Apocalypse Descends: I Win Effortlessly by Turning Trash into Treasure

[Player Perry Yates,

Congratulations, you have been selected to enter the survival game.

This round is The Warped Jungle. You will be randomly teleported to a location within the jungle. Please do your utmost to survive.

The game’s duration is thirty days. Those who survive until the end will receive generous rewards.

On the fifteenth day, you will have one chance to withdraw. If you cannot persevere, please seize this opportunity.

Those who withdraw early will receive no rewards.]

...

Listening to the prompt repeating in her ear, Perry took a deep breath.

’So it’s finally my turn?’

”I thought with my luck, I wouldn’t be chosen so soon.”

The survival game had first appeared six months ago.

Every selected player had to survive inside the game for thirty days.

Success brought generous rewards. Failure meant death.

Based on the number of people who had entered and cleared the game over the past six months, the survival game’s clear rate was a mere ten percent.

Of course, this figure excluded those who withdrew midway through the game.

These people saved their own lives, but because they failed to meet the time requirement, they received no rewards.

Even so, everyone still flocked to the survival game. The reason was simple: the rewards were just too tempting.

There weren’t just Genetic Potions that could unlock a person’s potential, but also items that could cure diseases and extend one’s lifespan.

The wealthy, in particular—those suffering from incurable illnesses or nearing the end of their lives—were willing to trade half their fortune for these things.

[Teleportation initiating!]

[Five!]

[Four!]

[Three!]

[Two!]

[One!]

As the countdown finished, Perry’s vision went black.

Two or three seconds later, she opened her eyes to find herself in a dense jungle.

Although it was her first time being chosen for the game, Perry Yates knew a great deal about it.

To prevent ordinary people from panicking and losing their lives right after entering, the government had compiled a highly efficient starter guide for the survival game.

Perry recalled the guide’s contents.

’What was the first thing to do after entering the game?’

’Right. I think it was to awaken my Talent.’

Every player received an Awakening Crystal upon entering the game, which they could use to awaken their unique Talent.

With that thought, Perry Yates opened her game inventory.

The system gave every new player an inventory with only 10 slots, meaning it could hold only 10 items.

After the game ended, only items inside the inventory could be taken out.

In other words, even if someone successfully cleared the game, they could leave with at most 10 items.

Perry gazed at the Awakening Crystal in her hand and slowly closed her fist. A moment later, she felt a warm current flow from her palm.

Immediately after, a game notification sounded in her ear.

[Congratulations, Player Perry Yates, for awakening the SSS-rank Talent—Ascension.]

About ten seconds later, Perry Yates opened her eyes and looked down at her hands. She was a little disappointed it wasn’t a combat-type Talent, but this one seemed far more incredible.

Besides, an SSS-rank Talent was even rarer than the highest-known SS-rank ones.

Once her excitement subsided, Perry began to take in her surroundings.

”The Warped Jungle.”

According to the collective experience of players on the game forums and in the starter guide, you could determine a game’s theme and dangers just from its name.

She scanned her surroundings. The silent jungle felt ominous, like a predator lying in wait for prey to deliver itself.

Perry remembered the words from the starter guide: the first order of business was to assess if your surroundings were safe. If they weren’t, you had to leave immediately.

It was obvious her current location was not safe, so she needed to move.

With that thought, Perry quickly checked her inventory.

In addition to the Awakening Crystal, first-time players were also provided with some starting supplies.

A compressed biscuit, a 500-milliliter bottle of mineral water, and a very ordinary-looking dagger.

This was the total of Perry’s possessions.

She was extremely grateful for her morning workout routine; it meant she’d been wearing a tracksuit when the game selected her.

Otherwise, even if she didn’t run into any monsters in this jungle, she’d be eaten alive by the omnipresent bugs.

However, looking at her conspicuous pink tracksuit, Perry Yates decided it would be best to find some camouflage.

With that, Perry began searching for camouflage materials.

Luckily, this was a jungle, and the one thing it had in abundance was grass.

She bent over and began cutting the grass with her dagger.

The blades were surprisingly tough; even with the dagger, it took considerable effort to sever them.

Looking at the red marks on her hand, Perry suddenly remembered her Talent and slapped her own forehead. ’How could I forget something so important?’

She immediately placed her hand on the dagger. With a mental command, Perry clearly felt a portion of her body’s energy drain away.

She looked at the dagger again. After one use of Ascension, the formerly ordinary blade now pulsed with a faint blue light.

[Dagger: A perfectly ordinary dagger that deals limited damage to monsters. After undergoing Ascension, its quality has greatly improved. It is now barely capable of killing a monster.]

Perry’s eyes lit up. Beyond the improvement to the dagger’s quality, the bigger surprise was that she could now see its information.

This was a massive, pleasant surprise.

After all, she was in a completely unfamiliar environment. The game was called The Warped Jungle; who knew if it was the plants, the animals, or both that were ”warped”?

In a situation like this, ignorance was a dangerous thing.

With the enhanced dagger, Perry’s grass-cutting speed increased significantly.

A little over half an hour later, she had finished weaving a green cloak and hat from the weeds.

Because time was of the essence, her weaving was a bit crude, but that was no problem—she could use Ascension on them.

After her experience with the dagger, she now had a full grasp of how her Talent worked.

She felt the energy drain from her body again, and this time, the cost was even greater than it had been for the dagger.

[Weed Suit: A cloak and hat woven from common weeds. After undergoing Ascension, it has been granted a new purpose. Put it on, and you will blend perfectly into the jungle. As long as you remain still, you will not be discovered.]