This Role Must Be Played!

"**Ding!** Detected that the host's conduct met the criteria for skill generation."

"New skill generated: Acting, Beginner Realm (1/100)."

"Oh? That was an unexpected gain!"

Qin Yao was delighted.

This meant that whenever he worked in the future, as long as he acted out exhaustion, fatigue, and the like, he could continuously gain experience.

For now, the skill "Acting" seemed quite useful!

There was no need to look far—just consider the present.

As long as his Acting was convincing enough, he could easily fool the overseers into thinking that the whipping truly hurt, that he had learned his lesson.

Then next time, they would still use the same amount of force on him.

After all, aside from satisfying their own lofty sense of superiority, the overseers' fundamental purpose in punishing mine slaves was to squeeze twelve parts of effort out of them.

Unless necessary, the overseers would not directly beat someone to death.

Otherwise, if they whipped everyone to death, who would do their work?

One had to know that if the work quota was not met, the overseer in charge of the mine tunnel would have his wages docked!

But if a mine slave remained unhurt and unfazed after a whipping, as though nothing had happened—

Then the next time an overseer raised his hand against him, he would absolutely not be treated like an ordinary mine slave without cultivation!

Qin Yao was not stupid enough to ask for suffering.

So...

Act!

He had to fucking act!

Improving his Acting would not only let him deceive his opponents and conceal himself better; through leveling up the skill, he could also obtain more "System Coupons."

Although he still did not know what these "coupons" were for.

His instincts told Qin Yao that anything produced by the system had to be top-notch!

There was no harm in saving them up first.

At this point, the ten lashes had already been dealt.

Yet Zhao Jian's stomach hurt so badly that he could not straighten up. He had not even had time to "enjoy" the sight of Qin Yao being whipped, much less gloat over it.

The guy himself was still grimacing in agony!

Meanwhile, Qin Yao, who had taken a round of whipping without a single point of damage, deliberately put on an expression of enduring unbearable pain and walked heavily over to Zhao Jian.

"Skill 'Acting' proficiency +2."

"Skill 'Acting' proficiency +1."

"Skill 'Acting'..."

Gritting his teeth, the youth looked down at Zhao Jian from above and said, word by word, "I'll say it again: it isn't so easy to owe your brother a debt!"

"If you ate mine, you'll have to spit it back out!"

"From today on, even if I get whipped every single day, I'll make sure you can't eat a single meal in peace!!"

His ferocity immediately drew countless sidelong glances.

"This kid talks big, doesn't he?"

"Pah, if you ask me, he's all talk!"

"After taking ten lashes, who would dare keep fighting the next day?"

"Oh, just to save face, he'll get whipped every day? He really doesn't want to live!"

"Exactly..."

Most of the mine slaves thought Qin Yao was talking big to save face, spouting nothing but hot air.

Only one old mine slave huddled in the corner was an exception—Zhang Er, the very man who had deliberately stuck out his foot to trip Qin Yao while they were lining up to leave the mine at lunchtime, only to have Qin Yao return tooth for tooth and kick him lame!

At that moment, Zhang Er saw Qin Yao's vicious, blade-sharp gaze from afar. It looked exactly like it had when Qin Yao gripped the back of his neck and threatened him.

His body could not help trembling. He quickly lowered his eyes, not daring to look again.

That harmless-looking youth had shown him firsthand just how ruthless he could be once truly enraged...

As the "center of public attention," Qin Yao was now supported on either side by Wang Wu and Black Spade. He retreated to the side, leaned one shoulder against the rock wall, and wolfed down his food.

"Skill 'Eating' proficiency +3."

"Skill 'Eating' proficiency +4."

"Skill 'Eating'..."

Qin Yao quickly discovered that ever since his "Eating" skill had entered the Beginner Realm, every bite of pancake he ate and every mouthful of soup he drank provided far more energy than before.

Even with the appetite granted by his Mining skill having reached mastery, after eating three Coarse Pancakes and gulping down three bowls of rotten vegetable-leaf soup, he was already seventy percent full.

"I'll take the rest back for Grandpa and Lan'er."

Qin Yao stuffed the remaining pancakes into his clothes.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A burst of urgent gong beats rang out. "Time's up! Stop fucking eating!

"Those not returning to the Family Camp, get the hell back into the cave dwellings!"

Before the sky had even fully darkened, the mine slaves were allowed to "get off work."

At first glance, that treatment seemed rather decent.

But in truth, the Iron Mountain Mining Area's rule of "returning to quarters at nightfall" was not out of concern for the mine slaves' "human rights."

It was purely because they feared the mine slaves would escape under cover of night!

Throughout history, the proportion of mine slaves escaping at night had always been far higher than in broad daylight.

Although, with the overseers' martial strength, they held an overwhelming advantage over the mine slaves; one of them could fight more than a dozen without even breathing hard.

But the light at night was too poor, and it was impossible for the mine pits to be filled with braziers everywhere.

The Ding Mine Pit had more than a thousand mine slaves in total, while there were only around ten overseers.

If the mine slaves launched a mass escape...

A vast black mass of people scattering in every direction—when the disparity in numbers was too great, it would be difficult for the overseers to cover every angle.

In the end, even if only one percent escaped, the overseers would receive severe punishment for failing in their watch!

Similar incidents had happened before.

So now, having learned from past mistakes, the Iron Mountain Mining Area sent the mine slaves down into the mines at first light; when darkness approached, they drove them back into the cave dwellings.

Then they locked the huge gates, which were like prison iron bars, leaving two overseers at the entrance to take shifts watching them, ensuring that no one inside could even dream of coming out before dawn!

Even if you needed to shit or piss in the middle of the night, you had to take care of it inside the cave dwelling...

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Suddenly, the piercing gong sounded once more. "Those returning to the Family Camp tonight, line up and come forward to be tied to the rope!"

As the name suggested, the Family Camp was where the relatives of those convicted of crimes and banished here to mine lived, along with the relatives of some overseers.

The overseers' relatives were one thing.

As for the criminals' relatives, who had traveled thousands of miles to "settle down" right beneath their noses, the middle and upper ranks of the Iron Mountain Mining Area were more than happy to see it happen.

After all, it was difficult to squeeze any more oil from the convicted criminals who had already been reduced to slavery.

But their relatives were different!

Those families, whose concern had thrown them into confusion, would do everything they could to stuff benefits into the hands of managers at every level of the mining area so that their fathers, sons, husbands, and brothers might suffer a little less.

Just like Qin Yao's grandfather, Qin Dashan.

When Qin Yao had first arrived at the Iron Mountain Mining Area, his grandfather Qin Dashan had handed over all his coffin savings to Steward Wang. Only then had Qin Yao managed to secure the privilege of resting in a "single-person shack room" until dawn.

It had originally been agreed that Qin Yao would rest in that "single-person shack room" for three full days, recover his health a little, and only then start work.

Who could have known that Wang Ji would take the money and refuse to do the job? At the first hint of dawn, he had sent Qin Yao down into the mine.

The single room was no longer his to stay in.

The silver Qin Dashan had gathered by selling off his family property, swallowing his pride, and begging everywhere had gone down the drain just like that...

"Wang Ji, sooner or later, I'll settle this account with you!"

Qin Yao silently made up his mind.

"Fortunately, with my current physical condition, I can travel back and forth to the Family Camp every day. I won't need my little sister to come all this way to care for me anymore...

"I can take this chance to bring food back to Grandpa and Lan'er."

Thinking of this, Qin Yao gently pressed the Coarse Pancakes tucked into his clothes, feeling more secure than ever before.