I stretched out like a zy cat, yawning loud enough to scare off any nearby birds. The sun was barely up, and here I was—awake. Why? Because apparently, I’m a responsible adult now. Gross.

  Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about that notification from st night.

  “Overseer has arrived at Viskar Mine.” “Laborer x2 has arrived at Viskar Mine.”

  Nothing about the skilled worker though. Which felt a little suspicious. Did he oversleep? Miss the bus? Get eaten by a spider? Either way, I guess I’d find out soon enough.

  I pulled on my boots, grabbed my half-busted backpack, and headed for the door. Just as I turned the knob, a voice rang out from behind me.

  “You’re actually going?”

  I gnced over my shoulder. Elise was peeking around the doorway, eyes half-lidded and hair still a mess. Honestly, it was the most human she’d ever looked.

  I smirked. “Yup.”

  She blinked. “Wait—seriously?”

  “Why does everyone say it like that’s a shocking plot twist?” I said, stepping outside. “Yes, I’m going to the mine.”

  Elise followed, rubbing her arms. “That’s… very unlike you.”

  I stopped in my tracks and turned toward her. “Excuse me?”

  "You're the guy who compined about a baby spider."

  "Again, it was the size of my hand."

  "Then what about the adults and the queen?"

  I paused. "...Ok, so maybe I was wrong."

  She rolled her eyes and started walking beside me. “So, what gives?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean,” she said, gncing at me, “you’re usually the king of ‘I’ll pass.’ Now suddenly, you’re volunteering for manual bor? I don’t buy it.”

  I smiled, but didn’t say anything.

  “Oh, come on,” she nudged me. “What’s the real reason?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I just want to contribute to society. Be a good, honest, hardworking vilger.”

  She snorted. “Dan.”

  “Yes?”

  “Bullshit.”

  I grinned wider. “You’re probably right.”

  She looked at me suspiciously. “You’re hiding something.”

  “Me? Never.”

  “I swear, if this is another one of your scams—”

  “It’s not a scam,” I said, holding up my hands. “It’s a strategic investment of time and effort.”

  “Don't use big words with me. But it still sounds like a scam coming from you.”

  I ughed under my breath. She wasn’t wrong. But I wasn’t about to tell her about the mine upgrades, the ownership tab, or the fact that I had a blinking blue icon on my personal map like I was in some RPG questline.

  Nope. This was my little secret.

  And with any luck… it was going to make me filthy, ridiculously, absurdly rich.

  We rounded the bend, and the mine came into view.

  Time to see what my hired help had been up to.

  You know what I wasn’t expecting this morning?

  A literal pile of gold nuggets and mana-infused crystals just sitting five feet inside the mine like a treasure chest exploded and vomited wealth across the dirt floor.

  I stopped dead in my tracks.

  “…Huh,” I muttered.

  Elise took two steps forward and blinked. “What the hell…?”

  I looked around. No workers. No signs of digging equipment. No tracks. Just… shiny treasure.

  She looked at me. “Dan… what is this?”

  I held up my hands. “Don’t look at me, I have no clue.”

  Which wasn’t technically a lie. Sure, I hired people. Sure, I upgraded the mine. But I didn’t think that meant random loot was just going to spawn like we were in a fantasy-themed loot simutor.

  I knelt down and picked up a golden nugget. My Buy & Sell screen pinged to life, and I didn’t even hesitate.

  Sell Golden Nugget for 2,320?

  Click.

  Elise’s head snapped toward me. “Wait… did you just…?”

  “Yup,” I said cheerfully, scooping up another one.

  Sell Mana Infused Crystal: 15,000?

  “Holy sweet mother of profit,” I whispered as I sold the mana-infused crystal.

  15,000. For one.

  Elise stared in horror. “You can’t just take that! It’s the king’s!”

  I waved a hand casually. “Nobody knows.”

  “I KNOW!”

  “Do you, though?” I said, tapping another gold nugget into my Sell menu. “I feel like you’re imagining things.”

  She groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “Dan, this is actual treason.”

  “Only if someone finds out.”

  “I found out!”

  “And I’m bribing you.”

  She looked like she wanted to scream.

  I stood up, dusted off my pants, and opened the marketpce again. I typed one word: Chicken.

  There it was—glorious and golden.

  Fried Chicken Bucket – 10 pieces – 370

  Worth every damn dolr.

  I tapped purchase.

  In a shimmer of light, a steaming bucket of fried chicken materialized in my hand like a divine offering. I reached in and pulled out a drumstick, holding it high like a sacred relic.

  Elise looked at it, confused. “What… what is that?”

  “A miracle,” I said, letting the scent waft toward her.

  She sniffed and twitched, eyes zeroing in on the crispy, golden skin. “It smells amazing.”

  “It is amazing.”

  She hesitated. “What kind of meat is it?”

  “Chicken.”

  She tilted her head. “That’s not chicken.”

  “It’s a drumstick,” I crified, waving it slightly. “From the leg.”

