One SSS Affix per Level: My Novice Club Can Slay Gods!

His real-world HP had increased by one thousand!

John’s grip on the Void Staff tightened slightly.

This was not his HP inside the game.

It was his HP in the real world.

He did not yet know exactly how much HP an ordinary person possessed.

However, under the initial settings of Apocalypse, an ordinary player started with only one hundred base HP.

Even if the conversion ratio between reality and the game was different, one thousand HP could by no means be considered a small amount.

John forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart.

He could not log out of the game yet.

He would have to wait until his consciousness returned to reality before testing the exact effects.

But at the very least, one thing had now been confirmed.

[Reality Merge] truly worked.

Power obtained inside the game could genuinely be brought back into reality.

At the same time, the kill rewards appeared one after another.

[You have defeated a Lv.25 Ten-Thousand-Player-Tier Boss while underleveled!]

[You have obtained 4,200 EXP!]

[You have obtained 80 Gold Coins!]

[Current EXP: 4,510/7,000.]

[Party member "Staff of Judgment" has received assist EXP!]

[Ding! Player "Staff of Judgment" has reached Lv.14!]

Level-up light once again appeared around Nonoa.

She had entered the Land of Fading Silhouettes at Lv.11.

Now, she had already gained three levels in succession.

Zoey, on the other hand, remained stuck at Lv.10.

[Player "FireRose" has not yet completed her Class Change!]

[Excess EXP has been temporarily stored.]

[Stored EXP will be automatically calculated after the Class Change is complete.]

Zoey stared at her EXP bar, which was so full it looked ready to overflow, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

"I’ve already killed all fifty quest monsters."

"But I haven’t even seen the final target’s shadow."

"Did the system forget to spawn my Class Change monster?"

Following Charon’s death, a large number of glowing loot orbs erupted across the ground.

Purple.

Golden.

There were even two faint-red lights.

The shattered altar also began collapsing inward.

Where the black energy sphere had originally hovered, a rotating gray teleportation array gradually formed.

Zoey’s attention was quickly drawn to the loot covering the ground.

"Look!"

"It’s all A-Rank equipment or better!"

John walked over to the ruined altar and began checking the drops.

[Exile’s Heavy Armor]

[Quality: A-Rank.]

[Physical Defense +650. Magic Defense +480. HP +1,200.]

[Shadow Realm Greatblade]

[Quality: A-Rank.]

[Physical Attack +380. Strength +60.]

[Faceless Cloak]

[Quality: A-Rank.]

[Agility +50. The first attack after entering combat is guaranteed to critically strike.]

[Skill Book: Shadow Realm Teleportation]

[Quality: A-Rank.]

[Skill Book: Faceless Clones]

[Quality: S-Rank.]

[Staff of Mercy]

[Quality: A-Rank.]

[Wisdom +60. Healing Effect +25%. Healing skill costs reduced by 20%.]

[Ring of the Gale]

[Quality: A-Rank.]

[Agility +50. Attack Speed +10%.]

There were also several other A-Rank weapons, three skill books, and a large quantity of high-level materials.

Their attributes were all fairly impressive.

Once listed on the marketplace, they would undoubtedly become highly sought-after items fought over by the major guilds.

John was about to distribute the equipment when he noticed that the two girls were standing beside him without moving.

"What’s wrong?"

Nonoa hugged her original staff and whispered,

"You were the one who killed most of the monsters along the way."

"You also defeated the Boss by yourself just now."

"We’ve already gained a lot of EXP by following you."

"It doesn’t feel right for us to take a share of the Boss drops too."

Zoey nodded as well.

"We really didn’t help much this time."

John let out a soft sigh.

"Oh dear."

"That makes me feel so bad."

Despite claiming to feel bad, his hand had already reached toward the ground.

[You have picked up Exile’s Heavy Armor!]

[You have picked up Shadow Realm Greatblade!]

[You have picked up Faceless Cloak!]

[You have picked up Skill Book: Shadow Realm Teleportation!]

[You have picked up Skill Book: Faceless Clones!]

