ALL NOVEL Chapter 55
Chapter 55 – Collision (5)
“Calm down. He must have thought it through.”
Surprisingly, Barun was just as clueless. He looked at the trembling old man, Teru, with a puzzled expression as he tried to soothe him.
Teru, who had been staring blankly, was now already turning away, holding the titanium pickaxe he had made at the workbench. Thanks to his unique, bouncy way of running, he was quickly disappearing into the distance.
“I think we need some explanation here.”
“I-I was just doing my job, you see.”
Barun patted Teru’s back and demanded an explanation. Just like that, Teru managed to compose himself and began detailing the strange events he had experienced.
From how his bracelet had suddenly transformed into a metal ingot, to how he ended up here. And how he took that ingot and turned it into a pickaxe.
They couldn’t immediately figure out what he intended to do with the pickaxe, but they at least learned that he had gone through all this trouble to make it.
“By the way, what exactly is that bracelet that the god used to create a pickaxe? It seems to be anything but ordinary. Is it a rare item?”
“Actually, I found that bracelet by chance. Back in the northern lands where we had migrated.”
In a natural flow of conversation, Teru explained where he had obtained the bracelet to Barun, who was curious about its origins.
When they had settled near the northern forest before moving here, Teru had gone into the woods with others to gather food and stumbled upon a piece of metal on the ground. That was the source of the bracelet. It was called the Dwarf’s Bracelet, though they had no knowledge of its significance.
“As you know, that area is known to be an extreme border where even tribes of the grassland don’t reside. But the condition of the bracelet was quite good, with no rusting, and it clearly wasn’t something made with typical craftsmanship.”
“It is fascinating, but is that all we can gather right now? Don’t be too disheartened. The god must have a purpose in sending his messenger to retrieve it. It will eventually return to us.”
Barun nodded after hearing the story. After all, losing a precious asset had to weigh heavily on Teru, so he decided to offer him something to ease his trouble, proclaiming himself as a priest in touch with the divine.
‘Hmm, indeed, he has thought everything through.’
And Barun’s expectation proved to be correct.
When they returned from their hunt that day, other residents were buzzing around the base where the bomb shelter and farmlands were spread out, marveling at the facility Teru had created with the titanium pickaxe.
“Suddenly, he showed up with a pickaxe and started digging into the ground in this corner.”
“It was incredible speed. He dug down as fast as a blink, removing earth the height of a person!”
The farmers, who were busy sowing, harvesting, and storing, vividly described what they had witnessed to Barun.
Though they could not ascertain what was happening inside since he had blocked the entrance with stone blocks, they confirmed he was indeed creating something underground.
Barun, along with others, believed that his actions were for their benefit, just as when they had built the bomb shelter or surrounded the area with walls.
“Let’s rest and conserve our strength. Riena, you should also take a full break before he calls for you.”
“You should take some rest too, Father.”
“Compared to wandering around fighting monsters, patrolling the village is just relaxing.”
Still searching underground for higher-level monsters to respawn, Barun sent Shura and Riena outside to rest after finishing their duty.
Once outside, Barun advised Shura and Riena to remove their armor and take a break. In a situation where battles could erupt at any moment, their stamina as vital personnel was most important.
He then roamed around the village. Since he was leading the entire village, it was his duty to help the newcomers adapt smoothly.
Fortunately, there were no significant issues with the newcomers’ adaptation. Abundant food and resources. Just ensuring that the tribes of the grassland, who often faced scarcity, received those would keep their loyalty steady.
‘They don’t seem to go out hunting or gathering much.’
The landscape of the village he surveyed was quite different from his memory. The difference wasn’t just limited to the large structures like the walls or warehouses that started popping up, facilitated by the efforts of the transporters who could now install blocks.
Before being chased out here, most residents had the duty of finding and managing food.
Any negligence in finding food for even a day could leave many starving. But things were different here.
Since nearly all food-gathering activities were performed in the rapidly cycling world of the game, those outside found themselves with plenty of time left.
Likewise, aside from caring for the livestock they had brought over from the game, their spare time was slowly transforming their lives.
“Chieftain! Urgent news!”
“Huh?”
The scouts, hanging around like stuffed toys caught in a crane game, were also doing their part in the surplus of manpower by keeping watch and investigating the surroundings.
After all, threats like bugs and other enemies were overflowing.