  She blinked. “Your chickens have drumsticks?”

  “…Yes.”

  She looked skeptical, but the smell was already doing its evil work. I tore off a bite in front of her and let out an exaggerated groan of satisfaction. “Mmm—tastes like success.”

  She stared.

  I offered it again.

  Her hand slowly reached out… then stopped. “I want my own.”

  I grinned. “Smart woman.”

  I bought another bucket and handed it over like I was offering the Ark of the Covenant.

  She grabbed a piece—carefully, delicately—then took a bite.

  Her eyes went wide.

  Her soul left her body.

  Her knees nearly buckled.

  “This… this is what the gods must eat,” she said with genuine reverence. “I could eat this every day.”

  “You could,” I said, smug as hell. “If you keep that pretty little mouth quiet.”

  She gave me a sideways look. “You’re awful.”

  “But I bring good food.”

  She chewed slowly and nodded. “Alright… I didn’t see anything.”

  I grinned and returned to the mine entrance.

  Nine mana crystals ter and over thirty gold nuggets sold through Buy & Sell, my bance exploded like a financial nuke.

  Mana Crystals – 15,000 each. Total: 135,000Gold Nuggets – 2,800 to 3,200 each. Let’s round. Total: 94,000+

  My account bance jumped to over 200,000 in a matter of minutes.

  I could practically hear the digital choir singing in the background.

  I stood there, arms wide like I’d just been baptized in wealth. “This mine… this mine is holy.”

  Elise, licking her fingers, gnced at me. “You’re unholy.”

  “Same difference.”

  "Alright," she said between bites of her st drumstick, “but seriously, what really happened?”

  I sighed. Because I knew that tone.

  That I’m-not-dropping-this-until-you-tell-me-everything tone.

  “Fine,” I said. “But you have to promise not to go running your mouth.”

  She raised a hand. “Scout’s honor.”

  I squinted. “Didn’t you say yesterday scouts don’t have honor?”

  She shrugged. “They don’t. But you seem to think they do.”

  “Touche.”

  I gnced around to make sure no one was nearby, then leaned in and lowered my voice. “Okay, so… after we killed the queen, I noticed something new in my Buy & Sell menu. A tab called Ownership.”

  Elise’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?!”

  “Yeah,” I said, gesturing toward the mine entrance. “I checked it, and boom—property listings, with actual prices and details. The mine was like fifteen grand. I bought it.”

  She stared at me, completely dumbfounded.

  “And then,” I continued, “I noticed I could upgrade it. So I bought lighting, support structures, a map… then a little while ter, I got a notification that workers arrived.”

  “But… where are they?” Elise asked, looking around again. “And do you realize what this means?!”

  I shrugged. “It means I’m rich.”

  She smacked me in the shoulder. “No, you idiot. It means you need to start rethinking how your skill actually works.”

  I paused, her words sticking harder than expected.

  Then nodded slowly. “Right. Right. It’s Buy & Sell. I buy and sell. That’s been the whole thing from the start.”

  “Exactly,” she said. “But this—” she gestured toward the mine “—this changes everything. You literally own a working mine and can hire workers. That means your skill might not just be about objects—it might include systems. Structures. Ownership. Influence.”

  I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “To be fair, that option just kind of… showed up. Out of nowhere.”

  “It doesn’t matter when it appeared,” she said, voice rising with excitement. “The point is, the potential is there. And the best part? No one even knows you own it. You could let people keep working and just collect the profits behind the scenes.”

  I blinked.

  Then blinked again.

  “…No taxes,” I whispered like it was a sacred revetion.

  Elise smirked. “Exactly.”

  I grinned like a madman. “I love this mine. I’m going to build a shrine to it. Kiss it on the lips. Maybe buy it dinner.”

  Elise rolled her eyes. “Okay, easy there. But let me ask you something else.”

  “Hmm?”

  “If you can buy anything,” she said slowly, “have you ever thought about using your skill to buy your way home?”

  I froze.

  Dead silent.

  My brain stalled like someone yanked the engine cable out of my head.

  “…Wait a goddamn minute.”

  I pulled open my interface, fingers flying through the menu. Home. Nothing. Back home. Nothing. Return to Earth. Nada.

  I hesitated, then typed something else.

  Homeworld.

  And there it was.

  Homeworld Voucher – 1,000,000,000,000,000Send yourself back to your original homeworld. One-way trip. Guaranteed safe transport. Cannot be refunded or canceled. All progress lost.

  My jaw nearly detached from my face.

  “Holy shit,” I whispered.

  “What?” Elise asked, noticing the shift in my expression. “You find something?”

  I didn’t even look up. “Yeah.”

  She stepped closer, watching me silently, trying to read my face. “What’s it say?”

  I swallowed. “A way home. A real one. A guaranteed ticket back.”

  Her eyes widened slightly. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. But the price…” I ughed hollowly. “It’s not even funny. It’s like—like a cosmic joke.”