At first, he picked up the items one by one.

Then his speed gradually increased.

His hands even began producing afterimages.

The equipment on the ground vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Zoey stared at him.

"How do you look even slightly embarrassed?"

John stuffed the last few materials into the Void Arsenal.

"I can’t let your goodwill go to waste."

Black lines appeared simultaneously across both girls’ foreheads.

At that moment, Nonoa suddenly felt something heavy being placed in her arms.

A pure-white staff had been shoved into her embrace.

[Staff of Mercy]

The moment Nonoa saw its attributes, her eyes lit up.

It increased healing effects by twenty-five percent.

For an ordinary priest, that would merely mean stronger healing.

However, her SS-Rank Talent [Merciful Judgment] could convert healing into True Damage.

Increasing her healing output was equivalent to directly increasing her damage.

"Are you really giving this to me?"

"Mm."

John then handed the other piece of equipment to Zoey.

Zoey instinctively reached out and accepted it.

The moment she saw the silver ring resting in her palm, she suddenly fell silent.

Her ears turned visibly red.

She lowered her head and did not speak for a long time.

John looked puzzled.

"What’s wrong?"

"You don’t like it?"

"It’s too late to exchange it. I’ve already put everything else away."

Nonoa looked at the ring.

Then she looked at Zoey’s bright-red face.

She finally realized what was happening.

She immediately raised her new staff and tapped John on the head.

Bonk!

"Why would you suddenly give a girl a ring?"

"Can you stop being so oblivious?"

John froze.

He immediately pointed at the equipment panel.

"Look at the attributes first."

"It gives fifty Agility."

"It’s perfect for an archer."

Only then did Zoey raise her head.

"Oh."

She tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear and pretended to be calm.

Nonoa leaned over and took a look.

"It really does!"

"It also increases Attack Speed by ten percent."

"Zoey, hurry up and put it on!"

"I don’t want it!"

"Why not?"

"I just don’t!"

"You should wear it. The attributes are really good."

"You wear it if you like it so much!"

"I’m a priest. Agility is useless to me."

The two girls began tugging the ring back and forth beside him.

John turned his attention back to the quest interface.

[Crimsonfeather Trial]

[Kill Windscar Demon Eagles: 50/50.]

[Kill Shadow Archer: 0/1.]

Charon was already dead.

The altar had also transformed into a teleportation array.

Yet Zoey’s final target, the Shadow Archer, had never appeared.

The only time they had seen that name was in Charon’s description.

Just as John was about to inspect the remaining loot again, a pitch-black stone tablet caught his attention.

There was no writing on its surface.

Only the image of a red arrow that continuously moved across it.

[Encoded Dispatch]

[Type: Special Quest Item.]

[Description: A token used by Charon, Exiled General of the Shadow Realm, to transmit orders to his agent on the surface.]

[Delivering it to the Mayor of Giantwood Town may result in an unexpected reward.]

An agent on the surface.

John’s gaze shifted slightly.

This stone tablet was very likely their only clue to finding the Shadow Archer.

He looked toward the teleportation array beside them, which was gradually stabilizing.

The giant tree had vanished without a trace.

A version of Giantwood Town from ten years ago had appeared inside the Land of Fading Silhouettes.

Meanwhile, the real world continued to suffer from an endless stream of monster tides.

And Charon just happened to possess teleportation abilities.

All of these events were clearly connected to the general from the Shadow Realm.

At that moment, the unfinished sentence Charon had spoken suddenly flashed through John’s mind.

"No matter how fast you are, you can no longer stop the monster tide from advanc—"

The monster tide!

John’s expression changed drastically.

"Not good!"

Zoey and Nonoa immediately stopped moving.

"What’s wrong?"

"The monster tide on the surface has already begun."

John put away the Encoded Dispatch and sprinted toward the teleportation array.

"We’re returning to Giantwood Town immediately!"

The two girls also realized what was happening.

Zoey no longer cared about the ring in her hand. She casually slipped it onto her finger, grabbed Nonoa, and followed him.

The three of them stepped into the gray vortex together.