Chapter 16: Mining Youths

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Two days later, Lu Ming returned to school.

He hid his identity among the new students, carrying a backpack on his back. He looked no different from those new students, keeping a low-profile.

“Wow, an internship. I look forward to it.”

“I heard I can earn many credits.”

“But… I heard from a senior two days ago that this internship is not that good… It is a fraud.”

“How is it possible? The higher authorities stated that this policy must be implemented.”

“That’s right. Don’t spread rumors.”

Some people chattered in small groups.

Everyone carried a backpack as if they were going on holiday.

Hehe.

Lu Ming curled up the corner of his lips to reveal a smile. Cute little guys.

Although the human heart was full of treachery and there were hidden dangers everywhere in this world, he had to admit that the young students who just entered college were indeed adorable.

Very soon…

The school buses left one after the other, leaving for the suburbs. It took them a few hours before they sent all the new students to the mine.

It was a huge mountain range.

The factory for this internship was halfway up the hill, where the students could eat, sleep and have simple entertainment.

On the higher area of the mountain were various complex paths that led to different mine caves. The task for this internship was to go into the mine caves and dig out the Energy Stones.

“Hey, look over here, the food and accommodation for the night will be provided for free. But starting tomorrow, we have to use Energy Stones in exchange for food… the more Energy Stones we submit, the more we can exchange for better food, accommodation, and even entertainment…”

“Wow, there is such a thing?”

The students were amazed.

“Look, the food is separated according to different levels. There is the legendary cultivation meal as well.”

Some of the students were very excited.

The cultivation meals were prepared using meat or refreshing herbs that contained powerful energy as the ingredients of the meal. These meals would be very beneficial to one’s cultivation.

Many students’ eyes lit up.

This kind of treatment…

“The dormitories seem to be ranked according to different levels. Those who stay in the highest level can exchange for a cultivation room.”

The crowd was pleasantly surprised.

Training room!

It was a room specially prepared for cultivation. The room had a high concentration of energy and the cultivation speed was very fast. The students did not expect that this place would be equipped with such a room.

“Look over here.”

Yet another exclamation.

The crowd walked forward to take a look and was excited.

Virtual illusion games device!

It was the highest level of illusion games!

Oh my goodness!

This was a fully immersive, vivid gaming device!

Many of them did not come from well-to-do families. They had never come into contact with high-level illusion equipment in their lives. Therefore, they were very excited to see it.

It was a virtual illusion!

They heard that everything was available in the immersive, vivid games!

There were legendary girls and younger women…

They were thrilled at the thought of it.

Accumulate points!

Accumulate points!

All of the students behaved as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

The staff member who had led them to the mine and stood far away from them was very satisfied. It seemed that the students who were doing the internship would be easy to deal with. They would be contented with small favors… And bear hardship without complaint.

Rushing to work?

At this very moment… Among the crowd, Lu Ming remained silent and kept a low-profile.

He had a father-like smile on his face as he looked at the bunch of excited students.

These stupid kids… Did they really think it was that easy?

Little Lu Ming had been through this deceptive work once last year.

The factory provided differentiated services for meals, accommodation and entertainment. They were ranked according to different levels—level S, level A, level B and level C. As long as you had enough points, you could exchange them for the corresponding levels.

The students could use the services for enjoyment and cultivation, as well as share them with their circle of friends.

Especially among these groups of students.

Lu Ming looked at the students. Some of them who were vain were already comparing themselves.

“They are indeed young.”

Lu Ming sighed deeply.

What was there to compare?

All of this was just money received from ill-informed people!

How would they be able to receive such high-level services?

They had to use points to exchange for them.

Where did the points come from?

Mining!

If they mined for eight hours, it was only enough for three meals a day!

If they wanted more, they would have to work harder!

Ten hours or twelve hours a day was not enough! They had to work sixteen or eighteen hours a day in order to be able to afford those advanced services!

And during this period, the value that a student created… was much more than that!

“You seem to know something.”

He heard a cold voice talking to him.

Lu Ming turned to see that it was actually a silver-haired boy. He was handsome, but not as good looking as him. The most attractive part about him was that he carried a bow with him, and there was an arrow in his waist bag.

“Sharpshooter?”

Lu Ming was somewhat surprised.

In Little Lu Ming’s memory, there was indeed such a vocation.

But in general, a relatively small number of people chose this vocation. The main reason was due to the cost… Maintaining an arrow would cost a lot.

Perhaps…

This was why Elementalists seemed to be all over the place.

“Yes.”

The silver-haired young man nodded.

“There’s only one arrow left.”

