Wang Lei trudged forward, each step heavier than the last. Beads of sweat streamed down his face, soaking into his already damp shirt. The bag slung over his back bulged with the weight of the metals and rocks he had gathered, pulling painfully at his shoulders.
With his right arm still injured, carrying all of this was proving to be a real struggle.
"Just a little bit longer... The mining house is just right there," he muttered, gritting his teeth as he hoisted the bag higher.
Up ahead, not far now, stood a wooden door faintly illuminated by the dim glow of a lone lamp hanging beside it.
Just as he reached the door, close enough to grasp the handle, he pushed it open. A small, cozy room greeted him on the other side.
"Finally," he sighed in relief, setting the swollen bag down on the wooden table which was place at the center of the room with a heavy thud.
"I can't believe I mined this much… Well, I guess it's thanks to my father. This place hasn't been touched in years, so I'm not really that surprised," Wang Lei muttered as he slumped into a chair, his body aching from the weight of the heavy bag.
This entire mining cave had belonged to his father, not to the mining company, but to him personally. That made it a private site, one that no outsider had the right to enter.
Normally, owning a mining site privately like this wasn't allowed by the government. It essentially meant that all the resources within would belong solely to the owner, a significant loss for the state.
That's why the government strictly controlled all mining operations across China, only allowing private companies to operate under the condition that they surrender a large percentage of their findings.
And yet, Wang Lei's father was allowed to privately own one, which was almost unthinkable, considering how strict the Chinese government was.
Wang Lei never knew the reason why the authorities let it slide. It had always been that way, even before he was born.
He once heard from his father that it was part of an agreement, something made long ago between their family and their ancestors. It surprised Wang Lei that such a pact was still honored, even now.
That was the extent of what he knew. For years, it remained one of those lingering mysteries he occasionally pondered but never fully understood.
What was strange was that although his father had this treasure trove of resources at his fingertips, he never took a single thing from the cave.
You have to understand, this mining site made up nearly ten percent of the entire Yellow Peak Mountain. That much land was enough to build a city of its own. It was a mountain range, after all, vast and sprawling.
All the resources in that mining site were more than enough to pay off his father's debts, with plenty left over. And yet, he hadn't touched a single ounce of it. Wang Lei couldn't understand why his father had made such a decision.
Every time they explored the site together, Wang Lei would ask about it. But his father always gave the same vague answer, which sometimes irritated him to no end.
But if he really thought about it, wasn't it a stroke of fortune that his father had never mined the place? After all, the only reason he'd survived starvation was by eating those untouched rocks and minerals.
"And thanks to him, I found this many minerals too. Hehehe…" Wang Lei chuckled darkly, a crooked grin forming on his face as a thin trail of drool slipped from the corner of his mouth.
From the fork in the path, it had taken over an hour to reach the mining house. Along the way, Wang Lei had stumbled upon a trove of ores, mostly coal, but also something new he hadn't eaten yet. That meant one thing: he could finally start boosting his other attributes!
So far, he had only consumed two types of ores. Coal, which bolstered his Defense stat, and gold, which significantly increased his Strength. The results had been nothing short of amazing.
Wang Lei had always prioritized increasing his combat attributes being Strength, Agility, and Stamina. But this time, he found himself hoping for something different: a mineral that could enhance his Magic or Mana.
Magic and Mana. Those words belonged to the realm of fantasy, games, and fiction. In the world Wang Lei came from, they were nothing more than imaginative concepts.
No one truly believed in their existence. And no, sleight-of-hand magic tricks didn't count, those were illusions, mere tricks of the eye.
But now, Wang Lei absolutely believed they were real. How could he not, after everything he had witnessed?
The fact that he could eat metal without destroying his insides. The way those ants mutated into something monstrous. The strange white orbs that emerged from the corpses of those creatures. And that black pair of boots, appearing out of nowhere like a reward from the heavens.
If those weren't the work of magic… then what else could they be?
Wang Lei couldn't reject their existence, no, he didn't have the luxury to. Everything was unfolding right in front of his eyes. Denying it now would make him nothing more than a fool, ignorant and closed-minded. And people like that… they wouldn't survive long in a world as cruel as this.
It was that exact mindset that allowed Wang Lei to accept all these unbelievable things so quickly. Survival was the only thing that mattered.
With his brief moment of self-reflection over, Wang Lei reached for the bag he had set on the table and poured out its contents. A small mountain of ores clattered into place, the dull gleam of various minerals catching the light.
Most of the ores were coal, but among the black rocks, two minerals caught his attention, gleaming as they reflected the light.
One of them was a crystalline mineral, its six-sided towers with sharp, pointed tips clustered together. It had a smooth, almost glass-like appearance, and its transparency was so clear that Wang Lei could almost see through to the other side. It was an ore of quartz.
The other was a kind of metal, though it looked like a normal rock at first glance, it was something he could easily identify with his sharp eyes. After a quick analysis, he recognized it as lead.
Wang Lei eagerly grabbed one of the two, excitement rushing through him as he anticipated discovering new effects.
The first one he decided to try was the quartz.
"I hope you'll give me something good." Wang Lei muttered, gazing at the quartz as if it were the most precious thing before finally taking a bite.
Hmm... this one tastes like mint Wang Lei remarked casually as he chewed, savoring the unexpected flavor.
Just seconds after the quartz ore practically dissolved in his hands, a floating screen popped up in front of him.
[Defense will increase by 200%. Duration: 5 minutes.]
"What?!" Wang Lei shot to his feet, eyes wide as he shouted at the floating screen.
"A buff effect?! Nobody told me about this!"
He had always assumed that minerals only granted permanent stat boosts. But now, this unexpected development threw him off.
In hindsight, though, the skill description had always been vague. The word 'effect' was broad, it could mean anything, not just permanent enhancements. It never explicitly said the minerals would only raise his stats.
It seemed that Wang Lei realized this as well, slumping dejectedly in his chair.
"…So, it doesn't just give stat enhancements?" he muttered, still struggling to accept the unexpected revelation.
"However!"
But just as quickly, his expression shifted. With a determined glint in his eyes, he straightened his back and snatched the lead ore from the table, raising it high like some sacred relic.
"I still have this one! I'm sure it won't fail me this time!" he declared with conviction.
Without further ado, he began to eat. The ore was quite small, so in just a few bites, it had already vanished from his hands, now traveling down to his stomach, or wherever these minerals were supposed to go.
This taste is kinda… weird, Wang Lei thought as he continued to chew. The texture was oddly similar to clay, and there was no flavor whatsoever, it was just… bland.
Still, he didn't dwell too much on the taste. What truly mattered was the effect! He might as well treat it like a weird, flavorless piece of bubble gum.
Just like before, the moment he finished swallowing the last bite, a floating screen appeared before him, but this time, the contents drained the excitement from his face and replaced it with a flash of panic.
[You have consumed a poisonous metal.]
[Skill: Ore Consumption will take effect and neutralize the poison.]
Wang Lei had completely forgotten one crucial fact—lead was poisonous.