The basement, which I hadn’t visited in a while, was a mess.
After the meteorite impact, small cracks had formed, and rocks were scattered all over the floor.
I quickly checked the first and second floors before heading down to the third.
“Why is it like this here?”
The third floor was in even worse shape.
The walls had huge cracks, as if clawed by a gigantic beast, and piles of crumbled rocks formed mounds.
It was utter chaos.
“Oh, it’s blocked.”
I even had to use my pickaxe to clear the path ahead, which was obstructed by a rock pile.
Ting! Ting!
I wonder if Puu is okay?
Swallowing my worry, I cleared the way and proceeded inside.
“Wait, I’ll rescue you soon!”
A frantic voice came from somewhere.
“This voice…?”
I hurried toward the sound.
There, I saw a dwarf wearing a red conical hat.
Flinch.
“Y-You, human! Of all times!”
He tensed up upon seeing me, fully on guard. His behavior was exactly like a gnome’s.
“You’re the gnome, aren’t you?”
“I don’t have time to deal with you right now, so go back!”
The gnome yelled at me in anger.
But then.
“Puu puu!”
Wasn’t that Puu’s voice calling me from beyond the gnome?
“Puu? Is that you? Where are you?”
“Puu puu!”
“What? You’re trapped in a rock pile?”
A massive rock pile loomed in front of me.
“I’ll get you out right away!”
I rushed forward to approach the rock pile.
“Go back! I can rescue Puu myself!”
“This isn’t the time for pride. You’ve been struggling for a while now, haven’t you?”
“This is all because you destroyed all my golems!”
The gnome jumped up and down, pointing at the rock pile and raising his voice.
“If I had my golems, I could’ve cleared those rocks in no time!”
Come to think of it, he wasn’t wrong. It was true that I’d destroyed all his golems.
I had my reasons, but now wasn’t the time to argue right or wrong.
“I’m sorry. I apologize.”
“!”
“Puu’s in danger right now, isn’t he? So let me help.”
“Puu puu!”
“Groan.”
After pondering, the gnome said with a reluctant expression.
“It can’t be helped. Since it’s an emergency, we’ll cooperate for now.”
As soon as the gnome spoke, I dashed straight to the rocks and gripped my pickaxe tightly.
“Puu! I’m going to break the rocks now, so don’t be startled.”
Ting! Ting!
And I began smashing the rocks without hesitation.
Breaking the solid rock chunks was several times harder than just mining coal.
I repeated the process of shattering large rocks into smaller pieces dozens of times.
Rumble
Finally, after reducing the rocks to fragments and clearing them away, I spotted Puu’s white fur through the gap.
“Puu!”
“Can you squeeze through the gap?”
With his characteristically squishy body, Puu wriggled and slipped right out through the small opening.
“Puu! Puu!”
Upon successfully escaping, Puu bounced over and burrowed into my arms.
“I’m so relieved.”
I stroked the fluffy, mochi-like Puu, soothing my startled heart.
Watching this, the gnome wore a disinterested expression.
“Tch!”
He seemed upset that his efforts weren’t acknowledged.
“Gnome, you worked hard too.”
“Puu! Puu!”
Puu approached the sulking gnome and rubbed against him to express thanks.
“S-Stop that.”
He said that, but the corners of his mouth twitched upward. Acting like he hated it when he liked it.
“I’ll help clean up the basement too.”
“I don’t need a human’s help. This is my job.”
“No, times like this are when Floating Island family should pitch in together.”
I also need to find the meteorite. And there might be other underground creatures trapped, you know?
The gnome’s eyes seemed to waver slightly.
“Well, do as you please.”
“Then, let’s get back to it!”
I gripped the pickaxe again.
Ting! Ting!
As I cleared the collapsed rock crevices, a mushroom crab peeked its head out from where it had been hiding in the rocks.
“Are you okay?”
Clack! Clack!
It clashed its two claws to indicate it was fine. Fortunately, its hard shell seemed to have protected it from harm.
After that, I also cleared the hot spring and carbonated water spring, which had been wrecked by the rocks.
Zing!
My hands tingled. How long had it been since I’d swung a pickaxe this much? My palms were on the verge of blistering.
But with the determination to restore the basement, I kept moving rocks and pickaxing to clear the blocked paths.
“Oh, this won’t be easy, huh?”
Even for someone with good stamina like me, restoring this massive basement entirely was impossible.
At that moment.
Sparkle—
Something unusual glimmered in my vision from between the rocks.
“Huh? A gem?”
I’d found a ruby in the basement before, so I got my hopes up. It looked distinctly out of place and emitted a strange aura.
I approached to check its condition.
“This is… the meteorite?”
It was about the size of a grape, but it was fused to the cave wall with intense heat, so it didn’t seem like it would come off easily.
Ding.
[Mission! Please remove the meteorite!]
[The meteorite’s interference is making basement restoration difficult.]
