Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Mist Mine (2)
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Before returning to the Mist Mine, Cheisi bought three preparation items from Megra Napit's miner's shop. The price was just 5 coins.
In the fog of this mine, without any countermeasures, your stamina drains away fast.
It was something she'd already experienced before getting the Merman King's Necklace.
So she needed a countermeasure. Namely, bringing a necklace made from special metal.
Cheisi hung the necklace she'd bought from Megra Napit's miner's shop around her neck.
Equipped Canary Necklace for Mining.
First preparation item. Canary Necklace.
Wearing this yellow necklace with 300 durability lets you enter the fog, where it loses 1 durability per second.
But in exchange, your stamina won't drain until the durability is fully depleted.
"Five minutes per necklace."
She had three necklaces total.
Cheisi pulled the second and third preparation items from her inventory.
They were a net designed to efficiently gather dust fog and a bottle crafted to hold the collected fog.
Gather the fog with the net, then store it in the bottle.
That was how you "mined" minerals in the Mist Mine.
Cheisi tossed the net into the fog and tried collecting some metal powder.
Acquired Unknown Mineral Powder.
She got the hang of it right away after one practice toss.
Cheisi unfolded her map and headed toward the spot marked with Karium Dust.
While moving, a white sword strike suddenly slashed out from the fog.
It was a speed no human could possibly react to.
Clang-!
But Cheisi spotted the sword strike amid the fog and even parried it with her dagger.
As chats poured in, marveling at her reaction speed that never got any less astonishing no matter how many times they saw it, Cheisi checked the monster's info while staying on guard.
Mist Wraith
A wraith lurking in dust fog, preying on miners.
Its defense and attack power are abysmal, but its ambush attacks are dangerous.
Mist Wraith.
True to its name, the monster looked like a gaunt human figure made entirely of white fog.
The Mist Wraith lunged at Cheisi.
She calmly dodged the attack and counterstruck the Mist Wraith.
Its attack power, defense, and even stamina were all weak.
One counter blow shaved off half its health.
Cheisi dispatched the Mist Wraith with ease and confirmed the EXP gain.
"This is ea—"
Suddenly, Cheisi realized her vision had gone pitch black.
"...Ugh."
A splitting headache hit at the same time, along with intense dizziness.
Cheisi clutched her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut.
The sudden vertigo passed quickly.
Cheisi blinked, confirming her vision had normalized.
-what was that
-u good bro?
-debuff hit?
"...I'm okay. It's nothing."
Suspecting the fog for the abrupt dizziness, Cheisi spoke up.
"Maybe it's a debuff that causes dizziness in the fog."
No message had popped up, but it was the first time she'd felt dizzy in-game, so if she had to pin it on something, the fog was the only suspect.
Cheisi ventured deeper into the mine to collect Karium Dust, covering her nose and mouth just in case.
In the fog, the map was her only lifeline.
Cheisi kept her tail straight up, checking the map as she pushed through the haze.
"You absolutely can't let it hit."
The Mist Wraiths hiding in the fog had a passive: undefended ambush attacks amplified damage by 500%.
She'd barely invested in defense at all, and with no subquest grinding, her base stats were low too—she might drop dead from a single hit.
Cheisi stayed alert, calmly dodging and dropping every Mist Wraith that lunged out of nowhere.
Acquired 5500 EXP.
And just like that, she leveled up.
"Whoa, level up..."
But even with the level gain, she couldn't let her guard down.
Cheisi picked up her pace a little.
The Canary Necklace's durability was already down to half. She had two spares, but they weren't unlimited—she needed to make time count.
Finally reaching the spot marked on the map, yet another Mist Wraith burst out and attacked Cheisi.
This wraith was different from the ones she'd seen before.
A massive wraith wielding a shield of fog.
"...What's that one?"
Cheisi dodged its incoming attack and checked its info.
Kaliune's Legion
A wraith of unyielding resolve sworn to "Kaliune."
