Wangchuan accepted the task and headed out, encountering Lin Dahai waiting at the door.

Heipi and the others were nowhere to be seen.

"They logged off to rest," Lin Dahai said with concern, "How are you doing? Have you become an apprentice?"

Wangchuan showed a grateful expression, "Thanks to your guidance, Brother Lin, I've successfully become an apprentice. Master asked me to buy pancakes from the shop, probably because we'll be working through the night."

Lin Dahai had been his guide in the game, saving him from many detours throughout the day.

"Becoming an apprentice is good. Having work is also a good thing. More work means more income. It looks like you'll be the first among the six of us to earn over twenty thousand a month."

Lin Dahai gave him a thumbs-up, "Keep it up! But don't overwork yourself. We'll meet in front of Wang Dalang's shop at six tomorrow morning."

As he was leaving, he pointed to a wooden house nearby, "Try to find a house when you log off; it's much safer. That's where we log off. Also, your game character needs proper rest, or you'll be exhausted the next day, which could lead to trouble."

"Got it, thanks, Brother Lin!"

Lin Dahai finished his advice and logged off the game.

Wangchuan, with sixty-five Copper Coins in hand, found the pancake shop and bought ten pancakes from Wang Dalang, leaving him with forty Copper Coins.

He returned to the Blacksmith Shop.

The Village Chief was also there.

A group of miners had just sold their iron ore, which had all been moved to the courtyard behind the Blacksmith Shop.

Blacksmith Sun pointed at Wangchuan and said to the Village Chief, "Wangchuan is now my apprentice. Wangchuan, come and meet the Village Chief."

"Village Chief," Wangchuan stepped forward and cupped his fists in salute.

The Village Chief nodded with a smile, "Young man, you look energetic. Good, with you helping your master, you can lighten his workload. Do your best."

"Yes."

After the Village Chief finished speaking, he left.

Blacksmith Sun called out, "Follow me," and led Wangchuan to a nearly two-meter-high clay kiln in the back courtyard, with a stone ladder beside it.

Below was a blower and a slag outlet.

Thousands of pounds of iron ore were piled up in the backyard.

There were various heavy stone vessels and a heavy stone hammer.

On the other side was a mountain of firewood and charcoal.

Two young players were already busy in the backyard.

They were wielding heavy hammers, vigorously smashing the iron ore.

"Tonight, your task is to crush all the iron ore into fine gravel, a thousand pounds each. Once you're done, you can rest," Blacksmith Sun assigned the task.

Wangchuan received a system prompt:

"Do you accept the task assigned by Blacksmith Sun? Crush a thousand pounds of iron ore, reward: 50 Copper Coins."

Wangchuan took a deep breath.

Another heavy labor task, just as expected.

Since I'm here, let's do it!

"Accept."

Wangchuan picked up a heavy hammer from the corner, weighing about fifty pounds. It was made of high-density Hundred-Tempered Steel, capable of easily breaking the iron ore.

The courtyard had many stone vessels, with iron-cast bases.

The other two were clearly also Blacksmith Sun's apprentices and had been working here for some time. One had a square face and short hair, looking energetic; the other had dark skin and bright eyes.

Wangchuan observed their actions.

They both started by using the heavy hammer to break the ore into smaller pieces with maximum force, then slightly reduced their strength, swinging seven or eight times to crush the smaller pieces into even finer gravel. By shaking the handle, they could pour out all the crushed stone.

They refilled the iron ore and repeated the process.

Swinging a fifty-pound hammer wasn't easy, but with 8 points in Strength, Wangchuan could bench press up to 200 kilograms, so it was manageable...

Wangchuan stepped up to the 'workstation' and placed the iron ore.

Whoosh!

The heavy hammer swung around and exploded with force.

Bang!

The twenty-pound iron ore crumbled, splitting and sinking into many small pieces.

The two senior brothers looked over, their eyes showing surprise.

To smash it so beautifully on the first try.

The power and precision were spot on.

This meant the new junior brother had trained his core well.

"Beautiful."

"Strong."

"Junior Brother, is your name Wangchuan?"

The two greeted him.

Wangchuan paused and nodded, "How should I address you two, Senior Brothers?"

The square-faced man introduced himself, "Chen Feng."

The dark-skinned man showed a row of big white teeth, "Everyone calls me Heitan."

"Brother Feng, Brother Hei," Wangchuan called out, "I just started the game today, so there's a lot I don't understand. Please guide me, Senior Brothers."

"First day in?"

"Junior Brother, you're really lucky!"

"Indeed."

"We both worked hard in Blackstone Village for quite some time before triggering the Blacksmith Shop's Apprentice Quest."

"Tsk tsk."

The two exchanged wry smiles: they had encountered The Lucky One.

"Senior Brothers, how long does this task usually take?"

Wangchuan changed the subject.

Chen Feng casually replied, "A thousand-pound task, if you're not familiar, it might be tough at first, taking three to four hours... Once you're skilled, it should take about two hours."

"Same here," Heitan added, "After working for a few days, my arms were so sore the next day that it took a few days to recover."

Wangchuan nodded, thinking:

This often happens at the gym.

We are "pawread.com", find us on google.

It's typical 'delayed onset muscle soreness,' caused by excessive exercise leading to over-contraction of muscle fibers, resulting in micro-damage and local inflammatory response, causing soreness. In severe cases, it can cause capillary rupture and poor local circulation! It usually takes 3-5 days of rest to slowly recover.

If you can protect yourself during exercise or quickly apply ice after exercise, it can greatly alleviate these symptoms.

If you frequently engage in similar activities, your body can easily adapt.

Wangchuan already had a plan in mind.

He exercised for several hours daily, so his arms were quite adaptable. However, such high-intensity exercise would still cause discomfort the next day.

It's best to extend the time, work for a while, then rest for a while, giving the muscles some relaxation time, so these symptoms won't appear tomorrow.

Wait!

Wangchuan suddenly showed a look of surprise.

Why would excessive fatigue in the game also lead to delayed onset muscle soreness the next day?

Does this make sense?

He shared his doubts with Chen Feng and Heitan.

The two exchanged wry smiles:

"We don't know."

"Maybe our real bodies are synchronized with the game world, and our bodies also feel the fatigue..."

"Exactly!"

"Not only do the game characters get tired, but our real bodies also feel fatigued and show mild symptoms."

Wangchuan was incredulous:

"How is that possible?"

"If the game character's experience is directly linked to our nervous system and physiological functions, wouldn't we be in danger if we're killed in the game?"

Wangchuan suddenly thought of the rule that if a game character dies, the account is immediately deleted, and a shadow crossed his mind.