novelraw Chapter 14: This Game is Too Sadistic!
Chapter 14: This Game is Too Sadistic!
Just from the text descriptions alone, it was clear the castle and mine shaft were likely dangerous.
Based on his past gaming experience, Lin Xun guessed that the blacksmith shop on the left was probably a place to upgrade weapons and gear, maybe even sell game items.
After a moment’s thought, he decided to check out the blacksmith shop first.
[You follow the road to the left and enter the makeshift blacksmith shop.]
[The rhythmic clang of hammer on anvil echoes through the shop. A clearly corrupted, elderly blacksmith stands within. Devoid of sanity, it mindlessly repeats forging motions, driven solely by residual memories from life.]
[You attempt to speak to the blacksmith, but it ignores you, continuing to hammer away.]
After the text popped up, nothing else happened. Lin Xun clicked to talk again.
[You attempt to speak to the blacksmith, but it ignores you, continuing to hammer away.]
Lin Xun frowned, deep in thought. He remembered that he had a Basic Forging Stone in his inventory. This might come in handy.
Sure enough, when he selected the Forging Stone, a prompt appeared:[Give the Basic Forging Stone to the blacksmith. It may recognize this familiar item and speak with you.]
Lin Xun immediately clicked to give it.
[The Corrupted Blacksmith accepts the Forging Stone, raises its crimson eyes to look at you… then lowers its head and resumes hammering.]
Unwilling to give up, Lin Xun tried speaking again.
[You attempt to speak to the blacksmith, but it ignores you, continuing to hammer away.]
???
“Wait, what? I gave you a gift! You’re still ignoring me?”
“Maybe the item I gave wasn’t good enough. Didn’t hit the affection threshold.”
Most likely, the forging stone’s quality, or quantity, was too low to trigger the next event.
He needed more forging stones.
Rubbing his chin, Lin Xun remembered the road to the right led to an abandoned mine.
“Could there be forging stones in that mine?”
He exited the blacksmith shop and chose to explore the mine.
[You proceed to the right side of the path and arrive at the ominous mine entrance.]
[Rusty shovels, pickaxes, and a broken wooden mine cart litter the entrance. Amid the scrap, you find a usable Cross Pickaxe.]
[You have obtained Cross Pickaxe (Item).]
[Cross Pickaxe (Item): Dried bloodstains blend with the rust on the pickaxe head. Its owner likely met a grim fate. Carrying this allows you to mine ore.]
[Do you want to enter the mine?]
With a mining tool in hand, there would probably be new mining options inside.
Lin Xun clicked to enter.
[You step onto the rusty tracks and enter the mine. The crimson sunlight fades behind you. The tunnel grows dark, but faint blue light flickers from bioluminescent fungi along the walls.]
[A shiny glint catches your eye from an exposed corner of the wall, it looks like rare ore.]
[Do you want to mine this ore?]
[Mining in progress…]
Then… nothing.
Lin Xun thought his phone had frozen and quickly restarted it.
Upon reentering the game, the screen still showed: [Mining in progress…]
Only after ten minutes did the text update.
[Mining successful. You have obtained Basic Forging Stone ×1.]
Of course! The mine was a forging stone farming zone.
Lin Xun decided to dig out the entire mine.
[No more mineable ore in this passage. Proceed further?]
[Guided by the faint glow of unknown fungi, you advance deeper and come to a three-way fork: left, center, and right.]
[Which path do you take?]
The text offered no clues about the different paths.
Lin Xun picked one at random.
[You head down the left path…]
Soon after, the game notified him of another ore node. After another ten-minute wait, he received another Basic Forging Stone.
The mine’s layout was complex, with many branching paths. Lin Xun followed each one, marking them on his computer while he continued writing his daily word count.
With the persistence of a Fourth Calamity gamer, he was determined to mine this place dry.
After finishing one fork, he’d return to the intersection and head down the next.
—
Outside, night had fallen.
After finishing two massive 2,000-word chapters, Lin Xun had basically finished exploring the mine. His inventory was now stocked with forging stones.
“Just one last path left.”
[You head down the right path…]
[You blink as your vision clears, you have entered a hidden chamber deep within the mine.]
Lin Xun raised an eyebrow, suddenly interested.
“Hidden chamber”? That could mean treasure… or a tasty red target.
[The chamber’s firelight has long since died, yet it isn’t completely dark. At the center, a massive chest glows faintly with white light.]
[Do you want to open the chest?]
Could anyone resist that? If someone could walk away from this chest, you’d better not be friends with them, they’re probably capable of anything.
Lin Xun, clearly not that kind of person, clicked “Yes” without hesitation.
[You stride forward and open the chest…]
[The white light abruptly shifts to crimson. Skeletal, elongated arms extend from the chest’s sides; two massive legs stretch out from below. The lid transforms into a maw bristling with fangs.]
[A three-meter-tall Mimic snaps down on the head of the greedy fool—you, caught completely off guard.]
[You have died!]
???
“This game is cursed! I just got sneak-attacked by a damn chest?”
“If you’ve got guts, fight me head-on! What’s with the cheap ambush?!”
Lin Xun had guessed the hidden room would contain either treasure or a monster. He didn’t expect both at once, in the form of a Mimic.
[You are reborn as a feeble wandering soul in the ruined church…]
Lin Xun had spent a soul point earlier to reshape the Paladin Shell. Now he didn’t have enough left to use it again.
Luckily, the Blood Sun Cultist Shell was still intact and usable.
[The weak wandering soul possesses the ‘Corrupted Blood Sun Cultist’ Shell.]
Soon, he returned to the mine.
Thanks to his carefully documented routes, he quickly found the hidden chamber again.
[You blink as your vision clears—you have entered a hidden chamber deep within the mine.]
[At the center of the room stands a massive chest glowing faintly with white light.]
“Heh. Still pretending to be a saint, huh? Don’t you know you can’t use the same move on a Saint Seiya twice?”
Lin Xun opened the Blood Sun Cultist’s skill menu, preparing to use Backstab, but then he noticed something else: the Paladin’s Two-Handed Greatsword was still sitting in his inventory.
He tried equipping it to the Blood Sun Cultist.
[You have equipped the Two-Handed Knight Greatsword (Common+).]
[You have become stronger!]
Seriously? It worked?
Apparently, the game didn’t have strict class or gear limitations. Even though the Blood Sun Cultist was clearly a rogue-type, he could still wield knight weapons.
[You quietly sneak behind the chest and draw the Knight’s Greatsword. You unleash a Backstab on the Mimic.]
[A wretched howl echoes through the hidden chamber…]
[You have defeated the Mimic. Experience slightly increased.]
[You have obtained Intermediate Forging Stone ×1.]
[You have obtained Moonlight-Infused Sandpaper ×2 (Item).]
[You look at the Mimic’s Shell before you…]