Chapter Seventy-Two: Entering the Mine for a Fee

Chu Jun voiced his concern, “I’ve been thinking about something. Unlike Star Sky Live, self-media platforms don’t have gift-sending or easy browsing to boost viewership. The number of viewers relies entirely on self-promotion. How do we handle the traffic issue?”

“It seems we have no budget for activities,” Jin Xiong replied, sending a helpless scratching-head emoji.

Ye Piaoxue chimed in, “Check the trending topics. Number 148: ‘Fool drz02825’—searched 1,002,226 times. Da Huang bought a spot on the trending list.”

“If Piaoxue hadn’t mentioned it, I’d have forgotten. The keyword ‘fool’ brings up his streaming room first. That must be a paid placement too.”

“The homepage image carousel—the spot where 24 images compete for three recommendations—I just saw his streaming room flash by. My God, that must cost a fortune,” Zhao Shengsheng exclaimed.

Li Nan sent a smiling emoji. “Shows that Old Huang knows how to play the game, but with so much spent, four or five million credit points must have gone out. I just worry it’ll affect the upgrade of the Mirror Mech later.”

Zhao Shengsheng sent a disdainful emoji. “Don’t worry, that guy definitely still has plenty of credit points. He’s not the impulsive type who spends without thinking.”

Yu Shiyin pondered, “Let’s all think of ways to help him draw traffic. The more, the better. Even if none of us are famous, just posting a thread is a kind of support.”

Everyone quickly agreed, and the group soon quieted down.

“No durability left,” Huang Yunshuo muttered, stretching his old back and tossing his nearly broken pickaxe into his backpack.

Twenty-seven grade nine, three grade eight.

That was the result from this pickaxe: sixty grade nine iron ores worth 3,300 copper coins, and eight grade eight iron ores, which now formed a small part of the high-grade ore needed for alloy armor. Selling them was out of the question.

“This mine is mine alone. No one else can get in…” He looked at the empty cavern, a sly smile curling at his lips.

He’d just gritted his teeth and spent five million credit points, and now, the path to earning was opening up.

Walking toward the mouth of the mine, he asked, “Anyone in the same newbie village as me? Good things await.”

“!”

“Are you offering mining?”

“There are millions of newbie villages, right? No way anyone in this streaming room is in the same village as him, right?”

The viewers weren’t fools; they instantly understood Huang Yunshuo’s meaning.

“Damn, my newbie village number is just one digit off from his.”

“Too bad, feels like I lost a million.”

“How are you going to deal with those little roosters outside all by yourself?”

Curious, the viewers wondered how he’d deal with the little roosters. This was his first live broadcast in-game; everyone was eager to see how he fought monsters, and why he seemed to always have rare items at hand.

Huang Yunshuo rushed to the mine entrance; outside, ten little roosters clucked and charged in. He paused, temporarily switched off both the broadcast screen and sound, setting it to automatically resume in five minutes.

“What a letdown, won’t even let us watch?”

“Come on, don’t be so stingy, you dog streamer.”

“This bastard is making me itch with curiosity. Do you think there’s some bug here? Maybe he can win without fighting, kill the roosters, or lure them away?”

“Who knows. This idiot streamer is making me furious.”

Following the same method, he blasted the ten little roosters off the cliff. Standing at the edge, he glanced down: now there were forty roosters below, with four particularly lively ones. Oddly, they hadn’t started fighting each other yet.

He ran all the way back to Stone Platform Town. He planned to exchange tomorrow’s PvP points for a few teleport scrolls; all the running around was simply too inconvenient, and players currently had no mounts.

After exchanging his ores at Old Song’s for 3,300 copper coins, Huang Yunshuo took his two nearly-broken pickaxes for repair, then spent the rest of his coins in one go, increasing his stock of excellent pickaxes to seventeen.

There was about an hour left before logout. Mining was a tough job; a pickaxe with 100 durability takes just over half an hour to wear out. With so many pickaxes prepared, Huang Yunshuo planned to stay holed up in the mine, digging continuously. Given the current online session lasted only two and a half hours, from next login onwards, he’d need to mine for three full sessions.

It was after three o’clock. If he only rested for an hour after each logout, he wouldn’t leave the mine until three or four in the morning at the earliest.

A long road ahead—this was an incredibly arduous task.

Care spray for equipment was a good thing, but pickaxes were so low-grade it wasn’t worth it. Even if smelting never failed, materials costing 260 copper coins only added 30 durability, while a brand-new 100-durability pickaxe cost just 198 copper coins.

Before he had spare money, he wouldn’t consider it for now.

He made his way to the southern trading market. Stone Platform Town’s player population was now in the hundreds of thousands, even millions—absolutely packed. The once spacious town streets were now crowded, sometimes requiring luck just to squeeze through.

With a strength stat of 107, Huang Yunshuo wasn’t fazed. He pushed through the crowd, sending players tumbling aside, obediently clearing a path.

Bang!

Huang Yunshuo slammed the rocket launcher onto the ground, planting himself firmly. Players nearby instinctively opened up a circle around him, staring suspiciously at this expert.

“What kind of weapon is that? Is it artillery?”

“He’s got so many white-grade items—so enviable. The black market has so few white items, and all at sky-high prices.”

“Boss, please help me level up!”

Huang Yunshuo cleared his throat and called out.

“West Elephant Mine, escort into the cave, for those who know. Paid service.”

He shouted several times, then contacted Morning Dew Frost and Fox Soft.

Good opportunities should go to his own people first.

High-grade ores were a blank slate for all players—profits beyond imagination. If you could enter the mine, you were guaranteed to earn a fortune.

Fox Soft was the first viewer to change her name for him, and seemed to be developing into a diehard fan. Morning Dew Frost’s reputation went without saying. He had no qualms about letting these two beauties earn well today.

“Good deal, find me on the map,” Huang Yunshuo messaged them.

Fox Soft and Morning Dew Frost came back from the southern grasslands and Tiger Leap Gorge, respectively, after receiving his message.

Fox Soft, less strong, couldn’t squeeze through the crowd, so she waited for him in the west. Morning Dew Frost pushed through and arrived at his side.

“How much for one trip? Are you sure you can handle the little roosters outside?”

“What’s the ore yield like? By the way, Old Song’s buying grade nine iron ore for fifty copper coins now. If the yield is high, I’ll go.”

“You’re not going to limit our time inside, are you? Or PK us in the cave?”

Most players didn’t know about the west mines, so they were just shouting aimlessly; only a few asked relevant questions.