“Sometimes, it will fall down on its own if you stack it wrongly.”

“Ah. I see.”

Brony breathed a sigh of relief when the two people in front of him turned their heads away.

‘Phew...’

Brony’s chest was still beating wildly. Although he called the memories of that time as ‘Anyway, it’s just a part of my dark history…’ he could still vividly remember how terrible it was. Kang Minhyuk was someone that would never let his enemies go once he latched on to them. That bastard was now in Bretley Mines! Just then, Brony paused. He thought, ‘But, this bastard...’

Brony squinted to look at Minhyuk’s equipment. He could see that Minhyuk was holding a pickaxe in his hands. The Bretley Mines was frequented by blacksmiths who were at most at Level 100, which meant that Minhyuk was not yet at Level 100. He even had a production class!

‘However, I’m still cannot be too sure about him.’

There were always exceptions to the rule. Brony looked at the now matured and grown-up Kang Minhyuk. He was about ten centimeters taller than back then, and his face had lost its immaturity.

‘Life’s not fair. He looks really handsome,’ Brony thought sourly. It was one thing that Brony had to admit. Thinking about it, Brony had lost all contact with his classmates when he transferred schools. He did not know how it happened but it just did. He also recalled that his father told him not to cause any trouble with him. But that was…

‘That’s in reality!’ 

Would the son of the Chairman of Ilhwa Group willingly share that he got PK-ed inside the game and go after them in public? Of course not. Besides, what if he was really just a production class player?

‘When will I ever step on him, if not now!’ Brony thought. This proved that Brony never listened to what his father said! 

Not long after, Brony left the Bretley Mines. Then, he drank another invisibility potion and checked the surroundings carefully. He also went into the other mines and listened to the miners’ conversations.

“I also saw that guy. The moment that I saw him, I thought that I should probably work harder. He can do bandaging, blacksmithing and even cooking, you know?”

“What an amazing guy!”

After listening to the miners’ stories and conversations, he summed up everything and analyzed their topic.

‘Even if that person is a production class player, how does he have three skills related to DEX? How did it happen? Ah, maybe he has a hidden class?’

A character that could learn more production skills compared to others. In any case, he was still easy to deal with, albeit with a hybrid class. After all, non-combatant players were considered to be weak. Even if they reached Level 100, their strength would only be comparable to Level 70 warrior class players.

Brony could definitely see it. He thought, ‘Keuhahahahahaha! The day where I can step on Kang Minhyuk has come!’

Brony grinned widely as he looked forward to the day when he could trample on Kang Minhyuk.

***

Minhyuk continued to mine for ores inside the mines for two straight days without much of a break. His only reason was because he wanted to eat a more special chocolate! However, no matter how much he tried, the drop rate for these special ores was just abysmally low. Still, he thought positively and continued to dig. With his unwavering will, he finally saw an ore that was shining with a golden light.

[You have acquired a Gold Ore.]

[You will be able to receive a special Chocolate Ore if you want to.]

“Oh!” Minhyuk shouted happily.

Ruwan approached Minhyuk and said, “Gasp...?! That, isn’t that a gold ore? Wow, this is much more expensive than iron ore!”

“Ah, really?! I…is that really true!”

“Of course. You can even buy an item with it...”

“Then, I can eat something much more delicious?!”

“Yes?” Ruwan asked, a bit taken aback. He wondered what this guy was saying?

Minhyuk quickly made his decision. He said, “I’ll get the special chocolate!”

A small light flashed, as the surface of the gold ore suddenly turned into a foil. Minhyuk hurriedly peeled off the foil. Then he saw…

…Crunch! It was none other than the Crunch chocolate. Crunch Chocolate! It was chocolate with rice krispies inside it.

“Gasp. That…that’s a gold ore! Why did it become a chocolate…..”

“I got it from a quest.”

“N... No, why would you even turn a gold ore into chocolate?!”

“Delicious chocolate is much better than having useless gold!”

“...”

Ruwan could only sigh in defeat as Minhyuk stuffed his face full of Crunch. He did not even look at the details of the chocolate and just munched on it. The moment that he chewed on it, he could feel the crisp and crunchy texture of the chocolate as the sweetness spread in his mouth.

“As expected, chocolate is really better than gold!” Minhyuk said. Then, after eating Crunch…

[You have achieved the Hidden Piece: True Chocolate Miner.]

[You have acquired 30 million gold.]

