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

Zhang Wei suddenly realized.

"My name is Yang Ling."

Yang Ling's expression was somewhat complex.

He had already confirmed that the attribute panel might only be visible to himself.

However, he hadn't encountered many players yet, only Zhang Wei, and needed to meet a few more to be sure of this.

"Brother Yang, do you think if we die in the 'Divine Realm', we'll really die?"

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Zhang Wei suddenly asked, his expression somber.

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

"I'm not sure either."

Yang Ling shook his head.

"So what should we do next? Are we just going to let those NPCs bully us?"

Zhang Wei gritted his teeth and said, "If this were reality, whoever dared to hit me like that, I'd sue them until they were bankrupt!"

"I think our first goal should be to survive."

"This 'Divine Realm' is very strange. As long as there's a sliver of possibility, we can't gamble."

Yang Ling said seriously.

"Yes, survive first..."

Zhang Wei murmured, "But how do we survive? This game doesn't feel like a game at all.

I can't even see the character's attribute panel.

The NPCs here are so aggressive, they hit me at the slightest provocation.

The pain feels too real, and the hunger is also very real."

Saying this, he began cursing the developers of the "Divine Realm."

"The rule of the Fire Crystal Rock Mine is that you have to hand in at least one tael of Fire Crystal Rock every day.

That can be exchanged for ten copper coins."

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

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

Without these, we can't survive."

"One tael? I dig until I'm dizzy and still can't find that much. Am I doomed to die?"

Zhang Wei gasped, a look of despair in his eyes.

"Can I trust you?"

Yang Ling suddenly asked.

"Brother Yang, what do you mean by that?"

Zhang Wei was a bit puzzled.

"I came earlier, and I'm already a skilled miner. I have a way to help you gather one tael of Fire Crystal Rock so you can get the minimum guarantee."

Yang Ling said seriously, "But after you get the copper coins, you can only take your share, and mine must be given to me."

"Right! That's a plan!"

Zhang Wei was a bit excited.

Seeing Yang Ling just staring at him silently, he quickly came to his senses and said hurriedly, "Brother Yang, don't worry, I won't take what's not mine. You're practically my savior, saving my life twice!"

"Alright, for the next few days, don't stray too far from me. If there's any problem, I'll help you out more."

Yang Ling smiled and nodded.

...

...

In the following days, Yang Ling helped Zhang Wei gradually become familiar with the Fire Crystal Rock Mine.

Yang Ling also secretly observed Zhang Wei's condition.

Every time Zhang Wei dug a few times, he had to rest for a while.

This showed that he indeed had no experience points and couldn't level up through mining.

His attributes had never changed.

Soon, ten hours passed.

Zhang Wei was already exhausted, like a pile of mud, and when he saw Yang Ling still panting and mining, he couldn't help but look at him with envy:

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

"Construction work."

Yang Ling replied without looking back.

Zhang Wei showed a look of understanding and then muttered to himself:

"If I had known, I would have worked in construction outside too. When will this miserable life end?"

Yang Ling ignored him and continued working on the Fire Crystal Rock in front of him.

Because he had been leaving on time for several days, Fifth Brother had relaxed his surveillance.

In the vast mine vein, there were at least a thousand miners.

As long as no one was specifically watching, they wouldn't notice him secretly working overtime!

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

Zhang Wei glanced toward the exit.

"The more we dig, 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, we can't move an inch."

Yang Ling said while digging.

Zhang Wei thought it made a lot of sense, so after resting for a while, he started digging again.

Several hours later, a pleasant voice sounded in Yang Ling's ear.

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

Leveled up!

A flash of joy appeared in Yang Ling's eyes; it had only been five days since the last level-up!

As his strength increased, his experience gain speed indeed became faster!

Without hesitation, Yang Ling added the attribute point to his strength.

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

With a gentle squeeze of his fist, his strength indeed increased again!

Character: Yang Ling

Occupation: 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 2 points higher. If I encounter him alone, beating him up shouldn't be a problem."

Yang Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.

As a professional gold farmer, his skills might not be the best, but they were definitely top-notch.

Most importantly, he had good awareness!

Even in a fight, he would be better than ordinary people.

"My strength is already at 7 points, and the speed of gaining experience will be even faster.

Even if the experience required for the next level increases, it might only take five or six days to level up."

"Almost there, almost there. Once I gather 10 points of strength, I'll have some self-defense capability!"

Thinking this, the pickaxe in his hand suddenly made a crisp sound.

Yang Ling looked down.

"Ordinary pickaxe, durability: zero."

"The pickaxe broke? But over the past few days, my savings are enough to buy a better pickaxe."

Yang Ling wasn't too concerned and called out to Zhang Wei before heading toward the entrance.

Although it was already dark, the mine vein was actually monitored 24 hours a day.

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

A few of them quietly emerged from the shadows, their faces covered with cloth, afraid of being discovered by Fifth Brother's gang.

These miners, without exception, had relatively high strength attributes, either 6 points or 7 points.

Steward Niu came out of the house, smiling as he began receiving the Fire Crystal Rock.

"Oh, three taels? Not bad."

Steward Niu looked Yang Ling up and down, then without a word, gave him thirty coins.

Yang Ling couldn't hold back any longer and asked in a low voice:

"Steward Niu, can I ask you something?"

"Speak."

Steward Niu said indifferently.

"Fifth Brother doesn't let us mine more. Doesn't the mine vein care about that?"

Yang Ling asked quietly.

"Why should we care? You can mine if you want. As long as everyone gives me one tael, my task is complete."

Steward Niu said carelessly, "I don't gain anything from more submissions, so why would I offend Old Five over this?"

After speaking, he glanced at Yang Ling:

"You just got here, so don't say I didn't warn you. Old Five has a sister who's Supervisor Wu's concubine."

Yang Ling's expression turned serious, and he immediately cupped his fists:

"Thank you, Steward Niu."

Zhang Wei hadn't forgotten the pain this guy caused him, and seeing Yang Ling being so respectful to him, he couldn't help but snort in his heart.