Pick struck stone in the dark, and chips of rock fell into the shadows.
Ben quietly hummed to keep his focus as he worked.
He was expanding the room downward, lowering the floor one step at a time so it formed a crude staircase.
"Thunk, clink, crack, the cavern hums," he muttered in rhythm with each swing.
[Ding! You got 1 Stone Block!]
[Ding! You got 1 Stone Block!]
"Digger digs deep.
The treasure comes.
Dust to stone, and stone to ore," he sang under his breath.
[Ding! You got 1 red gemstone!]
***
Red Gemstone x 1:
Type: Gem/Material
Use: Crafting material, enchantment
Max Stack: 999
Rarity: Rare
Found deep underground, often embedded in volcanic rock or near high-energy magical sites.
Known for its durability and its ability to enhance fire-based enchantments.
Tooltip: "Fire inside a stone."
***
Curious, Ben took the item out of his inventory.
A warm red crystal cluster appeared in his hand.
It glowed with a soft crimson light and gave off a gentle heat.
"It is good enough for a light, but damn, this makes me want to smoke," Ben said.
He tied the gemstone to his waist and used it like a lantern.
He used a rubber band from his pocket as a makeshift rope.
He was glad he had brought a few rubber bands by habit, but he regretted not having more useful items like his cigarettes, lighter, or flashlight.
Usually, he carried them all the time.
Since he had fallen asleep drunk, he guessed he had taken them out before passing out.
"If only I remembered what happened," he muttered.
Normally, even if it was blurry, he would remember something.
This time he had no memories at all.
He sighed and started humming again as he changed his approach.
Instead of widening the room, he began to dig a small tunnel.
He dug forward one block with a height of three blocks, just enough for him to walk.
The phrase "high-energy magical sites" from the gemstone description stayed in his mind.
Magic.
Who would not want it?
Ben had often finished a fantasy novel and thought, "If only I had this ability."
He always questioned why those main characters used their powers so poorly.
He imagined many better ways to use them.
He had wished many times for simple abilities like telekinesis, mind reading, or necromancy.
With telekinesis, he could move heavy materials without effort.
With necromancy, he pictured a small army of free labor.
Never tired, completely loyal, and more importantly, never complaining and not needing to be paid.
True slave workers.
If only he could get something like that here.
He could make them expand the space and build a comfortable base for himself.
That was his first goal, a decent home underground.
BAM!
BAM!
[Ding! You got 1 Stone Block!]
[Ding! You got 1 Stone Block!]
[Ding! You got 1 Stone Block!]
[…]
[Congratulations, you have completely understood Stone Block!]
[Crafting feature has been unlocked.]
[You can now craft items with stone as material; the limit is your own imagination.]
The notification appeared as he finished another swing.
BAM!
CRACK!
He expected to see another flat rock wall.
Instead, his pick broke through into open space.
A large chamber appeared beyond the hole.
Ben's eyes widened and his hair stood on end.
His instincts screamed danger.
That was not the most shocking part.
Inside the room, there was a round table.
Five creatures stood around it.
Four of them were ants standing on two legs.
They reminded Ben of humanoid ant characters from comics.
The last one was clearly their leader.
Her lower body was that of an ant, but her upper body was human.
She wore a black blazer, sharp and modern, something Ben recognized from office wear.
Her long, purple hair fell all the way down her back.
The room looked like a proper meeting hall.
The walls were carved with neat murals, and the floor was tiled with straight lines and patterns.
'The hell!?'
[Warning: You are entering the territory of the Six-Legged Cartels!]
The ant woman turned to him.
Her eyes narrowed and glinted with danger.
She pointed at him and shouted in a strange language.
Ben did not think.
He reacted.
He did the one thing that made sense to him.
His heart pounded hard, and his muscles tensed.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
He used the secret technique he had practiced since childhood.
He ran.
He sprinted back into the tunnel he had dug.
'Fucking system.
It should have told me before I broke that last bit.
But what the hell is a Six-Legged Cartel?
And her appearance…'
He had no time to think it through.
Death was behind him and getting closer.
He heard the stone tunnel being widened by force.
The scraping and cracking told him the ants were not using tools.
Ben had tested the stone earlier with his bare hands, so he knew how hard it was.
Without his magic pickaxe, he could not even scratch it.
By modern standards, he thought it was as hard as sapphire.
'These ants' strength is no joke.
I will turn into mincemeat the moment I get caught.'
He pushed his legs harder and increased his speed, but the sound from behind grew louder.
'What can I do?
There should be something…'
He glanced around as he ran.
All he saw was stone.
Stone ceiling, stone walls, stone floor.
'Stone... stone everywhere… Wait!?'
A thought hit him.
He had 1001 stone blocks in his inventory.
He left the narrow tunnel and ran up the carved steps he had made earlier toward the room entrance.
He decided to gamble.
He did not have any other choice.
BOOM!!
The tunnel exit exploded outward.
The neat, square hole became a jagged mess.
Dust and stone fragments flew through the air as a giant ant forced its way out.
Now that it was close, Ben saw its true size.
It was as big as an elephant.
Its jaws clacked together with a harsh sound, the sharp edges glowing faintly red.
"God, Buddha, or whatever deity up there, this is the first time I pray, please make this work!" Ben said.
He raised his palm toward the monster, opened his inventory, and selected a stone block.
The block appeared in the air directly above the ant.
Gravity pulled it down.
BAM!
"Damn it!"
The impact rang out like metal slamming into metal.
The ant did not even flinch.
There was only a shallow mark on its carapace.
The ant took advantage of Ben's shock.
It lunged at him, its jaws snapping toward his face.
Ben pulled another stone block from his inventory and jammed it into the ant's open mouth, then threw himself into a roll to the side.
The jaws closed.
Crunch.
The stone shattered into several pieces.
One shard shot out and hit Ben on the cheek.
It tore away a strip of skin.
A hot, burning pain ran along his face.
"ARRRGH!!!"
Ben had been hurt before on construction sites, but this was on a different level.
Fear closed around his chest.
Panic followed right after.
He was not a soldier or a killer.
He was just a normal construction worker.
The fact that he had not frozen when he first saw the monster and had even tried to fight back was already impressive for him.
Now that his attempt failed, the terror pressed down hard.
He swallowed and looked toward the tunnel.
Three more giant ants were crawling out behind the first one.