[You will be able to acquire gold whenever you eat chocolate from the mines.]

“...?”

Minhyuk looked like he won the jackpot before turning to Ruwan and asked, “What’s the market price for a piece of gold ore?”

“Five million gold.”

“That’s just a drop in a bucket.”

“....?”

Minhyuk did not explain in detail about that part. All he knew was that he could now get money whenever he ate chocolate! What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander[1].

Leton grinned as he watched Minhyuk and his antics. He thought, ‘I know that he just wanted to eat chocolate, but I still can’t believe that this guy will work so hard to do so...’

He thought that Minhyuk was really amazing. Why? In the span of two days, he was the person with the least amount of sleep among all of them. Even when the whole mining team left him alone due to his harsh schedule, he still continued to work hard. His total result in those two days was equivalent to all of the harvest of all the five mining teams here. The total, even if one excluded the harvest of the rest of the Fifth Mining Team, was still much more compared to the rest of the four other mining teams. After a long time of feeling down, Leton was finally in high spirits. He thought proudly, ‘This person is from our Fifth Mining Team!’

Their achievements right now were all thanks to Minhyuk. He approached Minhyuk and said, “Boy, I have a proposal for you.”

“Proposal?”

“Yeah.”

Leton nodded his head as he laid down his proposal. He asked, “By any chance, do you have any intention of being a legendary miner?”

[Mining Captain Leton has suggested that you become a Legendary Miner.]

[If you accept and become a Legendary Miner, then your blacksmithing will increase and your output in mining will be ten times more than the others.]

‘...!’

Minhyuk had not been aware of this. He did not expect that Leton was a guardian that could give out a Legendary class! The very same Leton, the leader of the mining team that was on the verge of being disbanded! It turned out that the trigger condition for the ‘Legendary Miner’ quest  was to help the Fifth Mining Team overcome their crisis, helping them obtain an overwhelming mineral turnover that would make them the highest among all of the mining teams. Minhyuk had gone above and beyond in more ways than one.

“As you can see, the Legendary Miner will allow you to have a mining speed that’s ten times faster than normal miners, which will give you ten times the output. Also, you will get special abilities for your blacksmithing skills.”

“Gasp?!” Ruwan gasped and reacted to the explanation, not Minhyuk. He thought, ‘Ten times the output compared to normal miners?!’

That was ten times more than what regular miners could get, which meant that it was an opportunity for anyone to become a rich man. Furthermore, what if he also received better skills on top of getting a faster mining output?

‘Wow... Receiving this legendary class for a class change is like winning the lotto for someone with a production class!’

It would definitely generate a lot of impact and influence. In addition, the blacksmithing ability would increase tremendously once the class was accepted. 

However, at this moment, Minhyuk was agonizing over how he would politely refuse the offer. In the end, he said, “I’m really, really, really grateful for your proposal. Captain Leton. However, I already have a class. It’s an extremely great class where I can eat really, really well and... I think that my current class suits me the most.”

“Phew. That class is much more suited to you compared to mining? Anyway, it seems like your class is related to eating. Sigh. I get it,” Leton said in disappointment, but he still nodded in understanding. Minhyuk knew that he received this proposal because he got very close with Leton over the course of two days.

“Huh?! Minhyuk, you really won’t take it? For real?! Then, let me do it! Me! Me! I’ve been doing my best as the youngest so far! Please let me do it!”

Leton looked at Ruwan from head to toe and said, “Boy... Hmm... It’s not like that... you know. Something like that...”

“What? What do I know?”

“Ah, you know, that?” Leton said before turning around.

“No, what was that?!” Ruwan exclaimed. However, Leton just left without saying anything further. Ruwan was so curious about the words that Leton blurted out.

***

Three days later.

Kald went towards an area that was not too far from the Bretley Mines. It was the place where he could place the key in. He thought, ‘The entrance to that place will appear two hours after I insert the key.’

The moment Kald inserted this key, plenty of stronger monsters would rush out of the mines. The people inside the mine would not be able to hold them back but the Horden Guild would definitely be able to hunt them. Kald was certain that there was no other variable. They had prepared for this moment perfectly. After some time, Kald sent a whisper to Brony.

[Kald: Are you ready?]

[Brony: Of course. All of my guild members are now ready to be deployed in front of the mines.]

[Kald: Make your move as soon as I send the signal out.]

[Brony: Yes!]

