WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 115: Mining (2)

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There is a saying.

“Dig all day, and you still will not find a single ten-won coin.”

It means people should stop trying to make money through pointless nonsense and get a proper job.

In reality, though, all sorts of things could come out of the ground, and oil was the best of them.

If oil came gushing out, becoming rich would take no time at all.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Uh... I think that might actually be Mithril?

└ Wild Grylls: ?

But I did not need money. I needed something more practical right now.

Even if I struck oil by digging, a lump of steel would be precious in my situation.

Still, I could not help feeling dumbfounded at the appearance of Mithril, which was said to be rarer than steel.

‘This damn forest has weird stuff coming out even when I dig into the ground?’

I had no idea what kind of structure this place had.

Finding Mithril after discovering an Orichalcum cave nearby was already ridiculous enough.

Of course, I had to check carefully whether this was really Mithril.

Various theories had started flying around the gallery too, so I needed to be cautious.

└ That's Mithril? Isn't it too bright for Mithril?

└ It doesn't even seem mixed with rock. It looks like pure Mithril just sitting there.

└ The entire cave was Orichalcum too, so it isn't impossible.

└ Be precise. It is impossible anywhere except the Forest of Four Seasons.

└ Ah. I think I get it. Just like the other animals grew huge, the minerals grew huge too! That's why it already looks like that before smelting!

└ That sounds pretty convincing. Then why are the gorillas still normal?

└ I dunno lol.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Enough. Break off a little and send it to me. I’ll check it.

└ You're going to say that, then go get drunk again. LOL

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Caught me. Lol.

└ Caught, my ass, you little dwarf bastard. LOL

└ A race that drinks every time it takes a break. LOL

Among the countless comments, one caught my attention.

Was this really Mithril in its unrefined state?

Most minerals, Mithril included, were mixed with rock.

Pure material could be obtained by putting the mineral in a blast furnace, in other words, through smelting.

What I had found was pure material that did not even need refining, which made it hard to believe.

There were cases like diamonds, of course, but Mithril was not one of them.

‘Everyone accepts it because I found an Orichalcum cave before, but still.’

Orichalcum was originally a mineral too. Yet I had found a place where the entire cave was made of Orichalcum.

Mithril would be no different. It just happened to be in my home.

Either way, I needed to give the dwarf at least a piece. I looked at the green-glowing Mithril.

‘A Guardian isn’t going to rise out of the ground, right?’

Then the entire cave, floor included, would collapse. So would my heart.

Unlike the Orichalcum cave, though, there was no empty space around it.

There was also a bigger problem.

‘Why won’t this break?’

Mining it was extremely difficult. No matter how many times I struck it with my pickaxe, it did not get a single scratch.

As far as I remembered, it had strength similar to steel while being much lighter.

If it had been mixed with rock, that would have been one thing, but most Mithril was difficult to mine.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Still, what else could I do? I had no choice but to keep mining.

No tree could withstand ten chops. Mithril would be no different.

Especially since I had aura. I mined while using aura as well.

Clang! Crack!

After some time, I managed to mine a tiny amount of Mithril.

I had mined for so long that sweat was pouring down my face.

‘The pickaxe is nearly blunt, and I barely mined any.’

Even with aura, I could not stop the pickaxe from getting damaged.

Aura could enhance a tool’s performance, but it was not all-powerful.

Using aura did not increase the weapon’s durability itself.

The Heavenly Demon’s Sword was simply tough because it had been made from some material called ten-thousand-year cold iron.

I examined the thumb-sized chunk of green ore, then connected to the gallery.

While I was at it, I hoped I could get a good-quality pickaxe from that dwarf too.

[You]: I mined this, so take a look.

[Passing Dwarf]: Yeah.

[You]: If you say you’re going off to drink again, I’m never giving you any more.

[Passing Dwarf]: You're so stingy;;

[Passing Dwarf]: Fine. I get it.

[Passing Dwarf]: It’ll be easy to check, so I’ll let you know soon.

The dwarf said they would make a post, so I checked the remaining Mithril ore.

I was not sure whether I should even call it ore, but I would call it that for now.

Unlike Orichalcum, Mithril could be made into all kinds of equipment, including weapons.