  She tilted her head. “How much is it?”

  “A quadrillion.”

  She frowned. “How much is that in gold?”

  I stared at her. “Enough gold to drown this vilge. Probably all the other vilges in the kingdom. Hell, maybe even the capital too.”

  Her eyes widened further. “That much?”

  “Yeah,” I said, my voice ft. “I’d have to sell enough mana crystals to colpse the economy.”

  I just kept staring at the screen.Two hundred eighteen thousand five hundred twenty dolrs sat in my account.

  A number that felt massive an hour ago.

  Now?

  It might as well be pocket change.

  “Well,” I muttered, slumping a little, “guess I’m gonna be here a while.”

  Elise was quiet for a beat, then gently patted my back. “Want another drumstick?”

  “…Yes, please.”

  I sighed and stepped into the mine, expecting darkness and musty air. Instead?

  Warm flickering light greeted me.

  Torches. Lit. Dozens of them, lining the walls like some medieval hallway from a fantasy movie.

  And those support beams? Solid. Straight. Like someone actually knew what they were doing. The pce looked… nice. Industrial. Safe. Not like the deathtrap it was before.

  Even Elise looked around in surprise. “This looks… different.”

  I puffed my chest out. “Yup. All part of my magic.”

  She snorted. “Still no workers, though.”

  I shrugged. “They’re probably shy. Or ghosts. Or ghost workers. Honestly, I’m not asking questions anymore.”

  She gave me a look. You know, the ‘I know you’re full of shit’ look she’s perfected by now.

  “And you really shouldn’t have sold all that stuff,” she said, crossing her arms. “Didn’t you say you were gonna work here?”

  “I did,” I admitted. “But I still have time to make up for that loss. It’s not like mining is hard.”

  Elise slowly turned her head toward me. “Oh gods.”

  “What?”

  “That’s the same energy people have right before they break their legs and die horribly.”

  I waved her off. “I’ll be fine. The real issue is figuring out how to get super mega ultra rich. Like, quadrillionaire rich.”

  She blinked. “Understatement of the year.”

  “I mean, maybe I should just deal drugs,” I said half-jokingly.

  Elise looked at me like I’d grown another head. “That’s illegal.”

  “Yeah, but like—what’s the worst that could happen?”

  She raised her fingers one at a time. “Hanged. Whole family executed. Vilge burned. Anyone remotely connected to you tortured and dragged through the streets.”

  I paused. “...That’s a bit much for dealing drugs.”

  “Take it up with the king.”

  “I will,” I muttered. “One day.”

  I kept walking a few more steps before casually saying, “Oh yeah, by the way—I also had the option to buy the vilge.”

  That got her attention.

  “What?! How does that even work?”

  I shrugged. “No clue. Probably like the mine. Buy it, then upgrade it. Add a moat. Build a statue of me in the town square.”

  Elise rubbed her temples. “Please don’t.”

  “I make no promises.”

  She eyed me. “So what’s your pn now?”

  “Stay here, mine the mine, get stupid rich, and then pop smoke and vanish. Hopefully before Seraphina decides to hand me over to the royal researchers so they can py ‘let’s disassemble Dan.’”

  Elise snorted. “I doubt there’s enough minerals in this mine for that.”

  I stopped walking and sighed dramatically. “Then I have no freaking clue what I’m doing.”

  She ughed. “Gd you finally admitted it.”

  “Hey, I have some ideas.”

  “Dangerous ones.”

  I ignored that. “Let’s brainstorm, yeah? What does the vilge need most right now?”

  “Food,” she said. “Tools. Clothes. Medical supplies. Seeds. More people.”

  “That’s a lot.”

  “It’s a vilge.”

  I squinted at the wall. “What if we… came to an agreement?”

  Elise narrowed her eyes. “What kind of agreement?”

  “I buy them farming equipment. Seeds. Everything they need to build solid, sustainable crops. In return, they give me 15% of every harvest. Boom. Long-term investment. Passive income.”

  She blinked. “That’s… not the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

  “I know, right? I’ve been leveling up in business skills.”

  “But it won’t work unless we get more people. Farmers. Workers. The vilge is still too empty.”

  I smirked. “I’ve got a better way. A more efficient way.”

  She stepped back warily. “Your face is starting to look funny.”

  “What? This is just my face!”

  “That’s the exact look you had when you tried to fight the first spider with a chair leg.”

  I coughed. “That pn worked, thank you very much.”

  “Elise, trust me.” I grinned. “I’m going to save this vilge, get filthy rich, and buy my way home—without getting hanged, dissected, or eaten by another goddamn queen spider.”

  She stared at me for a long second. Then sighed.

  “…I give it three days.”

  “Wow. That’s generous.”

  “Don’t push it.”

  And we walked deeper into the mine—me, armed with optimism and bad ideas, and her, probably calcuting how soon she’d need to drag me back out again.

  But hey. Maybe, just maybe… this pn might actually work.

  Probably not.

  But a man can dream.