Chapter 25 – Entering the Cave

Rui did not like fragility, be it himself or others. In his eyes, being fragile will only cause him to lose fighting spirit, and it was a sign of weakness. However, the current him was envious of the blacksmith’s daughter, and liked the fragility of the blacksmith. To be able to cause a grown, firm man to cry like that, the blacksmith must have had a very good relationship with his daughter.

Fragility is not something one should be scared of! Everyone has something important to them. Even if it was a very strong person, he will also have his fragile side. Expressing one’s fragility is not shameful. For one’s important person, for their loved ones, even if their soft side was displayed in their eyes, there would be nothing to be ashamed of. At least this proves that, he was not dead, and he still had a “heart.” Compared to those who carry kind smiles and act in the way people would approve of them, yet are extremely heartless existences, people like the blacksmith are far more respectable!

“Uncle, don’t worry. I will fulfill your wish! Definitely!”

Looking at the blacksmith’s dark and tear-stained face, Rui felt his tears were shining with a holy brilliance. During his dark journey, he gripped onto his ‘self’ tightly, and used morals to bind himself to ensure he would stay ‘human,’ and not a cold and heartless demon. However, after killing people for so long, his heart had already began to numb.

People currently live in cities made out of steel. When they go out, they wear a fake mask. When they return home, they act coldly, and trap themselves in a small little house. After not being able to interact with other people for so long, humans will turn lonely, and the heart will turn numb. Every day, they live a static and simple life. Head for work, leave work, return home, and only that. Even if they were affluent spiritually, humans have turned into wanderers, gradually losing their sense of ‘self.’

To be able to move a numbed heart was not easy. The blacksmith’s dedication towards his daughter was able to move the chord in Rui’s heart. At that moment, he accepted it. He accepted the blacksmith’s request seriously. He did not think of it as a quest, nor did he think of the rewards he might obtain from blacksmith. He only wanted to help him. He wanted to help the lonely man who lost both his wife and daughter.

“Thank you, thank you!” The blacksmith could not bring out any other words. After a while, when he calmed himself down, he silently took out a pickaxe from the corner, and said to Rui. “My household has always been working with metals. I don’t have any other talent, nor do I have anything worthwhile. At the very least, take this pickaxe as my token of appreciation!”

Ding!

Congratulations on triggering the Quest – The Blacksmith’s WIsh.

Pre-quest Reward: Mining Techniques, and Pickaxe.

Mining Techniques: Life Skill

Novice Level: 0/10000

Allows user to mine for ores.

Pickaxe

Gold Equipment

Attack

20-35

Lvl Req

1

Durability

30/30

Special Effects

Allows user to mine for ores.

Passive Effect

Deep Mining: Chance of ores being mined increased by 20%. Chance of rare ores being mined increased by 5%.

After glancing through his rewards, Rui did not have that much of a happy feeling.

“Also, this is something that has been passed down in my family. Take some to protect yourself!” The blacksmith pushed some metal rods to Rui.

Metal Chip Bomb: Hidden Weapon

Does 200 damage to all targets within a circular radius of 3 meters.

Hidden weapon?

There was actually such a thing?

Looking at the 5 little metals rod in his hands, Rui was a little surprised. It does damage to an entire area, and 200 damage could instantly kill most of the current players! It was a considerably good item.

“Then uncle, I will be heading off now. Don’t worry, I will definitely find your daughter!”

Keeping the Metal Chip Bombs in his inventory, he looked at the blacksmith with an old and wrinkled face carefully, and resolved himself. He then turned around and left the metal workshop without hesitation.

* * *

Rui headed directly to the entrance of the village, and saw the never-changing village elder standing over there. Rui, with his heartfelt feelings, walked over.

“Are you ready to depart?” When he saw Rui, the Village Elder revealed a smile.

“Village Elder, I will definitely exterminate the demons infesting the mine, so don’t worry. Also, about your son…” He looked at the silent elder who had a sorrowful expression, and took a breath before continuing. “I will definitely find him, along with the blacksmith uncle’s daughter. I will absolutely help you find them.”

“Haha, that old metal fool told you everything, I guess.” The village elder suppressed his grief, and forced a smile. “Then, go at it! However, don’t force yourself too much. For that mine, we have already sacrificed a lot of people. You are still young and have many things to accomplish, so do not throw away your precious life!”

“Don’t worry, VIllage Elder. My life’s like a hard wall. Other than myself, neither men nor monsters can take it.” Rui chuckled, and waved at the Village Elder goodbye.

Ding!

Player Sasha wishes to converse with you.

Would you like to accept?”

“Accept.”

“Sly Hand, we’re ready. Where are you?” Sasha’s fresh voice sounded the same, and it lifted the saddened Rui’s spirit up.

“I’m at the village entrance.” Rui reported his location, and closed the conversation.

Hearing his hoarse voice, Sasha was a little surprised. After that, she could not help but feel a little angry and agitated.

