Chapter 115

Mining (2)

There was a saying:

Try digging in the ground all day and see if you find even a single ten-won coin.

It meant that instead of dreaming about making money through pointless schemes, you should find yourself a proper job.

In reality, however, you could uncover all sorts of things by digging, and the greatest prize of all was oil.

The moment you struck oil, becoming rich was only a matter of time.

└ Passing Dwarf: Yeah. I think that really is mithril.

└ Wild Grylls: ?

But I didn’t need money.

I needed something immediately useful more than I needed wealth.

Even if oil had erupted from the ground, I was in a situation where a single lump of steel would have been more valuable.

Naturally, I couldn’t help feeling bewildered by the sudden appearance of mithril, which was said to be even rarer than steel.

’You find something bizarre every time you dig into the ground in this damn forest, don’t you?’

I had no idea how this place was structured.

As if having an orichalcum cave nearby weren’t enough, now mithril had appeared when I dug into the ground.

Of course, I needed to verify rigorously whether this truly was mithril.

Moreover, all kinds of theories had begun flying around the Gallery, so I needed to be cautious.

└ You’re just going to run off and get drunk again after saying that, lol.

└ Passing Dwarf: You caught me, lol.

└ What do you mean, "caught me," you dwarven bastard? Lmao.

└ A race that drinks whenever they get a break, lol.

└ That’s mithril? Isn’t it too bright for mithril?

└ It isn’t even mixed with rock. It looks like a solid mass of pure mithril.

└ The entire orichalcum cave was made of orichalcum, so it isn’t impossible.

└ Be precise. It would be impossible anywhere outside the Forest of Four Seasons.

└ Ah, I think I understand. Just as all the animals grew larger, the minerals must have grown too! That’s why it looks like that even before being refined!

└ That sounds pretty convincing. Then why are the gorillas normal-sized?

└ Dunno.

└ Passing Dwarf: Whatever. Break off a small piece and send it to me. I’ll examine it for you.

One comment among the countless replies caught my attention.

Was this truly mithril in its natural, unrefined state?

Not only mithril, but most minerals were found mixed with rock.

Pure substances were obtained by placing the ore inside a furnace and processing it through a method known as smelting.

What I had discovered, however, appeared to be a pure material that required no smelting whatsoever. That was why it was difficult to believe.

There were exceptions, such as diamonds, but mithril was not normally one of them.

’Everyone seems willing to accept it because I’ve already discovered an orichalcum cave, though.’

Orichalcum was originally a mineral as well. Nevertheless, I had discovered a cave made entirely of orichalcum.

There was no reason mithril couldn’t be the same.

The only problem was that this one happened to be beneath my home.

Either way, I needed to give at least a small piece to the dwarf.

I stared at the green-glowing mithril.

’A guardian isn’t suddenly going to rise out of the ground, is it?’

If that happened, the entire cave—including the floor—would collapse.

My heart would collapse along with it.

Unlike the orichalcum cave, however, there wasn’t any empty space beneath this ore.

Moreover, there was an even greater problem.

’Why won’t this damn thing break?’

Mining it was incredibly difficult.

No matter how many times I struck it with the pickaxe, I couldn’t leave even a single scratch.

If I remembered correctly, mithril was supposed to possess strength similar to steel while being far lighter.

It might have been different if it were mixed with ordinary rock, but most mithril was notoriously difficult to mine.

Clang! Clang! Clank!

Still, what else could I do?

I had no choice but to keep mining.

They said no tree could withstand ten swings of an axe, and mithril should be no different.

More importantly, I had aura.

I continued mining while infusing the pickaxe with aura.

Clang! Scrape!

After some time, I finally managed to extract a tiny piece of mithril.

I had been mining for so long that sweat streamed down my body.

’I only extracted a little, but the pickaxe is already almost completely blunt.’

Even though I had used aura, I couldn’t prevent the pickaxe from being damaged.

Aura might enhance a tool’s performance, but it wasn’t omnipotent.

Using aura didn’t increase the durability of the weapon itself.

The Heavenly Demon’s sword was sturdy only because it had been forged from something called Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.

I examined the thumb-sized piece of green ore before accessing the Gallery.

If possible, I also wanted to get a high-quality pickaxe from the dwarf.

[Wild Grylls: I managed to mine this, so please examine it for me.]

[Passing Dwarf: Okay.]

[Wild Grylls: If you say you’re going drinking again, I’m never giving you anything else.]

[Passing Dwarf: That’s too harsh;; Fine, I understand. It’s easy to examine, so I’ll let you know soon.]

