Part 1: Anatomy of Hell in a Quarry
The Stone Strike mine turned out to be a giant multi-level pie, where each layer had its own taste of suffering. The upper tunnels, nicknamed "Paradise Crumb", smelled of limestone dust and hope. The middle levels - "The Belly of the Dwarf" - breathed sulfur fumes and the groans of newcomers. And the lower tiers, where only desperate madmen descended, bore the proud name of "The Throat of Tartarus". There, according to rumors, the stones sang funeral hymns in the language of ancient civilizations.
My first shift began in "Paradise Crumb", where the walls sparkled with quartz veins, like the nervous system of a giant crystal god. Bearded Grognard, my mentor, gave a tour with a gesture worthy of a Roman emperor:
"Do you see these marks?" He poked a pickaxe at the green runes on the wall. — These are the levels of madness. Every hundred meters — +1 to the "existential crisis" bonus. By the thirty-kilometer mark, the stones begin to whisper poetry to you.
I touched the wet surface. The system blinked a diagnosis:
**[Granite massif "Tears of the Titan" (level 5)]
[Effects:
— Constant damage to sanity (-1% per minute)
— Chance of insight (+0.001% on critical hit)]**
— Hey, Grognard, what if...
— Dig. — He interrupted me, thrusting a pickaxe with a sign "Apprentice" into my hands. — The first rule of the guild: every blow is a prayer. The second: if the prayer doesn't work, hit harder.
I spent the first hour in a sacred ritual: swing-blow-curse. The stones responded with mocking notifications:
**[Stone #001: "Boring Strike" (experience +0.1)]
[Stone #002: "Almost Missed!" (experience +0.3)]**
By midday, my pickaxe had acquired a personality. It groaned when I swung, giggled when I missed, and snored when I tried to rest. Meanwhile, the system was having fun:
**[Achievement: "Monkey with a Stick" - +10 to Stamina when imitating primates)]**
"Are you kidding me?" I grumbled, wiping my sweat.
**[System response: "I am only a mirror of your soul. A terrifyingly empty mirror."]**
## Part 2: Dwarven Economy and the Philosophy of the Pickaxe
The lunch break revealed the mine's secret economy to me. In the "Hall of Shattered Hopes," the canteen for newbies, barter reigned:
— Two copper veins for a portion of stewed lichen!
— I'll trade quartz shards for socks without holes!
At my table sat Thoran, a miner with a face reminiscent of a map of tectonic faults. He methodically broke stone bread, lecturing along the way:
— A pickaxe is not a tool. It is an extension of your will. — He showed me his weapon, covered in runes. — My "Singer" has struck 12 sparks of divine fire in 40 years. One day she will sing...
**[Secret Revealed: "Guild Legends" (1/100)]
[New Quest: "Find 5 Singing Pickaxes to Get the 'Mountain Choir' Achievement"]**
The table shook as Lyra, a girl with iron ore-colored hair, sat down next to us. Her pickaxe "Serenade" vibrated in time with her speech:
"Yesterday, at level 15, I found a holographic crystal." She threw a shimmering artifact on the table. "The system says it's a "Shard of Oblivion." It's sold for 2,000 Terran Credits."
I reached out, but the crystal vanished into thin air. A message popped up:
**[Access Error: Your level is insufficient to interact with 4th Dimensional Artifacts)]**
"Don't be upset, newbie," Lyra grinned. — First, learn to distinguish between types of stones. Here, take this. — She threw me a black mineral. — Gneiss. It only breaks in the moonlight.
**[Received: Gneiss of Stubbornness (special)]
[Advice: Use during meditation to level up wisdom]**
Grognar, chewing on a stone mushroom, muttered:
— Remember, Akki: even dust has a price here. Last month, a guy with level 80 sold the "Dust of Creation" for a whole ship.