After confirming the status of Brony and his guild members, Kald decisively inserted the key. Then, notifications rang in his ears.

[You have used the Legendary Key.]

[The Road to the Legend will open in two hours.]

Kald quickly notified Brony when he heard the notification.

[Kald: Now!]

***

Leton was extremely angry when he entered the mines. He said, “Those damn soldier bastards!” 

“In the end, they did not allow it again?” 

“With all the output that we have in these three days, they still did not allow it?!” 

They grumbled loudly, complaining about the soldiers’ stance on the matter. The Fifth Mining Team had amassed a lot of iron ores in the past three days. However, the soldiers had remained tight-lipped, ignoring the miners’ pleas when they demanded better distribution and a set of equipment. It was a matter of fact that they should not cut off their supplies right now. Besides, Minhyuk was still working hard to gather minerals and ores inside. 

Right at that moment…

“Keuaaaack!” 

“Uwaaaaack!” 

“Keoheeeeok!” 

Screams came from outside the mines.

“W…what was that?!”

“What’s that sound?”

The miners were shocked when they heard sudden screams from the outside. It did not end there… All of a sudden, there were monsters coming out from the depths of the mines. They were Iron Wolves!

“...Gasp?!”

“Gasp?!”

The miners trembled in fear. The monsters that usually appeared in the mines were only around Level 80-100. However, Iron Wolves were considered to be quasi-boss mobs and were above Level 150. Right now,  a bunch of these monsters had appeared in front of them!

“H…how could this be? Everyone, run...!” Leton shouted. However, before he could finish his words, the Iron Wolf lunged forward.

“Grrr!”

The Iron Wolf opened its maw and went for Leton’s head but then…

Slash!

Ruwan quickly hit the head of the Iron Wolf with his pickaxe.

“Grrr!”

However, Ruwan’s blow did not deal any major damage to the Iron Wolf. After all, Ruwan was still just a Level 100 warrior class player before he came to the mines. This was the only reason why his strength and physical abilities were vastly different compared to the miners. Ruwan knew that he could not defeat these monsters. However, he was a human being, if he saw the miners die in front of him, his heart would also feel empty. Other players would say, ‘What does it matter if the NPCs died?’. He was different. Ruwan quickly calculated his chances as he thought, ‘Will I be able to buy them time to run away?’

After all, Ruwan would not suffer much of a penalty, and he would just be logged out. In fact, all of his artifacts were so shitty that it was just like iron ore even if he dropped them here. However, as he looked around, he realized, ‘Damn it... Minhyuk is just a production class player!’ 

Ruwan could only trust other players to assist him at this point. Unfortunately, the other player that he could rely on was a Level 90 production class player! It would be difficult for both of them to buy the miners enough time, even if they joined forces. Ruwan quickly made a decision. He said, “Minhyuk, quickly take the miners away! Lion’s Roar!”

[Lion’s Roar.]

[Irritates all of the monsters within a five-meter radius and draws their attention towards the user.]

“Grrr!”

“Grrrrrrr!”

All of the Iron Wolves turned to look at Ruwan. Ruwan was confident that this skill would allow Minhyuk and the rest to evacuate safely. However, when he turned his head around he saw Minhyuk right behind him. He was not running away. Ruwan even saw Leton pulling his arms and trying to persuade him.

“L…let’s go quickly! What else can you do! We won’t be of any help to him even if we stayed here!”

However, Minhyuk still stood there without moving an inch. Ruwan smiled at him and thought, ‘Are you telling me that I shouldn’t be the only one who should be logged out? Do you want to come with me? We knew each other for just a short period of time, but you’re already treating me like a friend!’ 

Ruwan felt both happy and thrilled. However, Minhyuk, who was standing behind him, had a different line of thought altogether. He thought, ‘That. Isn’t that the mithril ore?!’ 

Minhyuk’s eyes were glued to where the mithril ore was. It seemed that it had fallen off the walls when the Iron Wolves appeared.

‘I feel like… there will be white chocolate in there,’ Minhyuk thought and licked his lips. At the same time, the Iron Wolves launched their attacks on Ruwan.

“Ru…Ruwaaaaaaan!”

“N…nooooo!”

“You might have looked like a bandit, but you still did a good job!”

Minhyuk murmured softly among the miners’ screams, “Step.”

1. used to say that one person or situation should be treated the same way that another person or situation is treated ☜