Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Mineral Buffet
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“What are you all so scared of?”
I tilted my head and approached the nearest kobold.
“Keeek!”
The thing shrieked and squeezed its eyes shut.
Ignoring it, I snatched the bag strapped to its side and opened it.
Sure enough, it was stuffed full of chunks of all sorts of minerals.
Without hesitation, I upended the entire bag into my mouth.
Mmm, not bad tasting at all?
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of rocks crumbling in my mouth echoed through the cave.
The kobolds’ eyes filled with horror.
“Still not quite enough, huh.”
I smacked my lips, feeling the faint stir of mana in my gut.
This much wouldn’t cut it, not by a long shot.
I needed stronger, purer minerals.
Smacking my lips again, I scanned for my next target.
“Kieeeek!”
The moment my gaze landed on them, the kobolds screamed in unison and scattered.
Why were they running like that? Did they think I was going to eat them?
Ridiculous.
I let out a hollow chuckle.
“Slow down a bit.”
I slowly headed in the direction the terrified kobolds were fleeing.
They paddled their stubby legs furiously, but in this narrow, abandoned mine, there weren’t many places they could go.
Finally, they reached a dead end.
The kobolds collapsed to the ground with expressions like the world had ended.
I watched their pitiful forms for a moment, then my eyes drifted to the battered pickaxes they carried.
And naturally, to the massive rock wall behind their backs.
Faintly glittering specks were embedded all over the wall.
This must be their nest—and the location of the ore vein.
All of this was edible?
Suddenly, the place started looking like a buffet laid out just for me.
“I’ll clean this place out, not leaving a scrap behind.”
First, I decided to test if I could mine the minerals myself with my own power.
I approached the wall and tried using Erosion and the staff’s ability, one at a time.
Activating the skill, the solid rock instantly crumbled into fine sand and poured down.
It felt several times easier than turning jungle or machines into sand.
“Rocks take to the skill too well—that’s the problem.”
The issue was how overwhelmingly powerful and indiscriminate it was.
More often than not, the minerals embedded in the wall turned to sand right along with it.
“Gotta try the staff.”
I tapped the staff against the wall.
Immediately, a map of the hidden ore veins beyond the rock—locations and types—popped into my head.
Pinpointing a spot with the staff, I used Erosion to grind away the rock.
Scraaaape.
The result was a success.
Several mineral chunks tumbled out from the sand, still intact.
But it took heavy mental focus.
Like peeling a cherry tomato with a surgical scalpel.
I’d been mining minerals with magic alone for about ten minutes.
The wall still had a long way to go.
Suddenly, irritation bubbled up.
“Come to think of it, why am I doing the work myself?”
This wouldn’t do.
I’d come here to gorge on minerals for free, not to get covered in dust and dirt.
I stopped everything I was doing.
Instead, I turned the surrounding floor into a sandy beach.
Dozens of sand clones rose up on it.
“You lot mine together with those kobolds over there.”
I handed each summoned clone a pickaxe made of rock.
Their expressions visibly soured.
Not my problem.
I casually molded some sand into a chair and bed, then lounged back.
My job was done.
The sand clones reluctantly started swinging their pickaxes at my command.
The kobolds, watching nervously from the side, began digging too.
“Hey, Number 13 over there! Straighten up!”
My only task was yelling at the occasional slacker to shape up.
But even that got annoying after a while.
They all looked the same anyway, hard to tell apart, and my throat started hurting from shouting.
I pulled out Chohogi, who’d been quietly sleeping in my pocket.
The awakened familiar blinked up at me blankly.
“Alright, from now on, you manage these guys.”
I set Chohogi upright and said.
It shook its head in clear dissatisfaction.
It pointed at itself, then at the mass-produced sand clones pickaxing away in the distance.
Then it made a huge X with its arms.
“What? Oh… you’re saying you’re on a different level from those guys?”
Chohogi nodded.
“Hmm… fair point.”
I decided to respect its pride.
Chohogi was leagues above the basic worker clones.
Like a college-grad manager who’d been continuously learning.
Couldn’t treat an elite like the rest.
I decided to give it a position befitting its status.
“Alright, since you’re lacking in headgear, I’ll make you a hat.”
I mixed nearby rock and dirt just right, molding a hardhat perfectly sized for its head.
Might as well mix in some minerals for color too.
“Oh, need a whistle too.”
I carved a whistle from stone.
With the other clones watching, I presented Chohogi with the completed hardhat and whistle.
Its attitude did a complete 180 from moments ago.
