The Second Player

Before he knew it, Yang Ling had mined out the Fire Crystal Rock in front of him.

He weighed the cloth pouch in his hand. He had gathered the half-tael that had been extorted from him.

Five hours had already passed, and the miners in the ore vein were leaving one after another.

Every one of them looked utterly exhausted.

Fire Crystal Rock was simply too hard. Every strike of the pickaxe drained all their strength.

Thanks to the experience points, most of Yang Ling's fatigue and muscle soreness had been relieved, but he still put on an exhausted appearance.

He hid in the shadows and, sure enough, spotted Fifth Brother looking around, seemingly checking whether anyone dared to work overtime for no reason.

I'll lull him into complacency today, so he doesn't keep watching me every day.

With that in mind, Yang Ling immediately put on a weary expression and slowly headed toward the exit.

"Fifth Brother, that's Yang Ling."

One of Fifth Brother's lackeys spotted Yang Ling and immediately pointed him out with a grin.

Fifth Brother nodded in satisfaction.

"This kid knows what's good for him."

Handing in Fire Crystal Rock was also part of the daily routine.

As Yang Ling stood in line, he suddenly heard angry shouting from ahead, followed by pleas for mercy.

"Five hours a day, and you can't even gather half a tael of Fire Crystal Rock!? You useless trash! Beat him!"

A steward was raging as he ordered the ore vein guards to beat a thin young man.

The young man screamed and begged for mercy under the blows.

Yang Ling glanced around and found that whenever something like this happened, most of the miners merely watched with gloating smiles.

"Damn it! You NPCs, and this goddamn Divine Realm! Once I get out, I'm definitely reporting all of you!!"

Unable to endure the beating any longer, the young man began swearing loudly.

"What gibberish are you spouting? You still dare curse at me? Hit him! Beat him to death—I'll take responsibility!"

The steward flew into a rage.

Yang Ling was slightly startled and immediately focused his gaze on the young man.

Name: Zhang Wei
Class: None
Level: 1
Strength: 2
Agility: 2
Spirit: 1
Health: 20

At that moment, Zhang Wei's Health was dropping rapidly and would soon hit zero.

He has a level and Health!

He isn't an NPC. He's a player too, just like me!?

Yang Ling was pleasantly surprised.

He was currently at the Fire Crystal Ore Vein outside Green Mountain City.

He had been here for more than half a month. Almost every time he saw someone, he would check their Attribute Panel, hoping to find another player like himself.

Yet he had gained nothing at all over the past half month.

He had never expected to run into a player today!

After the surprise faded, though, Yang Ling felt a headache coming on.

Given the current situation, Zhang Wei might very well be beaten to death!

"Enough. Don't actually beat him to death. If Supervisor Wu blames me, I won't take responsibility."

The steward waved his hand.

The ore vein guards immediately stopped.

Zhang Wei could no longer curse. He could only groan weakly on the ground.

His Health had also plummeted from 20 to 1.

These ore vein guards all have at least 10 Strength, making them far stronger than ordinary people. But they're NPCs and can't level up, so they must have other ways of becoming stronger.

That's the direction I need to focus on next.

At that moment, the steward looked down at Zhang Wei and said coldly,

"You failed to gather one tael of Fire Crystal Rock, so you won't get a single coin. Go hungry today. If you still can't gather enough tomorrow, you'll starve to death in a few days. Figure it out yourself!"

With that, he continued collecting Fire Crystal Rock from the other miners.

Soon, it was Yang Ling's turn.

"Only one tael today?"

The steward frowned slightly.

Then he spotted Fifth Brother and his group glaring from afar, and realization dawned on him. He snorted, then gave Yang Ling ten copper coins.

"Thank you, Steward Niu."

Yang Ling accepted the ten copper coins and immediately thanked him.

Steward Niu's expression improved somewhat.

"If every newcomer were as sensible and diligent as you, I wouldn't have to waste so much effort."

After saying that, he waved his hand as though shooing away a fly.

Yang Ling wisely left. On his way out, he helped Zhang Wei to his feet.

The nearby miners all shook their heads at the sight.

They had already ended up here, yet he still wanted to meddle in other people's business.

Outside the ore vein was a village built for the miners, with food, drink, and everything else available.

Yang Ling took Zhang Wei back to his own place: a crude little wooden shack that leaked when it rained and let in drafts whenever the wind blew.

"Wake up."

He tried to rouse Zhang Wei.

But Zhang Wei showed no reaction, as if he had fallen unconscious.

Does low Health cause unconsciousness?

Yang Ling pondered this, then dug out a box from beneath his bed. Inside were more than a hundred copper coins he had saved over this period, along with a bottle of healing medicine.

He glanced at the medicine, and its Attribute Panel automatically appeared.

Golden Wound Medicine (Defective): Restores 10 Health

There'll be even more places to spend money in the future, but... I can't just stand by and watch him die.

Yang Ling helplessly shook his head, then fed the Golden Wound Medicine to Zhang Wei and gave him a few mouthfuls of water.

He watched Zhang Wei's Attribute Panel.

He saw the other man's Health slowly rise.

It increased by roughly 1 point every minute.

When his Health rose past 10, Zhang Wei began showing signs of waking up.

The medicine may be defective, but if it says it restores 10 Health, then it restores 10 Health. At least it doesn't skimp on that.

"That hurt like hell. Did I leave the game?"

Zhang Wei groaned and instinctively tried to sit up.

"You haven't left Divine Realm yet."

Yang Ling said.

"Huh!?"

Zhang Wei's eyes widened, then he asked in surprise,

"You... you're a player!?"

"Obviously. Who else would save you if not another player?"

Yang Ling said.

"Quick, tell me how to leave the game! I've been trapped here for half a month. It's worse than death!

"The developers of Divine Realm are a bunch of bastards! Bastards!!"

Zhang Wei grabbed Yang Ling's arm, his voice full of agitation.

Yang Ling's heart sank. So the other man had no way to leave either.

He said in a low voice,

"Calm down. I can't leave either. I was about to ask whether you knew of any way."

"You can't leave either?"

Zhang Wei froze and muttered to himself,

"What the hell is going on..."

Yang Ling did not disturb him. He turned around and began repairing his pickaxe.

He had not yet saved enough money to trade for a better pickaxe, so he had to take good care of the one issued from above. It was his lifeline!

"It must be a bug. They're probably fixing it right now. Once they fix it, we'll be able to get out."

Zhang Wei seemed to have convinced himself. He looked at Yang Ling.

"What should I call you, brother?"

"Hm?"

A strange glint flashed through Yang Ling's eyes.

"You don't know my name?"

He couldn't see Attribute Panels?

"Should I know your name? Are you famous around here?"

Zhang Wei looked confused.

Yang Ling's expression grew serious.

"When you were mining today, did you feel anything was off?"

He seemed to understand why Zhang Wei had been unable to gather even one tael of Fire Crystal Rock.

If Zhang Wei could not see Attribute Panels, then he likely did not have experience points either.

Without experience points to relieve fatigue and muscle soreness, how could he possibly mine Fire Crystal Rock without training?

"Something off? Yeah!"

"This damn Fire Crystal Rock is way too hard! I can't mine it at all! I scraped off that half-tael with my life on the line!"

Zhang Wei's face turned green.

"The developers of Divine Realm are really a bunch of dog-eating bastards!"