Korean Cowboy, Dong-Kwan Park, was no ordinary pot-bellied old man.
He was the leader of the Korean awakening group that came over from LA, and he said that it was also his role to settle about 30 Koreans as miners in Forty-Nine Village.
“Well, I guess I get to see the sheriff here for work purposes…”
It was thanks to you.
You can meet the person in charge of this mining area where it is believed that there are dwarves.
So he directed me to the sheriff’s office in Forty-Nine Village.
Let’s go inside, following the guidance of the office assistant…
“Oh! Park!”
We were able to meet Sheriff Gordon, who was welcoming Park Dong-Kwan.
Gordon was a plump, massive white man with a beaming, salesy smile.
Now it was time to say hello to him and find out some information about the dwarves…
“I was just about to call you. Park, actually… I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it, Sheriff?”
Gordon was the first to knock the player out.
And surprisingly…
“I wish the Koreans could help me out. There’s a dwarf in the mine… It’s causing quite a headache.”
“…!”
He was the first to bring up the story about the dwarves.
Park Dong-Kwan made brief eye contact with me and then began listening to Gordon’s story.
As if to tell me to just ask for the information I need.
“… A dwarf?”
“Recently, the production of reinforced stone has been cut in half… Park, have you seen this thing?”
Gordon took a small object out of his bosom.
A transparent stone the size of a finger joint.
It was a dazzlingly beautiful object that gave off a soft light like a jewel… but judging from his expression, it didn’t seem to be a very pleasant object for Gordon.
When I focused my gaze, I was able to confirm the name of the object through the awakening system.
———
Reinforcement Ore (D)
Attribute: None
———
It was a subtle name.
An object that is ambiguous whether to call it a reinforcing stone or not.
Gordon continued.
“The dwarves were the culprits. Adam saw it clearly yesterday. He said that a short dwarf was turning the reinforcement stones into this kind of ore as soon as he dug them up. Somehow… the deeper you go, the more inadequate the reinforcement stones are!”
Craftsman dwarf.
I don’t know the circumstances, but he was using the reinforcement stones to create ‘raw stones’ that were neither here nor there, rather than higher-grade reinforcement stones.
Pretty trash that can’t even be used for reinforcement.
It seemed to be taking a huge toll on Gordon as well.
Park Dong-Kwan asked in a cautious voice.
“So… how can we help you?”
And.
Gordon’s answer was nothing short of shocking.
“We need to kill the dwarf as soon as possible. However, it is difficult to pinpoint its location because it keeps moving around inside the mine. So, I would like Koreans with a lot of mining experience to come out and help us search for the dwarf.”
“Well… I guess the location you mentioned is an area that hasn’t been occupied yet… There are elite goblins there…”
Park Dong-Kwan asked questions carefully.
But Gordon soon burst into a hearty laugh and patted him on the back friendly.
“Haha, Park! Aren’t all Koreans the holders of the hierarchy? We are all amazed by the power of Koreans.”
“Haha…”
Park Dong-Kwan just laughed without saying anything.
Then Gordon looked at me and said.
“And I would like you to help me too.”
“…?”
Because he kept saying things he wanted to say to Park Dong-Kwan out of the blue, they hadn’t even exchanged names yet.
But Gordon just smiled as if he already knew everything.
“I already heard from the adjutant who you are. It seems you’ve had a hard time in the village… I don’t particularly intend to blame you. Forty-Nine is just that kind of place. Anyway, you’re amazing. All three of you must have been holders of rank…”
Dealing with gangsters in the village.
It seemed like the sheriff had already heard of it.
The sheriff, who had been praising my fighting prowess to the fullest, added:
“So you too will be able to search the mine without difficulty! I will be grateful enough, so please help Park!”
Even the shamelessness of secretly beating the beneficiary of the help to Park Dong-Kwan.
I asked.
I’ve been curious ever since he first expressed his ambition to kill the dwarf.
“That dwarf… has he ever hurt anyone?”
“Well… that didn’t happen, but it’s the same thing. You’re damaging the reinforcing stones, which are assets of humanity.”
Then he added with another bright smile.
“Anyway, they are non-human beings. There are various ways in which beings from other dimensions harm us. Murder, arson, destruction, and even small-scale sabotage like this…”
It was truly a clean slate.
Holding a magic stone in one hand, he spoke his mind without reservation.