‘What’s wrong with that man? He had disregarded my charm not once or twice, Is he blind? Damn it, there are many other people who wishes to but could not converse with me. Dropping the conversation so quickly, it feels like I’m a thorn on his side.’

“Little Sasha, what’s wrong?”

Looking at the angry Sasha who was gritting her teeth, Yezekael, who was standing beside her, asked. When he heard from Sasha that Sly Hand had a Hidden Quest, and it was probably regarding a hidden map, he was exhilarated.

He wanted to treat that 1 gold as an investment to build a good friendship with Sly Hand. However, only a short while after the investment, he received an unexpected benefit, and his desire to rope Sly Hand in became stronger than before.

To him, during the early phases of the game, levels are what was most important. When one reaches level 10 and arrives at the main city, it was the very first step. To take the first step would mean you had advantage. Rui had currently given them the perfect opportunity to gain levels, so how could he not be excited?

Looking at Sasha’s angry expression, he could not help but worry that an incident might have happened. He immediately rushed over from the Crocodile region, and already wasted precious time for grinding, so he prayed they had not been abandoned by Rui.

“It’s nothing, that guy’s at the village entrance!”

Sasha angrily replied as she walked towards the entrance, and left Yezekael and the rest behind with dazed looks.

“Slow!”

Rui who was waiting at the entrance for quite a while, saw Sasha and the rest strolling over, and could not help but furrow his eyebrows.

Dropping the unnecessary side talk, Rui immediately added them into his party.

“I will say this first: since I’m the party leader, you should all follow my instructions. Also, I have the right to choose the equipment I want first. If you’re not able to comply to this, then say so now.

If a necklace or other equipment were to drop at a critical moment later, don’t blame me if things get a little ugly.”

Glancing over to Yezekael, Sasha, Little Sweet Girl, and a tall and thin Magician named “Eveflame,’ he told them in the party chat straightforwardly.

“Hey, not only do we have to listen to you, we have to let you choose the equipment? Then we don’t have any benefits at all?” After listening to Rui’s words, Sweet Little Girl who standing on one side, could not help but let out her feelings.

“You can choose not to accept.” Rui did not even look at Sweet Little Girl, and faced Yezekael. “I will give you a minute to discuss.”

Looking at Rui who turned to face the other way, Yezekael could only smile bitterly. He looked over to Sasha and Eveflame who were furrowing their brows, held back the enraged Sweet Little Girl, and softly told them about the benefits of their current situation.

“Are you guys done?” Rui narrowed his eyes, judged Yezekael, and asked blandly.

“We will be in your care, bro Sly Hand. For this quest, you will be leading us and you will have the rights to the loot.” With angry stares from the other three, Yezekael said embarrassedly.

“Good. Since we have decided, then let’s be off.” Not bothering with the expression of the other three, Rui nodded and immediately moved out.

According to the Village Elder’s map, Rui’s party had to run for about half an hour before reaching the mysterious mine’s entrance. He surveyed his surroundings, and suddenly realized that he was not far from the place the Gray Wolf King was at. Looking from the entrance of the abandoned mine, he could see the platform the Wolf King was resting on.

He looked at the surroundings. The mine was probably abandoned a long time ago, since weeds and plants had already grown enough to cover the entire entrance. If he did not have the map, he would not have realized there was an entrance there.

Probably because of the demons lurking inside, he had already started to feel a chill even before entering the mine. He looked at the surroundings of the mine and saw some special stones and charms placed around.

Rui furrowed his brows, and was on high alert and went in. He touched the surrounding walls, and found nothing abnormal. It became clear to him that the seal only worked on the demons.

When he realized there was no danger, he signaled to his party who was at the back, and Yezekael and the rest immediately came over.

The passage was dark, and they could not even see their fingers on their outstretched hands. This greatly reduced their sight, and with the chilling air inside, Sasha and Sweet Little Girl could not help but tremble. Most girls are, after all, afraid of the dark and small creatures.

Pa… Pa…

Stepping on the hard rocks and dry wood, the sound of things breaking continued to ring out, and it echoed across the deep mine. Rui and his party could not help but keep silent and vigilant in this weird atmosphere.

“Hey, what is this place? Other than darkness, there’s not even a single ghostly figure appearing!”

After walking a few more steps, the agitated Sweet Little Girl could not help but complain.

“Watch out, we’re here.”

Rui, who was at the front, suddenly shouted, and the 4 people behind him began to tense up. The passage in front had a ghastly atmosphere which caused them to shiver. And when they heard from Rui that they would now have to fight monsters they had no prior information of, they began to tense up even more.

Ignoring the agitated expressions of the people behind, the reason why Rui brought them over was to pay off the debt of 1 gold. Other than that, he thought of nothing more. He pulled out his dagger, crouched his body and slowly advanced. Walking past a corridor, he found an open giant mining area, and also… disgusting demons lurking about!