Yesterday was a good day. I mean it!

But it scared me, losing track of time like that. I only lose it when I worked before, during the toughest day. That's really when I shine... or so my employer used to tell me.

Not quite sure if he was talking about the sweat though.

Today is a new day though, and cooling off made me realize how much I long to return. As I went to sleep yesterday, I set my alarm to wake me up extra early! That gives me more time to play today.

After a bowl of conserved gray goo with extra protein, I couldn't wait any longer. Maybe I could find something good to eat today as well? And if I don't, then I always got the bread. I can't remember the last time I ate bread. It was probably around the time when mother and father still were around.

I entered the capsule, full of energy, ready to carp the dime! No, I'm pretty sure that's not right.

*Hello Rune, nice to have you back!

It was that bass-voiced A.I that helped me out yesterday.

"I would like to play some anima, please!" I said.

*Certainly

The world gained its colors back and I found myself standing inside my tunnel.

I was not very familiar with it, and I didn't get a good glimpse of it yesterday.

But now, I was shocked. There weren't just a few meters to the light that entered my tunnel, no. HUNDRED METERS!

"WHAT DID I DO?" I yelled, and my voice echoed back into my ears.

I sighed as I pulled out the pickaxe from my inventory full of stones.

I turned towards the small copper piece that was looking out of the tunnel wall.

"Today, you will be mine!" I laughed as I started hacking and slashing at the wall with all my might.

The copper pretty much fell out of the mountain in mere moments and I threw it into my inventory alongside every piece of rock that I found.

I kept smashing rocks, all the stone, and its minerals.

I even found more copper ore along the way!

I don't know how much time had passed, but what pulled me out was a new type of notification. It was a green screen this time.

*Congratulations, you have unlocked a new stat!

*You have unlocked stat [Dexterity]

[Dexterity]

Due to your diligent use with the Pickaxe, you have learned how to more efficiently find the weak spots of stone.

You know by heart where to hit to increase your mining speed, but you have much left to learn about mining!

( + 1 ) [ Dexterity]

I smiled, once again had this brand new world rewarded me for my efforts!

I quickly got back to my mining frenzy and smashed at the stone wall. After some time I finally lost my hyperfocus, and I lost the rhythm and the music in my mining.

I turned around to look at where I came from only to be stunned in awe.

The beginning of my tunnel was nowhere to be found, I had dug so far and in a slight angle, that the light from outside could no longer reach. How did I miss this?

Well, there's only one thing to do! I laughed as I butchered the poor mountain with my newly found vigor.

*At the Vivide office*

"I can't take this anymore, MARCUS SWITCH PLACE WITH ME! Joanne roared, drawing the attention of everyone.

She had come in early this morning, with a clean look. But now, her hair was a mess and a vein was popping out of her forehead.

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"What is it this time? Yesterday was such a good day, how can it be so different now?" Marcus said as he came walking towards her desk.

Joanne pointed at her screen. "THIS! THIS IS WHAT'S WRONG!" she hissed.

Marcus looked at the screen.

"He's mining? Where did he get a pickaxe? No, don't tell me he got that from!" Marcus began

"YES" Joanne interrupted him

"He got it from William" She added.

Marcus sighed. "But that's not a big deal. That sort of pickaxe is kind of a first comes first served in every noob village"

Joanne closed his lips with her hand while she frowned and stared at her keyboard.

"I know the pickaxe isn't that big of a deal, but do you recognize where he is?" Joanne asked.

Marcus looked at the screen for some time. No matter how he looked at it, all he saw was this guy smashing stones and sometimes picking up copper ore. Nothing special.

He was about to say something when a wild expression covered his face.

"Wasn't this guy climbing Mount Autumn yesterday? Don't tell me he's digging through the damn mountain!" He roared, drawing the attention of more onlookers.

"Someone is digging through Mount Autumn? Shouldn't that take at least a month for one person or a week for a crew?" Someone yelled over the cubicles.

A handful of coworkers flocked around Joanne's desk in awe at what they heard but looking at the screen they all kind of lost their joy.

This guy was doing something so extremely monotonous, which is what you need to mine through a mountain. But this guy showed no sign of stopping, which directly impacted the suggested time of "a month" to finish digging through.

What's more, he always hit spots that increase his mining efficiency.

But it was so boring to look at.

Marcus broke the silence by saying; "This guy will create a tunnel that connects farmland forest with Sea-bird harbor. I wonder how Osmodeus will analyze this. There's not anything we can do, it's all in the hands of that supercomputer."

Everyone sighed as they went back to their computers, but Marcus stayed at Joanne's desk.

"Marcus, this guy has been digging since he logged on this morning. It's been 7 hours and I'm soon done for today. Understand me when I say this. Assign someone else to watch over this guy. Or at least allow me to watch some series.

"Sure, you got it" Marcus replied.

"Tomorrow, watch some shows and check up on him now and then, no worries." He added.

Marcus returned to his desk. It felt weird to him. Although they were both showing the same qualities to the company, he got the promotion, while she didn't.

