Chapter 29: Rare Ore X100 (4th Update)

Night fell.

Jiang Ye returned to the small inn in Sun Town, paid at the front desk, and extended his stay for another day.

The mushroom went upstairs and opened the room. The window was closed, and it looked like the crow hadn't come back all day.

He eagerly pulled the universal duplicator out of the mailbag, set it down very carefully.

The little mushroom then pulled his special cat bed out of the mailbag, placed it on the bed, and rolled right into it. He was so exhausted today that his stalk ached and could barely straighten up—he desperately needed to lie down and relax.

The sound of explosions still seemed to echo in Jiang Ye's ears. He'd been forced to eat a lot of food all day to restore his health, just to avoid getting blown up in the mine.

"Ugh..." the mushroom sighed. "I feel so stuffed." He'd almost eaten himself sick—he just couldn't take another bite.

He rested for only ten minutes, then got back up and started studying the universal duplicator.

The universal duplicator looked like an ordinary box with a lid that opened. Inside was completely empty, and the space wasn't large.

Jiang Ye tentatively pulled out his blue gem and put it in the box.

"That's weird—it won't go in."

The blue gem just wouldn't go into the empty box—something invisible was blocking it. Probably what they called an invisible wall.

The mushroom sighed. Looked like Dorin was right—gems couldn't be copied.

He then pulled out a pair of purple briefs and quickly tossed them into the box.

Thud.

The purple briefs slipped right in, and the lid snapped shut automatically.

Once shut, the box wouldn't open again. It let out a soft hum—it was already working.

The mushroom excitedly rubbed his little hands together: "Whoa, it can actually duplicate purple briefs—that's awesome!"

99 pairs of purple briefs, here I come!

Jiang Ye stared at the universal duplicator, not blinking once.

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

Ten minutes... twenty minutes... an hour... two hours...

Jiang Ye's eyes grew glassy, and he started to doze off. His cap kept drooping, and he nearly nodded off several times.

"Can't sleep—the briefs aren't done yet." He used both hands to slap his own cheeks a few times.

Duplicating a single pair of purple briefs took forever. It was almost 2 AM, and the box was still going.

"Can't sleep..."

"I'm so sleepy..."

"Wake up..."

Just as the mushroom was about to drift off into a sweet dream, the universal duplicator on the nightstand let out a soft beep.

Jiang Ye perked up at the soft sound and opened his eyes wide: "Is it finally done?"

He flipped open the lid. In an instant, two pairs of purple briefs popped out of the box, bouncing right onto his head.

"No way!"

Jiang Ye grabbed the two pairs of purple briefs, wide awake now: "It really can duplicate purple briefs—and they're identical!"

Dreams really do come true.

"It just takes a while, though." The mushroom figured it took at least four hours to duplicate one pair of briefs.

"I've gotta keep duplicating... more briefs."

He grabbed the two pairs of briefs and was just about to stuff them into the duplicator...

Plop—

The mushroom passed out clutching the purple briefs.

"02:00"

Oh crap, oh crap, the sleeping mushroom thought—he hadn't even gotten the briefs into the duplicator. He'd missed out on one pair and would have to wait until morning to duplicate it.

KABOOM!!!

Jiang Ye had just dozed off when a massive explosion went off right next to his ears. The ground shook and everything swayed—like an earthquake.

Before the mushroom even opened his eyes, he felt himself get blasted away by the sheer force of the explosion. A tiny mushroom, flying like a poor little shuttlecock.

Ow...

Jiang Ye yelped in pain as his head smacked against the wall.

The mushroom opened his eyes. It was pitch black all around, but the place wasn't unfamiliar—he was in the mine.

"I'm dreaming again, huh."

The mushroom got up calmly and brushed the dust off himself.

The mine in the dream looked exactly like the real one, except Dorin wasn't there.

Jiang Ye held a handful of small bombs and mechanically kept throwing them. He grumbled to himself: This must be a creation dream—what am I even supposed to create? If I keep throwing bombs like this, I'm gonna blow myself up.

The Jiang Ye in the dream hadn't brought anything at all—only the unlimited supply of bombs in his hand.

His health was being whittled down to nearly zero under the bombs' assault.

Jiang Ye took a deep breath—only 3 points left.

KABOOM!

The next moment, the bomb exploded anyway. Without any suspense, the mushroom's health hit zero, and he collapsed with a thud in the mine.

It doesn't hurt... good.

Jiang Ye thought, Am I going to be sent to the town clinic now?

"Aha!"

He'd barely been on the ground for a second when Jiang Ye, whose health had hit zero, suddenly jumped up, fully revived, and pulled out paper and pen to scribble away.

