An Unexpected Discovery (Signed Contract; Please Recommend, Invest, and Collect!)

Compared to the quiet, peaceful Blacksmith, the Village Library next door was filled with all kinds of Villager noises.

The Villagers all made more or less the same sounds, but each group had its own frequency and timing. When they gathered together, they often produced that irritating racket.

Even after this world had become real, those sounds had apparently not quieted down at all.

And it was amid all that noise that Yinsen silently worked his way down the row of bookshelves.

The treasures of a library were its books. Before they had started raising cattle and horses, books had been incredibly difficult to come by.

The village was one place where they could obtain books in large quantities. That was why Fang Bie had given Yinsen so many earnest reminders.

As you'd expect from a surgeon who wielded a Scalpel, Yinsen took his Wooden Axe and chopped every bookshelf into scattered books, all without touching a single Villager despite the Iron Golem guarding the village. He then made it back to the Blacksmith without a hitch.

By then, Fang Bie had just finished breaking the two Furnaces outside the Blacksmith. He'd once seen a few guides claiming that there might be good loot hidden behind Furnaces.

But he had broken countless Furnaces in the game and never found anything. He had no idea which rascal had started that rumor, but, as expected, there was nothing this time either.

He wasn't bothered. He carried a few extra buckets and cleared away all the Lava beside the Blacksmith. The source of the heat vanished, and cool air began to drift through the area.

"Fang Bie, come take a look! Is this the diamond you mentioned?" Yinsen hadn't wanted to interrupt Fang Bie while he was busy, so he'd gone into the Blacksmith and checked the contents of the chest first.

Opening a chest gave you the distinct feeling of finding treasure. Fang Bie had long since gotten used to it, but his companion was still a complete newcomer, so the discovery felt fresh to him.

"A diamond?! Let me see!" Fang Bie's calm expression was shaken. He hurriedly looked up. Even he couldn't help taking an interest in the ultimate material of this initial world.

In Yinsen's hand, a pale blue stone the size of a goose egg glowed faintly. It was about the same size as an ordinary Iron Ingot, but its dazzling beauty far surpassed that of common ores.

Fang Bie gently took it from him, and a screen appeared before his eyes. Fireworks seemed to sparkle across it: "Congratulations! Achievement unlocked—'Shine Bright Like a Diamond in the Darkness!'"

"I didn't expect that to unlock an achievement." Fang Bie chuckled and shook his head, not taking it too seriously.

In the game, achievements like this were little more than milestones. Apart from beginners, most experienced players didn't pay them much mind.

Achievements didn't give him anything; they only told him he'd reached a certain milestone. After giving the diamond a glance, Fang Bie handed it back to Yinsen, who was studying the crafting guide.

Yinsen was the one who was truly excited. The book explained in detail that diamonds were the hardest minerals in the universe they now inhabited, with the greatest combat power and the fastest mining speed.

So, even though there were only two diamonds, he couldn't bear to put them down. He didn't notice his companion's gaze suddenly grow more intent.

Fang Bie opened the chest again and looked at the items inside that weren't diamonds.

Aside from the empty space where the diamonds had been, there were a few other things in the chest.

"An Iron Sword, an Iron Pickaxe, iron armor... all pretty ordinary." Fang Bie put the items into his Backpack as he muttered to himself.

Then he took something out of a lower slot. It was small, with only a tiny, pointed tip sticking out.

At first, Fang Bie barely noticed it and instinctively started to put the little thing into his Backpack. Then he suddenly realized what he was holding and whipped around to stare at it.

It didn't look like much, no bigger than an ordinary seed, though it looked more like a Bamboo Shoot.

The item's information had already appeared before Fang Bie's eyes. Sure enough, it was a Bamboo Shoot!

A Bamboo Shoot wasn't anything special, of course. If he'd found one in the real world, the boy would have glanced at it and moved on. Why would he be reacting like this now?

The memories that had grown exceptionally clear since Fang Bie came to this world now whirled at high speed, searching his sealed-away recollections for that bit of information.

"Bamboo Shoot, from the Japanese Style Mod. A lifestyle item, similar to Food Craft."

It was as if he were watching a recording in his mind, and the other object in his hand made his hazy memories clearer still.

It was the last item in the chest, a rolled-up scroll. Its name was simple: Ancient Scroll.

The scroll itself was nothing special, but the mod it came from was enough to make anyone's spirits lift.

It came from the Last Sword Smith Mod, an expansion to Slash Blade Mod. That meant that the moment Fang Bie found it, this world had already gained the ability to produce Slash Blades!

Fang Bie's breathing had grown hurried, but his years of steady self-control soon brought it back to normal. This discovery only strengthened the conviction he'd already held.

"I knew this world couldn't just be an ordinary starting world. Slash Blades are here already, so how far away can the Twilight Forest be?" Fang Bie smiled faintly and carefully put the scroll into his Backpack.

Ancient Scrolls could hardly be obtained through ordinary means. They could only be found in village temples and various dungeons. This scroll was essential for crafting an Oodachi, so he really did need to keep it safe.

Fang Bie had no plans to go diving now. A chest could occasionally spawn beneath the Well, but the odds were practically nonexistent. It was just like the rumored hidden space behind Furnaces—nothing more than a tale.

"Let's go. First, we'll find somewhere to settle in." They still had plenty to do. Fang Bie planned to move all the Villagers into one house and harvest everything growing in the village's fields while he was at it.

This place was already an excellent place to live. Once they moved all those annoying Villagers elsewhere, they'd have a quiet, spacious village and six plots of farmland already planted with crops, just waiting to be harvested.

That was what a true survival-and-lifestyle player did. It was getting late; they needed to settle in.

(Japanese Style Mod is actually pretty interesting. At least the furniture problem has been solved.)

P.S. Why do other authors' readers come up with endless ideas for their authors to copy, while mine only ever point out bugs in my story? [Throws a fit]

I've seen the suggestions everyone's made in the chapter comments, and I'll consider making changes where appropriate. Of course, I won't change the outline. Can't anyone give me something from the comments to copy? [Grin]