### Part 3: Tactical Slime and the Art of War
The evening shift brought an unexpected challenge. As I made my way along the "Weeping Stalactite Trail", I heard a strange squelching sound. A creature crawled out of a crack, causing the system to squeal with delight:
**[Monster: Tactical Slime (Level 10)
Features:
— Ancient Warlord's Intelligence
— Hellish Schism Ability (Split into 5 Clones)
— Weakness: Irony of Fate]**
A slime the size of a calf pulsed with jade slime. A rune resembling a chessboard shone on its "forehead".
"Of course," I grumbled, preparing my pickaxe. "Even the monsters here are smarter than me."
The slime's first attack turned out to be a feint. He jumped sharply to the left, dousing me with acid dew:
**[Damage: -15 HP]
[Effect: "Dissolved Pride" - armor loses 20% durability]**
"Hey, not fair!" I shouted, rolling behind a boulder. "You're supposed to just crawl!"
The slime responded by throwing out a tentacle with a stone attached. The system translated:
**[Insult: "Your blows are slower than tectonic shifts"]**
In a rage, I activated a new skill:
**[Hatred of Stones (lvl. 2)]**
The pickaxe glowed crimson. The blow split the air, but the slime split into five clones. They surrounded me, chanting in sync:
**[Psychic attack: "You will dig forever"]**
"No way!" — I yanked the gneiss I'd gotten from Lyra out of the wall. Moonlight from a crack in the vault struck the mineral. The gneiss exploded into a hail of fragments, hitting the central slime right on the head.
**[Critical Hit! Used:
— Gneiss of Stubbornness
— Moonlight
— Deep Despair]
[Slug Tactician Defeated! Experience +500]]**
The remaining clones collapsed into a puddle, leaving behind their loot:
**[Received:
— Slime Crown (rare)
— Treatise on the Art of War for Invertebrates
— Liquid Mockery Potion (chance to insult the enemy when used)]**
Grognar, who appeared out of nowhere, chuckled approvingly:
— Not bad for a bag of bones. But the real test is ahead.
He pointed to the gaping chasm at the end of the tunnel. A bone-shaking roar was coming from there.
**[Discovered: "Asmodeus' Gate" (Difficulty Level: Apocalypse)]
[Recommended Level: 50+]**
"Tomorrow," Grognard said, turning around. "Today, you're still alive.
Part 4: Nighttime Musings by the Campfire
I studied the system by the campfire in the Drunken Dwarf camp. Leveling up unlocked strange skill trees:
**["Digger" tree:
— "Geomancy for Dummies" (lvl 10)
— "Dialogues with Stones" (requires Wisdom 30+)
— "Crypto Mining" (chance to find Bitcoin in Quartz)]**
Thoran, cleaning his "Singer", explained:
— These are not just skills. Each one changes perception. Here, - he poked into the air, calling up his menu, - my "Stone Symphony" allows you to hear the rhythm of the rock.
His pickaxe made a sound similar to a cello in a cave. The stones around him began to blink in time.
**[Secret Revealed: "Music of the Spheres" (2/100)]**
Lyra, sorting through the loot, added:
- And my "Alchemy of Despair" turns fear into dynamite. - She threw a blue crystal into the fire, and the flames screamed a curse in an ancient language.
At night, when others fell asleep, the system issued a special message:
**[Personal Quest: "Become More"]
[Description: You are a grain of sand in the millstones of the universe. Prove that even dust can eclipse the sun.
Stages:
1. Reach level 30 (0/30)
2. Reveal the secret of the "Song of Stones"
3. Reincarnate the pickaxe
Reward: Answer to the question "Who am I?")]**
I looked at my rusty pickaxe. In the moonlight, she cast a shadow like a crown.
---
Part 5: Glossary of Miner's Wisdom (side notes)
_From Akki's diary:_
1. **Murphy's Law for Miners:** If a rock can fall on your head, it will. In rhythmic tango with your luck.
2. **The Paradox of Progress:** The more you dig, the further you get to the bottom.
3. **Theory of Relativity in the Quarry:** One hour at Level 1 = ten years in the "Throat of Tartarus".
4. **The Philosophy of Slugs:** Even a meaningless life can be tactically sound.
5. **The Main Rule:** When the system offers a choice, run. But if there is nowhere to run... become a legend that makes others run.