Inside the game space, following the miners into the mining area, Caesar was greeted by a vast wall embedded with yellow crystal deposits. A sharp crack echoed through the air as the sound of a whip lashed across the space. "Move faster, you lowly scum." Turning her head, Caesar saw Seele patrolling with a barbed whip in hand. The moment any worker slowed even slightly, the whip would come down mercilessly.
[Lynx: Wow… Seele is so cruel.]
[Seele: Uh… that's not me, definitely not me.]
[Sampo: Hey, if the whip didn't have spikes, I could accept it.]
[Valerius: What the hell is wrong with you?]
[Sparkle: Uncle Cold Legs is an M, noted.]
[Bronya: Sigh…]
Not just the others—even Bronya found this excessive. It was outright abuse.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Seele noticed Caesar standing there in a daze. Without hesitation, she lashed out.
"What are you spacing out for? Get to work!"
"Ah!"
A sharp pain shot through Caesar's body as the barbs tore into her arm.
"You… damn it… I…"
With her fiery temper, Caesar was ready to fight back on the spot.
But suddenly, an old man rushed out from the side and grabbed her. "Don't be reckless. Work first."
Right—the mission.
Caesar snapped back to reality and forced herself to calm down, repeating internally: this is a game… this is just a game.
"Who told you to chat?"
Another whip cracked down—this time striking the old man directly.
"You—"
"Don't be reckless."
Enduring the pain, the old man dragged Caesar into the mining area.
[Qingque: That's too much, beating an old man like that.]
[Gepard: Uh… if I'm not mistaken, that was Mr. Oleg just now.]
[Serval: Wow, Seele just whipped her own boss.]
[Bronya: Seele… this… pfft…]
[Seele: What's so funny? It's not even real.]
Even so, whipping the nominal leader of Wildfire in public felt oddly satisfying to her. If she could whip Natasha a few times too, that would be even better. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen where Sampo was—otherwise she'd show him exactly why flowers bloom red.
Once inside the mining area, Oleg finally let go of Caesar. "Work. You can't act impulsively here." After a brief reminder, he picked up his pickaxe and began striking the geomarrow.
"Haa… fine."
Since she had entered the game, Caesar had no choice but to rein in her temper and join the miners. Unlike the others who were gaunt and weak, she still had strength. Her efficiency far exceeded the rest, and before long, a pile of yellow crystals had accumulated beside her.
Naturally, her performance caught Seele's attention.
Seele walked over and stood beside her, silently watching her work.
After observing for a while, she finally spoke. "You're not bad. What's your name?"
"Granny."
"Work hard, Granny. Keep this up and I'll recommend you as a team leader here."
"…Huh?"
Caesar was stunned. She had expected another whip, but Seele actually believed her name was "Granny"?
[Seele: ...]
[Valerius: I can tell, this Seele isn't very bright.]
[Seele: Shut up, that's not me.]
[Valerius: Oh? You dare tell me to shut up? Don't you know my name is 'Your Grandpa'?]
[Seele: Screw you, you think I'd fall for that?]
[Noelle: Huh… did Mr. Valerius change his name?]
[Lisa: You poor child, don't believe everything you hear.]
[Jing Yuan: She actually believed that?]
[Fu Xuan: How did this child grow up like this?]
[Sparkle: Hehe, target acquired.]
[Albedo: Have some decency.]
What kind of "target acquired" nonsense was that? Just because Noelle was naive, you wanted to mess with her?
Seeing how easy Seele was to fool, Caesar's eyes lit up.
"Don't worry, leave it to me."
"Mm."
Seele nodded in satisfaction and continued her patrol with the whip.
Over the course of the morning, Caesar gathered a large number of crystals. She even secretly hid some of the smaller ones on her person. According to the rules, these could be exchanged for supplies.
She also noticed that several others were doing the same thing—quietly collecting crystals. All of them shared one trait: they looked noticeably healthier than the rest.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The sound of metal striking rang out. Caesar saw all the miners stop working at once and rush toward a certain direction.
"…Lunch time?"
After working for so long, she was hungry too. She followed them to a makeshift food stall.
"…That's disgusting."
Looking at the filthy plates in the workers' hands, Caesar instantly lost her appetite. The contents of the pot were pitch black, completely unidentifiable.
"Miss, could you help this old man sit over there for a bit?"
Oleg approached her again, subtly giving her a look.
"Sure."
Without refusing, Caesar helped him to the side.
Once seated, Oleg lowered his voice. "Don't eat that, unless you want to end up like them."
"They became like this because of that food?"
"Yes."
Oleg shuddered slightly. "Once you eat it, you'll be stuck here as a laborer for the rest of your life."
Close call.
Caesar felt a chill. If she hadn't met someone trustworthy, she might have been doomed without realizing it.
"Move aside!"
"Make way! Commander Bronya is here!"
A commotion erupted as the crowd parted. Bronya arrived in the Underworld with a group of Silvermane Guards.
Her cold gaze swept over the miners still lining up, and she frowned.
"Well, if it isn't Commander Bronya. What brings you here personally?"
The moment Seele saw her, she rushed forward, her attitude extremely flattering.
[Seele: What the—%!#$!]
She completely lost it. There was no way she would act like that. This had to be Valerius's doing.
[Seele: Valerius, get out here! What's your problem?!]
[Valerius: It's random generation, not my fault… but you're quite good at sucking up.]
[Seele: Go to hell—%!#*!]
[Qingque: That rhythm was nice.]
[Bronya: Pfft…]
[Seele: And you're laughing?]
[Bronya: Serves you right for oppressing workers. I'll punish you and seek justice for them.]
Faced with Seele's fawning attitude, Bronya merely glanced at her coldly. "Why aren't they working?"
"Uh… it's meal time."
"Meal time?" She looked at the porridge stall. "How long have they been eating?"
"Just started. Three minutes."
"Three minutes?"
Bronya's voice suddenly rose. "For a single meal, do you really need that long? Get them all back to work."
"I'm telling you—if you don't want to starve to death, get back to work immediately. Otherwise, you won't eat at all."
She stepped forward and kicked over the pot before leaving without another word.
[Fu Xuan: What kind of tyrant is this?]
[Seele: Hahaha, and you were blaming me?]
[Ningguang: What were you saying about defending workers just now?]
[Keqing: Yes, what were you saying?]
[Beidou: This reminds me of how Valerius treats Prinnies.]
[Yelan: They really are alike—like a married couple.]
[Sparkle: Hilarious.]
[Bronya: No… I'm not like this normally.]
She was doomed. No matter how she thought about it, she never imagined she'd act like this in the game. Would Valerius start disliking her?
[Shenhe: That's not certain. Maybe you're always like this.]
[Xianyun: Say one more word and I swear…]
Xianyun was on the verge of coughing blood. Shenhe's emotions had indeed returned recently—but something about the direction felt very wrong.
To Read 60+ ahead advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146