It would definitely be a huge help to me. Before that, though, there was something I needed to do.

‘I should give some to Heavenly Demon and AllHailTheSun.’

If this really was Mithril, there were people I needed to repay immediately.

Heavenly Demon, who had given me an absurdly overpowered item, and AllHailTheSun, who had consistently gifted me shields.

I had thought I could never repay either of them, not even with an Adult Mandrake.

‘And I broke the shield AllHailTheSun gave me.’

Like Orichalcum, Mithril was a mineral difficult to obtain even with money.

AllHailTheSun, who liked rare things, would probably like it too.

‘First, I should find out how far this extends.’

If the entire cave floor was Mithril, that would be a headache in its own way.

I could not leave the Mithril as it was, but I could not break up the entire cave floor either.

After thinking it over, I decided to carry out the plan I had already considered.

I still needed a place to hide things, so I only had to keep digging where I had been digging.

‘Just digging this part out would make a huge space.’

I was not hoping for armor. I only needed spare tools.

I swung my pickaxe diligently to make storage space.

‘Damn it. Should I just ask them to make me a Mithril pickaxe?’

After five minutes of mining, I was already sick of it.

I wiped away my sweat and connected to the gallery. By now, the dwarf should have finished checking it.

[Passing Dwarf]: Hey.

[Passing Dwarf]: Hey, hey. Look already. It’s urgent.

[Passing Dwarf]: You always disappear at times like this, fuck. This is seriously urgent, so hurry up and look.

The moment I entered the gallery, I saw messages from the dwarf that seemed rather urgent.

They had arrived only a minute ago. Looking at them, I wondered.

‘Is it another mineral, not Mithril?’

This was the same person who had gotten drunk, then belatedly said that it was Orichalcum.

It was a little strange for them to send messages like this.

[You]: Why? Is it Mithril?

[You]: Or are you upset because you can't drink?

[Passing Dwarf]: I’m serious, so stop making drinking jokes.

[You]: Yeah;;

[You]: So why are you in such a hurry?

[Passing Dwarf]: It’s Mithril. But it’s completely different from what I thought.

[You]: What's different?

[Passing Dwarf]: It is a solid chunk that barely needs smelting;;

[You]: A solid chunk?

I tilted my head at those words. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?

[Passing Dwarf]: You seriously don’t understand what you found?

[You]: Yeah, not at all.

[You]: Isn’t it just something good?

[Passing Dwarf]: Ugh. Fuck;;

[Passing Dwarf]: Is your head an anvil? Did someone beat it with a hammer;;

[You]: Don't insult me. Explain it.

[You]: I came from another world, so I don't know anything.

[Passing Dwarf]: I’ll explain it assuming your head is an anvil.

Passing Dwarf’s explanation went like this.

Normally, minerals were contained in rock, and their purity could be increased through a refining process.

The same applied to Mithril.

Even the amount mixed into rock and its frequency of discovery were lower than with other ores, so its value was inevitably higher.

Even if what I had found had been raw ore, the amount alone would have been absurd.

[Passing Dwarf]: Weapons and stuff said to be made of Mithril are actually all alloys.

[Passing Dwarf]: There aren’t any tools made from solid Mithril in the world. Even the rich people of Setan can’t pull that off.

[You]: Oh.

[You]: So that means I can?

[Passing Dwarf]: Yeah.

[Passing Dwarf]: If it had been raw ore, I was going to give it back.

[You]: Huh? Why?

[You]: Didn’t you say you were a dwarf?

[Passing Dwarf]: I’m a dwarf, but normally it would need a special refining process.

[Passing Dwarf]: It needs a blast furnace that I can only use with permission from the higher-ups.

[You]: Because you might get caught using the gallery?

[Passing Dwarf]: That aside, my real life would become a massive pain in the ass.

If it required permission from the higher-ups, then the refining process must have been quite complicated.

Then again, it was rare Mithril. That much was only expected.

Since it was a solid chunk, simply melting it down would be enough.

[Passing Dwarf]: How did you mine this?

[Passing Dwarf]: Are you sure you actually mined it?

[Passing Dwarf]: Considering Mithril’s strength, I would understand if you said you picked it up somewhere.

[You]: What are you talking about?

[You]: It was hard, but it split easily like stone.

