Net Worth Skyrockets

"He said I'd be down there keeping him company soon?"

Yang Ling's face flickered in the firelight, dark and uncertain.

His first thought went to Supervisor Wu.

"Could the competition between the mine veins really be so dangerous that people die?"

"If that's the case, I need to level up even more—ideally secure an identity before the competition. That's the safe play..."

"Wait, why didn't I get any Experience Points for killing Fifth Brother?"

Yang Ling's expression turned strange.

The Mine Bandits he'd killed earlier had all given him Experience Points, but Fifth Brother hadn't.

Logically, Fifth Brother's stats were the highest among this group of bandits.

"Could it be because it was too easy? Do I have to fight for my life to earn valid Experience Points?"

"That makes sense. Otherwise, once certain Players got strong enough, they could just slaughter villages or cities..."

Having figured that out, Yang Ling turned his attention back to Fifth Brother and the others.

He first checked the map, picked a very remote spot, then moved the bodies of Fifth Brother and his crew there one by one.

After that, he dug some dirt, buried them, and tamped the ground flat with his feet.

"Under normal circumstances, it'll be hard for anyone to find their bodies. Even if they do, I'll probably be long gone from this mine by then."

Yang Ling felt a little more at ease.

Only then did the nausea hit him, belatedly.

The games he'd played before had never been this real—and now that he knew something was off about this game, he was certain he had actually killed people.

Five minutes passed.

Yang Ling's breathing gradually steadied.

His mindset had adjusted.

"These Mine Bandits—if I didn't kill them, they'd kill me. To stay alive, what's a few bandits?"

Muttering to himself, Yang Ling began checking his loot.

First was the Fire Crystal Rock Ore Fifth Brother had used as bait.

He'd deliberately spread it on the ground.

Three jin total, worth three hundred Coppers.

Then, from the other bodies, he scavenged some Fire Crystal Rock Ore and Copper Coins.

Together, that added up to nearly one jin and four hundred Coppers.

"I mined two jin of Fire Crystal Rock Ore myself. Add these four jin, that's six jin—worth six hundred Coppers."

"And there's over four hundred Coppers in cash here."

"Together, that's exactly One Liang Silver."

A smile crept onto Yang Ling's face.

This way of making money was fast—no wonder Fifth Brother and his crew had chosen to be Mine Bandits.

"Fifth Brother's money pouch feels pretty light, though?"

Yang Ling started checking Fifth Brother's pouch.

He flipped it open and pulled out a piece of Loose Silver!

"Loose Silver? This must be at least two Liang!?"

Yang Ling weighed it happily in his hand.

That brought his Net Worth up to a full three Liang.

Just two more Liang, and he could buy a Qingshan City identity!

"Once I have a Qingshan City identity, I can look for other ways to level up, or switch to a mine that gives more Experience..."

Yang Ling packed up his things, thinking as he went deeper into the Mine Shaft.

He didn't dare use his Fire Lighter on the way, instead moving forward in the dark.

Every few steps, he stopped to listen.

Luckily, the system map didn't need light to see. With its help, he went deeper and deeper until he finally found a vein of Fire Crystal Rock Ore.

No ambush this time. Yang Ling swung his Pickaxe, focusing on grinding Experience Points.

Thwack after thwack!

Each strike sent a cool surge of Experience into his body, easing his fatigue and muscle soreness, indirectly boosting his endurance.

When he got hungry, he ate a flatbread.

When he got thirsty, he drank water.

When tired, he would rest for a little while.

Yang Ling wasn't sure how many spots he had switched to.

He only knew that his cloth bag was getting fuller and fuller.

Luckily, he had prepared several extras in advance.

One cloth bag could hold about ten jin of Fire Crystal Rock Ore.

By the time he had filled three cloth bags, a pleasant chime sounded again.

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, you have leveled up. You have gained 1 Free Attribute Point."

"Level 6!"

Yang Ling was overjoyed.

On this mining trip, he had already leveled up twice in a row!

He added the attribute point to Strength again.

Now that he understood the importance of Strength for mining, he wouldn't even consider adding points to Agility or Spirit.

He opened the Attribute Panel:

Character: Yang Ling

Class: Miner

Level: 6

Strength: 12 (3)

Agility: 5

Spirit: 10

Health Points: 90/90

"My base Strength is already 9 points. With the pickaxe's boost, I'm on par with Supervisor Wu."

"My Agility is 3 points lower, but my Spirit is 7 points higher than his."

"In total Three Dimensions Attributes, I far surpass Supervisor Wu."

Yang Ling was very satisfied.

As long as things went smoothly from here, in a month, his Three Dimensions Attributes would definitely see a massive improvement!

"Let's rush to Level 10 first. In other games, there's a Class Transfer quest after Level 10. I wonder if Divine Domain will be the same."

Yang Ling began focusing on mining again.

It wasn't until he noticed he didn't have many buns left that he started heading back.

But to be safe, he chose a different route on the way back, taking a longer detour.

By the time he left the Mine Shaft, it was already late at night.

A few faint figures could be seen moving within the mine vein.

"Over thirty jin of Fire Crystal Rock Ore... I wonder if it'll make Steward Niu suspicious."

"Too bad this game didn't give me a Storage Grid..."

Gritting his teeth, Yang Ling decided to take the risk.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about burying the Fire Crystal Rock Ore somewhere first.

But he knew that his mining speed would only get faster from here on.