Made a pickaxe.
It was enough if I could just swing it down roughly.

I mined a mana stone.

Clang—!

As I was doing this, I sensed something was different.

【99】
The mana stone rock had durability.

Clang!
【98】
Clang!
【97】
“Damn!”

To mine one mana stone, I had to swing the pickaxe a hundred times.
This was no ordinary labor.

‘This is insane.’

Now I understood why the pirate crew had slaves.

‘I didn’t experience this on Island 1.’

The trees had no durability system.
Whether it was the golden dagger or the edge of my hand, I could just chop through them with ease.

But on Island 2, it was different.

Clang!
【96】

My mind was starting to go numb.

‘When did I let this reach 0?’

It wasn’t about time; it was about my stamina.

【0】
“Gasp, gasp!”

This was harder than I thought.
My arms were so numb, I couldn’t do this twice.

[Low-grade Mana Stone][F]
I checked the information on the mana stone I barely mined.
It was a low-grade quality stone.

The hundred swings of the pickaxe felt meaningless.

‘I wish it had some potential, like the other races...’

Even dust would have been fine.
If my stats or skills leveled up from mining, I might have felt some joy.

But as an Earthling, I didn’t even get that pleasure.

“….”
That’s what I had thought.

[The Soul System has successfully detected potential within the player’s soul.]
[You can acquire ‘Mining (F)’.]

There was nothing else to do except mine mana stones.
At least this.

With that mindset, I immersed myself in mining for dozens of minutes.
I gained the skill.

“Suddenly a skill?”
Acquiring a skill wasn’t strange.
Other races often unlocked their potential like this.

‘But I’m an Earthling, right?’

I was far from potential.
So I couldn’t believe it.

“Ah.”

After checking the skill information, I understood the situation.
‘Basic skills are something Earthlings can learn too.’

Mining was the skill of a miner.
By mining mana stones, I had stepped into the path of a miner.

[Mining][Lv.1][F]

It even had a level attached.
This meant there was potential for growth.

‘Suddenly, I’m interested.’

I swung the pickaxe.

Clang—!

The durability dropped by 1.

Clang—!

Sometimes, it even dropped by 2.

‘So this is what efficiency means.’

The corners of my mouth twitched.
I had only gained one growth skill, but mining suddenly became so much fun.

Clang! Clang—!

Except for sleep time and hunting the holy knight at the temple, I invested all my time in mining.
I mined mana stones, eagerly anticipating my skill level rising.

Level 2.
Efficiency increased by 1%.

Level 3.
Efficiency increased by another 1%.

When I reached level 4,
guests arrived on Island 2.

Yuki, whom I had met on Island 1, and a woman I had never seen before.

Her golden hair, which couldn’t be achieved with bleaching or dyeing, suggested that she was probably a psychic too.

“I am Hikari from the Great Empire’s Public Security Special Combat Division, 1st Squad.”
“…Great Empire? Hikari?”

Since Yuki also had a Japanese name, I had assumed she might be Japanese too.
But I hadn’t expected the Great Empire to be involved.

‘Is the imperialism world not gone?’

I didn’t show it on the outside.
What did I care about the politics of another dimension?

“Error Player.”
“Nice to meet you.”

Hikari bowed at a 90-degree angle.

Wasn’t that a little too much for a first meeting?
It was more embarrassing for me.

I awkwardly smiled and changed the subject.

“Did you stay on Island 1 because of Hikari?”
“Yeah. She’s a reliable subordinate.”
Hikari’s eyes sparkled.
She seemed pleased with the praise, even if it wasn’t direct.

‘She’s quite obedient.’

I could sense the nature of their relationship.

“What’s with the pickaxe?”
After the greetings, Yuki asked.
She immediately showed interest in the labor I was doing.

It had been four days since we last met, but we didn’t ask each other about our well-being.
We weren’t that close.

“Well…”

I explained about Island 2 and the things I had to do.

“Then those ships must be from a different team who came to mine mana stones.”
“Those ships?”
Yuki mentioned the ships I had seen when I first crossed over to Island 2, four days ago.

‘Blanco team.’

They must have bolted as soon as they were ambushed.
They were quick to react.

‘They didn’t expect me to kill them all.’

If they had known, they probably wouldn’t have left.

“This works out.”
I led the two of them toward the temple.
It was about time for the holy knight to respawn, so I planned to show them.

