Chapter 73: Four Years or Energy Crystals
Su Ning’s suspicion was confirmed—this mining task was definitely not going to be simple.
Seeing the mentally drained natives worried her more than anything else.
When she arrived at Area 3, the noise started to rise.
Some players were acting like they’d discovered a new world, amazed by the spaceship’s unfamiliar, futuristic technology.
After all, it was far beyond anything from their real-world tech. Many were already wondering how they could smuggle items out of the instance.
Su Ning shook her head inwardly as she watched these excited players.
They still hadn’t realized the danger and complexity of this instance world.
Su Ning knew very well that everything here could be a trap. You couldn’t take things at face value.
She tried her best to keep a low profile.
Su Ning understood a basic principle: “The tall tree catches the wind.” In unfamiliar environments, standing out was a bad idea.
While survival instances had given many players extraordinary powers, that didn’t mean they could ignore the rules or overlook hidden dangers.
Su Ning was deeply aware that staying low-key and vigilant was the only way to deal with unknown threats effectively.
In previous instance worlds, Su Ning had learned to observe and think critically.
She wouldn’t be fooled by appearances—she would analyze every detail to find clues and solutions.
She knew that was the only way to truly understand the laws of the instance world and find a way to survive.
This time, she also noticed something off—the physical and mental state of the surrounding natives.
Compared to them, the players seemed totally out of place.
Some players, intoxicated by their newfound powers, acted arrogantly, treating everything in the instance world as mere data and disregarding the inhabitants entirely.
That kind of mindset would only bring unnecessary trouble, even risking their lives.
Su Ning had already noticed that the curiosity and probing behavior of the players was starting to attract attention.
She immediately lowered her head, adjusting her posture and expression to resemble the emotionally numb natives.
Quietly, she followed behind a burly, muscular man.
Lining up with the others, she waited to receive the mining gear.
What caught Su Ning’s attention wasn’t the beautiful appearance or polite demeanor of the person handing out the gear—it was the mechanical structure of the woman’s lower body.
“A robot?” Su Ning was surprised, but quickly got over it. This was, after all, a sci-fi instance, and the natives seemed used to these machines.
Scavenger’s Eye:
[Semi-Intelligent Robot]: Interstellar service robot programmed as crew for the spaceship.
After reading the detailed info, Su Ning thought to herself: “If this were my original world, this crew member would probably be called a flight attendant.”
When the man in front of her received his gear and stepped away, it was finally Su Ning’s turn.
The female robot smiled at Su Ning and spoke in a gentle tone:
“Miner No.1008, please receive your equipment.”
Su Ning nodded silently and accepted the gear from her, along with an ID card.
The card clearly displayed her photo and designation: [Miner 1008].
Su Ning examined the gear in her hands.
Among it was a unique shovel—clearly a mining tool.
What surprised her most, though, was the mining uniform.
[Mining Work Suit]:
More than just regular work clothes, this uniform is known as a temperature-regulating suit. It automatically adjusts body temperature, keeping the wearer comfortable in both extremely cold and hot environments.
Su Ning was amazed by the work suit’s high-tech capabilities—especially how it enabled miners to function normally in extreme temperatures.
With this, even in the harshest conditions, miners could still work comfortably.
The design was also simple and practical, resembling a basic gray-brown jumpsuit, making it unburdensome to wear.
“Even if I only take this outfit back from this instance, it’d still be a decent haul,” Su Ning thought.
Considering the rising temperatures and the coming extreme cold in the real world, this suit would definitely come in handy.
After receiving her gear, Su Ning noticed that the spaceship was beginning to descend.
The scenery outside began to shift—and dramatically so.
What was once a stunning, starry ocean of space had turned into a sky full of black and red smoke. The ground was crisscrossed with glowing red rivers—like a planet covered in molten lava.
The visual impact shocked Su Ning deeply.
She couldn’t help but wonder: “In an environment like this, could anything really survive?”
She was so focused on observing the external scene that the man in front of her noticed her unease.
Seemingly interested, he turned and began a conversation with her.
“Surprised, huh? Doesn’t look anything like what the company promised, does it?”
Su Ning looked up, thinking over his words carefully.
Company? What company? Why was he mentioning one?
The man scoffed when she didn’t reply.
“You look pretty young, so I’ll be honest—you’ve been scammed. The Crystal Mine Planet isn’t a colony at all. The colonization company lied to all of you.”
He sneered coldly. “Look at the planet we’re about to land on. Does this look like the new ecological world the company claimed it would be?”
Su Ning was stunned into silence. She didn’t argue—she wanted to hear more from him.
The man sighed, assuming she was too shocked—reminding him of his own past self, when he had first been deceived.
He pulled out his own ID card, issued by the service robot.
“This is your ID for the Crystal Mine Planet. It includes your work time. Only when the timer hits zero will you be allowed to leave. Otherwise, there’s no way off this planet.”
Hearing this, Su Ning thanked him sincerely. “Thank you.”
Then she walked off to check her own ID card.
Below her miner number, she noticed something she hadn’t seen before—a sequence of changing digits.
She looked closely. It was a countdown.
And the total time? 35,040 hours.
Su Ning did the math.
“Four years?”
So her assigned identity in [Cosmic Mining Field] was essentially a trafficked laborer, sold by a corrupt corporation as cheap mining labor?
At that moment, the game system notification finally chimed in her ears:
[Ding! Mission triggered!]
[Mission 1: Complete your work as a miner. Mine on the Crystal Mine Planet for 4 years to return to reality.]
[Mission 2: Collect three energy crystals to return to reality.]
You only needed to complete one of the two to return.
But when Su Ning saw the first mission, she was dumbfounded.
“Four years? Four years of mining? Are you kidding me? After four years, what will even be left in reality? What if natural disasters have already wiped out humanity?”
The second mission, while sounding simpler—just collect three energy crystals—didn’t reassure her either.
The simpler it sounds, the harder it usually is in practice.
(End of Chapter)