Lu Ming looked at his quiver.

“Well, it is very costly.”

The silver-haired young man looked helpless.

“It is better than wasting paper. After all, you are a Sharpshooter.” Lu Ming believed that he was.

The silver-haired young man was at a loss.

Sharpshooter… what did this have to do with wasting paper?

“My name is Xia Yu.”

The silver-haired young man introduced himself. “I noticed your expression just now. You seem to have some ideas about the internship.”

“I participated in the internship last year.”

Lu Ming shrugged.

“It turns out you are my senior.” Xia Yu’s expression became serious. “I have seen those advanced services. They seem to be pretty good. The only concern is how the points accumulation system works…”

“You have guessed correctly,” Lu Ming said with a smile.

“True enough.” Xia Yu sighed.

He knew that the school would not be so considerate.

At this moment, the teacher came around to distribute the mine map. Since the mine caves were too large and complex, they needed the map for guidance.

Whoosh!

Lu Ming flipped open the map.

The mine was not very different from last year.

The mine region was divided into two areas, the periphery was the mining area, where there were a lot of complicated mine caves intertwined with each other. And further inside was the exploitation site. This area had yet to be completely developed.

“The mining area is a bit deeper than last year.”

Lu Ming knew it very well.

Obviously, there was another area that had been opened up for mining.

“Remember! No one is allowed into these exploitation sites. Large machines are used to explore and open up more mine caves. It is very very dangerous. Understood?” The teacher shouted.

“Understood,” the students answered in unison.

“Alright, all of you should go back to the dormitory to rest after dinner. We will start work at six o’clock tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

The students dispersed.

Xia Yu thanked Lu Ming before leaving.

Xia Yu… Lu Ming was deep in his thoughts.

His voice was cold. The silver-haired guy radiated a sense of strong self-restraint… and his bow, obviously it was an extraordinary bow.

How could he say it?

One look and he could tell it was expensive!

However, for someone who could not afford to buy the arrow, why did he have such a good bow?

This was interesting.

Lu Ming’s lips curled to reveal a smile.

However, he did not think too much into it. This internship was very valuable, he had to use his time fully. He could do some preparation work today.

He got up.

As he was about to go back, he saw a group of workers carrying some equipment, passing by in front of him, walking towards the depths of the mine.

Workers…

Lu Ming had some doubts. Did they work until such late hours?

“Teacher, who are all those people?”

Lu Ming pretended that he was just asking a casual question. He stood next to the teacher and muttered, “They seem to be very fierce.”

“That’s normal. If you work overtime everyday, you will definitely become gruff.”

The teacher did not take him seriously: “When they introduced us just now, I heard from the staff that the energy in the mine caves will run out soon, while there is no progress in the exploitation site. The higher-ups are very anxious. These workers have been working overtime for two months. If they do not make any progress this year… I’m afraid we will have to look for other companies to cooperate with next year.”

The teacher pursed their lips.

“So, that’s what’s happening!” Lu Ming suddenly saw the light. “Alright.”

The teacher came back to their senses. Why would they tell so much to a student? The teacher waved their hands and said, “Hurry along to have your meal.”

“Okay.” Lu Ming turned to leave.

It was very late at night.

The students had gone to sleep.

Although the lowest grade dormitory was shabby, it seemed to have a calming effect. The factory workers also knew that it was better to eat well and sleep well so that one could work harder.

The next day. Early in the morning.

The students rushed to the mine caves full of excitement.

They stepped into the mine caves and saw that there were all sorts of strange, impure stones embedded in the ground and the mine walls. Those were their targets—Energy Stones.

Accumulate points!

The stones meant points to them.

The students only had the Energy Stones in their eyes.

Of course, it was not an easy task to dig for Energy Stones. They had to use a pick to dig multiple times and be certain not to affect the Energy Stone.

“Yes… Use the small pick to secure the slits, before using a big pick to exert force.”

The students remembered the ” Beginner’s Guide to Mining” yesterday and strictly followed the guide’s instructions. It took them a while before they dug out their first Energy Stone.

It was just that…

They seemed to take a lot of time…

It took them thirty minutes to dig out their first Energy Stone!

“It must be that we are unskilled.”

“Yes…”

“Practice makes perfect.”

The students comforted themselves.

However, the day soon passed. When they calculated the total number of Energy Stones they had gotten in the evening, all of them had an emotional meltdown.

After an exciting and tiring day of hard work, they were shocked to find that they worked for nearly ten hours and the points they had accumulated were only enough for them to have meals!

Entertainment?

Cultivation?

There was simply no way of doing that!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.