Inspiration!

"Congratulations! You've obtained the Safety Helmet Blueprint!"

"Blueprint: Safety Helmet"

"Required Materials: Sapphire (1), Mycelium (10)"

It suddenly clicked for Jiang Ye: "So it's a safety helmet."

If the little mushroom's guess was right, this helmet should be able to resist bomb damage. Definitely a solid find.

But...

The required materials included a sapphire, which was a rare treasure. Jiang Ye couldn't bring himself to sell it, and he only had one left in his bag.

"Would you like to craft the Safety Helmet?"

"Safety Helmet crafted successfully!"

Wait!

The little mushroom was dumbfounded. He was still thinking about whether to consume his only sapphire, but the system just went ahead and answered its own question, and the safety helmet was already made.

Jiang Ye was speechless.

"Safety Helmet"

"A precious item that shields you from unimaginable damage."

The Safety Helmet appeared in front of Jiang Ye, and the mycelium reached out and caught it.

"This is no helmet," said the little mushroom. It looked nothing like what he'd pictured.

It wasn't a construction worker's hard hat, nor was it the knight's helmet Dorin wore. It was, instead, a delicate, gorgeous sapphire crown.

"This is absolutely gorgeous," the little mushroom marveled.

The crown was tiny, and the mycelium set it on the mushroom's cap—perfect fit.

A pool of water appeared before Jiang Ye, letting him see his reflection.

A little white mushroom, wearing a brilliant and deep sapphire crown, had a certain... something.

And then... dawn broke.

"Spring, Day 11, Tuesday"

"6:00"

The little mushroom hadn't had enough time to admire it when dawn hit. He rolled over and sat bolt upright, reaching up to feel the top of his head.

His head felt cool, and there was a crown on it. He took it off to inspect it—a sapphire crown!

Jiang Ye immediately opened his mailbag to check—the sapphire was gone! Used up in the dream!

"Well... it's not like it was a waste," the little mushroom comforted himself. This crown really came in handy. From now on, he wouldn't have to worry about getting blown into a mushroom head by bombs.

"Would you like to open Grandpa's Cookie Tin?"

Big system text popped up in front of the little mushroom.

The little mushroom gave a nod.

"Congratulations! You've obtained Wine-Filled Chocolate x1"

A box of chocolates wrapped with a red ribbon appeared. The box was small, with a clear lid, and inside were nine chocolates that looked mouthwatering.

"Man, that smells good," Jiang Ye said, placing the chocolates into his mailbag.

"Oh yeah, my purple shorts!"

He hadn't gotten around to duplicating them last night. Jiang Ye popped the purple briefs back into the universal duplicator.

Now it was just a waiting game, but he couldn't just sit there staring at the duplicator for four hours. He'd promised to meet Dorin at the mine at eight in the morning.

The universal duplicator couldn't be put away in the item slot while it was working, nor could it be stuffed into the mailbag. Jiang Ye had no choice but to set it on the bedside table, then pulled out the TV to watch.

"Weather Forecast"

"Today will be sunny and pleasant, with a 0% chance of rain."

"TV Shopping"

"Today's featured item—Jam Jars!

Toss your fruits and veggies into this magical little jar, and boom—pricey jam! Jam jars—your ticket to riches!

Limited-time deal: Buy 10, get 1 free, only at 'Sun Town's Biggest General Store'!"

"Tea Leaf Divination"

"You glance down at the tea leaves at the bottom of your cup...

The pattern is... a squirrel... maybe...?

What does it mean?

—Wealth.

Also: The Chief Deity is in a great mood today. You're in for some good luck."

Jiang Ye pumped himself up—today was his lucky day, so he was bound to mine a ton of iron ore.

"My bike, here I come!"

The little mushroom left the inn and jogged toward the mine, feeling chipper.

"07:30"

It was still early. Jiang Ye had shown up early.

The little mushroom slowed down, took a deep breath, and soaked in the crisp morning air. The area around the mine was peaceful in the morning, with clouds stacked up like a heap of cotton candy.

If he could ride his bike around here, it'd be an absolute joy.

Jiang Ye was lost in thought when he spotted a figure by the entrance of the mine, leaning against the wall with arms crossed. Those ridiculously long legs were enough to make anyone jealous.

"Dorin!"

The mushroom immediately ran over and said, "I thought I arrived early, but you got here even before me."

Dorin nodded and said, "I live nearby."

The mushroom said, "You live around here? Isn't it unsafe at night? Don't little monsters come around and cause trouble?"

Dorin said, "It's all good."

The two entered the mine and hopped into the small mining cart.