Since the dwarf said he would post his findings, I inspected the remaining mithril ore.

I wasn’t sure whether I should even call it ore, but for now, that was what I would call it.

Unlike orichalcum, mithril could be fashioned into weapons and all kinds of equipment.

It would undoubtedly be of immense help to me.

Before that, however, there was something I needed to do.

’I should give some to the Heavenly Demon and PraiseTheSun.’

If this truly was mithril, there were two people I wanted to repay immediately.

The Heavenly Demon had given me an absurdly overpowered weapon, while PraiseTheSun had continuously provided me with shields.

I had believed that even a fully mature Mandrake wouldn’t be enough to repay their kindness.

’And I broke the shield PraiseTheSun gave me.’

Like orichalcum, mithril was a mineral that was difficult to obtain even with money.

Wouldn’t PraiseTheSun, who loved rare things, be delighted to receive it?

’First, I should determine how far this deposit extends.’

If the entire cave floor was made of mithril, that would create its own set of problems.

I couldn’t simply leave the mithril untouched, but I couldn’t destroy the entire cave floor either.

After considering the matter, I decided to proceed with my original plan.

I still needed a hidden storage space, so I could simply continue digging in the same spot.

’Even this much is enormous.’

I wasn’t asking for an entire suit of armor.

I only needed some spare tools.

I vigorously swung the pickaxe to create the storage space.

’Damn it. Should I just ask him to make me a mithril pickaxe?’

After five minutes of mining, I was already sick of it.

I wiped away the sweat and accessed the Gallery.

The dwarf should have finished examining it by now.

[Passing Dwarf: Hey.]

[Passing Dwarf: Hey, hey! Read this quickly. It’s urgent.]

[Passing Dwarf: You’re always gone at times like this, damn it. This is really fucking urgent, so hurry up and read this.]

The moment I entered the Gallery, I saw the dwarf’s messages, which sounded rather urgent.

They had arrived only a minute ago.

I stared at them in confusion.

’Is it a different mineral rather than mithril?’

This was the same dwarf who had drunkenly responded far too late with, "Yeah, that’s orichalcum."

It was strange for someone like him to send messages in such a frantic manner.

[Wild Grylls: Yeah;; Why are you in such a hurry?]

[Passing Dwarf: This really is mithril. But it’s completely different from what I expected.]

[Wild Grylls: What’s different about it?]

[Passing Dwarf: It’s practically a solid mass of pure mithril that barely needs any refining;;]

A solid mass?

I tilted my head when I read that. Wasn’t that a good thing?

[Wild Grylls: What’s wrong? Is it not mithril? Or are you upset because you can’t go drinking?]

[Passing Dwarf: I’m being serious, so stop making jokes about alcohol.]

[Wild Grylls: Isn’t this good? It means we can skip all the annoying steps.]

[Passing Dwarf: Do you have absolutely no idea what you’ve discovered?]

[Wild Grylls: Nope. No idea whatsoever. Isn’t it just something good?]

[Passing Dwarf: Good grief. Fuck, is your head an anvil or did someone smash it with a hammer?;;]

[Wild Grylls: Stop insulting me and explain. I came from another world, so I don’t know any of this.]

[Passing Dwarf: Fine. I’ll explain it while assuming your head really is an anvil.]

Passing Dwarf’s explanation went as follows.

Minerals were ordinarily found inside rock, and their purity could be increased through the refining process.

The same applied to mithril.

Moreover, mithril occurred less frequently and in smaller quantities than other ores, so its higher value was unavoidable.

Even if what I had discovered had been ordinary mithril ore, the sheer size of the deposit would already have been absurd.

[Wild Grylls: Are you worried you’ll get caught browsing the Gallery?]

[Passing Dwarf: That’s a separate issue. This is going to make my real life a huuuuge pain in the ass.]

If he needed permission from his superiors, mithril must ordinarily require a fairly complicated refining process.

Well, it was supposed to be a rare mineral, so that much made sense.

Fortunately, mine was a solid mass of mithril, so simply melting it would be enough.

[Passing Dwarf: The so-called mithril weapons out there are actually all alloys. There isn’t a single tool in the world made entirely from pure mithril. Not even the wealthiest people in Setan could do something like that.]

[Wild Grylls: Oh. But you’re saying I can?]

[Passing Dwarf: Yeah. If it had been ordinary ore, I was going to send it back.]

[Wild Grylls: Huh? Why? Didn’t you say you were a dwarf?]

[Passing Dwarf: I am a dwarf, but ordinary mithril has to undergo a special refining process. The furnace required for it can only be used with permission from the higher-ups.]

