Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 91: Back Down the Mine

Han Qiwu instinctively wanted to shout, "I’ll take them both," but pulled back the words just as they reached his lips.

He only had 3179 gold coins in his pocket—not enough.

"Egger, if I order both, would you give me a discount?" Han Qiwu asked thick-skinnedly.

Egger’s face immediately twisted with anger upon hearing the question, his bushy beard bristling.

"You brat! That’s the last time Egger tolerates you saying those words! This is a complete insult to my cocktail mastery!"

"Fine, I’ll take Blood Magic Absinthe." Han Qiwu swiftly selected Blood Magic Absinthe and paid up in haste.

The best way to shut up a shop owner is to spend money.

Sure enough, once Egger saw the 2600 gold coins, he instantly quieted down.

"Don’t worry, kid. The Blood Magic Absinthe will give you a delightful afternoon!" Egger turned toward the bar counter. "And a delightful night... and a delightful next day."

Han Qiwu: "...Delightful? If I don’t hustle for a whole day, I feel itchy all over!"

A few minutes later, Egger placed the Blood Magic Absinthe in front of Han Qiwu.

The Blood Magic Absinthe had a unique appearance. Its murky brownish-red liquid was speckled with tiny blue sparkles, exuding a fantastical allure. Remarkably, despite its eighty-plus alcohol proof, the drink carried no trace of an alcoholic smell.

"Thanks." Han Qiwu casually stored it in his inventory, hopped off the tall bar stool, and turned toward the exit.

"Why aren’t you tasting it in front of me? Afraid of making a fool of yourself here?" Egger called out to Han Qiwu’s back with confusion.

"Take a guess." Han Qiwu tossed back a two-word response and pushed the wooden door open.

"Creak creak creak creak..."

The vast Explorer Guild hall echoed only the groans of the wooden door, accompanying Egger alone.

"You brat, next time you stop by, I’ll make you guess!"

Han Qiwu boarded the cable car and headed straight to the twenty-fifth layer of the mine.

Once he arrived at Layer 25, he took the stairs directly down to Layer 26.

He had intended to fish a little at Layer 25.

Sadly, he didn’t have any bait.

[You have arrived at Layer 26]

The moment he touched down, Han Qiwu spotted three mining rats by his feet.

Mining Rats: "Whatcha lookin’ at?"

Han Qiwu: "Looking at your small squinty eyes and your pitch-black bodies! You look just like bait."

Mining Rats: "???!"

Before the three mining rats could rush forward, Han Qiwu whipped out his Longsword and swung it wildly.

"Boom boom boom!"

With the sword’s knockback effects, the mining rats were pinned against the wall.

"Swish swish swish!"

After slashing away for a while, Han Qiwu collected two portions of mining rat meat and began mining.

[Copper Ore]×1

[Amethyst]×1

[Stone]×2

Just as he was digging away, Han Qiwu suddenly heard the flapping of wings.

Following the sound, he saw a giant moth the size of a human head flying toward him.

"What the heck is this?!" Han Qiwu suddenly realized that having sharp eyesight could sometimes be a bad thing.

Even under the firelight, Han Qiwu could clearly see the fuzzy hairs on the moth’s body.

Purely disgusting!

"If only I could use lightning magic here—just zap it dead with one strike!" Han Qiwu muttered as he searched for cover and reminisced.

"I need to level up my combat rank soon. Other pathways have food that boosts levels; the combat pathway should have something similar."

Perhaps one of the combat professions could include a Mage class?

Thankfully, there was a gigantic boulder nearby that Han Qiwu couldn’t dig through. He stomped heavily on the rock wall, using the force to flip into the crevice between the boulder and the wall.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"

The moth flew fast, closing in on Han Qiwu’s cover within seconds.

"Bet you can’t hit me!" Han Qiwu gleefully jabbed his sword repeatedly, knocking the moth away from his hiding spot.

[Mining Moth]

[Level: 20]

[Attack Methods: Collision, Egg Production]

[Description: As the broodmother, its defensive power far outweighs its offensive power. Watch out for its eggs!!]

"So now I can see its attack methods? Could enhanced vision come with such hidden perks?" Han Qiwu analyzed the Mining Moth’s attributes, wondering if it might be a summoning-type broodmother.

After waiting for more than ten seconds, the moth didn’t fly toward him again.

"What’s going on? Is it running away because it can’t hit me?"

Cautiously, Han Qiwu peeked out from behind the massive rock to check the situation.

Under the dim oil lamp, the Mining Moth was perched on a section of the rock wall, its body trembling slightly.

"Not good." Realizing what was happening, Han Qiwu darted out from behind the rock, grabbing his Longsword and slashing at the moth on the wall.

-6

-13

-11

A string of pitiful damage numbers floated above the moth’s head.

Along with them, a symbol appeared above the moth’s head.

[Knockback Immunity]

Damn, Han Qiwu’s years of MMORPG experience were kicking in—this moth must be laying eggs.

Fortunately, it wasn’t fighting back. Han Qiwu pulled out [Soft Blade] and began stabbing the moth’s body repeatedly.

-18

-20

-26

-21

Seeing these pitiful damage numbers made Han Qiwu even more anxious. This thing was unbelievably tanky.

"Fire Spirits, hear my plea!" Han Qiwu chanted nonsense while continuing to attack.

Suddenly, Han Qiwu noticed that his strikes were dealing double the damage.

This wasn’t a good sign.

It could only mean one thing—the moth had finished laying its eggs.

Sure enough, the moth shrieked and flew straight at Han Qiwu in pain. The spot on the wall where it had been perched now held clusters of transparent, milky-white eggs.

Seeing this, Han Qiwu quickly switched back to his Longsword, simultaneously knocking the Mining Moth aside while trying to get an opportunity to slash at the wall-mounted eggs.

The moment the eggs were exposed to air, they began hatching rapidly, their inner colors turning increasingly murky.

"Squish!"

Han Qiwu seized the moment and pierced a cluster of eggs with his sword.

"Bang!"

The Mining Moth caught Han Qiwu’s opening and slammed him several meters away with its wings.

"Seriously strong!"

Recovering quickly, Han Qiwu resumed attacking, knocking the moth back while scanning for chances to pierce another batch of eggs.

By now, clusters of baby moths had begun emerging from the eggs.

[Mining Moth (Larva)]

[Level: 10]

[Attack Methods: Bite, Collision]

[Description: Its attacks are extremely difficult to fend off]

Five swarms of baby moths, led by the broodmother, charged toward Han Qiwu with an overwhelming momentum.

Han Qiwu turned and bolted. At this point, not even pulling out Thorny Gate would help—these weren’t slimes; flying enemies could change direction mid-air.

"This really is one of those ’fight the big one, and the small ones pop out’ situations—it won’t kill you, but it’s disgusting enough to ruin your day." Han Qiwu muttered while sprinting, contemplating whether to craft a grape grenade to wipe them out.

To be honest, Han Qiwu was reluctant. A single grenade required six copper ores and one coal to craft. While he’d collected a decent amount of coal today, he still had to be frugal.