its fluffy tail held high as it swayed twice before it slipped into one of the mine tunnels.
Chang Jiu lifted her lantern and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small handful of charcoal dust.
She had collected it beside the fire pit earlier. At first glance, the ordinary ash looked no different from the mine dust, but upon closer inspection, traces of silvery-white evil-warding powder could still be seen mixed within it.
Chang Jiu followed behind the calico cat, and every time they entered a new branch of the mine, she smeared a handful of charcoal dust around the entrance.
The deeper they went, the quieter it became.
Suddenly, the calico cat stopped in its tracks up ahead.
“Meow!”
It turned around and gestured for Chang Jiu to come over.
Chang Jiu held her breath and carefully made her way toward it. But when she saw the corpse lying there, its face blackened and limbs stiff just like the bodies from before, her expression immediately turned grim.
The corpse had been dead for at least 2 days. The sight and smell were both overwhelming.
Fortunately, Chang Jiu had seen plenty of highly realistic mountains of corpses and seas of blood while playing full-dive games. Her mental fortitude was far stronger than most people’s, so she wasn’t particularly frightened.
“This miner was killed by a soul beast.”
Chang Jiu crouched down and carefully examined the body.
Its condition was similar to the corpses that had been carried out the previous night, except its limbs were even more rigid. Judging by the state of the body, the miner probably hadn’t even managed to escape the mine before his soul was completely destroyed.
Chang Jiu silently bowed to the corpse.
Sorry for intruding.
Then, without wasting any time, she pulled a strip of cloth from the corpse’s clothing.
She had paid close attention before entering the mine. Whether they were miners or guards, their clothes and boots were all different, but they all wore the same type of belt around their waists.
And they would often unconsciously reach out and touch those belts.
When people found themselves in danger, the thing they worried about most was usually the thing they valued most.
Sure enough.
Once Chang Jiu got her hands on the strip of cloth, she waved at the calico cat.
The little cat lightly leaped over.
“Hold this.”
Chang Jiu stuffed the mine lantern into its mouth.
The cat let out a low, muffled purr. Whether it was willing or not, it ultimately obediently held the lantern and came over to help illuminate the area.
Chang Jiu carefully unraveled the belt.
Inside, she found a layer of silvery-white evil-warding powder wrapped up securely.
“As expected, this is good stuff.”
Without hesitation, Chang Jiu lifted her clothes, wrapped the belt around her own waist, and covered it with her tattered outer garment.
The evil-warding powder might not be enough to drive away that terrifying fifth-grade soul beast, but it should still be useful against the first-grade soul beasts that frequently appeared in the mine.
After finishing that, she was just about to search the corpse for anything else useful when she suddenly felt something tugging at her pant leg.
She looked down.
The calico cat was sitting there elegantly, except one side of its round cheeks was slightly puffed out.
Upon closer inspection, something was glowing inside its mouth.
“Mm!”
The little cat looked up at Chang Jiu and let out a muffled meow before rubbing its head against her hand.
Chang Jiu froze for a moment.
When a smooth white stone appeared in her palm, her eyes widened in surprise.
“Huh? A soul stone?”
“Meow!”
The little cat stared at the soul stone with obvious reluctance.
Even though it had given the stone to Chang Jiu, it couldn’t resist sneaking another lick.
“Wait. You want to eat it?”
“Meow!”
Chang Jiu hesitated for a moment before handing the soul stone back.
“If you’re sure this thing won’t make you constipated, then go ahead and eat it.”
She still wasn’t entirely sure whether a summon could actually eat things from the Soul Realm.
The moment she finished speaking, the calico cat opened its mouth and swallowed the soul stone without the slightest hesitation.
Chang Jiu didn’t even see it chew.
The soul stone simply vanished before her eyes.
The next moment, a pleasant system notification rang out—
【Ding!】
【Calico Cat Experience +1!】
【Player Experience +1!】