"Eastern Mine: Level 120"

Level 120, straight down.

After entering the dark mine, Jiang Ye felt like he was shining a little brighter than usual. Besides the glowing ring, the blue crown on his head was glowing too.

The mushroom pointed at the crown on his head and said, "Dorin, look! This is my new prized possession. I heard that with this, bombs won't hurt me at all."

Dorin looked at the crown on the mushroom's head. His face was hidden, but Jiang Ye could tell he was surprised.

Jiang Ye pulled out a small bomb and said, "You should hide. Let me test out my new toy."

Dorin moved to a corner. The mushroom gave him a nod and tossed the bomb.

KABOOM!!!

The ground shook and the whole mine trembled. The mushroom stood steadily amidst the dust and rubble, his whole body wrapped in a sapphire glow, like a thin blue veil, shielding him from the blast.

The mushroom wasn't blown back, and not a single speck of dust landed on him.

"Awesome!" Jiang Ye cheered. "Sapphire really is top-notch—the effect is amazing!"

Now he was set. With the sapphire crown, the mushroom could throw bombs freely, no more worrying about getting sick from eating food to heal up.

The mining trip went smoothly.

"Eastern Mine: Level 128"

The mushroom hopped off and immediately spotted a golden chest right in the middle of the empty cavern.

"Dorin! Come look!" Jiang Ye called out. "We're so lucky! Another chest!"

Same as yesterday—this level had no rocks at all, just a chest in the middle and a hole leading down beside it.

"Open it up." Dorin followed, arms crossed, his voice sounding pleased too.

The mushroom scurried over, rubbing his hands together excitedly. Could it be another universal duplicator? Then he could copy two purple shorts at once and double his output.

Click!

The treasure chest opened.

"Gold Ore x100"

The golden chest opened, and inside was something even more golden—and even more dazzling.

For a second, Jiang Ye was nearly blinded by the pile of gold. His mycelium shot up to shield his eyes.

"G-gold ore..." The mushroom gaped. He'd never seen this much gold in his life.

Dorin stood nearby and said flatly, "You're really lucky, pulling this many rare ores."

The mushroom muttered, "Yeah, my luck's off the charts."

Dorin looked down at him, his tone a little strange, and said, "You don't sound happy?"

The mushroom said, "Of course I'm happy!"

Dorin said, "Yesterday you said you wanted to find tons of rare ores, and today you got them. You should be more excited."

The mushroom stuffed 50 gold ores into his backpack and handed 50 to Dorin, saying, "I am happy. But the rare ore I wanted was iron ore!"

"Iron ore?" Dorin blinked.

Jiang Ye needed iron ore for his bike, so of course that's what he meant by rare ore.

Dorin paused, processing: "Since when is iron ore rare?"

The mushroom was confused: "Isn't it rare?"

Dorin: "..."

The mushroom waved him over, and they continued down through the hole.

As they walked, the mushroom grumbled, "This mine is so weird. We're past level 120, and there's barely any iron, but a whole chest of gold? I don't even know what gold is for. Can I sell it?"

Dorin: "..."

"Eastern Mine: Level 150"

They made it all the way down to level 150 without stopping. The mushroom excitedly scooped up the iron ore nearby and said, "Got it, got it! Finally, some iron! This is great!"

From level 150 on down, iron ore got more plentiful. Jiang Ye mined 50 pieces in one go, shoving them all into his backpack.

"Keep going?" Dorin asked.

It was still early, but the mushroom shook his head. "I need to get back early today, so I'll stop here."

With enough ore in hand, Jiang Ye planned to head back, trade with Le Yi Li, and build the bike.

Dorin said, "Alright."

The mushroom was thrilled. He said goodbye to Dorin and ran all the way back to town.

"Social"

"Mushroom Soup": Lao Li! Lao Li! You still got any slime gel? I wanna buy some!

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": Mushroom, what do you need that for? What's it do?

"Le Yi Li": I've got plenty left.

"Mushroom Soup": It's for something big—it's a secret! I'll show you guys once I'm done.

Jiang Ye immediately sent Le Yi Li a trade request and bought 10 slime gels.

Mycelium rubbed his hands together—now all the materials were complete!

"Combine!"

He pulled out the materials, but the combine button wouldn't light up.

"What's going on?" Jiang Ye recounted the materials, but the system kept insisting he was short.

"Slime gel—got it. Small branches—got those too. Pebbles... and mycelium. That just leaves copper ingots and iron ingots... wait."

He froze. So it's copper ingots and iron ingots, not copper ore and iron ore.

"Aren't those the same thing?" He was dumbfounded.

