Scene transition,Jake appears again in the game world. At this moment, he is still near the mountains behind the village. After teleporting there, he doesn't rush to leave but plans to explore the area.
Previously, Jake hadn't thoroughly explored this area behind the mountains. He only took a quick look and knew that there was a large expanse of empty land. He hadn't explored the small hills and forests near the empty land.
"Why is the back mountain of a small village so big?" Jake climbed to the top of a small hill and muttered to himself while looking at the surroundings. Not only was there over ten thousand acres of land available for cultivation, but there were also mountains, water, and forests, occupying a considerable area. According to common sense, this should only be a beginner's village for players to familiarize themselves with the environment. The monsters needed for leveling up are found in the small forest in front of the village. There was no reason for this extensive back mountain to exist. However, it not only existed but was quite large in size.
"Could it be that it was intentionally left by the Divine God for himself?" Jake wondered. Soon, he found his own thought amusing because leasing the vacant land behind the mountain was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. The so-called "Divine God" hadn't given him any hints, so it didn't make sense to think it was intentionally left for him.
"Never mind, I don't care. As long as it benefits me," Jake thought. Unable to find a reason, he decided to stop thinking about it. Whether he knew the reason or not didn't matter.
"Huh? What's this? A Golden-Haired Rat?!" As Jake walked on the slope of the mountain, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure darting past not far in front of him. It disappeared in the blink of an eye. If it weren't for Jake's improved vision, he might not have been able to notice it. But why would there be Golden-Haired Rats here?
If Jake remembered correctly, the description of the Golden-Haired Rat mentioned that it liked to eat ores. But what did they eat after leaving the mine? Or was there an ore deposit here? The possibility excited Jake. The village chief had previously mentioned that there was only one mine near the village, and Glen had said the same. So, if he discovered a mine here in the back mountains, wouldn't it be ownerless? The imperial court wouldn't find out, and the people in the village wouldn't know either. It would be an entirely personal mine!
The more Jake thought about it, the more excited he became. He quickly ran in the direction where the Golden-Haired Rat had disappeared. "I remember it disappeared from here. Where could it have gone?" Jake circled around the spot where the Golden-Haired Rat had vanished for a while but couldn't find any abnormalities.
"Could I have been mistaken? Or does the Golden-Haired Rat, besides liking to eat ores, also like to eat other food? So, there's actually no mine nearby?" After searching for a while and finding no clues, Jake couldn't help but feel disheartened. At that moment, his feet slipped, and his body suddenly sank halfway as he got stuck in the entrance of a cave.
Jake hurriedly struggled and climbed out of the cave, then looked inside. The cave was pitch black, and he couldn't see how deep it went. If the entrance hadn't been relatively small, Jake might have fallen directly into it.
"How did a cave entrance appear here? Who dug it?" Jake noticed that the entrance was covered in fallen leaves, so he had circled around it several times without noticing it. If he hadn't accidentally stepped on it, he might never have discovered the entrance. However, why would there be a cave entrance here? Was it dug by humans or animals?
"Could it be that the Golden-Haired Rat I saw earlier went inside?" Jake speculated. It was quite possible; otherwise, the Golden-Haired Rat wouldn't have disappeared for no reason.
Jake quickly took out his shovel from his backpack, then lay down on the ground and began digging. He wanted to enlarge the entrance of the cave and see what was inside.
Digging soil was not unfamiliar to Jake. Previously, he had used digging traps to kill fierce Rainbow Tigers, so digging a cave now was a piece of cake for him.
Soon, Jake had significantly enlarged the entrance of the cave. He stuck his head in and looked inside. However, it was still pitch black, and he couldn't see the bottom. Moreover, apart from the entrance that Jake had widened, the rest of the cave remained narrow. Jake couldn't enter.
"I refuse to believe it. I have to see what's inside today!" Jake, who was determined, continued to dig, further expanding the interior of the cave. He worked single-mindedly, not doing anything else. The previously narrow area that couldn't accommodate Jake's body now became a cave with a diameter of over a meter, wide enough for Jake to enter.
The cave sloped downward, and Jake kept digging deeper. He continuously advanced into the cave, with a large pile of soil accumulating outside the entrance. When Jake had dug about ten meters into the direction of the cave, his feet slipped, and he fell down.
"Bang!" Jake fell about a meter, his whole body landing heavily on the ground, almost breaking his buttocks. "Ouch, that hurts!" Jake struggled to get up, rubbing his buttocks and muttering to himself, "And it seems like I fell on some pebbles. Who would be so mean to throw stones here?"
"Huh, wait a minute! Pebbles?!" Jake suddenly realized and bent down, searching the area where he had fallen. Sure enough, he found something shaped like a pebble.
Jake used his appraisal skill on it. Iron Ore Residue: Residue left by the Golden-Haired Rat after gnawing on iron ore. Jake didn't have time to complain about the Golden-Haired Rat's pickiness; instead, he looked at the small stone in his hand with joy. It really was an ore!
Jake quickly looked around and realized that the space here was not small. It was about ten square meters, with ordinary soil on three sides. But directly in front of him was a wall-like substance made of minerals.
He hurriedly ran over and touched it. It wasn't soft soil but clearly metallic. Jake immediately used his appraisal skill on this "wall." Good iron ore, high-quality silver ore, high-quality starstone, high-quality iron ore, high-quality obsidian...
With each appraisal, the joy on Jake's face grew stronger. This "wall" was indeed composed of various ores. There were not only several common types of ores but also many rare and scarce ones that Jake discovered. What's more, the quality of these ores was excellent!