[Passing Dwarf: How did you mine this? More importantly, are you sure you actually mined it? Considering mithril’s hardness, I could only understand this if you said you found a loose piece lying around.]

[Wild Grylls: What are you talking about? It was hard, but it broke apart like stone.]

[Passing Dwarf: What are you talking about? The piece you gave me is a solid mass. Solid mithril. It’s basically a lump of metal.]

What was this guy talking about now?

I furrowed my brow.

The mithril vein was certainly hard, but based on my experience, it definitely wasn’t as tough as metal.

If it had been, I wouldn’t have been able to mine it with a pickaxe at all.

It was rock that could be broken with enough effort.

That was the mithril I was currently mining.

[Wild Grylls: That’s strange. I mined it just like ordinary stone. Isn’t that normal?]

[Passing Dwarf: Don’t talk nonsense. You’d have trouble cutting it even with a saw, so how could you possibly—;;]

[Wild Grylls: No, I’m serious;; I’ll record a video and show you. Before that, give me a pickaxe.]

[Passing Dwarf: I have no idea what kind of nonsense you’re spouting, but fine. I’ll give you one. I made it as a spare for myself, so it should be good.]

[Wild Grylls: Oh, and make me a mithril pickaxe. Digging this stuff is difficult.]

[Passing Dwarf: Holy shit, lol. The first pure-mithril tool in the world is going to be a pickaxe? Lmao.]

[Wild Grylls: I’m serious. It’ll make mining easier, won’t it?]

[Passing Dwarf: It would make things slightly easier, but the difference wouldn’t be dramatic;;]

Reality really was different from a game.

In games, tools made from the same material made mining that material far easier.

Still, I had an abundance of mithril, so there was no harm in owning one mithril pickaxe.

Even if the visible deposit was all there was, it wouldn’t be a problem. A pickaxe could be used anywhere.

’Will this help me mine it more easily?’

I examined the pickaxe I had received from the dwarf.

At a glance, it looked like an ordinary pickaxe.

However, its handle was slightly short. It had probably been made according to dwarven proportions.

Clang! Clank!

Even so, it performed far better than my previous pickaxe.

It had a satisfying weight and excellent durability. Thanks to it, I managed to mine a considerable amount of mithril.

Eventually, I turned a fist-sized chunk of mithril over in my hands and frowned in confusion.

’This is strange. It definitely feels more like stone.’

Not only was its texture stone-like, but it also lacked the distinctive solidity of metal.

I tilted my head before sending the mithril to the dwarf.

[Wild Grylls: (Video of me mining mithril) Look. It breaks apart like stone.]

[Passing Dwarf: That should be impossible. What the hell is going on? The piece you gave me is a lump of metal;;]

[Wild Grylls: You’re actually good at this, right?]

[Passing Dwarf: Hey, no matter what, don’t insult my pride like that. I might not look it, but I’m a master metallurgist.]

[Wild Grylls: Sorry. I apologize. Anyway, I showed you the evidence.]

[Passing Dwarf: Fuck, lol. I feel like everything I know is falling apart. Don’t you sense anything strange about it?]

I was just about to answer, Not at all.

Slide—

A fragment of mithril lying on the ground moved slightly.

’...What?’

For a moment, I thought my eyes had deceived me.

But then an astonishing scene unfolded, immediately proving otherwise.

Slide—scrape—

The mithril fragments scattered around during the mining process began moving little by little.

Where were they going?

Toward the mithril vein, which continued to shine brilliantly.

I left the Gallery window open and stared blankly at the sight.

Tap—

Before long, the fragments merged with the mithril vein.

They became one again as though they had never broken away.

I witnessed the entire process clearly with my own two eyes.

It looked almost as though the vein were forcibly gathering up pieces of its severed flesh.

’...No way.’

Half doubtful, I placed my hand upon the mithril vein.

There was something I needed to test.

The first rule of auctions and private trades: living creatures could not be traded.

The second rule: to trade an object, every side of that object had to be visible.

There was no need to concern myself with the rules after that. They weren’t particularly important.

The reason I specifically recalled the first and second rules was simple.

’You have to pass the first rule before the second rule is applied.’

That was how the system’s algorithm worked.

If something failed to pass the first rule, trading it was impossible from the outset.

If it weren’t, I wouldn’t still be trapped here. The first rule couldn’t be circumvented through tricks.

In other words—

[Living creatures cannot be traded.]

This proved that the mithril vein was alive like a living creature.

In this insane forest, even the minerals were alive and breathing.