Across the vast open-pit vein, countless miners swung tools of every shape, hacking away with all their might.
Yang Ling paid no mind to the sweat soaking through his clothes, driving his pick again and again into the 'Fire Crystal Ore' before him.
Every strike had to carry his full force; otherwise the rock-hard Fire Crystal Ore wouldn't budge in the slightest.
"Little Yang, twelve shichen in a day and you spend eight of them here — aren't you afraid you'll wreck your body? You can't keep this up for long."
An old miner passing by couldn't help offering the reminder.
Yang Ling didn't stop swinging, and answered politely:
"Don't worry, Uncle Wang. I know what I'm doing."
"Haah."
Uncle Wang shook his head lightly, turned, and wandered off to hunt for worthwhile Fire Crystal Ore.
Yang Ling kept chiseling in earnest.
With every strike, a faint, icy breath slid down the pick and sank into his body.
That breath not only eased his fatigue — it slowly built up his stamina.
"Is this a game, or the real world?"
"I only meant to play a full-immersion simulation to unwind. How did I end up unable to get back out?"
Yang Ling muttered under his breath.
He'd already been in this world half a month.
Half a month ago, he was a professional gold farmer, making decent money grinding in games. In the gold-farming trade, he'd even made something of a name for himself.
But the day-in, day-out grind of it had grown dull, so he'd picked up a newly launched game, 「Divine Realm」, to change things up.
Not long after logging in, he realized he was in serious trouble.
He couldn't get back out!
And this world was impossibly real — the sense of touch, eating, drinking, every bodily need, no different from reality.
Even the NPCs were flesh and blood.
At first, he'd nearly starved to death here.
Until he was hauled off to work as a miner.
Lost in these thoughts, his pick fell once more.
An icy breath entered his body.
"Ding!"
A pleasant level-up chime rang out.
「Congratulations, you have leveled up and gained 1 Free Attribute Point!」
Yang Ling immediately called up his attribute panel:
Name: Yang Ling
Class: Miner
Level: 3
Free Attribute Points: 1
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Spirit: 10
HP: 50
"Finally, a level up — one more free point."
Yang Ling was secretly thrilled.
The reason he'd been working so hard all this time was precisely to level up.
Every strike of the pick earned experience.
The attribute panel didn't display it, but he could gauge it by that icy breath.
The icy breath was experience — it leveled him up, and it also eased his fatigue and built his stamina.
"My character started with only 4 Strength, but high Agility and Spirit."
"5 must be the level of an ordinary person."
With that, Yang Ling put the free point straight into Strength.
He still didn't know what Spirit did.
He only knew Strength made him mine faster, which naturally earned more experience.
Strength was also tied to HP.
As that single point went in, a warm current surged through him, instantly melting away all his fatigue; his aching muscles stopped aching.
At the same time his HP jumped from 50 to 60.
He clenched his fist — the difference in strength was obvious!
Yang Ling couldn't help a quiet grin.
He wanted to live, and HP was critical to that.
A few days back he'd slipped and cracked his forehead, losing twenty HP outright. Only after taking wound salve had it slowly come back.
He'd wondered whether, if his HP hit zero, he might break free of 'Divine Realm.'
But he didn't dare gamble on it. He was more afraid that if his HP hit zero, he'd be wiped out along with it...
"Then grind! If mining levels me up, I'll grind till the end of time!"
"Everything else can wait!"
Yang Ling took a swig from his water flask and went back to swinging his pick.
One strike, two...
Only when the Fire Crystal Ore before him was fully cleared did he carefully gather the shattered fragments off the ground and tuck them into the cloth pouch at his waist.
Yang Ling weighed it in his hand.
"Mm, about a tael. Worth ten copper coins over at Overseer Wu's."
"The wound salve Overseer Wu sold me last time was only five coppers a bottle — this time I need to stock up more to stay alive."
"But this pick of mine is about worn out. I'll need to save for a better one too — it'd help me gather experience faster."
As he mused, several figures quietly approached.
Yang Ling glanced up, his expression unchanged.
"So it's Fifth Brother. Is there something you need?"
Yang Ling cupped his hands and smiled.
Fifth Brother was tall and burly, flanked by several grim-faced miners who eyed Yang Ling with open hostility.
"A normal miner works five shichen a day and then rests. You put in eight. Working yourself this hard — it's to curry favor with Overseer Wu, isn't it?"
Fifth Brother said flatly.
Yang Ling explained, "You've got it wrong, Fifth Brother. I just want to earn a bit more."
"No good. This place has its rules."
Fifth Brother said coldly, "Do this and Overseer Wu will start saying the rest of us are slacking. You make yourself look good by making us look bad. Take my advice — clock out after five shichen. Otherwise, it won't just be a cracked forehead next time."
He shot a half-smiling glance at Yang Ling's forehead.
A trace of cold light flickered, unnoticed, in Yang Ling's eyes.
The next second, Fifth Brother's attributes unfolded before him.
Name: Fifth Brother
Class: Miner
Strength: 7
Agility: 3
Spirit: 2
No Level row, no HP — that was an NPC's attribute panel.
"His Strength is still a point above mine, and his connections are better too. If I go head to head with him, I'll come off worse."
At that, Yang Ling said ingratiatingly:
"Fifth Brother, from now on I'll only mine five shichen."
Fifth Brother nodded, satisfied.
"Good. You know what's good for you."
Then he glanced at the pouch at Yang Ling's waist.
"Saw you dig up a fair bit of Fire Crystal Ore just now. Hand over half — a share for meeting me."
Yang Ling thought for a moment. "Fifth Brother, how about this — from now on I'll give you thirty percent of everything I dig, if you let me put in more shichen."
"Still won't give up, will you, brat? What, dead set on kissing up to Overseer Wu?"
Fifth Brother's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Hand over half the ore and get lost. And if I catch you mining even a quarter-hour extra, I'll make you sorry!"
"Looks like he's really afraid of someone showing off in front of Overseer Wu and stealing his thunder."
Without a word, Yang Ling poured out half his Fire Crystal Ore.
Fifth Brother weighed it, then tucked it away, satisfied.
Bulging — the better part of a catty, at least.
"Sensible enough. Remember what I said. I'll be watching you."
Fifth Brother chuckled and led his men off.
"I'll keep my distance from him for now."
Yang Ling started hunting for more Fire Crystal Ore.
He had no intention of mining only five shichen a day.
He had to level up. He had to allocate points!
Once his Strength hit 10, he was sure a small-time punk like Fifth Brother would never be able to push him around again.
Soon Yang Ling found another vein of Fire Crystal Ore, and without a word he pulled out his pick and started grinding.
TL Notes:
- Shichen: a traditional time unit equal to two modern hours; twelve shichen make a full day, so Yang Ling's "eight shichen" is a sixteen-hour shift.
- Tael and catty: traditional weight units (roughly 16 taels to a catty), used here to measure ore. A "tael of silver" also serves as the currency standard.