First Mana Stone Harvest
Today was officially my first day entering a gate.
But I ran into trouble with Mom right at the entrance.
I should have known the moment she offered to drive me. She really meant it when she said she'd go in with me.
“Wait… does this even make sense?”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“You said you were just going to check the entrance, so why are you telling me to just hang around the entrance and come right back?”
It was possible to just scout for mana stones and leave, but the problem was that raising my circles required staying inside for a long time…
“Or we go together. That’s the only option, right?”
“You don’t even have a safety completion certificate, Mom!”
“Then I’ll go alone. Will you wait until I bring one back?”
“Ughhh…”
This is so frustrating!
For now, the only choice was to get my hands on a mana stone no matter what, make defensive gear and equipment with it, and prove I could handle myself.
“Haa…”
“We talked about this. You have to be out in thirty minutes.”
“That’s too short! Give me at least an hour!”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Aaaagh! No, thirty minutes! Thirty!”
There was never any room for negotiation from the start.
I am not embarrassed.
This is the truth. I’ve finally reached the point where I can gather mana stones and absorb mana. Who cares about clothing at a time like this?
“Mom, I’m heading in!”
“Don’t be late.”
“Got it!”
And then I had to apologize to the frowning gate administrator about thirty times.
Since it was a low-rank gate, the entrance diameter was only about five meters.
Public employees were strictly controlling the flow of people going in and coming out.
The gate was a treasure trove of resources.
From trees and water to underground minerals, trucks were lined up on the other side hauling everything out.
If those lines got tangled, people could get crushed flat in an instant.
“Shall we go?”
[Should I go first?]
“We’re going together, obviously!”
And so I took Dolmaeng-i’s hand and stepped through the gate. The familiar chill still gave me goosebumps, but—
“Hoo— ha— hoo— ha—”
Clear air and the rich scent of dense mana.
I had entered this world.
I could hear people whispering around me, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to them.
«Tzzzzt—»
I looked around and began filling my heart and entire body with mana.
The cold mana crossed the boundary and entered my body, where it turned warm.
‘The mana concentration is seriously high. Spending thirty minutes here is way more efficient than spending all day back on Earth.’
Gathering mana like this continued as naturally as breathing, out of pure habit.
«Chrrrr—»
At the same time, I spread my mana as thinly and widely as possible for a different purpose.
I coaxed the mana that wanted to return to me and sent it as far away as I could.
‘Good boy. Go farther and find me some mana stones!’
Maybe it understood my will, or perhaps it was thanks to this body’s natural mana sensitivity, but I was able to sense things much farther than I expected.
Is this what it feels like when a person senses radar or radio waves?
I wondered if other people knew what it felt like to have the whole world filled with resonance.
‘Found one! What are you?’
And there it was—a dense gathering point of mana.
I opened my closed eyes and looked toward where I estimated the mana stone would be. It was somewhere in the middle of the plains.
It was only an estimate because I wouldn’t know exactly what was there until I went to check.
I had simply followed the flow of mana to where it grew thicker.
‘Huh? It actually worked? It’s not even that far. Dolmaeng-i, let’s go!’
[I will follow right behind you if you lead the way.]
Now I was really in a hurry. Knowing Mom, she would actually report me if I took longer than thirty minutes.
I didn’t want to cause trouble for the association employees, so I had to get out before it got too late.
And the place we headed toward—
Since we were in the middle of the plains, we naturally drew everyone’s attention.
Dolmaeng-i was a robot.
And I was dressed like someone who had just come from riding a skateboard in a big park.
“I don’t have time to worry about other people! Dolmaeng-i, let’s start! Take out the tools!”
«Vrrrrrm—»
We pulled out a pickaxe and a shovel.
The thing I suspected was a mana stone was underground. Since I didn’t have a mining golem or anything, what choice did I have?
I just had to do it with my own body.
«Thwack thwack— clang clang—»
Dolmaeng-i even raised its output, and I swung the shovel and pickaxe diligently while sweating bullets.
What the people were talking about were the pitifully tiny mana stones dropped by regular monsters, not bosses.