It was a speech I didn’t want to listen to for too long, so I nodded my head vaguely.
“Okay, let’s try it. But…”
Then he picked up the raw stone placed on the table.
“Do you need this by any chance?”
Gordon waved his hand readily.
“If you like it, take it. It’s useless, so… No, I would appreciate it more if you could get it out of my sight.”
That was his swear word.
.
.
.
As soon as I left the office, Park Dong-Kwan gave me a heads-up.
With a sudden declaration.
“I’m going to leave here tomorrow night with the Koreans.”
“…Suddenly?”
His expression became extremely murderous.
The old man’s characteristically sad look that could be seen just a moment ago was completely erased.
He said.
“That kid’s thinking of using us as bait. What? You think an elite goblin is nothing special?”
A face seething with clenched fists.
He added.
“There are four or five of them hanging around in the 8th rank. They’re even intelligent. Who do you think is stupid?”
“Then why don’t you just say you won’t do it?”
“It’s called a request, but in reality, it’s a demand. If you don’t want to, I’ll just thrust a gun loaded with reinforced bullets at you and throw you into the mine. Actually…”
The story that Park Dong-Kwan added was truly surprising.
The fact that the entire United States today is divided into factions centered on race.
And, as I recently discovered, Gordon was a member of a white supremacist group.
“So it’s best to leave quietly. After all, this isn’t the first time…”
After all, it was for the same reason that they left LA.
This land of the free, torn apart by racial strife and destruction, would not give them even a tiny nest.
Park Dong-Kwan grabbed my shoulder.
“Let’s go together. In a foreign land like this, there’s no one you can trust more than your hometown people. I don’t know how you ended up here alone…”
From the moment he threw his body to block the gunshot, to the moment he allowed me to meet the sheriff, to the moment he even invited me to accompany him.
The only reason Park Dong-Kwan took care of me was because I was Korean.
In other words…
“I guess you miss Korea a lot.”
“Hmm? Of course… Of course. But why is that?”
They were just wandering around without a destination.
In search of traces of ‘home’.
But I had no intention of leaving like them.
Because the fate of my subspace ability was that I could not leave no matter where I went, and that no matter where I went, I would already have a settled home.
“I have to find the dwarf, so I’ll stay here.”
“I see… That’s really too bad…”
“And I would like you to help me out.”
“Huh?”
Gordon’s dwarf hunt was scheduled for the day after tomorrow.
I don’t know what circumstances led him to create the strange jewel called ‘Original Stone,’ but I couldn’t just leave him, who had such crafting skills, to die like this.
We had to find the dwarves before they did, and to do that, we needed the help of the Koreans.
The experiences of Koreans who have worked directly in this mine.
“From what you said earlier… I assume you know the general area of the search, right? Since you know the way around well, the sheriff must have asked you to help him search for the dwarves.”
“Yeah, that’s true, but…”
“Take me there, and I will…”
Jiying.
I immediately opened a portal to Yongsan.
“I will provide a place for you to settle down.”
Downtown Korea.
The old scenery rippled across the portal’s blue surface.
Early morning.
We moved busily.
Boooooooo.
We drove into the part of the Grand Canyon where the Lycian mines were consolidated.
Normally, unless you crossed the mountain range, you would have to face the guards of the Forty-Nine…
“There is a shortcut here.”
I was able to pass safely thanks to the help of Korean awakeners.
The entrance to the Lycian mine that we entered like that.
Shining the lantern I had sent, the Koreans, including Park Dong-Kwan, began to guide me steadily.
From simple directions…
“You have to go a bit further to get to the area Gordon mentioned. If you go down this way…”
Things to watch out for.
“If you move along the wall, you will come across a hollow place in the ground…”
Finally, the means of transportation.
“This is a cart installed by the goblin miners, and we can use it too. If we pull the lever like this…”
I had already told Yoo Seong-Cheol of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in advance.
When I finally reached the section of the mine where the dwarves were supposed to be, I sent all the Koreans back to Yongsan.
And then.
“Mr. Jeonggyeom!”
I called out to my companion refugee, Solen, who was in the subspace.
Solenn, wagging her tail, hugs my leg.
Touching that fluffy fur, I finally felt like I was home.
Now it was time to seriously look for the dwarf’s location.
A dwarf wandering around here and there inside the mine.