[Upon removing the meteorite, the basement will automatically restore to its original state.]
No wonder the basement was unusually wrecked compared to the surface. The meteorite was apparently hindering the self-recovery.
“Can I do it?”
I’d already expended a lot of stamina, so my body felt as heavy as lead. The prolonged work had worn down the pickaxe considerably.
My hands, which had been overworked just as much, weren’t in great shape either.
It didn’t seem feasible right away, but I couldn’t delay the removal.
No one could predict what might happen to the Floating Island due to the meteorite’s interference.
“Compared to all the hard work so far, this is nothing!”
I can do it. I repeated that to myself, trying to revive my waning motivation.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
I gripped the pickaxe with both hands tightly. Then, I raised it high and slammed it down onto the meteorite with all my might.
Ting—!
“Urgh!”
A heaviness unlike before. The impact traveled through the pickaxe straight to my fingertips.
For some reason, the area around the meteorite was even harder.
The sound of the pickaxe tip clashing with the rock echoed through the cave.
***
Tsk tsk, stupid human….
The gnome glanced at the human’s back.
Even though it had nothing to do with him, the human had volunteered to help and had been silently pickaxing for hours.
“Like an idiot.”
He was clearly exhausted, yet he showed no sign of stopping.
Ting! Ting~!
The pickaxing sound rang out again.
This time, it was quite heavy. Upon closer look, he seemed to be trying to dig out the meteorite embedded in the wall.
He’s underestimating the meteorite.
Even for a gnome who handled minerals as easily as child’s play, meteorites were an exception.
“Urgh!”
The human groaned and shook his hand. His swollen hand had blisters.
So why go out of his way to suffer?
Unable to watch any longer, the gnome stepped forward.
“Do you think it’ll come out easily just by hitting it like that?”
“Then how?”
“Sigh, you’re trying to mine a meteorite without even knowing that?”
Shake shake.
The gnome shook his head.
And rightly so, because minerals that came from outer space were completely different in nature.
Meteorites that had wandered the universe for tens of thousands of years, enduring harsh environments.
Perhaps formed even before Earth, maybe alongside the primordial universe—the aura they emitted was extraordinary.
That aura affected the surroundings to an extent. It could emit cold harsher than an arctic blizzard or heat hotter than hellfire.
“But I can’t just leave it.”
“Yeah, do whatever you want.”
But the human, as if such facts didn’t matter, stubbornly attempted to dig out the meteorite.
Tsk tsk.
He’ll learn after suffering a bit.
The gnome clicked his tongue and turned away sharply. It wasn’t his concern to begin with.
Leaving the area, the gnome quickly tidied up the third floor of the basement.
After the meteorite impact last night, the basement had been shaking, but as of today, it had suddenly calmed down.
Since it was embedded underground, he didn’t know what had happened, but the gnome thought it was fortunate that the Floating Island seemed to have returned to some degree of normalcy.
One hour later.
“Whew.”
The gnome, engrossed in his work, wiped his forehead.
Ting ting—
A dull sound reached his ears.
No way, still?
He’s really going out of his way to suffer.
A mischievous smile appeared on the gnome’s face at the thought of mocking the human.
He quickly headed toward the human.
Ting! Ting!
Sure enough, the human was still focused on mining the meteorite.
Sweat dripped from his forehead, gathering at his chin and falling drop by drop. His body was so heated that steam rose from it.
Just moments ago, he’d rushed over excitedly to mock him. But for some reason, facing the human, he couldn’t say a word.
Instead, the gnome just watched the human silently.
Sparkle—
Something shone in the human’s eyes.
—It was pure determination.
Willpower burned in those eyes. It shone brilliantly, like a star.
Gulp.
The gnome held his breath as he watched.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away. The mocking feelings had vanished at some point. The human, who had seemed merely foolish, now appeared magnificent.
…Like seeing someone from long ago.
At that moment.
Crack!
Unable to withstand the grueling pickaxing, the pickaxe finally broke.
“Oh no….”
It was the pickaxe the human had cherished so much that he’d thrown himself to protect it from the mud golem.
That pickaxe had broken.
“…Tch.”
For some reason, the gnome felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
It was regret. Though he hadn’t realized it himself, he’d been rooting for the human unconsciously.
In a way, it’s for the best.
The human’s body had already reached its limit. If he’d continued working and collapsed, it would’ve been a headache.
Now that the pickaxe was broken, he’d give up and go back.
“Just go back—”
As the gnome was about to call out to the human.
Suddenly, the human thrust his hand deep into the rock crevice.
Rumble—
He rummaged through the rocks and pulled something out.
“Whew, that was really close.”
What he held in his hand was none other than the meteorite.
“Gasp!”
The gnome’s jaw dropped. Had he really mined the meteorite?
A miracle. No, achieved through terrifying determination.
It was truly a “human victory.”