Lingering in the Mist Mine to guard Karium Dust.
An ability that triggered on failed ambush—the polar opposite of the previous wraiths.
"...This time, I need to take the ambush hit."
Per the info, having dodged the ambush, Kaliune's Legion now had its +500% defense buff active.
Looking closer, the wraith's body glimmered with white light amid the fog.
-these numbers r spinning
-500% def gonna let any dmg thru??
"Lemme try hitting it once."
Cheisi gripped her dagger, rushed the wraith, and landed a clean strike.
"...Ugh."
It didn't even scratch.
Damage: a measly 1, as expected.
Just like against the Merman King.
But unlike then, she couldn't buff her attack power to punch through here.
A 500% defense boost wasn't something a simple buff would crack.
Cheisi abandoned the pointless fight and fell back.
"Breaking a 500% defense buff with raw stats would take ages."
-yup
-hundreds of subquests grinding stats might not even do it
-gotta figure out the pattern
Cheisi had never planned to grind stats through it anyway.
There has to be a way around it.
Cheisi paused to think.
"The most obvious method is probably just tanking the ambush."
The monster info specified the defense boost kicked in only if the ambush was blocked or missed.
So taking the hit cleanly meant no buff at all.
But that required eating the full attack.
"Can I even survive it?"
Even the Merman King had been untouchable without a food-granted attack buff—how much worse would it be for defense, which she'd completely ignored?
The previous wraiths' attacks—described as having pitiful offense—had still hurt plenty even when blocked. Now she had to eat a higher-level monster's strike raw.
"Feels like it'd one-shot me."
Cheisi's gut screamed danger. One hit, and it'd be a forced logout.
-sell some def-boosting food here?
-eat it first n test if u can tank
Not a bad idea, even if uncertain. Reverse of the Merman King strat: chow down max defense food and see if she could weather the hit.
"Lemme go hunt for some defense foo—wait."
Suddenly, it hit her—what she'd overlooked.
I don't have to kill it at all, do I?
Her goal was Karium Dust, not farming this tanky beast.
She'd only killed the Merman King for its necklace to enter the fog here. No such need now—just bypass it.
"How about ignoring it and just gathering dust?"
-oh?
-that could work
-fine if u can dodge while netting
"That's doable."
The wraith's attacks had generous gaps. Plenty of time to net dust instead of fighting back.
Cheisi sheathed her dagger and drew the fog-gathering net.
From here on, no more attacking.
Boom-!
The wraith's shield smashed the ground with a thunderous crash. But Cheisi had already dodged.
She used the brief opening to hurl the gathering net, then put distance between her and the pursuing wraith.
As the dust-laden net hit the dirt and sealed itself shut, the wraith fixated solely on Cheisi, ignoring it.
"Way too sloooow."
To a cat's dynamic vision, the assault looked comically sluggish.
Cheisi weaved around the attacks with ease, scooping up the net again.
Acquired Unknown Mineral Powder.
"Bon appétit!"
-lolololol
-straight up toying
-feel bad for it
Cheisi snatched the net and darted away from the shield-wielding wraith.
Confirming no other wraiths nearby, she transferred the gathered dust into a bottle.
Shaking it produced a swirling sound from the powder inside.
"Kinda looks like there's some blue tint in there."
-fog hiding it ;;
-lemme see!!
"One sec."
The lens monster clung to her shoulder, sharing her exact view through the murky fog.
Pew?
Cheisi grabbed the lens monster and held it up to the bottle.
"See it now?"
-yep now
-faint glow fr
The powder inside sparkled with a subtle blue light.
Two full bottles of pure Karium Dust would net 30-40 coins—enough to buy fish.
"Mixed with impurities, so I'll need three or four bottles. Maybe more."
Before heading to the next spot, Cheisi noted the Canary Necklace's durability was nearly gone and swapped it out.
"One more spot, then I'll restock."
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