Chapter 10: Mining Veins and Crushing Egos
The hunters of White Tiger Guild cautiously approached the Demon Flowers.
The seemingly idle plants were waiting for humans to get close, but White Tiger had dealt with Demon Flowers before.
“Fire.”
Baek Harang gave a subtle nod to the hunters wielding guns.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In Terra Chronicles, gunslingers—known as “magic shooters”—riddled the Demon Flowers, which were pretending to be harmless plants, with magic bullets.
“Kreeeee!”
“Kiaaaak!”
The Demon Flowers screamed as they were hit by the magic bullets, lunging belatedly at the hunters. But how could they stand a chance against gunslingers firing from a distance?
It got even worse when melee fighters joined in.
Warriors, likely from the hunter class, effortlessly sliced through the flowers’ buds.
“These things always underestimate humans.”
Whoosh!
The Demon Flowers were subdued in an instant, leaving behind small seeds as they perished.
It was almost too easy.
They were just trap-level monsters, so it made sense. Still, I couldn’t help but want to see someone get caught by one—maybe rescued just before being digested. Not that I’m a psychopath or enjoy that kind of thing.
Speaking of which, this was my first time in a dungeon, and my heart was pounding like it did before my first school trip as a kid.
In other words, I wanted to collect materials dropped by monsters with my own hands.
“You’re not picking those up?”
“Nah, they’re not worth anything. No need to bother. You don’t have to carry them either.”
Guild Master Baek Harang shook her head.
Not picking them up?
Sure, they’re not valuable, but I can’t just leave them.
When you clear a dungeon, most monster drops are junk materials that just clog your inventory unless you get a rare regression item.
In Terra Chronicles’ stingy inventory system, players often ditch worthless materials.
But I couldn’t stand it.
Maybe it’s a form of OCD or some compulsion to pick up anything lying around—I don’t know.
Either way, I couldn’t resist grabbing whatever I saw.
I had to collect every piece of junk in the dungeon.
Naturally, that included the “Demon Seeds” dropped by the Demon Flowers.
Even though it’s someone else’s dungeon, I don’t have any Demon Seeds in my inventory right now. Before I quit the game, I gave all of them to NPCs as gifts for rapport.
“Uh… um, this is a bit…”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“A gift’s a gift, but this…”
The NPCs’ reactions were varied. Maybe they responded differently to each gift.
Those were the Demon Seeds.
Dropped by Demon Flowers, they’re utterly useless at first glance. The auction house is flooded with thousands of them.
They’re truly worthless.
No use anywhere. There’s not even a recipe to use them as food ingredients.
In reality, you could force them into a dish, but it’s not like they’d make it tastier or more nutritious.
If they were good, there’d be a recipe by now.
Still, I had to pick them up!
That urge wouldn’t go away, so I decided to grab them.
“Can I take them, then?”
“Sure, but why would you?”
“It bothers me to leave materials lying around.”
“Oh, some people are like that. They feel uneasy leaving stuff behind or think they’ll miss out on good drops later.”
Some players waste time picking up junk during party play, often getting chewed out for it.
But being in that position myself, I found Baek Harang’s understanding likable.
“That’s exactly it.”
“Alright, if that’s the case, you can take anything the guild isn’t farming.”
That’s a win for me. The guild doesn’t have to deal with annoying junk drops, and I get to collect them.
“Thank you.”
I quickly scooped up the Demon Seeds.
They might come in handy someday. I even had an idea for an experiment to try when I get home.
As the guild members took down more Demon Flowers, I spotted a vein.
A massive vein of stones that’d pour out like crazy if mined.
It’d yield way more than what I got from borrowing Black Mountain Guild’s dungeon.
“Of course a place like this would have one.”
So, I kept my distance from the group and started digging into the vein.
Some guild members gave me odd looks, but they soon moved forward under Baek Harang’s orders.
A few hunters even offered to help with a smile, but I politely declined.
Not that I was completely alone—Whip Girl, Baek Jangmi, was watching me swing my pickaxe from behind.
Clang! Clang!
I heard her scoffing from behind.
