Day 3.
As dawn broke, Jiang Li woke up feeling refreshed.
This was the best sleep she had since arriving in this foreign world. The fireplace had burned through the entire night without going out, and she was no longer suffering from the cold invading her limbs. Aside from muscle soreness caused by overexertion, her body no longer felt numb as before.
She found charcoal left in the extinguished fireplace.
[Charcoal: 1 unit]
Jiang Li stored it in her shelter.
Last night she had been too exhausted; the moment she approached the fire, she fell asleep completely and forgot to craft a wooden bed.
She had originally planned never to sleep on the floor again, so she built one now.
Using 5 units of wood, she crafted a simple wooden bed and placed it beside the fireplace.
The bed was crude—so crude it creaked loudly whenever she sat on it—but it was still far better than the ground.
She checked her storage:
[Storage: 29 wood units, 1 stone unit, 3 mud units, 1 charcoal unit]
[Upgrade Level 2 Shelter: requires 60 wood, 30 stone, 15 mud]
Seeing this, she felt slightly relieved.
These materials were all things she could realistically obtain, so it wasn’t too difficult.
If it required metals or other rare resources, she would truly be stuck.
In the game, metals could only be obtained by mining.
Yes—this game even allowed mining.
Literally: dig into the ground, shovel dirt, then use a pickaxe on stone, digging deeper and deeper. Underground you could find iron, silver, gold, and other ores.
A typical sandbox game.
In the game, players didn’t need oxygen—but she did now. No one knew whether she would be crushed by a cave-in or suffocate first if she dug too deep.
Of course, that wasn’t something she needed to worry about yet.
……
When the sky outside fully brightened, a new message appeared before her eyes.
[Side Quest: Enter the mine and work there. Within the time limit, discover the reason for the mine’s disappearance.]
[Time limit: 1 month]
Jiang Li’s eyes widened.
What?
The mine would disappear within a month?
Her expression immediately turned serious.
The villagers of Starfire Village survived almost entirely because of that mine.
Without it, they would lose their stable source of income.
At night, gray fog spread, evil spirits roamed—oil lamps and starstone were both essential for survival.
Once the mine disappeared, the villagers would be forced to migrate, seeking another village and another mine to work in.
That was the only way for people at the bottom of society to survive.
This was why she was so shocked.
Normally, a mine wouldn’t just disappear. Underground resources were vast enough to sustain a village for hundreds of years. Of course, all extracted resources ultimately belonged to the main city that controlled the village.
If the mine near Starfire Village disappeared, the village itself would soon follow.
So unlucky? Did I randomly end up in a dying village?
She frowned in thought.
Soon, she pushed the thought aside. The most important thing right now was exchanging for an oil lamp and a pot.
She took out her newbie survival reward bag, ate half of it to fill her stomach, then grabbed her fiber backpack and headed toward Starfire Village.
Perhaps she had arrived too early. From entering the village all the way to the trading station, she didn’t see a single villager.
When she reached the trading station and was about to knock, she heard suggestive sounds from inside.
“Damn woman, you only come begging when you need something…”
“G-gentler… sob… station chief…”
Jiang Li lowered her hand and waited quietly outside for a few minutes.
Eventually, the noise stopped.
She knocked.
Soon, the door opened. A straight-haired woman appeared before her, covered in bruises. A slap mark stood out clearly on her face; her eyes were red and slightly swollen as if she had been crying. She forced a smile.
“Come in, customer~”
Jiang Li looked past her into the room.
She saw the short station chief Huang Tao pulling up his belt. Beside him knelt a curly-haired woman—she was the same woman who had once escorted her out and told her about the worker who was beaten to death.
The curly-haired woman was naked, kneeling with her back turned.
Jiang Li didn’t look further.
Meeting Huang Tao’s satisfied gaze, she pretended to be timid.
“Station chief… I thought about it for a day. I want to work in the mine.”
Huang Tao stared at her for a long moment before recognizing her as the poor outsider from two days ago. The trading station saw many people; he didn’t remember her clearly.
Hearing she wanted to go to the mine, he burst out laughing. His slightly swollen face shook as he hurriedly tightened his belt, walking over with a faint stench.
“Good that you’ve thought it through. Here’s the contract. Sign it, and I’ll arrange for someone to take you to the mine.”
Most villagers couldn’t read. Jiang Li took the document—it was densely packed, no different from a slave contract. Under Huang Tao’s watchful gaze, she signed without hesitation.
She had to go to the mine.
Leaving aside the reward for the side quest, the information alone about the mine disappearing meant she needed to investigate it.
Her shelter was in Moonfall Mountain, and Starfire Village was the only nearby village. If it fell, she would have no choice but to flee with the villagers.
Right now, she also couldn’t hunt the Moonlight Sheep needed to produce oil lamps.
As for the contract, she didn’t care.
The mine would disappear soon anyway—and she had signed a fake name.
After signing, she said timidly, “Station chief… I fled here from famine. I don’t have identification…”
Huang Tao smiled.
“No problem. I’ll handle it.”
People like her were common—refugees from famine. They were the most obedient workers and would stay in the mine for life.
Before leaving for the mine, Jiang Li took out her stone axe and stone knives from her backpack.
Huang Tao had initially looked down on her claim of being a craftsman’s family.
But when he saw the tools, his eyes widened. He picked one up and examined it under the lamp carefully.
So precise.
Even more refined than the ones he brought from the main city.
Stone tools were normally inferior to metal ones, but they were cheap and widely sold to villagers.
He suppressed his shock and asked casually, “Your family really taught you craftsmanship?”
Jiang Li replied softly, “I’m not talented… I didn’t inherit it…”
Huang Tao felt regret.
If he recommended such a craftsman to the main city, the reward would be enormous—far more than sending a hundred workers to the mine.