"Social"

"Mushroom Soup": Aren't copper ore and copper ingots the same?

"You Got Nothing Better to Do": Of course not. Copper ore is mined straight from the ground, but copper ingots need to be smelted at the blacksmith's.

"Mushroom Soup": (shocked face)

As for how to smelt them, even "You Got Nothing Better to Do" didn't know.

Jiang Ye figured it was too late—the blacksmith's shop was already closed. He'd have to ask tomorrow instead.

The sky was getting darker. He sat in his room, chin propped on his hand, staring at the universal duplicator, grumbling, "Too slow, way too slow. If only I could dream about a speed-up for the duplicator tonight."

A single pair of purple briefs takes 4 hours to duplicate. In theory, Jiang Ye could crank out several pairs a day. But in reality, it wasn't that simple—the duplicator had to stay in the room, and Jiang Ye had to leave. He couldn't just wait around for the briefs to finish and then reload it. If he didn't take out the finished pair, a new one wouldn't start duplicating.

At that rate, he could only get 1 or 2 pairs a day, and it would take at least a month to rack up 99P charm value.

"02:00"

Jiang Ye fell asleep, praying sincerely.

Please, let me have a dream...

And then—

Morning came.

"Spring, Day 12, Wednesday"

"6:00"

He opened his eyes, all pouty. No dream—slept straight through to morning.

"Open Grandpa's cookie tin?"

"Congratulations! You got a Monster Encyclopedia X1"

"What's this?" He held the new book and flipped through it.

It was all strange text—completely unreadable.

"Congratulations! You've learned a new skill."

The mushroom in question was totally confused. What new ability is this?

After he finished reading the Monster Encyclopedia, it vanished from his hand.

"Forget it—off to the blacksmith's!" He rushed out of the room in a hurry.

Running along the road, he thought, I'm pretty busy these days—up at dawn and working nonstop, with endless things to do. So fulfilling, huh...

Mornings in Sun Town were cool and bustling. Many residents passed Jiang Ye on the street.

In the early morning, residents were heading to work, school, or stocking up for their shops—a far cry from the quiet of night.

He passed them and noticed that unless he greeted them first, the residents wouldn't greet him back.

Everyone's faces looked so gentle, yet sometimes they felt strangely cold.

Except for Dorin, that is.

He thought of Dorin and felt he was a bit different from the other residents.

"Speaking of which, Dorin's really pitiful." He was almost at the blacksmith's, but it was still early and the shop wasn't open yet.

Jiang Ye sat at the entrance to the blacksmith's yard, muttering to himself, "Dorin's such a good person, but his head..."

The mischievous Chief Deity must have turned it into something weird. To keep from scaring people, he had to wear his helmet all the time.

"I wonder if I can help him," he said.

"08:00"

The blacksmith's shop opened, and Jiang Ye walked in first.

The blacksmith was a man of few words. He walked over and said, "I'd like to smelt copper ingots and iron ingots. Is this the place?"

The blacksmith nodded and said, "I need copper ore and iron ore. Processing fee is 50 rupees per piece."

One copper ore smelts into one copper ingot. Same for iron. No matter the ore, the fee is 50 rupees per piece.

Jiang Ye handed the blacksmith 10 copper ores and 10 iron ores, then paid the full fee.

Jiang Ye asked, "When can I pick up the copper and iron ingots?"

"Tomorrow morning," the blacksmith said.

He looked anxious. "Tomorrow?"

The blacksmith nodded again.

He deflated. "Alright then."

The blacksmith was already at work, clanging away.

He turned to leave, but paused mid-step and ran back. "Oh, right—I've got something for you."

He rummaged through his mailbag, pulled something out, and handed it to the blacksmith.

The blacksmith froze, then said in shock, "My crochet hook? How did you get my crochet hook?"

Despite his muscular build and quiet nature, the blacksmith loved to crochet—especially making little teddy bears from fluffy yarn.

Only then did Jiang Ye notice the glass window of the blacksmith's house, where several adorable teddy bears were on display—all handmade by him.

The blacksmith took the crochet hook, looking at Jiang Ye with completely different eyes, saying, "How about this: I'll rush the copper and iron blocks you need, and you can pick them up here after dark tonight."

"Really?" Mushroom was pleasantly surprised. Guess it really paid off to be nice to random people: "Thank you so much."

"No." The blacksmith shook his head: "I should be the one thanking you. This is my beloved crochet hook. It was snatched away by a crow, and I thought I'd never see it again."

"Crow?" Mushroom was a bit confused. It was taken by a crow?

But the crochet hook was found in the Chief God's treasure chest—wasn't it just some junk he'd scavenged?