Deep Down, Blue Ore Growing Beside the Lava

Before anyone stepped through the Obsidian Door.

No one knew what secrets lay inside.

But whether it held a boss, monsters, or something else, Yamamoto Rokuko's instincts told him one thing.

There was definitely something extremely valuable inside!

That was a hunter's instinct!

"But I've gathered all the keys. Why hasn't the door opened yet?"

Looking at the door made of ten blocks of obsidian, Yamamoto Rokuko felt a little worried.

With resources scarce, he could only try to keep costs down. He'd used obsidian for the left, right, top, and bottom.

The four corners were made of other blocks.

Could the door have failed because he'd changed the design?

[Forged by Blazing Fire!]

[Mysterious Door!]

His bloodline ability had activated, and Yamamoto Rokuko breathed a sigh of relief.

The Mysterious Door had been identified, which meant the method really did work!

He'd managed to make ten blocks of obsidian do the work of fourteen. He was impressed by his own ingenuity.

Next, he needed to Forge by Blazing Fire.

He wasn't foolish enough to think that shouting "Sacred Fire Shine Shine" and "Open Sesame" would open the door. He needed another item to help.

As far as he knew, there was only one item that could produce fire.

Flint and Steel!

As it happened, Yamamoto Rokuko knew how to make it.

The old hunter had taught him that combining flint with an iron ingot could make Flint and Steel!

Okamura had already gone to the resource area. He could get a Crafting Table and an iron ingot from him, but what about flint?

Where could he find that?

"Old man, you couldn't even teach me everything before you died!"

He'd killed the old hunter too quickly, so Yamamoto Rokuko had only learned half of what hunters knew. There was a lot he didn't understand.

"Forget it. I'll head to the resource area first."

After finding a mineshaft, Yamamoto Rokuko decided to head downward and explore.

Not long before Yamamoto Rokuko made his way to the mineshaft,

India Nation's player, Kapil, emerged from it, looking somewhat dejected.

"There's nothing in the mineshaft. Mark and the others mined all the gold already!"

Unlike the top three, he hadn't been given the privilege of teleportation. But since he was near the resource area and there were plenty of blocks on the island,

he'd been among the first to arrive.

Using resources from the island, he'd made an iron pickaxe and hoped to get a head start on mining gold. In the end, he'd still been too late.

Viewers in India Nation lamented his bad luck.

"We lost because of our ranking!"

"Ah, if we'd been third, we'd have gotten our share of the gold!"

"Blame Jiuzhou for taking first place and pushing us out!"

"Damn it!"

After Free Nation, India Nation was the angriest at Gu Yu.

They'd always ranked among the top three in resources, but who could have expected a bug to show up out of nowhere?

They'd lost the chance to choose any resource they wanted, and their daily allotment of fifteen blocks had dropped to just five. They also had to pay an extra block as a fee each time they entered or left the resource area.

The difference in treatment was so great that it was hard to accept!

"I can't believe there isn't a single piece of gold in such a huge mineshaft!"

"Free Nation mined all the easy-to-find stuff. What a shame!"

"What's left is either too high up or hidden too deep. It's not worth using up all five chances."

"Go any deeper and there's only lava, iron, zombies, and a few blue ores."

"We're not short on iron, but I don't think we've seen those blue ores before?"

"Could they be a new kind of rare mineral?"

Deep down.

Blue ore growing beside the lava.

Kapil had seen it too, but he hadn't gone over to mine any.

He knew that all kinds of minerals grew underground, but not all of them could be used to make weapons or equipment.

Take redstone, whose uses they hadn't figured out yet; lapis lazuli, which could only be used as fuel; and emeralds, which could be traded with NPCs.

Emeralds were at least a little useful. The others were just useless, weren't they?

Blue ore was certainly rare, but he had only a limited number of chances to gather resources.

He really didn't want to waste one on something unknown.

"Time's limited. Maybe there's some gold ore further away that hasn't been mined yet."

Compared with the other players, Kapil had one major advantage: he'd chosen the stable and could travel on horseback.

That greatly increased how fast he could explore!

Horses had more health, could step over blocks one level high, and could jump as high as three blocks.

They were extremely useful for getting around!

He picked a direction at random, and in the blink of an eye, Kapil had covered several blocks.

After more than ten minutes, the scenery kept rushing past behind him. He'd reached a new area, leaving all the other players far behind.

The elevation was higher here. There were no more grassy plains, and everything was covered in white.

"Snow!"

Snow blanketed the ground, and the cold seeped through his Iron Chestplate, making Kapil shiver.

"Head southwest from the entrance, and you'll find a snowy area!"

Certain no one had been here before, Kapil began exploring with interest.

He felt a little cold. His armor could handle it, but after looking around,

he still hadn't found any gold, only ice and snow.

But it wasn't a complete waste.

[Tomb of the Wandering Merchant]

[The Wandering Merchant died for unknown reasons. His belongings are in the chest. I hope you'll take good care of his two llamas.]

A sign outside an ice hut made of piled-up ice blocks displayed this information.

Inside the chest were six iron ingots, three emeralds, six pieces of wheat, and three wheat seeds.

What surprised him most was the six gold ingots.

"Items from Reward Chests don't count toward the daily limit. Great!"

With the gold ingots, he could finally make golden equipment!

After emptying the chest, he looked outside the ice hut.

Two llamas that didn't seem bothered by the wind or snow were tied up beside the ice.

Judging by the sign, the Wandering Merchant wanted him to adopt the llamas. At first, Kapil had been interested in the creatures.

But then two sheep walked past him, and his attention immediately settled on their white rumps.

He didn't have to say a word. The Indian viewers all understood.

"Yes, I admit it. I have to raise a few sheep!"

"Nothing compares to sheep, not even beautiful women!"

"Forgive me, but I still think lizards are more beautiful..."

"Sheep provide meat and wool, while llamas only provide leather. Sheep are more valuable!"

"Kill the llamas. Their only purpose is to provide leather and leads. Trust me, you'll fall in love with sheep!"

Animals also counted as resources, and there was a daily limit on how many he could obtain.

In the end, Kapil made his choice.

Kill the llamas, take the leads, and bring the sheep along!

The viewers' angry comments couldn't hurt Kapil through his iron armor. The two llamas quickly died, dropping leather and leads.

[You killed a llama]

[You received the Curse of the Wandering Merchant]

Kapil had gained a new debuff, but he didn't feel anything wrong with his body.

"Why do I have a stack of snow and a Pumpkin Head now? Forget it, I'll throw them away."

A Pumpkin Head couldn't be eaten, and snow could only be thrown, without causing any damage.

Keeping them would only take up inventory space, so he tossed them aside in the resource area.

Soft, fluffy snow began falling from the sky.

Kapil noticed that, at some point, several three-meter-tall humanoid creatures had appeared nearby. They were pitch-black all over and looked strange.

He could tell they meant him no good, but fortunately, they didn't attack him outright.

He quickly attached the leads to the sheep and raced back to the island as fast as he could.

He couldn't be bothered with all that weird stuff. He had more urgent things to do now.