Chapter 8 - Finally, It Appeared!

It has been nearly three months since then. It is the middle of winter, and while it doesn't snow in the area where Yuzuma lives, the bone-chilling cold is very harsh.

To have to wake up early in such a season...

Yuzuma grumbled to himself as he headed towards the hole as usual.

The sky was still dim. Using his flashlight to illuminate the hole, he repeated his usual routine of freezing and burning the metal slimes.

Just as he was about to leave the hole after confirming that the slimes were shattered, he noticed something odd.

He quickly directed the flashlight's beam back into the hole and saw something lying there.

At first, he thought it was a pebble, but the dull, shiny black stone was clearly different from the others around it.

Yuzuma hesitantly reached out and picked up the stone. It was cold and smooth to the touch.

—No doubt about it.

"Finally, finally, it appeared—!"

He shouted as soon as he poked his upper body out of the hole, startling Mamezou, who took a few steps back. Yuzuma held the stone high in his right hand, basking in his joy.

"Finally... Finally, it appeared on the 121st day!"

He patted Mamezou's head, which was barking, and said, "I'll buy you some good food when I get the money," before hurriedly returning home.

He turned on the light in his room and looked at the stone he had "produced" again. Then he noticed something was off.

"Huh?"

The surface of the stone was smooth, but it didn't look like a "gemstone" at all. It looked more like a black lump of iron.

"What is this? It's not a magic gemstone, is it?"

Yuzuma searched on his smartphone, entering some keywords.

"Drop... iron... not a gemstone..."

He found a few articles. When he opened one of them...

"Black Dungeon... Magic Ore?"

The article was about the Black Dungeon. Unlike the popular "White Dungeon," the Black Dungeon was unpopular, and little research or exploration had been done.

What was known was that when monsters were defeated, they dropped "magic ores" rather than "magic gemstones."

There were research data suggesting that these "magic ores" could enhance physical abilities, but the effects were minimal, and it was said that regular exercise would be more effective.

Therefore, the trading price of "magic ores" was generally low, according to the article. Yuzuma sighed.

"The hole in the yard... So it was a Black Dungeon..."

Yuzuma rechecked the article he had seen before about the sightings of metal slimes. Upon reading the details, it indeed mentioned that they were discovered during the exploration of the Black Dungeon.

Feeling all his strength drain away, he collapsed onto his bed.

"After all that effort... After spending so much pocket money... It's worth next to nothing..."

Exhaustion washed over him, and he had no energy to do anything.

There are no such easy deals in the world... Yuzuma was disappointed, but complaining wouldn't change reality.

Since it was Saturday and a holiday, Yuzuma thought about staying in bed all day, but there was something he had to do first.

He took a large shovel from the shed and headed to the yard.

"Wan wan!"

Ignoring Mamezou, who barked and approached him, Yuzuma started digging up the soil and throwing it into the hole.

"Mamezou! It was a letdown. This thing is worth nothing at all!!"

He threw the soil angrily. After about twenty minutes, the hole was completely filled.

"Never again! I never want to see this thing again!!"

Yuzuma pounded the ground where the hole had been with the shovel, compacting the soil.

"Alright, that's it... I wasted so many months. Mamezou, you can sleep soundly from tomorrow!"

"Wan!"

Seeing Mamezou wagging his tail contentedly, Yuzuma sighed in relief, put away the shovel, and returned to his room. The black magic ore was still on his desk.

Yuzuma picked it up and threw it into a drawer.

"If it's worth nothing, I don't need it!"

He lay down on his bed, spread-eagled, and stared at the ceiling.

—Now I can take it easy from tomorrow. Chasing after a useless dream is over. I need to think about my future.

He suddenly thought of his childhood friend, Rui.

Rui, who had determined her own path and was working hard towards it. It seemed that Kaede was also drawn to her.

—I should be like Rui...

He thought about it, but then dismissed it as irrelevant to him.

That day, he had no energy to do anything and ended up spending the whole day idly.