As for where to go and what ore to look for...
Park Sam-chang didn't have any specific goal in mind.
He was only heading out because everyone else was doing the same.
But he had his own understanding of the Block World, and knew there was a good chance it would be something he'd never seen before.
He deliberately chose a mine where no one else would compete with him.
Torchlight illuminated the surrounding area, and a winding passage led deep into the mine.
Every so often, the groans of zombies could be heard, making him hesitate.
"The best rewards are hidden in dangerous places!"
Taking a deep breath, Park Sam-chang steeled himself and went inside.
Monsters could easily appear in the dark. Luckily, he'd already made a Stone Sword.
As long as he was careful, he could kill zombies.
But the farther he went, the narrower the passage became.
There was no lava or ore, and only a few bits of common coal could be seen embedded in the stone.
"Something's not right. There aren't any zombies nearby, so where's that sound coming from?"
Even though he'd killed the zombies, the sound of their groaning continued to reach Park Sam-chang's ears.
But after exploring everywhere he could see, he still couldn't find where the zombies were.
"A hidden area?!"
With a vague suspicion in mind, he picked a direction and started mining the blocks.
Crack!
The block dropped and was automatically stored in his inventory.
Only then did he notice that even this wall wasn't made of ordinary stone blocks, but something else.
[Tuff Brick]
A special gray brick block.
On the other side of the block, an entirely new area had appeared!
"How could there be a hidden area inside such a tiny mine?"
"We found a hidden area!"
"Our country really is blessed with extraordinary luck. First the Ender Pearl, and now we've found a new place!"
"Just look at how big the room is. There's bound to be something good inside!"
"Maybe there are diamonds!"
The unexpected discovery instantly excited the viewers from Park Sam-chang's country.
Anyone could tell this place was no ordinary find!
And Park Sam-chang really was lucky.
Behind the broken brick wall was a monster room, with four or five zombies freshly spawned inside.
Sensing an enemy nearby, they all activated and walked toward Park Sam-chang.
Under normal circumstances, without armor and with only a Stone Sword, killing one or two zombies would be the limit. He wouldn't be able to handle this many enemies.
But the hole he'd made in the blocks was exactly one block wide, trapping the zombies inside so they couldn't get out. All he had to do was attack them.
After easily taking care of them, dealing with the remaining Monster Spawner was even simpler.
He jumped inside, switched to his wooden pickaxe, and mined it before it could spawn more zombies.
[Congratulations, you have completed the Trial Room Challenge: Zombie Challenge House.] [Your daily block-mining limit has increased. You have obtained a Trial Key.]
Three ordinary chests, plus a Trial Vault.
That was the reward for the zombie spawner room.
Park Sam-chang was delighted.
"My daily mining limit went from three blocks to four!"
More importantly, the chests were full of good stuff!
Steak, pork chops, arrows, emeralds...
The resources were packed so tightly they nearly filled his inventory!
And when he used the key to open the vault, he got a god-tier piece of equipment.
A shield with thirty durability left!
Its durability wasn't high, but he'd seen Gu Yu use one. It could block most attacks.
It was practically a get-out-of-death-free card—a god-tier item, no question!
Crack!
Just as he was celebrating, the sound of something being triggered rang out.
A monster suddenly appeared.
A zombie—or, more precisely, a Villager Zombie.
[Hidden Duel Room triggered!] [Please kill the Architect of the Sky Island (Undead).] [Description: He was once an architect, renowned throughout the Large Block, until an accident struck...] [His strength has since declined. Will you end his suffering, or try to save him?]
He'd stumbled into a Trial Room and triggered a hidden event just by exploring.
It was as rare as finding diamond ore.
Park Sam-chang really was unbelievably lucky.
But he couldn't bring himself to smile.
Rewards were one thing, but why did he have to fight a boss?
It wouldn't be a problem if he had equipment, but all he had was a Stone Sword!
Far stronger than an ordinary zombie, the Villager Zombie leaped three blocks into the air and landed right in front of Park Sam-chang.
He instinctively blocked with his shield, but the impact sent tremendous force through it.
He almost got knocked over!
"Run!"
Knowing he couldn't win by force, Park Sam-chang hurriedly fled.
But even after he escaped the area, the zombie kept chasing him. It seemed to have locked onto him.
Unlike ordinary zombies, it wasn't afraid of sunlight, and didn't catch fire even in the daytime.
With danger closing in, Park Sam-chang had a sudden idea.
"I remember there's a guardian in Gu Yu's area. I'll lure the boss over and let the guardian deal with it!"
The zombie looked powerful. If he could get the two to fight, he could sit back and reap the benefits!
He immediately picked a direction and ran.
On the Sky Island,
Gu Yu wasn't idle while waiting for the Villager Zombie to respawn.
He built a pool.
Worried it would be too small to catch anything, he made it bigger than usual.
It was probably several blocks larger than the original Sky Island.
"One bucket of water, and you can irrigate an ocean!"
He'd already gotten a bucket of water from the resource area.
He made a four-block space, then placed two water buckets in opposite corners. And just like that...
Following the laws of block physics, a complete, beautiful Infinite Water source had formed.
Then he began carrying bucket after bucket from the source to the pond. Before long,
the pool was finished!
He propped a wooden stair beside it as a chair, took out his fishing rod, and cast it into the water.
There was no need to raise fish or attach bait. A moment later, the fishing rod began to shake violently.
[Raw Cod]
He wasn't coming up empty!
"The Sky Island's so small. How'd he build such a huge pool?"
"Everyone else is fighting over diamonds and mining, while you're fishing. Does that make any sense?"
"Shouldn't the real question be how he got a whole pond of water from just two buckets?"
"I hadn't noticed until you said that, but how come those four blocks of water never run out?"
"And there are fish, too? So fish just spawn naturally wherever there's water?"
"When did he even make a fishing rod? Great God Gu Yu's playing a completely different game from everyone else!"
"There are so many things to complain about, I don't even know where to start!"
He clearly had the biggest advantage, and now he was fishing.
No one knew where he'd gotten the water, or when he'd made the fishing rod...
Everyone else was here to survive. Gu Yu seemed to be on vacation!
"That kid..."
Fries couldn't help laughing.
Even though he was in the most dangerous Large Civilization, with an atmosphere like that...
He was having an easier time of it than Fries!
"Fish don't need to be raised, and it looks like water can form an infinite source..."
Dean Qi, on the other hand, was busy recording everything Gu Yu did.
He was noting down the properties while analyzing how they worked, so that the other contestants could use them in the future.
Compared with him, Gu Yu was far too relaxed!
"Oh, I got treasure!"
After catching more than a dozen kinds of fish, the next thing to come up on his fishing rod was something unexpected.
[Enchantment Book, Weakness I]
An Enchantment Book with the Weakness effect!
Since he didn't have a Blaze Rod, Gu Yu had been wondering how to make a Weakness potion.
Now that he'd gotten an Enchantment Book for free, he didn't have to waste the one in his chest on his iron gear.
"Good stuff!"
An anvil only needed iron blocks and iron ingots, and he'd prepared those long ago.
He enchanted his Iron Sword, then planned to visit the resource area and make a Golden Apple.
That way, once the Villager Zombie spawned, he'd be able to convert it right away.
As soon as he reached the resource area, he noticed something seemed off.
Before you continue