Since it was impossible to investigate the entire mine, which stretched out like a spider’s web, I decided to ask for Solen’s help.
“Want to smell this?”
What I took out was the ‘raw stone’ I received from Gordon.
He brought the pretty trash that the dwarf had made right in front of Solen’s nose.
Sniff sniff.
Sniff sniff.
Solen sniffed carefully, her nose twitching.
And then…
“Over there…”
He shyly lifted his hairy leg and pointed to a dark passage in the cave.
The pursuit of Manon and Solen continued.
While he confidently pointed out the direction every time he stood at a crossroads…
Kueek!
Phew!
I pierced the elite goblins that came my way with my reinforced spear.
They were the ones who mobilized the dark cave terrain, the repulsive power of the 8th level, and finally their numbers… but they were immediately killed by the holy spears that flew in and illuminated the surroundings.
After a couple of hours of this boring journey…
“Hmm?”
Bam!
Hit!
In one corner of the eastern district, bats were seen flapping their wings.
And below that.
“Don’t do it! I told you not to do it!”
A short, squat creature was discovered being harassed by bats.
“…”
A white beard braided on both sides, short legs, and a wide nose that looked red as if he had been drinking.
A being that anyone can call a dwarf.
.
.
.
“…Thank you.”
The dwarf is finally free from the bats.
He introduced himself as ‘Brock.’
He added, looking embarrassed, wearing a gold-rimmed monocle over his shabby overalls.
“…Because I hate fighting.”
“…”
I couldn’t bring myself to add that it’s not that I don’t like it, but that I just feel like I can’t do it.
Of course, there wasn’t a single scratch on Brock’s body.
Like the head of the Japanese branch of the Chamber of Commerce that I saw before, he seemed to be a type that had no fighting power but had high rank.
Hehe.
Solen, with her tongue sticking out, emitting heat.
I patted the curious fellow’s head and spoke bluntly to Brock.
I would like you to craft the reinforcement stone I have.
Along with that…
“…If you stay here, you will die.”
Even the fact that humans who want to take his life will soon arrive.
Brock looked quite surprised at the fact that humans were after his life.
Sigh.
I took out the ‘raw stone’ that served as a landmark in this mine and showed it to him.
Because that was the culprit that cast the shadow of death over Brock.
Phew.
Brock sighed deeply and asked me.
“Do you happen to know how the crafting is done?”
I nodded.
Because I had heard a brief method from Ellie of Elvenheim.
The processing of the reinforced stone was truly a unique task.
The process of cutting and carving low-grade reinforcing stones into raw ore, then gathering them again to make one reinforcing stone.
This stone was proof that Brock was following the established principles of craftsmanship.
But…
“I’m sorry, but that’s my limit.”
Buck buck.
Brock scratched his head roughly.
“If it’s crafting, it’s the pants I wanted. For a craftsman dwarf like me, making better reinforcing stones or accessories is an honor. But…”
Sigh.
His work clothes are crammed full of all kinds of tools.
What he saw was a hollow hammer, with only the handle and head remaining, with the ball missing.
“This is the equipment used to combine the ores. It was supposed to have a desirable metal called Clementine attached to it. But…”
I couldn’t help but ask back.
Because what he added was quite confusing.
“You left the house? Metal?”
“It’s not just metal. It has its own ‘nature.’ In Clementine’s case… Simply put, she’s a very solid person.”
It was like a magnet.
Clementine, a type of natural gem, is said to have a nature that draws her to more ‘wealth.’
And the circumstances surrounding Clementine leaving HOME.
“If only it weren’t for that damn golden goblin…”
As expected, it was money.
“It’s definitely here in Lysium… I’ve been looking for it for a while now, but I just can’t find it. So I can’t help but keep polishing the ore.”
That was why this short-legged dwarf constantly roamed the mines.
The desire to create higher-level reinforcement stones.
The dwarf, consumed by that desire, simply summarized his wish.
“Find Clementine, and I’ll give you as many reinforcement stones as you want.”
Clementine runs away in the middle of the night with a wealthy golden goblin.
Getting that metal back on the road.
“By the way…”
I was curious too.
A golden goblin with enough wealth to make jewels fall in love.
How thick is that guy’s wallet?
And…
The golden goblin, a symbol of wealth, and me, with an infinite warehouse.
Which one will Clementine choose?
LUNA-CAVE
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