A Movie Date

Early the next morning, Russell got up and made breakfast. There was juice and milk in the fridge, along with ready-made ingredients. He fried eggs and ham, putting together some fairly presentable sandwiches.

Gladys looked as if she had seen a ghost. She even thought she was still dreaming. The Russell she remembered had always been quiet and never got up early to cook.

"Recently, I've been pursuing a girl. The magic power of love has changed me!"

Gladys reluctantly accepted Russell's explanation. After breakfast, she drove to the Mine, and Russell followed her. His reason was that he loved the town and was willing to contribute his efforts to finding a new mineral source.

Gladys was deeply gratified. Russell had once been extremely resistant to the Mine. This change showed that he had matured.

The mark of a man's maturity was not sleeping with a girl and shedding his virgin label, but understanding how to shoulder responsibility for his family and willingly sweating for it.

Gladys was overjoyed and said she would increase Russell's allowance, but Russell flatly refused, claiming that he was already an adult and could support himself through work.

That made Gladys even more satisfied. Once they arrived at the mining site office, she called over Leon, the miners' foreman, and told him to familiarize Russell with the Mine.

Leon had worked for McCormack Mining for twenty years. He was the most senior miner and knew every tunnel like the back of his hand. Even the Mine maps were less accurate than him.

"Russell, going down into the Mine isn't a game. Never take off your helmet, no matter what happens. When you go to the lower levels, make sure you bring goggles and a wet towel..." Leon tirelessly repeated, "If I'm not with you and you get lost, don't panic. Just follow the wires overhead, and you'll find your way out."

"What if there are no wires in some tunnels?"

"Tunnels without wires are restricted areas. Either they could collapse, or they have high concentrations of gas. If you want to live, don't go in." As Leon spoke, he fastened a helmet onto Russell's head and pulled a wet cloth from a bucket.

Russell decisively refused. Never mind how many sweaty, foot-picking brutes had used that wet cloth—the main issue was that it was not safe enough.

Wet cloths were mainly effective against certain water-soluble toxic gases in mines, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide. But they did nothing against methane or carbon monoxide, so for the sake of his life, he strapped on a respirator.

A little extra weight was better than being dead!

Leon smiled but said nothing. With an old hand like him around, Russell's worries were completely unnecessary. Still, he would not stop him. Safety awareness was a good thing.

"You don't have a lighter on you, do you?"

"Of course not. I'm still young. I don't want to meet God this early!"

"Heh, kid, God doesn't receive suicides."

The two soon entered the Mine. The tunnels stretched in every direction, with more than a dozen abandoned entrances and exits alone. It was pitch-black inside, lit only by bulbs hanging overhead. Without someone leading the way, wandering through it was like exploring an anthill with no sense of direction.

After decades of mining, the veins had nearly been exhausted. With no work to do, the workers had left one after another, leaving Leon with barely anyone to manage.

McCormack Mining could continue operating only because its old stock had not yet sold out. According to Gladys's calculations, if they could not find a new mineral source, the company would close in three months.

Russell had come to scout the place out. Under his guidance, Leon led him to an Ironhide door.

"Beyond this Ironhide door is the basement of the Shopping Center. That idiot mayor must have dog shit for brains. I really don't understand why he built a Shopping Center here." At the mention of Mayor White, Leon's face filled with indignation. "I actually believed his nonsense and voted for him during the mayoral election."

McCormack Mining was on the verge of collapse, and Prosperity Town was declining by the day. Rather than thinking about how to weather the crisis with the entire town, Mayor White had contacted a chemical company called Vioro and spent every day urging everyone to sell their land and relocate. Because of the Shopping Center, he could receive a sizable relocation payment, but everyone knew he would also get an additional source of income besides that payment.

White did not care where the townspeople moved or how they would live afterward. He only wanted to use this chance to rake in money and squeeze out the town's last bit of value. That bastard was human scum!

By the time the morning had passed, Leon had taken Russell on a round through the upper levels. According to Leon, they had only covered a small section—not even one-tenth of the Mine.

During that time, Russell learned that McCormack Mining primarily mined pyrite and copper ore. No associated Gold Mine had been found.

After lunch, Leon led several miners deeper into the lower levels. He wanted to find a new mineral source as quickly as possible. Russell, meanwhile, informed Gladys and left under the excuse that he was feeling unwell.

After walking home, Russell opened his diary and circled the marked cave and Shopping Center. He had not seen the barrel of Chemical Raw Material that caused the spiders to mutate, which meant the plot had not started yet.

Russell could wait for the plot to trigger, but he did not remember the original plot very clearly, so waiting was not particularly meaningful. Following his original plan, he still had to start with the male and female leads.

The male lead, Chris McCormack, was the first heir to the mining company—Russell's cheap older brother. He was currently fooling around in Phoenix City and was temporarily out of reach. The female lead, Samantha Parker, the town sheriff, was close at hand and his best choice for now.

Russell picked up the phone and dialed the Parker residence. After a series of waiting beeps, the call connected. A little boy answered.

Mike Parker!

The police chief's younger son, Big Chest Girl Ashley's younger brother, a brat who knew a great deal about spiders in the original story and was friends with the Spider Keeper despite their age difference.

"This is Russell. Is Ashley home?"

"You're Russell?" Mike's voice sounded rather gleeful over the phone.

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Ashley said that if someone named Russell called, I should say she isn't home."

With that, the call was hung up.

Russell smiled and shook his head, then dialed the Parker residence again. Ashley was angry, but it did not matter. At most, after five calls, she would listen to his explanation.

Sure enough, on the third call, Ashley was the one who answered. Her tone was extremely irritated, and she seemed unwilling to say much to Russell, but Russell was not flustered at all... If she did not want to talk, why had she answered the phone?

"Ashley, listen to my explanation. After I got home last night, I called many times but couldn't find the right number. Because the line was always busy, Aunt Gladys scolded me, punished me by making me responsible for this month's phone bill, and took me to the Mine, where I spent the entire morning digging rocks." Russell did not give Ashley a chance to say much. He spoke rapidly from the start, showing how much he valued her and how apologetic he was.

"You... weren't lying to me?"

"Of course not. To contact you as soon as possible, I spent the whole morning finishing an entire day's work before Aunt Gladys finally let me go. The moment I got home, I started calling. I finally found you." Looking at himself in the mirror, Russell said affectionately, "Ashley, you have no idea what I went through. Last night, I dialed a wrong number, and the person said I was disturbing the peace and even threatened to call the police to arrest me. I spent a long time explaining myself."

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect it to make things so bad for you... I shouldn't have played that prank." Ashley's forceful tone quickly softened over the phone, and she sounded deeply guilty.

"This isn't your fault. I was just too stupid. Ashley, can you forgive me?"

"Of course! I was never mad at you!" Ashley replied almost instantly.

Russell was "overjoyed." With a hint of hesitation, he stammered, "Then... can I come see you now...? We still have the afternoon. I want to... ask you to go watch a movie in a nearby city."

Chaos suddenly broke out on the other end of the line. Russell vaguely heard arguing, which ended with Mike's scream.

"Ashley, what happened over there?"

"Nothing. My stupid little brother tripped while walking..." Ashley's sickeningly sweet voice came through. "Watching a movie is no problem, but you'll have to come in half an hour. I need some time."

"Okay, it's a deal!"

Failure Diary

If you updated several times more words every day than others, gained no new bookmarks or clicks, yet still enjoyed doing it, then rather than saying you worked hard, it would be better to say your editor was good at feeding you motivational nonsense.