Even those only appeared once in a blue moon, like winning five thousand won on the lottery.
People even started looking at us with pity.
Still, Dolmaeng-i kept digging the ground diligently even while approaching overload, and eventually we found what we wanted.
“That’s it! I need to do some preliminary processing, so cover me for a bit!”
[I will calculate the direction of the crowd’s gaze and block their view appropriately.]
A mana condensate glowing with a faint blue light.
It was much paler and larger than the mana stones commonly found in monsters.
And it was emitting such a faint glow that it would have been difficult to spot at night.
‘I need to hurry. External exposure? Or maybe it became unstable as the environment changed.’
«Vrrrrrm—»
I began interfering with the mana stone, which existed in a strange state that was both matter and not matter.
The mana stone seemed to giggle ticklishly.
‘Good boy? Want to come with me?’
«Vrrrm—»
Was that a sign of consent? I poured my mana into the stone as a finishing touch, and it rang out loudly once before a fist-sized mana stone dropped to the ground.
‘This has to be almost a hundred grams, right? Getting this much in one go? The total amount I could get from this entire gate might be more than I thought!’
It was only one spot nearby, but if there were multiple locations? This was practically a gold mine.
‘Ugh. Still, I need to raise my circles quickly if I want to keep mining mana stones. I never expected I’d have to use my own mana to stabilize them. This was outside my calculations.’
“Ughhh. Good work, Dolmaeng-i.”
[….]
“Huh? Wait, don’t tell me?”
[….]
“No way? It can’t be, right? It better not be! Dolmaeng-i!!!”
Dolmaeng-i had entered sleep mode.
No! No! No!
There were a lot of people around, and the exit wasn’t too far, so I could carry it, but…
If you were going to run out of energy, you should have saved some…
“Haa…”
Was it because all my attention was focused on the fist-sized mana stone I had stuffed in my pocket?
I could faintly hear people whispering, but I wasn’t embarrassed.
Really. Sob… sob…
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. No problem.”
“Um? You’re crying, though?”
“No, I’m not. It’s just snot and sweat.”
“From your eyes… Hmm… I understand. The exit is this way.”
“Thank you for your hard work…”
Thankfully the perceptive public employee didn’t ask any more questions.
This is just sweat from working hard, that’s all.
Carrying Dolmaeng-i, the pickaxe, and the shovel added up to about forty kilograms. My legs were shaking and the sky looked yellow.
But I got the loot.
I stepped out of the gate with a big smile on my face.
“Hmm? Ian?”
“Oh? I’m back?”
“What happened to you? Did you go inside and play in the dirt? And why are you carrying the robot out?”
Now that I thought about it, it probably looked pretty strange.
A world where people carry robots on their backs.
“There were circumstances. Yeah, I did play in the dirt. Anyway, something good happened!”
“Hmm. Twenty-eight minutes… You didn’t go over time.”
“Yep. I tried really hard.”
“Good. If you keep your promises like this, I’ll gradually give you a little more time in the future.”
I need to go home right away and start making a golem~
Right, once I reinforce the defensive gear too, Mom should finally believe me.
The mana stone is so big that I can do everything I want!
“Oh my? You look that happy?”
“Hehehe. Let’s hurry home. Once I make it, you’ll be begging me to make one for you too, Mom.”
“What exactly are you planning to make?”
“Something good?”
It wouldn’t be fun if I told her in advance.
Mom’s car was going to get dusty, but I gently sat Dolmaeng-i in the back seat and even fastened its seatbelt.
‘You worked hard today, huh?’
I should make some equipment for Dolmaeng-i too.
Mining like this was way too inefficient. I needed to find another method.
“Ehehehehe.”
“Um? Ian? Why are you laughing like that?”
“Huh? It’s nothing…”
I had unconsciously let out a sinister laugh, and now Mom was looking at me strangely.
She couldn’t possibly think I went crazy after going to the gate, right?
I was always like this… I need to do a better job hiding it…
Ughhh… I’m sleepy…
…
…
“Huk! Hup!”
