Apocalypse Descends: I Win Effortlessly by Turning Trash into Treasure

Perry Yates’s eyes lit up at the sight of this card. Now, she could fuse two, or even multiple, cards together to create an even more powerful one.

Moreover, she wouldn’t have to worry about future Skill Cards anymore.

Not for sale! Not for auction!

Instead of putting the card into her Card Storage Device, Perry Yates bound it to herself and absorbed it into her body.

「Day 26 of the game.」

Perry Yates was digging tunnels beneath the snow.

Whenever her vines touched a treasure box, Perry Yates would leave a mark at the spot before continuing to dig toward the next one.

She didn’t immediately collect the treasure boxes she had already located. She was waiting for the right moment.

Until that moment arrived, her goal was to find as many treasure boxes as she possibly could.

「Day 27 of the game.」

The temperature outside dropped again. This time, the vines Perry Yates extended were able to last even longer.

Realizing this, Perry Yates abandoned her plans for further exploration and instead began widening the tunnels she had already dug, preparing for what was to come.

「Day 28 of the game.」

The temperature dropped yet again. The world outside now seemed apocalyptic, and Perry Yates could hardly distinguish between day and night anymore.

Perry Yates used to love snow, finding the world beautiful when it was wrapped in a blanket of white. Now, however, the magic was completely gone.

After this ordeal, she figured it would be a very long time before she wanted to see snow again.

’If it’s this difficult for me to get by with so many cards and resources, the other players must be having an even harder time.’

And just as Perry Yates suspected, with the ceaselessly dropping temperatures, people were dying silently every day.

It didn’t even take a whole night; within a few hours, a corpse would be frozen solid. At first, some people still helped collect the bodies. But eventually, everyone’s faces became numb.

The survivors, driven by what little instinct they had left, mechanically stripped the clothes from the dead and wrapped them around their own bodies.

「Day 29 of the game.」

Dressed in thick layers and wrapped in her tent’s blankets, Perry Yates held the Little Ferret close while taking small sips from a cup of hot brown sugar ginger tea.

Compared to the other players, her life was exceptionally comfortable.

Her gaze, however, was fixed on the treasure boxes outside.

”Only one day left.”

To avoid being swarmed by the monsters in the sky, Perry Yates planned to collect all the treasure boxes at the very last moment before the game ended.

「Day 30 of the game.」

It was the final day of the game. Perry Yates felt like she was finally seeing the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

Dressed in thick clothes and holding her Little Sun, Perry Yates packed everything away with half an hour left in the game, sending the Little Ferret into her System Space.

Stepping out from the protection of her Tent Shelter, Perry Yates couldn’t help but shiver.

But with the Little Sun, the cold wasn’t a major issue.

She took the opportunity to explore a bit more of the cave she’d lived in for nearly ten days. By the time she’d gauged its depth, less than ten minutes remained in the game.

She placed the carcass of some prey at the cave entrance, then began to collect her haul.

She started with the farthest one.

’If I started with the closest one, the monsters would destroy the tunnels I’d prepared when they swooped down.’

As Perry Yates collected one treasure box after another into her Space Backpack, monsters began to dive down from the sky.

Perry Yates glanced up, her heart pounding in her chest.

The moment she collected the last treasure box, Perry Yates activated her Invisibility and Instant Teleportation Skills without a second’s hesitation, turning and fleeing into the depths of the cave.

The instant she was gone, the snow-sealed cave entrance was torn open from the outside. A frigid wind rushed in, making the fleeing Perry Yates shudder.

A gigantic bat-like face then poked in from outside the cave, its sharp, ear-splitting roar echoing around Perry Yates.

’I think I’m going deaf!’

’Good thing I used Ascension on my hearing earlier, or my eardrums would have burst just now.’

Even so, Perry Yates’s ears were still ringing. Two streams of warm liquid trickled from them, freezing almost instantly.

Fortunately, the giant bat’s attention was quickly drawn to the carcass Perry Yates had left at the entrance, allowing her to escape.

Once she had reached a sufficient depth and was sure she was safe, Perry Yates finally let out a sigh of relief and placed her hands over her ears.

”Ascension.”

Her ringing ears were instantly healed.

’It feels like I’ve found a bug in the system,’ Perry Yates thought.

Although Ascension was, in essence, a permanent enhancement, it seemed that after a body part was enhanced, it would instantly recover from any injury, no matter how severe.

’It’s like reloading a save file after dying in a video game.’

The last few minutes of the game were agonizingly slow; for Perry Yates, every second felt like a year.

Since there was still time, Perry Yates decided to open all the gold-and-red treasure boxes. ’What if I’m not allowed to take them with me?’

She didn’t even look at what cards came out, simply sweeping them all into her Card Storage Device.

When the chime signaling the end of the game finally sounded, Perry Yates suspected she’d been frozen numb and was hallucinating.

[Congratulations, Player Perry Yates. You have successfully cleared the game ”Glacial Realm.” Due to your outstanding performance in this round, you have been awarded one Ultimate Treasure Chest. Please continue to strive for excellence. The next game will begin in thirty days.]

When she left the game and opened her eyes, Perry Yates found herself back in her own home.

Seeing the familiar surroundings, Perry Yates let out a sigh as if a great weight had been lifted. She collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion and began to strip off her layers of clothing.

She had needed all those layers to survive in the game, but it was summer outside. After just a few moments, a fine sheen of sweat had already appeared on her face.

Beside her lay a brilliant, golden treasure box. It had to be her reward for this round of the game.

’And here I thought the reward would be another card,’ she mused. ’The two-star card from last time was pretty good. But this one looks even higher-grade than the gold-and-red treasure boxes. I should be able to get something good out of it.’

At that thought, Perry Yates felt an urge to open it immediately, but she stopped herself at the last second.

’I’ll take a shower first.’

After stowing the treasure box in her Space Backpack, Perry Yates hurried into the bathroom. A moment later, the SPLASH of running water could be heard from inside.