It puffed out its chest, repeatedly adjusting its new hat, beaming with satisfaction.
Confirming that, I comfortably lay back on the bed.
Ah, if only the internet worked inside the tower.
***
A short while later, a mountain of minerals piled up before me.
Chohogi stood there with arms crossed, looking smug.
“You didn’t even touch a pickaxe—why’re you so proud…?”
I said that, but still roughly patted its head.
Because my mood was pretty great.
I grabbed a handful of nameless minerals and dumped them straight into my mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of munching snacks filled the air.
Chohogi, watching me, alternated curious glances between me and the minerals.
Mimicking me, it cautiously picked up a small mineral shard from the ground and brought it to its mouth.
Nom.
“…!”
But the next instant, Chohogi’s body shuddered, and it spat the unchewed pebble back onto the floor.
Its teeth apparently weren’t up to crunching hard minerals yet.
Not that it had digestive organs anyway, so it couldn’t swallow.
Rubbing its sore mouth.
I casually picked up and ate the pebble it spat out.
Too wasteful to toss.
After devouring the entire mineral mountain, my belly felt ready to burst.
I sat cross-legged right there and closed my eyes.
Time to digest.
Sinking into meditation, I vividly felt the changes inside my body.
The various minerals were mixing with my mana and being reborn.
Instinctively, I realized.
Blending too many different minerals wasn’t ideal.
This was my core power, and it burdened the essence too much.
I had to maintain my sand power above all.
To keep my body’s purity from dropping too low, I could only focus on three or four main minerals for intake.
“Not a skill with nothing but upsides, huh.”
I ended the meditation and opened my eyes.
I needed to select and focus.
Which minerals would be most efficient?
Hard to decide alone.
***
Back home, I logged into the Mage Gallery again for advice.
I’d already given a rough explanation yesterday.
The mages started sharing their personal skill trees they’d researched.
> PkaetChu: Start with aluminum. Make a hat out of it to stay safe from electromagnetic brainwashing attacks.
As always, one worthless comment, but soon serious replies followed.
> MagicIsFirepower: Diamond’s the way. Shape it into a blade or drill for killer physical damage. Tungsten better for bullets though.
> MagicIsFirepower: Also grab some sunstones from the tower’s volcanic zone and eat those. They’ve got explosive properties—great against thick-armored foes.
> MagicIsFirepower: Rest… uranium maybe?
> Anon(111.1J1): Where the hell you getting uranium?
> MagicIsFirepower: North Korea expedition? Gotta go there someday.
> PkaetChu: ???
> Refrigerator: You’re the only one who thinks we need to go there.
All attack-focused combos.
Soon, counterarguments popped up.
> PkaetChu: Mages need defense more than offense!
> PkaetChu: I’d stick to mithril only. Mithril gear is essential for magic defense.
> PkaetChu: Always good to have magic defense countermeasures. Take notes.
Unlike before, PkaetChu was suddenly dropping solid advice.
Mithril stuck out—never thought of a mineral dedicated to magic defense.
That’s when DungBeetle, who’d been lurking, finally posted.
> DungBeetle: I made a plan too.
> DungBeetle: Here’s a roadmap—check it out.
He even uploaded a new post with a file attached.
[Project Rock. ver1.2_RevisedFinal_UltimateReal.hwx]
[1. Project Overview & Purpose]
[2. Analysis Targets]
[3. Core Methodology]
[4. Phased Execution Plan]
[5. Risk Analysis & Countermeasures]
[6. Expected Final Outcomes]
> PkaetChu: ??????
> MagicIsFirepower: Why so serious lol.
“What the hell is this.”
A document over 40 pages long.
I started reading through it carefully, but quickly stopped.
“This doesn’t make any sense.”
DungBeetle’s plan was packed mostly with materials from floor 40+, and it called for over twenty minerals.
Obviously unusable garbage combo for me now.
Maybe I could follow it once I grew, but soon our top brain, Refrigerator, issued a death sentence on the doc.
> Refrigerator: Just read it—most of it isn’t even minerals.
> Refrigerator: Plus, the combo’s super inefficient. No synergy, just jammed every good thing in haphazardly.
> Refrigerator: Hate to say it, but trash it.
> Refrigerator: Honestly, my combo’s still the best.
> Refrigerator: Just follow what I tell you.
> PkaetChu: (headtilt)
> DungBeetle: But I stayed up all night on the ultimate combo…
> MagicIsFirepower: But honestly, isn’t my idea pretty good? Newbie, what do you think?
“Crap.”
Before I knew it, the comments had turned into a pride battle among the mages.