Luck Counts as Skill
“Akira sunbae. Got any spare iron?”
[Iron? Nah, I was gonna ask you...]
“This cave's smaller than I thought. Not much iron either.”
[Right? What kind of cave is this?]
Ten minutes after meeting Akira.
The cave we'd finally found was smaller than expected. No, why is a natural cave this tiny?
I grumbled inwardly but didn't say it out loud. The viewers would just spam the chat treating me like a baby again.
In the end, Akira and I left the cave and set off to find a new one.
And finally.
“Whoa. Jackpot.”
[Whoaaa! So many minerals!]
We hadn't gone far before stumbling on another cave—a massive one, split into multiple branches.
“Looks like we can gear up fully just from here?”
[We can sell the extras too—oh, diamonds over there!]
“Lemme see.”
I followed behind Akira, who was scampering off like crazy, and spotted a sky-blue glowing mineral. So this is a diamond.
But didn't I see this earlier? It was stuck to the cave wall or something.
I asked Akira, who was mining away.
[What? Ohhh~. Pfft, hahahahahaha!!]
“W-Why?”
[Ahahaha! No no. Heh. You mistook glowing moss for a diamond?]
“Huh? Glowing moss?”
What the—glowing moss is a thing?
“...Yeah. It's moss.”
[Ughhh! Too cute!]
“Don't tease.”
I checked back at the spot without a torch earlier, just in case. Yup, glowing moss, not diamond.
I continued exploring with a sulky expression.
But whether by fate or the world feeling sorry for pranking me, diamonds started popping up everywhere I went.
[Holy crap. H-How many is that?!]
“51. Add yours and we've got a full set, Akira sunbae?”
[Insane... jackpot.]
Akira and I together had mined a full set—a miracle, apparently. It didn't seem like that many to me, but the reactions said otherwise.
After mining enough minerals, it was time to head out, so I asked Akira.
“What're you gonna do, sunbae? Wanna leave together?”
[Gotta stick around longer. At least five more diamonds before I go.]
“Five diamonds...”
[W-Wait? No! You don't have to! You mined them!]
“It's fine. Plenty left even after giving you some. And you stuck with me for almost three hours. This is payback.”
[Holy... no really, you don't have to... and ten of them?!]
“Still got tons left. Now we can go together, right?”
No clue why, but the chat flooded with tears.
[...Yeah. Let's go. I'll help you trade stuff.]
“Thanks. As the only 11th gen, I don't have anyone to play with.”
[Ughhh...! Can't do it. I'm staying by your side till server shutdown!]
“Eek. That's a bit...”
She suddenly got even more zealous for some reason.
I learned trading from Akira and got a quick rundown on the KR Maerchen server playground.
[Waaahhh. Don't wanna say bye!]
“Hahaha...”
[Ughhh. Call me next time you're free? Promise?]
“Yeah. Will do. See ya.”
[Mmm... bye-bye.]
My teacher who'd shown me the ropes left the village. Said she needed more minerals.
Unlike her, I had no reason to stay in caves anymore.
“Got 20,000 won. What now?”
I'd sold everything except essentials from my inventory. Got 20,000 won—about 2 gold.
That left about 3 gold on the necklace debt.
Choices: Invest for future gains, or farm safely but slowly.
Hoe's craftable, apparently.
“...Investing. Where to buy fishing rod?”
“Watch me. Debt cleared in one hour flat.”
Viewers didn't buy it at all, but I had a hunch. Uwar's diamond luck earlier was unreal.
Then a notification pinged on Uwar's stream.
Catch A-Grade or Higher in 1 Hour
🎁 Reward: 100,000 won
⏰ Time Limit:59:58
“...Just wait.”
I bolted to the plaza and jumped into the beach portal.
Tons of portals there—I picked the beach one.
Screen transitioned, and boom, beachside.
Fishing rod at the local shop, right?
Rushed over and bought it. 15,000 won down, but for the future. And to shove it in the viewers' faces.
50 minutes of dipping in the surf with rod in hand.
“...Can't I just lose?”
No A-grades in inventory. Only 3 B's.
Guess I used up my luck in the cave.
Well, should've known. Too optimistic. Can't have A-grades as common as diamonds—bad balance.
Hated past-me's naivety, but too late now.
Sighed inwardly, waiting out the last 10 mins.
Then the rod twitched.
Probably E or D again. Reeled in thoughtlessly.
“Huh?”
A golden dolphin plopped into my inventory.
S-grades pull like this.