Tòumíng brushed off Cupid's concerns with the practiced ease of someone who'd spent two weeks ignoring every responsible thought that crossed his mind. So what if Měi Nán had stolen his spare key? So what if the whole interaction screamed "setup" louder than a fire alarm? It was fine. Probably. Maybe.
He grabbed his phone and settled back into the couch, thumb already scrolling before his brain consciously decided to doom scroll. The algorithm knew him too well by now—fed him exactly the kind of content designed to keep him locked in place for hours.
Cooking videos he'd never replicate. Gym transformations that made him feel bad about his own fitness. Dance challenges. More femboy content than was probably healthy given recent events. Life hack videos that were obviously fake but entertaining anyway. Someone explaining cryptocurrency. Someone debunking the cryptocurrency guy. A cat playing piano.
Five hours evaporated like water in the desert.
His phone battery hit fifteen percent, the warning notification barely registering as he continued scrolling, eyes glazed, brain in full dopamine-seeking autopilot mode. The sun outside his window had fully set, replaced by streetlights and the glow of his TV still paused on Love Island.
Finally, his thumb cramped. The pain broke through the scrolling trance just enough for conscious thought to creep back in.
Tòumíng blinked, looked at the time—9:47 PM—and groaned. Five hours. He'd just burned five hours sitting on a couch absorbing content he'd forget in ten minutes.
But also... he grinned. Today had been good. Really good. Made almost two hundred thousand yuan, discovered he was basically immortal, got kissed on the cheek by a hot femboy who may or may not be planning to rob him. Life was looking up.
Though now that he thought about it, he should probably be doing more productive things with his newfound abilities. Like leveling up. Grinding skills. Becoming stronger.
"Hey Cupid," he said aloud to his empty apartment. "Is there a way to get combat skills? Like earth manipulation or something? Or maybe... gem durability application? Make armor out of crystals?"
"Those are all real skills you could potentially unlock," Cupid replied, his tone suggesting he knew where this was going and wasn't optimistic.
"Really?!" Tòumíng sat up straighter. "That's amazing! How do I get them?"
"By using the M.I.N.E. system extensively. Mining. Repeatedly. For long periods. Building experience through actual work."
"Right, but I've mined though. I found the rose quartz, I found the amethyst—"
"You've mined twice. TWICE. In two weeks. You spent one session nearly dying and the second session finding a massive deposit through pure luck and your Ore Sense skill. That's not grinding, that's stumbling into success."
Tòumíng deflated slightly. "Okay, but can't I like... speed it up somehow? Do some pushups? Practice moving rocks around? I don't know, meditate near gemstones?"
"You think you're going to unlock earth manipulation by doing basic cardio?"
"I mean... maybe?"
"What do you think this is, Solo Leveling? You're not going to become god-tier from some pushups and sit-ups in your apartment!"
Cupid's exasperation was palpable.
"The system is called M.I.N.E. for a reason. Mining Interface for Natural Enhancement. It specifically requires you to MINE to level up. You want earth manipulation? Mine for hundreds of hours. You want gem durability application? Mine different types of gems, learn their properties, gain experience with their structures. You want combat abilities? You'd need to unlock a completely different skill tree that probably requires you to, I don't know, fight things while mining?"
"That seems inefficient."
"It's a MINING system! It's designed around mining! Why is this surprising?!"
"I just thought there might be shortcuts."
"There aren't. Well, not the kind you're thinking of. You can't hack your way to power by doing random exercises. You need to actually use the system as intended."
Tòumíng slumped back into the couch, disappointed. "So I have to go back to the mines. Every day. For hours. Just swinging a pickaxe at rocks."
"Yes. That's literally how this works. Experience through repetition. Skill development through practice. Novel concept, I know."
"But that's boring."
"Most power systems require effort. This isn't a gacha game where you can just throw money at it and get stronger."
Tòumíng glanced at his phone, still open to the Cultivation Harem of the Heavens app. "I mean, technically—"
"NO. You cannot pay-to-win your actual life skills. The M.I.N.E. system doesn't have a cash shop."
"Lame."
"It's called consequences and effort."
Tòumíng groaned and threw his arm over his eyes dramatically. Here he was, basically immortal, with a system that could theoretically make him incredibly powerful, and the requirement was just... going to work. Every day. Mining. Like a regular person with a regular job.
Where was the excitement? The rapid power escalation? The training montage where he went from weak to overpowered in three minutes of screen time?
"This sucks," he muttered.
"Welcome to reality," Cupid replied. "Even magic systems have grinding requirements."