*
‘Ugh, I’m so bored.’
How long had it been since I found the titanium pickaxe and started digging like crazy? I quickly got bored and was digging out of sheer obligation.
In truth, having lost interest in this old popular game so quickly was due to my dislike for such elements.
“I found it!”
But still, a game is a game. Digging stairs deep into the ground and rummaging around, I soon encountered a set of incredibly tough black blocks.
These special blocks known as underground stones are what make up the underground world. It’s much more convenient and faster to farm the essence of monsters here. I could already hear the sounds of monsters beyond the walls in my earbuds.
I put away the iron pickaxe I had been using and picked up the newly acquired titanium pickaxe. I specifically wanted a pickaxe beyond titanium to mine only these underground stones.
‘Just mine a bit and seal it off.’
Having mined a few underground stone blocks and created a small entrance, I blocked it with ordinary stone blocks. I planned to send some residents in tomorrow to start farming the essence of monsters.
“Ugh…”
Just as I was about to log off, I stretched and tried to get up. I was starting to feel hungry and needed to grab some food.
[External invasion detected]
“?!”
But I couldn’t do that. Just as I was about to rise, a message popped up on the screen. Startled, I quickly sat back down in my chair.
Nothing was happening in the village. The invasion was occurring a bit away, towards the southwest. The scouts Barun dispatched daily had discovered something.
‘Could it be a minor tribe?’
As I flipped through the screens, I saw them. A few figures standing off at quite a distance from our scouts.
At first, I thought they were members of a minor tribe like Rakum’s.
“—!”
“–, —?”
However, that assumption shattered quickly. They were marked with hostile red borders, indicating they were in a relationship of antagonism, talking back and forth with our scouts.
The alert for an external invasion rang due to the enemies encroaching on a location recognized as our territory, thanks to the presence of our scouts.
[Raider Owl]
[Trait: Martial Arts]
Indeed, when I examined one of them, it was properly categorized as a raider. Naturally, my mouse activated the desktop smashing feature. The only reason I didn’t just smash it was that they were currently talking with our scouts.
“—!”
However, before long, chaos ensued. They began to draw weapons and charge at our scouts first.
Startled, I instinctively moved the mouse and swung the hammer. To me, it was just a hammer icon moving, crashing down on the desktop.
However, if one were to expand the view from their perspective, a massive, translucent hammer, made of unknown materials, would drop from above, shaking the area with its incredible impact.
Naturally, the rushing enemy couldn’t withstand the cloud of dust that kicked up and was knocked into the ground.
‘I need to inform Barun quickly.’
Having dispatched the enemies with a single blow, I swiftly moved the surprised scouts out of that field and back to the village with my mouse.
As expected, even suspended in mid-air, the scouts shouted to Barun about what they had experienced and reported.
I couldn’t catch all the details clearly, but judging by the look of shock on both their faces and Barun’s, it seemed the content of their conversation with the enemies was far from trivial.
‘Lee So-Yeon mentioned that her people were at risk of invasion too.’
Our threats were not limited to the bugs, which were eaters and monsters that could appear at any time. There was the external world, where enemies could exist with unknown possibilities.
There had been several threats until now, but the biggest menace had always been the bugs, while external invasions had only led to minor confrontations.
It seemed we were now confronting the reality of a proper clash with an external force. The world over there seemed quite rough.
Since our growth was inevitable, it was a matter we would face someday. We had just encountered it a bit earlier than expected.
‘Is this sufficient?’
My thoughts deepened as I watched the hammer following my mouse. While this hammer was the only cheat power I had to meddle with the desktop, it wasn’t invincible.
It required charging time if used consecutively, and it wasn’t powerful enough to fend off all the many incoming enemies. I wondered if perhaps they might all rush at it regardless.
“Can we fight?”
As I gazed upon the bustling village, a faint smile appeared on my face.
Even if my special oversized hammer couldn’t solve everything, it didn’t seem to matter.
The homes they built and the structures made from blocks obtained from the game were intertwined in this mysterious village.
The residents living there weren’t ordinary people either. They were those who had grown stronger through their relationship with me, gaining equipment and skills.
They were victors who had fought against the terrifying monsters known as bugs and would do so again in the future.
I was confident there was no way they would lose to their enemy again, especially considering how abundant and empowered they had become compared to when I first arrived.