The holy knight.
I had defeated him three times in the past four days.
This would be the fourth.

Coordinates and epics dropped with a certain probability.
It wasn’t guaranteed that you’d get something just by defeating him.

The first day, I had gotten both items, purely by luck.

“…He looks pretty strong.”
Yuki commented as she looked at the holy knight.
I had felt the same when I first encountered him.

“Can you kill him with your powers?”
“I can, but…”

She trailed off, clearly displeased.
I could see she didn’t want to do it, so I had no intention of asking her.

‘Just like Kim Min-seong, she’s reluctant to kill.’

It was a similar reaction to when Kim Min-seong had first started making the crew.
Of course, Kim Min-seong had realized the harsh reality of survival and changed his mindset.

‘A powerful psychic still has the right to consider life ethics.’

Such concerns were a luxury for weak Earthlings like me.

“What about Hikari?”
“I can’t do it. I can do it, but unlike the manager, I don’t do it.”
“Don’t you have psychic powers?”

In response to my question, Hikari flickered into light.

“She really lives up to her name.”
“But I have no physical strength.”
“Can you kick at the speed of light? Won’t that work?”
“There’s no mass.”
“......”

Ah, this is hard.

‘I got into Busan National University for life science and chemistry.’

But physics?
My head was spinning.

I scratched my head.

“Ugh…!”
Hikari flinched and backed away.
I chuckled.

“You’ll be like this soon.”

Just because she’s a woman, does that mean she won’t have oil in her hair?
Not at all.

“Well, let’s finish that first.”

I had a combo I was used to.
Frozen Prison followed by Cannon Fire.

Whoosh.
Boom—!

The two skills activated consecutively, not giving the holy knight a chance to defend.

[You have defeated an unnamed holy knight.]

The holy knight fell, and I checked for any dropped items.

“Nothing.”

I wasn’t expecting much.
I hadn’t gotten anything except the first day.

“Now, we go back to mining mana stones.”
“…You’ve been repeating this for four days?”
“Yeah. I’ve mined quite a few mana stones. 400.”

I didn’t know how much a stone the size of a fist could power a ship.
But I thought it wasn’t a huge number.

‘I’ve only mined for four days. Don’t think I’ll use all of these for life.’

I led them to the mining area.
Then I handed the pickaxe over.

The pickaxe I gave to Yuki, after a slight mark of her hand, was passed to Hikari.

“Why are you giving this to me?”
“This is something the youngest should do.”

I was used to giving tasks to juniors.
I didn’t feel guilty about it.

Yuki was the same.
The Special Combat Division of the Public Security?
It seemed like a military-like organization for psychics.

‘It’s probably a strict hierarchy.’

Her expertise in handling tasks seemed natural, like she’d done it many times.

“….”

Hikari started swinging the pickaxe with a grimace.

Clang—!

Automatic mining, not automatic hunting.

‘...I get it now.’

Now I understand why the pirates went around collecting slaves.

Yuki and I started building a ship.
We planned to reinforce the ice elemental raft and increase its size.

“It seems like ice alone has its limits.”
“Yeah, we need to use wood too.”

I thought back to the pirate ships.

‘The basic material was wood.’

I hadn’t seen any modern ships made of steel.
Maybe they would appear later on, but wood was the best choice for now.

“I’ll shape it first.”

When I created ice using Frozen Prison, Yuki used it to start building the ship.

Since we also had to chop down nearby trees, it wasn’t exactly an easy task.

“Manager, this is too hard.”
We couldn’t work endlessly.
When the sun set, we had to take a break.

Hikari complained about the afternoon work.
Yuki ignored it.

We repeated the near-laborious lifestyle.
A week passed.

“...”

The ships had gathered on the shore.
The white skull flag fluttered.

‘I think I’ve seen this symbol before.’

My memory was hazy.

A flash of light.
Hikari returned from the ship.

She had no physical strength, but her activity level was unmatched.

“They came to kill the ones who messed with the White Bone Pirate Crew?”
“White Bone Pirate Crew? What’s that?”
Yuki questioned.

“Oh.”

It hit me.

“I asked them to deliver the ship a week ago.”

The two psychics tilted their heads, as if they didn’t understand.

There was no need to explain in words.
It was better to show them by action.

I pulled the ship out from my inventory.
It was time for the departure ceremony.