I definitely went to the gate with Dolmaeng-i and mined a mana stone…
“Don’t tell me it was a dream!”
[Did you sleep well?]
I can’t believe it…
“My mana stone!”
[I placed it neatly on the desk for you.]
I worked so hard for that!!
“It was a dream?!”
[It is on the desk.]
No wonder it felt like things went a little too smoothly.
“Ugh… no wonder it was too easy…”
[If you are referring to the mana stone, it is on the desk.]
Hm? Did Dolmaeng-i say something?
[Ian, I have told you three times now. The mana stone is clearly on the desk.]
“Whoaaa! My mana stone!”
On the desk, a beautiful blue mana stone was waiting for me.
“Ah… my hard work wasn’t in vain after all!”
[Ninety-eight percent of the work was done by me. On the contrary, you only hindered the work path and lowered work efficiency. Please be more careful next time.]
My hard work wasn’t the mining, so what is this thing talking about?
“Who do you think carried you out after you entered sleep mode?”
[….]
If it wasn’t for me, you would have just woken up crying “Master, where did you go?” right?
“You didn’t use up all your power on purpose, did you?”
[I did not. There is no reason for me to do so.]
“Tsk… From now on, leave some mana so you can move, okay?”
[Understood.]
I didn’t say anything, so how could you use mana until you entered sleep mode?
This is because Dolmaeng-i doesn’t have any friends.
I need to make friends for it soon.
“Sniff. Sniff sniff. Huh? Did I wash up before sleeping? Why do I smell so nice and feel so soft?”
[Mother and Second Aunt washed you.]
“Why? If they had just left me, I would have washed later?”
[I do not know. They both wanted to do it, so they drew straws.]
Hm? Why? They washed a sleeping person?
Wait? If I didn’t wake up even while being washed, doesn’t that mean I basically passed out? I need to quickly make friends for Dolmaeng-i and some equipment.
The one I mined this time definitely won’t be enough.
“Still, I feel incredibly proud.”
[Is that blue rock useful?]
“Of course! I can make Dolmaeng-i Mark Two with it!”
[So I will gain a subordinate. That is good news. Doing all the work alone is too much.]
Is that how it is? A subordinate?
Oho? As the numbers go up… what if around number thirty-three, a building-sized one bows deeply to number one?
“Pffft!! Hehehe…”
That would be fun.
I need to increase the number of friends quickly.
«Knock knock knock»
I was rolling around on the bed enjoying my happy thoughts when I heard a knock on the door.
“Ian, are you awake? If you’re up, get dressed and come out for dinner.”
And then Mom’s voice came from beyond the door.
“Yes! I’ll be right out!”
“I thought you wouldn’t be able to get up? But you wake up right on time for meals. Hehe.”
Meals are a serious matter!
I still want to grow another two or three centimeters! One hundred sixty-two centimeters is really awkward.
Everyone in the family is tall, so when we line up by height, I’m always at the very front.
And there’s a noticeable difference even with Third Aunt, who would be second.
…
“What? Is that true?”
“Whoa? Just by collecting mana stones, Ian could end up earning more than Father’s company?”
“Hah… even so, that much is…”
I had brought the mana stone to the dinner table to show off.
Was it really that expensive?
Everyone’s reactions were strangely lukewarm. What was it… shock and horror?
You know that feeling? Like when a kid playing in the dirt picks up a raw diamond and hits the jackpot?
“You mined something this size in just thirty minutes?”
“Mom told me to come out in thirty minutes. If I had more time, I might have gotten a few more. There could be multiple spots.”
I don’t know exactly how expensive mana stones are. Maybe Dad, who brought some before, knows?
Why are his hands shaking so much? I guess I don’t even need to ask.
“Kids. If this gets out, it’ll be a big problem. Everyone keep your mouths shut. Don’t slip up even at a drinking party. Stay alert.”
“Yes!”
“If it becomes known, there could be people who try to kidnap Ian or harm her.”
“Huk…”
It was that serious?
I need to make golems diligently.
I’ll start working from tomorrow.
The world is harsher than I thought.