"What? How did he manage to make it look so easy?"
"Relax, man. I'm sure it was just a coincidence."
*Kaang! Kaaang*
[Iron ore acquired].
"W-what!?"
"Who is this guy? How can he be so good? He's still in those rookie clothes!"
"Fools. That's not his skill nor his strength. That old pick must be special."
Kaizen was more interested in the accusation than the other miners.
"What do you mean?" Kaizen turned back and asked.
The man who whispered the charge approached Kaizen before stretching out his arm and saying:
"That pickaxe you hold, can I try to use it?"
Inevitably, Kaizen smiled wryly. He wasn't bothered if this man was thinking he was using the power of an item, but internally Kaizen felt he deserved to have a little recognition for his efforts to evolve so quickly. Besides, he wanted to see the miners' expressions change when they realized that Therkara's pickaxe was just a common item. So Kaizen handed the pickaxe to the miner.
"Watch and learn. If he could mine a single iron with that pick, I will get at least ten." The miner declared and brandished the pickaxe confidently against the red dot in front of him.
*Kakakang! Kakakang! Kang!*
The miner struck at least ten times to get only one iron.
"Ahf, Ahf... it's just a regular pickaxe..." Clumsily, said the stranger, after repeating the swing of the pick many times.
The other men became agitated and embarrassed.
"So, he's good at mining..."
"We shouldn't judge people by their looks."
"Come on down, guys, it's time to go. We already got enough iron for that mission.
"We should sell whatever iron is left!"
After a few minutes, the miners left the place without apologizing for their mistake or acknowledging Kaizen's abilities.
In any case, Kaizen didn't mind this and began the work of mining.
He brandished the pickaxe once, and soon an iron came out of the red dot.
[Iron ore acquired].
"That's easier than I thought. So it will be quite easy to collect the mission's 50 iron ores."
However, Kaizen's confidence lasted only a short moment. He was exhausted after a few minutes, and his back almost couldn't move from so much pain.
The pickaxe was heavy, and hitting it repeatedly against the hard rock vibrated his entire body, not to mention that hitting the wall of that semi-enclosed space consumed more stamina than climbing the mountain.
"Ah... What the fuck..." Kaizen gasped as he wiped away the sweat.
He still had some food and water he bought, but those things were expensive, and he didn't want to keep consuming them just to recover every hour from fatigue. He was thinking about using it only in critical situations like the fight against the Scarlet Demon Spider.
His breathing became even more labored after he obtained the 16th iron ore. His back and arms started to spasm. His body, which was only level 7, desperately asked for a break. However, he couldn't rest because besides wanting to get the 50 ores of Therkara as quickly as possible, Kaizen also wanted to test whether his strength attributes would increase further if he went beyond his limit.
After some time, Kaizen learned the right way to hold the pickaxe and what was the best posture for swinging it.
The moment he extracted the 31st iron, sweat dripped like rain all over his body. The feeling of his wrist began to fade, and his legs, weak, shook as he persisted in waving the pickaxe.
When Kaizen looked up, he could not see the night sky, only the suffocating stone ceiling of the cave.
Kaizen wanted to rest, but if he did so, all his efforts up to that point would be thrown away.
Besides, he wanted to learn how to make items quickly to start earning money, and now it was a matter of pride, and survival, to get the 100 iron ores he had promised himself when he took the pickaxe. Half of that would be for the mission, and the other half he would sell to get quick cash.
His hands were shaking as he moved the pickaxe, but he didn't stop.
"Ahf... Ahf... If this game had the option to distribute points, I'd definitely put it all into strength or vitality now."
When the 49th piece of iron was extracted, Kaizen's vision blurred with fatigue. There seemed to be a black hole on the left side of his abdomen. His muscles screamed. His hands were shaking, and he could no longer hold the pick as firmly as before.
This was his limit.
At that moment, Kaizen dropped the pick to the ground and retreated to the opposite wall from the one he was hitting.
His stamina was at zero, and he couldn't stand up, so he sat down. His stomach was desperately asking for food, but he resisted the urge for the moment.
Looking at Therkara's old pickaxe, he used <Telekinesis> and, while finally taking a calmer breath, began swinging the pickaxe against the red dot using only his mind. For the first few seconds, his wielding was disjointed, and without any efficiency, he only expended mana and didn't get any iron ore.
After a few more tries, Kaizen managed to fix the mistakes he was making. He should hit neither too weakly nor too hard.
[Iron ore acquired].
Now, the mission that Therkara Ironstone gave him was already completed, but he didn't stop at the 50th.
[Iron ore acquired].
[Iron ore acquired].
[Iron ore acquired].
Mining using only <Telekinesis> was thousands of times easier than using his own hands and arms, not faster or more efficient, but easier. This gave Kaizen a few minutes to get some breath.
It had been a long time since he had put so much effort into something. All this work made him feel like he would pass out from fatigue.
When he entered high school, his classmates either ignored or bullied him, leaving a bitter taste whenever he woke up early and went to that place. Yes, he was a world champion who had earned a lot of money, but after a king leaves his throne, he is no different from an ordinary man.
The reasons for the constant jokes against Klaus were always the financial condition of the Park's.
Klaus was probably the only one in the school who couldn't afford new shoes. The school uniform he wore was second-hand. The lunch box he ate during the break was just cheap stuff, like snacks or the rest of the dinner from the day before.
As these months passed, Klaus was so embarrassed that he had become so pathetic that he didn't want to go to school anymore.
He found his job as a shoeshine boy in front of a barbershop in his neighborhood and began to split his work time with school. Soon, he went to school only when he could. His grades did not decrease or increase, so among the hundreds of students, the teachers did not notice his constant absence.
Obviously, working and studying simultaneously was exhausting at first, almost torturous. Still, Klaus wanted to help clear his family's name, so he resisted, and after a few months, splitting work and school became not easier but natural. He didn't gain the respect of any of his colleagues by making these sacrifices, but he did manage to lighten the load on his parents' backs a little, which was enough for him.
However, now things may finally change forever for the Park's. Now Klaus once again carries the nickname Kaizen, the same nickname as when he was a world champion. Now, he must show the world of Rise Online and the real world what a Psyker is capable of.
After emptying the canteen of water into his mouth and eating a whole loaf of bread with a single bite, Kaizen stood up with more enthusiasm than ever, picked up the pickaxe, and brandished it with his bare hands.
[Iron ore acquired].
...
Edited by: DrHitsuji
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