There was a mutual understanding that they both saw each other as equals in terms of competence, but they had to accept the circumstances.

I didn't realize it until I was done, but I had been digging constantly for the entire day, and the entire night that followed. Somewhere in my haze, I decided to take a rest and logout to get something to eat, but what met me was a couple of stars and the moon shining in through my window.

I looked out the window, and I watched the cars go by. I felt at peace somehow, and it felt like I had been given a miracle.

Finally, I could work without worry and push myself to the limit without breaking my body.

Usually, when I came home from work, I'd feel slight anxiety nibbling on my well-being at the back of my head.

If I didn't get to properly exhaust myself, I'd be more nervous than usual.

To counter this I usually did some push-ups or some sit-ups when I got home, but now I didn't feel that need.

Now, feeling a need to do something and doing this something anyway are two separate things. To keep my body fit, it is essential to keep on exercising.

After a quick training session, I went to sleep. Although my sleep schedule got ruined, I woke up roughly 6 hours later.

I ate another bowl of gray mush with extra protein before entering the game again.

My dull world turned into a dull fantasy world, dull because I was in a dark tunnel.

I readied my pickaxe and immediately got back into action.

But after my first smash, The wall I hit caved in.

Panic filled my eyes as I launched myself backward. Could a tunnel collapse like this?

No... That's not it. Light poured into my eyes as the dark tunnel turned bright.

I had reached the other side of the mountain!

I inhaled the fresh air as I removed the large boulders that had fallen.

An unfamiliar scent entered my nose.

What is this? It reminds me of something I haven't had for ages...

Salt!?

It is salt! How can I smell the scent of salt like this?

I looked outside and what met my gaze was a valley, a really large one at that.

Muskoxen roamed around, running in large circles. Some were eating grass ever so calmly.

A river flowed through the valley, leading towards an ocean!

"This is so beautiful," I said with a quiet tone.

At the end of the river, where it merged with the ocean, a large number of small houses were positioned. What's more, there seemed to be a large tower peeking out above the roofs.

From this distance, it looked like ants were walking around in the village. But I knew that they had to be humans!

I began walking down from the mountain, entering the valley.

[First to discover The Valley of Autumn]

*You have gained 1+ in all stats

*You have gained 10 % of the current level’s required XP.

I kept on walking, looking at the musk oxen drawing closer to me.

I hadn't realized it while I was inside the tunnel, but I couldn't walk as fast as I could before I started digging. What's up with that?

A large musk ox, way larger than the rest started moving towards me very fast.

I saw it charging up, and golden light shone from its horns as it closed in on me.

After all that, this is how I die? I thought to myself, getting ready to say my last prayer.

The ox's speed increased once more, and in mere seconds it would crash into me.

"Please MR OX, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!" I yelled as I lay down.

In confusion, the ox stopped right in front of me, using mud to brake itself.

But it wasn't enough, the momentum had been too high and the ox's derriere waved at the sun as the ox flipped upside down, landing its fat butt onto my face.

*You have suffered critical damage, rest for a while to recover some health or you will die

I couldn't move, a grande ox pushed me into the dirt, but I couldn't exactly do anything about it.

*You are being strangled

A timer appeared in front of me, counting down from 30. I guess that this would be the amount of time I had left until I'd die from an ox's bottom.

The timer ticked down, but as it was about to run out, I heard a large whistle.

*Wheeeeeeeeueeew*

"Hey Ford, come here. That's not how you treat our guests!" A man's voice yelled

The musk ox quickly released me from certain death and ran towards the man like a loyal dog.

I could swear I saw it waving its tail and dropping its tongue out to the air!

"Hey pal, the name's Toby, pleasure meeting you. I'd shake your hand if it wasn't covered in shit!"

The man told me as I laid on my back in what I had thought was mud.

"Rune, I'm Rune," I said.

The man wore a red shirt and blue overalls. He grabbed my shoulder and lift me as if I was nothing but a sack of potatoes. Then he neatly placed me on the back of the ox, and only then did I realize how large this man was. His hand alone, as large as my head. This man could easily be mistaken for a giant!

"How are you so tall!?" I yelped.

"Not a very nice question to ask a stranger, you can't just ask people why they are so tall." The man said with a sad tone.

It sounded so realistic, I couldn't be sure if he was joking or not.

Then he brushed up his chest and proudly proclaimed; " I am a mountain-man, we have lived among you humans for thousands of years... until you drove us away for some reason."

"What reason?" I asked.

The man looked at me for a second before saying; " You know what, come with me to my village and I'll show you around. After we're done, I'll tell you."

[Quest ‘Toby the mountain-man's story’ (C) has been generated]

[Toby the mountain-man's story]

Mountain-man Toby wants to show you around the village and see if you are a friend or an enemy.

Quest Clear Conditions: Befriend Toby

Clear Reward: Mountain-man's blessing

       Access to Sea-Bird Harbour's market

       Title: Friend of the Mountain-men

Quest Failure: Death.

       Banned from Sea-Bird Harbour.

[Accept/Decline]

"Of course, let's go!" I said.