Preparing to Enter the Mine

Outside the pharmacy, several miners were whispering among themselves.

They looked different from the miners here.

Their skin was fair and delicate, and one of them was even a woman.

"I told you we shouldn't have entered the Divine Realm, but you wouldn't listen! Look at us now—we're probably just like that previous batch of unlucky bastards. We can't go back!"

"Who knows if that's even true? This isn't the time for that. Shouldn't we figure out how to stay alive?"

"The news said more than thirty thousand people have vanished from our country for no reason. They're probably here in the Divine Realm too, just like us. I wonder whether they're still alive..."

"No... I don't want to be a missing person. I miss my parents, boohoo..."

The woman began to sob quietly.

Yang Ling's expression shifted again and again.

Missing persons?

That meant when he entered the Divine Realm, his physical body had come in with him too?

I thought the character model was just well-made...

The thought flashed through his mind, and Yang Ling's mood grew heavier.

He finally confirmed one thing.

Since this body was his own, dying in the Divine Realm meant truly dying!

An icy chill instantly flooded through him.

"What kind of bizarre existence is this Divine Realm...?"

"From what they said, over thirty thousand people have already disappeared in the country. That means there are more than thirty thousand players in the Divine Realm. And if you count the other countries..."

Yang Ling shuddered and didn't dare think any further.

If all those people died in here, wouldn't the outside world descend into chaos?

"Mengmeng, don't worry. The country will definitely handle this. They won't just ignore it!"

The handsome man softly comforted the sobbing girl.

The other ordinary-looking man was looking around in all directions.

Yang Ling glanced at the three of their attributes.

Like Zhang Wei, there was nothing remarkable about their attributes.

Their strength and agility were both around two or three points.

Their spirit was only one or two points as well.

"Of the four players I've seen so far, including Zhang Wei, all of them have very low spirit. Yet I have ten points...

Spirit is probably very important."

Yang Ling's mind stirred.

"E-excuse me, brother, could you lend me some money?"

Suddenly, the man who had been looking around walked up to Yang Ling and stammered.

He seemed to be trying his best to make his tone fit the style of this world.

"Who are you? Why would I lend you money?"

Yang Ling rolled his eyes.

Clearly, just like him, this guy had treated all NPCs as idiots when he first entered the Divine Realm.

"You're a miner too, right, brother? So are we. Let's get acquainted, then. Could you lend us some money? We haven't eaten all day and want to buy some steamed buns."

Chen Xu hurriedly said, "My name is Chen Xu, he's Lin Guoliang, and that's his girlfriend, Wu Meng."

When Lin Guoliang and Wu Meng saw Chen Xu striking up a conversation with an "NPC," they immediately looked over.

"You haven't eaten all day?"

Yang Ling looked the three of them up and down.

Chen Xu hurriedly nodded.

"Yeah, we're starving to death..."

"NPCs won't lend us money. Don't waste your time."

Lin Guoliang suddenly shook his head.

"What NPC?"

Yang Ling suddenly asked.

Chen Xu's expression changed slightly. He shot Lin Guoliang a fierce glare and whispered,

"Didn't I tell you not to talk nonsense!?"

The NPCs here were completely different from what they had imagined.

This was the first crucial discovery they had made after arriving in the Divine Realm!

Sometimes, one poorly chosen sentence could very well get them killed!

"Friend, please don't take it to heart. My childhood buddy's brain doesn't work too well. Something's wrong with him."

Chen Xu gave an awkward smile.

"A steamed bun in Miner Village costs one copper coin."

Yang Ling handed Chen Xu three copper coins.

"Buy three buns first. There's not much meat filling inside, just a little minced meat, but it'll fill your stomach."

"We're all refugees. We came to the mine to survive, to earn money and buy ourselves an identity."

"Once you've filled your stomachs, go find Steward Niu to collect pickaxes, then get mining."

With that, he entered the pharmacy.

Lin Guoliang stepped forward with Wu Meng, looking somewhat stunned.

"He really lent it to us? Could this guy be a player like us?"

Chen Xu gently shook his head. "He doesn't understand what NPC means, so he isn't a player. He's a native."

Then he looked at Lin Guoliang and said seriously,

"Guoliang, we agreed before that until we find a way out, we'll survive here first.

If we die here, we'll most likely die for real.

There's something wrong with this game. We can't treat it with our old experience.

Don't say things you shouldn't in the future, or you might get us killed."

A trace of dissatisfaction flashed through Lin Guoliang's eyes, but he still nodded.

"I get it. Let's buy the buns first."

When the pharmacy clerk saw Yang Ling, he casually asked,

"What medicine do you want?"

"I want ten bottles of Golden Wound Medicine."

Yang Ling said.

One bottle of Golden Wound Medicine could restore ten health points. Ten bottles would basically be enough to handle various dangers.

Unfortunately, this pharmacy was too low-level and didn't have better medicine.

"You aren't a mine guard. What do you need so much Golden Wound Medicine for?"

The clerk froze for a moment and muttered quietly, but still took out ten bottles of Golden Wound Medicine for Yang Ling.

Golden Wound Medicine (Defective): Restores 10 health points

"That'll be fifty wen."

"Here."

Yang Ling paid the money and placed the Golden Wound Medicine into another cloth pouch at his waist, one he had specially prepared for entering the mine.

"Oh, right. Does the pharmacy have any antidote for dealing with Ore Worms?"

Yang Ling asked another question as his gaze swept around the place.

"Ore Worms? Did an Ore Worm crawl out of the mine?"

The clerk looked somewhat confused.

"A few days ago, someone seemed to have seen one. Better safe than sorry. My life matters, after all."

Yang Ling said.

The clerk immediately rummaged through the cabinet, then took out a porcelain bottle.

"These are Detoxification Pills that Supervisor Wu specifically placed here for sale. If you're bitten by an Ore Worm, they can detoxify you.

But they aren't effective against every kind of Ore Worm venom. One bottle costs fifty wen. Do you want it?"

Detoxification Pills x5

Yang Ling nodded. "One bottle."

When he left the pharmacy, he had ten bottles of Golden Wound Medicine and one bottle of Detoxification Pills in his pouch.

He had forty-seven copper coins left.

Yang Ling immediately headed toward a familiar dry-rations shop.

The flatbreads sold here were tough and dry, but they could be stored for ten days or so without going bad.

"My strength has increased, and my appetite has gotten bigger than before."

"Ten flatbreads a day is just right."

"Supervisor Wu wants me to take part in a skill competition among the miners in a month..."

"During that time, I can actually come out once every four or five days and grind out more attribute points."

With that in mind, Yang Ling entered the dry-rations shop.

He traded all his remaining copper coins for flatbreads.

Only after finishing all that did he head toward the mine.

"These buns taste pretty good. At least we're seven-tenths full."

Lin Guoliang and the other two were satisfied.

"Next, we need to go into the mine and dig. That guy said mining is the only way to make money and support ourselves."

Chen Xu pondered.

"Chen Xu, do you think that guy might be an NPC who gives out quests?"

Lin Guoliang's expression shifted.

"He also told us that we have to spend money to buy an identity. This might be the Divine Realm's beginner quest."

"We were captured and brought here to mine because we're refugees. In the Divine Realm, having a proper identity is probably very important."

Chen Xu slowly nodded.

"Hey, we still don't know his name. There are so many miners in Miner Village—how are we supposed to find him later?"

Lin Guoliang suddenly realized.

The three exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat strange.

"Forget it. Let's go into the mine and take a look first."

Chen Xu said, "We can ask about that Steward Niu he mentioned then, too."