Leveling Up Again

"By the way, you still haven't told me your name."

Zhang Wei suddenly realized.

"My name is Yang Ling."

Yang Ling's expression was somewhat complicated.

He had already determined that he might be the only one who could see the attribute panel.

However, he had not encountered many players yet—only Zhang Wei. He would need to meet a few more before he could confirm it.

"Brother Yang, if we die in the Divine Realm, will we really die?"

Zhang Wei suddenly looked somber.

"I've been thinking about this question ever since I arrived half a month ago..."

"I'm not sure either."

Yang Ling shook his head.

"What are we supposed to do next? Are we just going to let those NPCs bully us?"

Zhang Wei gritted his teeth. "If anyone dared hit me like that in real life, I'd sue them until they went bankrupt, or my name isn't Zhang!"

"I think our first goal should be to stay alive."

"The Divine Realm is very strange. As long as there's even the slightest possibility, we can't take that gamble."

Yang Ling said seriously.

"Right, stay alive..."

Zhang Wei muttered, "But how? This game doesn't feel like a game at all.

"I can't even see my character's attribute panel.

"The NPCs here are vicious too. They're always trying to beat me up.

"The pain feels far too real, and so does the hunger."

At that point, he began cursing the developers of the Divine Realm again.

"The rules of the Fire Crystal Ore Vein say that you have to hand in at least one tael of Fire Crystal Ore every day.

"You can exchange that for ten copper coins."

Yang Ling said, "Here, one copper coin can buy a steamed bun.

"Three copper coins can buy half a jin of rice or flour.

"Without those things, we can't survive."

"One tael? I couldn't mine that much even if I dug until I passed out. Doesn't that mean I'm doomed!?"

Zhang Wei sucked in a cold breath, despair appearing in his eyes.

"Can I trust you?"

Yang Ling suddenly asked.

"Brother Yang, what do you mean?"

Zhang Wei was puzzled.

"I arrived earlier, so I'm already an experienced miner. I have a way to help you gather one tael of Fire Crystal Ore and get you your basic allowance."

Yang Ling looked serious.

"But after you get the copper coins, you can only take the portion that belongs to you. You have to give me mine."

"Right! That's a way out!"

Zhang Wei became excited.

When he saw Yang Ling merely staring at him without saying a word, he immediately came to his senses and hurriedly said,

"Brother Yang, don't worry. I won't take the share that isn't mine. You're practically my savior—you saved my life twice!"

"Alright. For the next few days, don't stray too far from me. If you run into any problems, I'll help you more."

Yang Ling smiled and nodded.

Over the next few days, Yang Ling gradually helped Zhang Wei familiarize himself with Fire Crystal Ore.

Yang Ling also secretly observed Zhang Wei's condition.

The other man needed a long rest after just a few swings of the pickaxe.

This showed that he truly had no experience points and could not level up through mining.

His attributes had not changed at all.

Soon, five shichen had passed.

Zhang Wei was already exhausted into a puddle of mud. Seeing Yang Ling still tirelessly mining, envy inevitably appeared in his eyes.

"Brother Yang, your strength and endurance are incredible. What did you do outside?"

"Construction work."

Yang Ling did not even turn around.

Zhang Wei showed a trace of understanding, then muttered to himself,

"If I'd known it would be like this, I would've done construction work too. When will these miserable days ever end?"

Yang Ling ignored him and continued working the Fire Crystal Ore before him.

Because he had left punctually for several days in a row, Fifth Brother had relaxed his watch over him.

There were at least a thousand miners in this enormous ore vein.

As long as no one kept a close eye on him, they would never notice that he was secretly working overtime!

"Brother Yang, I think it's about time. They're all lining up already. Aren't we leaving?"

Zhang Wei glanced toward the exit.

"The more we mine, the more copper coins we can exchange for. We don't know how long we'll have to survive here. If we don't have money on hand, we won't be able to get anywhere."

Yang Ling spoke as he mined.

Zhang Wei thought it made sense. After resting for a while, he began mining too.

Several shichen later, a pleasant voice rang out beside Yang Ling's ear.

"Congratulations, you have leveled up and gained 1 free attribute point!"

He had leveled up!

A flash of delight appeared in Yang Ling's eyes. Only five days had passed since his last level-up!

As his strength increased, the speed at which he gained experience really had become faster!

Without hesitation, Yang Ling added the attribute point to Strength.

A familiar warm current flowed through his body, washing away the exhaustion of the day.

He lightly clenched his fist. His strength had indeed increased by another notch!

Character: Yang Ling

Class: Miner

Level: 4

Strength: 7

Agility: 5

Spirit: 10

Health: 70

"My Strength is now the same as Fifth Brother's, and my Agility is two points higher. If I run into him alone, beating him up won't be much of a problem."

Yang Ling narrowed his eyes slightly.

As a professional gold farmer, his skills might not have been the very best, but they were definitely first-rate.

More importantly, he had good game sense!

Even in a fight, he would be better than the average person.

"My Strength is already at 7. The rate at which I gain experience will be even faster from now on.

"Even if the next level requires more experience, I might still be able to level up in five or six days."

"Soon, soon. Once I gather 10 points of Strength, I'll have some ability to protect myself!"

As he thought this, the pickaxe in his hand suddenly let out a crisp sound.

Yang Ling looked down.

"Ordinary Pickaxe, Durability: 0."

"The pickaxe broke? But my savings these past few days are already enough to buy a better pickaxe."

Yang Ling did not care much. He called out to Zhang Wei and headed toward the entrance.

Although it was already dark, the ore vein was actually guarded around the clock.

There were quite a few miners like Yang Ling who wanted to get ahead.

Several others were even sneaking out from the shadows, their faces covered with cloth for fear of being discovered by Fifth Brother's group.

Without exception, these miners all had fairly high Strength attributes—either 6 or 7 points.

Steward Niu walked out of the building and began receiving Fire Crystal Ore with a smile.

"Oh, three taels? Not bad."

Steward Niu looked Yang Ling over, then handed him thirty copper coins without another word.

Yang Ling finally could not hold back any longer and asked in a low voice,

"Steward Niu, may I ask something?"

"Speak."

Steward Niu said blandly.

"Fifth Brother won't let us mine extra ore. Doesn't the ore vein care about that?"

Yang Ling asked quietly.

"Why would they care? Mine if you want. As long as everyone gathers one tael and hands it over to me, my task is complete."

Steward Niu was utterly unconcerned. "If you hand in more, I don't get any benefit. Why would I offend Fifth Brother over this?"

After saying that, he glanced at Yang Ling.

"You just arrived, so don't say I didn't warn you. Fifth Brother has an older sister who is Supervisor Wu's concubine."

Yang Ling's expression turned solemn, and he immediately cupped his fists.

"Thank you, Steward Niu."

Zhang Wei still had not forgotten the suffering this bastard had caused him. Seeing Yang Ling treat him so respectfully, he could not help snorting inwardly.