Leon pressed the button marked for the fifth floor and quietly waited for the elevator to descend, his eyes drifting over the row of buttons.
There were a total of twenty-four buttons, from floor 0 to floor 120. Only the 0 and 5 buttons glowed green, the rest dull and lifeless. Leon knew perfectly well what that ant.
Thinking about how it had taken him half the day just to reach the fifth floor, he couldn’t help feeling stifled. Every ti he found the stairs to the next level, they were buried under the very last rock on that floor. He wasn’t sure if it was so cruel design… or just his bad luck.
At this rate, Leon didn’t even know how long it would take to reach the bottom of the mine. What was even more absurd was that although he had smashed every rock on the fifth floor, fought enough to level up his combat skill once, his mining skill hadn’t budged an inch.
Was mining level-up that hard? Had all the rocks and ore he’d dug up still not t the requirent?
Long hours of mining work have given you new insight into mining. Your Mining skill has increased by two levels.
Driven by the pursuit of greater efficiency, you have learned more effective mining techniques. Cherry Bomb recipe and Staircase recipe unlocked.
You have received the blessing of the God of Forging. Your stamina has been strengthened.
…
Hearing the belated notification and seeing his mining skill jump by two levels at once, Leon stayed silent for a long while before finally muttering:
“Why not just wait until I reach level ten before telling
I’ve leveled up?”
I forgot.
“Sigh.”
Faced with the rare occasion of the System actually replying to his sarcasm, Leon had no words. Those two little words—“I forgot”—shattered all his pent-up grievances. He wanted to say more, but the words stuck in his throat. In the end, he could only let out a long, heartfelt sigh before stepping into the elevator, which had arrived and opened its doors.
The elevator wasn’t fully enclosed. It was more like the open hoists used at construction sites—half-enclosed, with a solid tal floor, a roof overhead, and a lamp, but nothing else.
A few tal bars made up the railing around it, doing nothing to stop the cold wind from cutting straight in as the elevator rose, stabbing at the passengers inside.
Seeing such a bare-bones elevator, Leon’s first thought wasn’t safety—it was whether he could use the elevator shaft to speedrun the mine.
Maybe he could just grab the hoist rope and descend straight to the 120th floor, pry open that elevator door, and be done with it.
But after glancing outside at the smooth, mirror-like rock walls and the shaft that fit the elevator so tightly it left only two or three centiters of space, Leon abandoned the idea.
He wasn’t sure he could land safely on rock that slick. And even if he could, who knew whether the destination would be the 120th floor… or the underworld? For the sake of his life—and to make sure the elevator still worked for future trips—it was better to forget about such speedrunning tricks.
He probably wouldn’t die… but who knew if the elevator might get damaged?
Rather than risk that, Leon figured it’d be better to find a few people to help him mine. That would be safer, steadier, and far more efficient.
Ding!
With the elevator’s arrival chi, the doors opened and Leon stepped out.
He didn’t leave right away, instead loosening up his limbs to shake off the cold that had gnawed at him during the twenty-odd seconds in the elevator.
Only when the goosebumps on his arms faded as his body ward up did Leon lift a hand to shield his eyes and head for the mine entrance.
Outside, the sunlight was no longer blinding—it was nearly evening, after all.
Still, after so long underground, Leon found it dazzling.
Thankfully, he’d shielded his eyes ahead of ti, avoiding the brief blindness that might have co from the sudden glare.
After a mont in the sunlight, once his eyes had adjusted, Leon turned east toward the Adventurer’s Guild.
He’d just unlocked the fifth-floor elevator, completing Marlon’s initial trial.
It was ti to find Marlon to report in and get his next initiation task. He’d also check if he had enough money to buy so equipnt.
Having experienced the special effect of the Small Magnet Ring, Leon was curious to see what other rings could do for him.
And maybe he could ask Marlon if all ten of his fingers could wear rings at once. If so, with ten special-ability rings, he could beco a powerhouse—and maybe even play the part of a dramatic villain against a certain ironclad scher.
Leon had long known that the Pelican Town branch of the Adventurer’s Guild was right next to the mine.
In fact, he’d noticed the tall, two-story wooden building to the east of the mine that morning, which was why he headed in that direction now.
Adventurer’s Guild: Open daily from 2 PM to 2 AM. Non-mbers prohibited. Employers seeking to hire Adventurers for commissions may leave request letters in the mailbox. Unauthorized entry is forbidden. The Adventurer’s Guild will impose penalties for trespassers according to the Fanjier Republic’s Illegal Entry Act.
Even before entering, Leon spotted the notice posted on the door, which made him hesitate.
He wasn’t yet a mber of the Adventurer’s Guild. If he went inside, would that count as trespassing?
But if he didn’t, he couldn’t report to Marlon or get the next test to join. It was a frustrating bind.
Like wanting to raid Karazhan without having cleared it first—funny in a ga, but real in his current situation.
“If you made it back safe, just co in. When I heard your footsteps, I was discussing your mbership with Gil. After a while with no sign of you, I thought sothing happened. Why are you standing there like an idiot?”
While Leon was still debating, Marlon opened the guild door, giving him a puzzled look.
“I was thinking about this.” Leon pointed at the notice.
Marlon glanced at it and imdiately understood, sighing in exasperation. “That’s just to scare people off. Too many bored folks co up with excuses to bother us. So to avoid trouble, I put that there. It doesn’t apply to you—you can co right in.”
“You sure? I can’t help feeling like you’re trying to trick
inside so you can accuse
of trespassing, kill , and take my Galaxy Weapon for yourself.”
Marlon froze, staring at Leon for a long mont before turning and walking back into the guild without a word.
A mont later, he reappeared, holding a long sword with the sa color sche as Leon’s Galaxy Waterlon Knife—but much sleeker.
“See this? I already have a Galaxy Sword. Why would I want your weird cleaver? And besides, I’m the guildmaster of the Pelican Town Adventurer’s Guild branch. You think I’d kill a junior over a weapon?”
Seeing Marlon nearly hopping with anger, waving his Galaxy Sword as if he wanted to run Leon through, Leon quickly backpedaled.
“Just a joke, just a joke. Don’t be mad, Guildmaster Marlon. I’ve powered up the fifth-floor elevator and ca to hand in the task.”
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