Chapter 462 - 461: The Badge

Chapter 462: Chapter 461: The Badge

Every muscle fiber was being stretched apart and squeezed tight by some unseen force.

Seraphina Sinclair could feel her strength growing—a solid, compressive force between her knuckles when she clenched her fist.

Next came her bones.

A tingling numbness spread up from her spine, as if countless ants were crawling through the gaps in her skeleton.

Her vision had cleared up a bit, too. ’Is this from the Intelligence boost?’

Seraphina Sinclair guessed wildly. ’Did my expanded Perception range also increase my information processing capacity?’

She pulled up her Attributes panel. On the pitch-black interface, the numbers were arranged neatly:

[Name]: Seraphina Sinclair

[Zone]: Dolorum, Zone 444

[Intelligence]: 44

[Strength]: 43

[Constitution]: 43

[Speed]: 43

[Evaluation]: The shackles of your four attributes are shattering one by one. You have stepped into a realm unattainable by mortals. The Black Fog was once your cage; now, it is merely dust kicked up in your wake. The ancient wills slumbering in the abyss have begun to whisper your name.

Seraphina Sinclair stared at the row of numbers, a slow smile spreading across her face.

44, 43, 43, 43.

Four numbers, still perfectly aligned, but a world of difference from before.

The Loin Meat gave four points of Strength and four of Speed, the Dragon Tendon three points of Constitution, and the Dragon Brain Freeze five points of Intelligence... Combined with the odds and ends from the other parts, the final numbers were even better than she had expected.

She had now officially reached B-level, and she wielded an S-Class Legendary Weapon. With a setup like this, she was surely among the best in all of Dolorum’s Zone 444, perhaps even among all of humanity.

For some reason, though, all she wanted to do was lie down.

She didn’t feel like doing anything at all.

’Maybe I ate too much.’

Seraphina Sinclair rubbed her stomach. She felt so stuffed that even the slightest movement was an effort.

The Sunflower in the corner was already asleep. Its single golden eye was shut tight, its enormous head lolling on the blanket. A leaf twitched every now and then, lost in some unknown dream.

The Gloom Hatchling was still coiled up like a kitten, nestled between Luna Jacobs and 001.

Seraphina Sinclair sat for a little while longer before washing up and heading to bed.

Early the next morning, a system announcement appeared before all survivors:

[Collective Special Event: The Proliferation of the Bloodburst Flesh Sacs has officially ended!]

[Based on the performance of survivors in each Zone, a comprehensive evaluation is now being conducted! Dolorum, Zone 444: Response success rate of 67.3%, ranking among all Zones...]

The text, materializing word by word, paused as if for dramatic effect.

[First!]

Seraphina Sinclair was instantly wide awake.

She shot upright, but before she could do anything, the system’s voice continued:

[Congratulations to all survivors in Dolorum’s Zone 444 on receiving the collective event ranking reward: 500 Black Fog Coins, 1 C-level Supply Box.]

[Congratulations to Dolorum’s Zone 444 for obtaining the ’Efficient Response’ Zone title. Effect: For the next seven days, survivors in this Zone have a 5% chance of receiving double drops when encountering monsters.]

[Congratulations to survivor ’Blacktiger Ford’ of Dolorum’s Zone 444, for providing the key solution during the event. You have received a special reward: 1 Event Solver Medal, 20,000 Black Fog Coins, 1 random B-level Supply Box.]

[End of announcement.]

The system’s voice faded, and the entire Zone channel fell silent for a moment.

Then, as if on cue, all hell broke loose:

"??????"

"Holy shit! Our Zone is number one?!"

"We got first place with just a 67.3% success rate? Am I still dreaming?"

"The key solution? The one Master Blacktiger provided? Was it the one about using fire?"

"It has to be! What else could it be?!"

"Master Blacktiger is a god!!!"

"And they gave Master Blacktiger a separate reward! Twenty thousand Black Fog Coins, a B-level Supply Box, and an Event Solver Medal? I can’t even imagine how happy I’d be if I got all that!"

"I’m so jealous, I’m literally green with envy..."

"Jealous of what! If it weren’t for Master Blacktiger’s plan, would we have gotten first place? Would we have gotten any of these rewards?"

"Exactly! Yesterday, when I was setting my own shack on fire, I was wondering if this plan was even legit. Turns out, it was super legit!"

"Thank you, Master Blacktiger, for saving my worthless hide!"

"Thank you, Master Blacktiger, for saving my worthless hide! +1"

"Thank you, Master Blacktiger, for saving my worthless hide! +2"

...

"...And we also have Master Night Owl’s deposit certificate to thank! I say, from now on, we can solve any problem with a deposit certificate! The Masters can put up the big bucks, and we can chip in. If we pool our ideas, there’s no problem we can’t solve!"

The moment this message appeared, it immediately resonated with countless people.

"That makes sense! If Master Night Owl hadn’t started the deposit certificate, Master Blacktiger might never have spoken up!"

"Someone at Master Blacktiger’s level doesn’t have time to watch us chat all day. He definitely only stepped in because he saw the deposit certificate."

"So, next time there’s a collective event, we do the same thing?"

"Definitely! The Masters get the meat and we get the broth. It’s better than nothing!"

Seraphina Sinclair read the messages, a grin tugging at her lips.

’They’re catching on! They’re catching on way too fast!’

’If this really becomes a regular thing, wouldn’t that give me another steady stream of Black Fog Coins?’

Her eyes crinkling in a smile, she first checked the description of the item that intrigued her most: the Event Solver Medal.

[Event Solver Medal (Special)]

[Description: Proof that the holder made a key contribution during a collective event. When equipped, your name will have a special marker in the Zone channel, and you have a chance to receive a partial trade subsidy during transactions.]

[Note: "Those who gather firewood for the crowd should not be left to freeze in the snow."]

’A trade subsidy?’

She read the description several times, then glanced at the note again. She had a vague guess about what it meant but couldn’t be certain.

’Oh well, I’ll find out when I actually make a trade.’

Seraphina Sinclair chose to equip it, and the medal materialized on her chest.

It wasn’t large, about the size of a baby’s fist. Its entire body was a Dark Gold color, its surface engraved with intricate patterns. A faint halo of light flowed within the grooves of the design, making it seem alive.

She reached out to touch it.

It was warm to the touch. It felt something like metal, but it was much, much lighter.

Huh?

Seraphina Sinclair suddenly realized that this item was fundamentally different from a title.

Equipping a title required a slot, and she still had no idea how to unlock normal slots. But a medal was different.

The description was very clear: as long as you possessed the medal, you could equip it.

Wearing three or five wouldn’t be a problem. Covering half her body with them wouldn’t be a problem. Perhaps it was precisely because medals could be stacked infinitely that the system was so cautious about awarding them.

Seraphina Sinclair suppressed her racing thoughts and went to check the Zone title.

The system had already explained the title’s effect clearly in the announcement. Seraphina had only one reason for checking it now: to figure out how it was activated.