The massive open-pit mine was bustling with countless miners wielding various mining tools, working tirelessly.

Yang Ling, drenched in sweat, continued to chisel away at the 'Fire Crystal Rock' in front of him with his pickaxe.

Each strike required his full strength; otherwise, the hard Fire Crystal Rock wouldn't budge.

"Little Yang, you're here for sixteen out of the twenty-four hours a day. Aren't you afraid of wearing yourself out? You won't last long like this."

An old miner passing by couldn't help but offer a word of advice.

Yang Ling didn't stop his actions, responding politely:

"Don't worry, Uncle Wang, I know my limits."

"Sigh."

Uncle Wang shook his head lightly and walked away, searching for valuable Fire Crystal Rock.

Yang Ling continued to diligently chisel the Fire Crystal Rock.

With each strike, a faint, cool energy seeped into his body through the pickaxe.

This energy not only relieved his fatigue but also increased his endurance.

"Is this really a game, or is it the real world?"

"I just wanted to relax with a holographic simulation game, so why can't I return?"

Yang Ling muttered to himself.

He had been in this world for half a month.

Half a month ago, he was a professional gold farmer, making a lot of money by farming gold in games.

In the gold farming industry, he was somewhat famous.

But the monotonous daily routine bored him, so he decided to try a newly launched game, "Divine Realm," for a change.

But shortly after entering the game, he realized something was wrong!

He couldn't go back!

And this world was incredibly real, whether it was the tactile simulation or the basic needs, everything was just like the real world.

Even the NPCs were so lifelike.

At first, he almost starved in this world.

Until he was caught and made a miner.

Thinking this, the pickaxe struck again.

A cool energy entered his body.

"Ding!"

A pleasant leveling-up sound chimed.

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

Yang Ling immediately brought up the attribute panel:

Character: Yang Ling

Occupation: Miner

Level: 3

Free Attribute Points: 1

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Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Spirit: 10

Health: 50

"Finally leveled up, and I got an extra free attribute point."

Yang Ling was secretly excited.

The reason he had been working so hard was to level up.

Each chisel strike gave him experience points.

But the attribute panel didn't show it; he could only judge by the cool energy.

The cool energy was the experience points, which not only allowed him to level up but also relieved fatigue and increased endurance.

"My character's initial strength attribute was only 4, but agility and spirit were quite high."

"5 points should be the standard for a normal person."

With that in mind, Yang Ling immediately added the free attribute point to strength.

He wasn't sure what spirit did for now.

He only knew that strength could speed up his mining, naturally gaining more experience points.

Strength was also linked to health.

As he added a point to strength, a warm current surged through Yang Ling's body, instantly dispelling all his fatigue, and his sore muscles no longer ached.

At the same time, his health increased from 50 to 60.

He clenched his fist, clearly feeling a significant boost in strength!

Yang Ling couldn't help but feel secretly pleased.

He wanted to survive, and health was extremely crucial.

A few days ago, he accidentally fell and hit his head, losing twenty health points.

He had to take healing medicine to slowly recover.

He had thought about whether clearing his health would let him leave the 'Divine Realm.'

But he didn't dare to gamble; he feared that if his health hit zero, he would be wiped out too...

"Grind! As long as mining lets me level up, I'll grind till the end of time!"

"As for everything else, it's not important!"

Yang Ling took a sip from his water bottle and continued to swing his pickaxe.

One strike, two strikes...

Until the Fire Crystal Mine in front of him was completely mined out, he carefully collected the fragments on the ground and placed them in the cloth pouch at his waist.

Yang Ling weighed it.

"Hmm, about one or two ounces, I can exchange it for ten coins from Supervisor Wu."

"Last time, the healing potion Supervisor Wu sold me was only five coins a bottle, so I need to save up more for survival."

"But my pickaxe is almost worn out too; I need to save some money to buy a better one, which will help speed up experience gain."

While pondering, several figures quietly approached.

Yang Ling discreetly glanced up.

"So it's Fifth Brother, is there something you need?"

Yang Ling cupped his hands and smiled.

Fifth Brother was tall and burly, accompanied by several miners with sullen expressions, their eyes unfriendly towards Yang Ling.

"Regular miners work for ten hours a day and then rest, but you work for sixteen hours.

You're working so hard to curry favor with Supervisor Wu, aren't you?"

Fifth Brother said indifferently.

Yang Ling explained, "Fifth Brother, you've misunderstood. I just want to earn more money."

"No, there are rules here."

Fifth Brother said coldly, "By doing this, Supervisor Wu will say we're lazy, you're elevating yourself and belittling us.

Let me give you a piece of advice: work for ten hours and then stop, or it won't just be a bump on the head next time."

He glanced at Yang Ling's forehead with a half-smile.

A fleeting, cold glint flashed in Yang Ling's eyes.

The next second, Fifth Brother's attributes unfolded before him.

Character: Fifth Brother

Occupation: Miner

Strength: 7

Agility: 3

Spirit: 2

There was no level or health bar, just the NPC's attribute panel.

"His strength is still higher than mine, and his connections are better. If I confront him head-on, I'll definitely suffer."

With that in mind, Yang Ling appeased:

"Fifth Brother, from now on, I'll only mine for ten hours."

Fifth Brother nodded in satisfaction:

"Smart choice, kid."

He then glanced at the cloth pouch on Yang Ling's waist:

"I saw you mined quite a bit of Fire Crystal Rock just now, share half with me."

Yang Ling thought for a moment, "Fifth Brother, how about I give you thirty percent of all the Fire Crystal Rock I mine in the future, and you let me mine for more hours?"

"You sneaky little devil, still trying to curry favor with Supervisor Wu, huh?"

Fifth Brother sneered, "Hand over half of the Fire Crystal Rock, and get lost. If you dare mine for even a minute longer, I'll make you regret it!"

"Looks like this guy is really afraid of someone outshining him in front of Supervisor Wu."

Without another word, Yang Ling poured out half of the Fire Crystal Rock for them.

They weighed it, satisfied, and put it into their own pouch.

It was quite full, at least close to a pound.

"Smart move, remember Fifth Brother's words, I'll be watching you."

Fifth Brother chuckled and left with his men.

"I need to be more cautious around him."

Yang Ling began searching for more Fire Crystal Rock.

He didn't plan to mine for just ten hours a day.

He wanted to level up, he wanted to increase his stats!

As long as his strength reached 10 points, he believed that small fry like Fifth Brother wouldn't be able to push him around anymore.

Soon, Yang Ling found another spot with Fire Crystal Rock, and without hesitation, he took out his pickaxe and started grinding.