[Passing Dwarf]: What are you talking about?

[Passing Dwarf]: I told you, what you gave me is a solid chunk. It’s just a lump of metal.

What was this person talking about now? I furrowed my brow.

The Mithril vein was hard, but in my experience, it was definitely not as hard as metal.

If it had been, I would not have been mining it with a pickaxe.

It was rock that I could break somehow. That was the Mithril I was mining right now.

[You]: That’s strange.

[You]: I mined it like stone.

[You]: Isn’t that normal?

[Passing Dwarf]: Don’t talk bullshit.

[Passing Dwarf]: Even a saw would barely be enough to cut it, so what are you talking about;;

[You]: No, seriously.

[You]: I’ll record a video and show you.

[You]: Give me a pickaxe first.

[Passing Dwarf]: I don’t know what bullshit you’re talking about, but I’ll give you one for now.

[Passing Dwarf]: I made it as a spare for myself, so it’ll be good.

[You]: Ah, and make me a Mithril pickaxe.

[You]: It was hard to dig through the ground.

[Passing Dwarf]: For fuck’s sake. LOL

[Passing Dwarf]: The first solid Mithril tool is a pickaxe. LOL

[You]: I'm serious.

[You]: It’ll mine more easily, won’t it?

[Passing Dwarf]: It’ll get a little easier, but

[Passing Dwarf]: It won’t change things dramatically;;

Games really were different from reality. In games, it had been much easier to mine something using tools made of the same material.

Still, Mithril was plentiful, so having one would not hurt.

Even if the visible vein was all there was, it would not be a problem. A pickaxe could be used anywhere.

‘Will this mine it better?’

I checked the pickaxe I received from the dwarf. It looked like an ordinary pickaxe.

The handle was a little short, though. It was probably made for dwarves.

Clang! Clang!

Even so, its performance was far better than my previous pickaxe.

It had a good heft and decent durability. Thanks to that, I could mine a fair amount of Mithril.

Soon, I examined a fist-sized lump of Mithril from every angle and became puzzled.

‘This is strange. It definitely feels closer to stone.’

It did not just feel that way. It also lacked metal’s distinct hardness.

After tilting my head, I sent the Mithril to the dwarf.

[You]: (A video of mining Mithril)

[You]: Look.

[You]: It breaks like stone.

[Passing Dwarf]: This can’t be happening.

[Passing Dwarf]: What the hell is this?

[Passing Dwarf]: What you gave me is a lump of metal;;

[You]: You're good at this, right?

[Passing Dwarf]: Fuck, even so, don’t question my expertise.

[Passing Dwarf]: I may look like this, but I'm a master metallurgist.

[You]: Sorry. I apologize.

[You]: Anyway, I showed you.

[Passing Dwarf]: Fuck. LOL. It feels like all my common sense is falling apart.

[Passing Dwarf]: Don’t you feel anything strange?

I was about to answer, ‘Not at all,’ when it happened.

Sliiide-

A Mithril fragment on the ground moved slightly.

‘...What?’

For a moment, I thought I had seen it wrong.

But that thought was rendered meaningless by what happened next.

Sliiide- Slide-

The Mithril fragments scattered all over from my mining began moving little by little.

Where were they going? Toward the Mithril vein, which still gleamed brilliantly.

I left the gallery window open and stared blankly at the scene.

Plop.

Before long, the fragments merged with the Mithril vein.

As if they had never broken off, they became one body again. I witnessed the sight clearly with my own eyes.

It looked like something laboriously gathering its severed body tissue back together.

‘...No way.’

Still skeptical, I placed my hand on the Mithril vein. There was something I needed to test.

The first rule of the Auction House and private trades was that living creatures could not be traded.

The second was that every side of an item had to be visible.

There was no need to care about the rules after that. They were not very important.

The reason I specifically listed the first and second rules was simple.

‘The second rule only applies after you pass the first.’

That was how the algorithm had been designed. If an item did not pass the first rule, the trade itself was impossible.

If it had been possible, I would not be trapped here. The first rule did not allow for any loopholes.

In other words...

[System] Living creatures cannot be traded.

It was proof that this Mithril vein was alive, like a living creature.

This insane forest had minerals that breathed and lived too.

Footnotes:

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