"How bothersome," a man muttered lazily as he watched the scene unfold before him.
Unbelievably, an army of massive beasts, numbering approximately a hundred thousand, had formed a stampede, charging toward the man who stood calmly at the foot of the mountain behind him. Everywhere they passed was devastated, the land flattened into a barren wasteland.
But what was even more unbelievable was the man's reaction. He watched them without a trace of fear. In fact, the expression on his face regarded them as if they were mere insects, pests that needed to be exterminated.
The man stood unwavering, his long dark-brown robe fluttering in the wind. He raised the pickaxe above his head.
"Now get lost! I need to get back to my lunch!"
Rumble! Rumble!
He swung the pickaxe downward. The moment it struck the ground, a terrifying rumble echoed, not unlike the beginning of a catastrophic earthquake.
At first, it was just a crack.
But second by second, that crack widened, stretching farther and farther, until it reached the entire army of beasts charging toward him.
Then... BOOM!!
The entire land gave way. What was once a lush forest had now become a massive sinkhole. A deep, dark abyss greeted anyone who dared to peer into its depths.
As for the one responsible, he gazed down at the beasts plummeting into the void, their growls echoing as they vanished into darkness.
"That's what you get for interrupting my mealtime," he muttered, biting into the golden ore in his hand as if it were a crisp, delicious apple.
And as for how this all began...
We'll have to go back in a year.
.
…
….
"Damn it! Why do I have to do this when I don't even want to inherit that mining company of his?!"
Wang Lei grumbled in frustration as he struggled along a rocky path, a heavy mountain bag weighing down his back.
I should be at a party right now with my friends, celebrating my birthday! This is all that old man's fault!
Today was supposed to be Wang Lei's 18th birthday. Instead of cake and drinks, he got lumbered with what his father dramatically called an Inheritance Trial.
Wang Lei's father was a die-hard traditionalist. He believed that everything should be earned through hard work rather than handed down as if it was taken for granted. That's how he'd always lived, and unfortunately for Wang Lei, he had no intention of changing.
"To own my company, you first need to learn the basics. Go to Yellow Peak Mountain and mine any kind of mineral with your own hands. No equipment, no drills, no trucks. I want you to feel the hard work of a miner in your bones! That's all. I look forward to your success, son! Hahaha!"
That was the "trial" Wang Lei had been given. Naturally, he had a lot to complain about.
I mean, what kind of father let's his son climb up a unrouted mountain all by himself, with just basic items with along with him. What if I get lose here or attacked by a wild animal?!
At first, he refused to take on such a ridiculous task. But it only took a single sentence from his father to change his mind.
"Oh? Are you perhaps... afraid?"
Wang Lei didn't realize himself it yet, but he and his father were cut from the same cloth, both stubborn and proud. That single word, afraid, struck a nerve and lit a fire in him he couldn't ignore.
And thus, the reason why he found himself in this situation.
"I shouldn't have let myself get carried away," Wang Lei sighed with regret. "Anyway, what's done is done, no point in dwelling on it."
He dropped his mountain bag to the ground, sending a puff of dust into the air. A sigh of relief escaped his lips.
With both hands on his waist, he stood for a moment, staring into the dark mouth of the cave before him.
"Finally, I've reached the mining cave."
He crouched down and unzipped his bag, revealing a variety of tools prepared for the task ahead. Reaching inside, he pulled out the essentials: a pickaxe and a safety helmet with a flashlight attached to the front.
"Shall we begin?"
Wang Lei stepped into the dark mining cave.
Meanwhile, across the world, disaster and chaos descended upon every corner of the earth.
The sands of the Sahara Desert mysteriously expanded, swallowing the entire African continent in a tide of golden dunes.
In the America, plants grew at an uncontrollable rate, transforming the land into a colossal, untamed forest.
Parts of Asia were consumed by a sea of fire, as numerous volcanoes erupted with overwhelming intensity, turning regions into molten wastelands.
And amidst these catastrophes, hope would be granted to humanity, as if a god himself had descended to bring salvation.
It came in a form of a monotonous female voice, it sounded inside the mind of every person across the globe, it was calm yet undeniable.
[Do you want to survive the Destruction and Creation of the World?]
This single question forced every person to choose—to live, or to face a painful death.
None of this news would reach Wang Lei for another month.
But even he would soon face the trials awaiting him in the darkness.
***
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Deep within the dark cave, the sound of metal striking stone echoed through the air. It formed a hypnotic rhythm, somehow satisfying to hear.
Wang Lei raised his pickaxe above his head and brought it down hard on the coal bed embedded in the rock wall. With that final strike, the bed shattered into chunks of coal.
"Finally! I can't believe it took almost a hundred strikes just to break this small coal bed! If I had a drill, I could've finished this in no time." He dropped onto his rear with a heavy sigh.
"I wonder if this is how my ancestors felt?"
Wang Lei couldn't help but reflect on the experience. All that effort, over an hour of hard labor, had only produced a small pile of coal. It made him realize just how tough the life of a miner really was. Working themselves to the bone for little pay, just to feed their families.
I still don't fully understand it... but maybe this is what Father was trying to teach me? Wang Lei wondered as he wiped the dirt from his face.
He glanced at the small pile of coal on the ground.
"At first, I was just planning to grab a few pieces to keep Father off my back and be done with it… but I've changed my mind. I should at least fill that cart to the brim." He smirked. "And then I can rub it in his face. I can't wait to see that dumbfounded look of his. Hehehe."
With a renewed goal, and not-so-innocent thoughts, Wang Lei tossed the coal into the cart and set off in search of more coal beds.
But just as he was about to head deeper into the cave, the ground suddenly trembled. Dust rained down from above.
"What the... this is bad!!"
A regular person might shrug off a small earthquake.
But for miners? That's never an option.
Miners venture deep into the earth, breaking through stone and soil. Naturally, this comes with serious risks. They can't just choose a random spot to dig; it must be thoroughly surveyed and deemed safe.
But even the most carefully chosen site can't guard against everything. Natural disasters, like earthquakes, are unpredictable and unforgiving.
That's why miners follow one absolute rule: The moment you feel the ground rumble, even slightly, drop everything and run.
Abandon your tools, your haul, your pride, because if you hesitate, you risk being buried alive beneath tons of rock.
And that's exactly what Wang Lei did.
He didn't waste a single second.
The moment he felt the tremor beneath his feet, Wang Lei bolted toward the exit, abandoning the coal he'd worked over an hour to mine. Right now, none of it mattered. All that mattered was getting out alive.
He had no idea where the sudden burst of energy came from. Maybe it was fear, maybe instinct but one thing was clear:
He didn't want to die.
He was still young. There were things he still wanted to do; dreams he hadn't even started chasing.
He ran with everything he had.
And then, finally, he saw it.
The light.
The exit.
Hope.
"I swear, once I get out of here, I'm giving that old man a smack or two," he grumbled as he ran.
Thinking he was finally safe, Wang Lei relaxed just enough to crack a joke.
But then, he saw something ahead.
Something strange.
Something that made his blood run cold.
He came to a sudden halt.
Just one more step... and it would've been the end.
A single step away from a gruesome death.
A cold breeze swept through the cave, causing his hair to fall over his face, momentarily veiling the absurd sight before his eyes.
"What…What the f*ck is this?!"