What’s so funny? A woman clinging to a wall, mining with a pickaxe, looks ridiculous to her?
Or does she think now’s a good time to mock me after I cut her whip in half and embarrassed her in front of the guild master? She smirked and approached me.
“What are you doing? I mean, what are you doing?”
Why the sudden switch from informal to polite speech?
“Digging into the wall.”
Isn’t it obvious? Can’t she see I’m mining a vein with a pickaxe? She’d get less flak if she just went on her way. But this nosy queen bee clearly wants to mess with me.
She let out an exasperated breath at my response.
“I mean, why are you digging? Not like you’re mining stones. Can’t hunt, so you’re trying to make money like this?”
“Yup.”
Her subtle mockery got a simple reply from me. She didn’t care and just kept glaring.
What’s she gonna do, staring like that?
“Talk sense. You think it’s that easy?”
Sure, she’s right—normally, it wouldn’t be.
As Baek Jangmi said, if you’re ignoring hunting to mess around mining stones in a dungeon, you’d be seen as a nuisance. I’m only getting away with it because I got the guild’s permission and I’m a pack mule, not a hunter. If I were a White Tiger hunter, I’d probably be getting an earful right now.
That’s what crossed my mind.
Ignoring her, I kept digging. The more I felt her looking down on me, the harder I swung—thwack, thwack, thwack.
“Hey, you ignoring me?”
I’m not kind or gullible enough to respond to every jab from someone picking a fight. So, I decided to show her proof.
While swinging my pickaxe, I subtly but menacingly dug in, as if to say, “Mess with me, and you’re done.” Finally, I struck the vein’s core.
Crash!
Unlike regular veins, magic stone veins yield easily when hit with my rainbow pickaxe, spilling out stones like crazy.
How much did I dig? Eventually, the vein collapsed, revealing unrefined but high-value stones, thanks to my pickaxe.
I glanced at Baek Jangmi and said, “Pretty easy, huh?”
Like I was taunting her.
Grrrr!
Her face twisted in frustration, as if to say, “Why does everything work out for you?”
“How is this even possible?”
“You think this is luck?”
This is thanks to my god-tier lifestyle skills. Calling it luck is a stretch, don’t you think? No need to feel too bad, though—I’m not some cheat character. I’m not a combat class, so I can’t be out there slicing monster necks. Sure, I could rely on item power, but that wouldn’t even cover labor costs.
“You’ve got a real knack for pissing people off. Those stones—you just pulled them from your bag, right? Right?”
“You’re picking a fight and then saying I’m messing with you? How paranoid are you?”
I’m genuinely offended. Me, pulling stones out? Even from her angle, it’s obvious I’m not faking it. She stood there, racking her brain for a comeback, her dumb face scrunching up before settling on a glare.
So, I decided to pick a fight first.
“Gonna cry again? Tsk, tsk. A grown woman crying—aren’t you embarrassed?”
“Talk like that, and you’ll regret it someday!”
Her face turned pitiful.
But what can I do? She’s the one who keeps starting it. She’s still convinced I’m here to take her spot in the guild.
Let’s be honest—I’ve already taken it. Having been a guy before, I know that with my current looks, eyes naturally gravitate toward me. Now as a woman, I can feel those stares even more.
In other words, whether it’s boot-licking or whatever, White Tiger’s hunters are more drawn to me than to Whip Girl.
Add my Conversation skill to that, and what’s left to say?
I’m not an idiot or clueless.
I have no interest in her petty power plays.
They’re already falling over themselves for me—why would I bother? The more she does this, the worse her position gets. Doesn’t she see that?
If this keeps up and I continue working with White Tiger, it won’t be a case of a rolling stone dislodging a fixed one—it’ll be an outside stone kicking her out entirely.
“Listen, I’m telling you clearly: don’t even think about joining this guild. Got it?”
Saying that just makes me want to join more, doesn’t it? Not that I actually want to.
Even if they offered me a truckload of gold coins, I wouldn’t. Why bother when I’m already racking up rapport? Whip Girl’s digging her own grave, handing her spot to an outsider.
So dumb and dense.