Apocalypse Descends: I Win Effortlessly by Turning Trash into Treasure

”It’s surprisingly cool here, and there’s plenty of sunlight.”

After taking a look around, Perry Yates took out her Safe House.

Looking at the red-roofed Safe House, Perry felt something was off. It was just too conspicuous.

The Safe House was beautiful, like something straight out of a fairy tale.

But a sudden splash of red amidst these skyscrapers was far too noticeable.

Fortunately, there was a solution.

Stepping inside the Safe House, Perry snapped her fingers. ”Activate stealth mode.”

The interior of the Safe House didn’t change much. Outside, however, the red roof and yellow walls began to transform, gradually blending in with the surrounding concrete. Unless you looked very closely, you would never notice there was a house here at all.

Perry lay inside the cool Safe House and opened the skylight, letting the sunbeams fall upon her. A chilled, sweating drink sat beside her as she held a card in her hand, initiating its Ascension.

Meanwhile, Perry directed her Sun Avatar to head downstairs.

As time passed, the temperature continued to climb.

The streets, which had held a sparse trickle of people earlier, were now completely deserted. Everyone was hiding indoors, trying not to get cooked alive by the scorching heat.

Just then, Perry’s phone went off with a DING.

It was a text message notification.

Perry assumed it was another high-temperature warning, but when she picked up her phone, she saw the message was from an unknown number.

[All players who have received this message are to gather at the central square after 8:00 PM. Important information regarding the game will be announced. —Survival Game Administration]

’Strange. How did they get my number?’

Perry stared at the text, her mind racing with speculation.

’Could it be a Card Ability?’

’A card that can do this exists? If so, does that mean they have the information of every player?’

A chill went down Perry’s spine. She decided she would go check it out that evening.

Elsewhere, in a hotel room with the AC blasting at full power, Cole Kane sat on a sofa, watching another young man sitting not far away.

The young man held a phone with both hands, his eyes locked on the screen as fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

A closer look would reveal that his hands were also trembling slightly.

After a few minutes, the young man’s body suddenly went slack. He slumped onto the sofa like a deflated balloon, completely motionless.

”Hugh Cromwell, are you all right?”

Seeing this, Cole Kane asked with concern.

Hugh heard him and gave a weak wave of his hand, indicating that he was fine and just needed to rest.

Cole knew his condition was due to overexertion. He waited quietly for him to recover, periodically offering him food to help him regain his strength more quickly.

After about half an hour, Hugh finally felt much better. He quickly waved his hand, refusing any more food from Cole. If he ate another bite, he felt like he would burst.

Seeing this, Cole stopped and asked, ”How did it go? Was the message sent?”

Hugh Cromwell nodded. ”I’ve sent the text to everyone I could identify as a suspected player. I just don’t know how many will actually show up.”

”Quite a few should come. After all, our Survival Game Administration has a decent reputation among the players.”

After all, they were the official organization.

”Besides, compared to going it alone, cooperating with an official organization is clearly the smarter move.”

And taking a step back, even if they didn’t want to cooperate, he refused to believe those players would pass up the temptation of game clues.

Seeing Cole’s confident expression, Hugh couldn’t help but relax. He asked, ”By the way, what exactly did you experience in that private room on the second floor? You were never clear when I asked, only that this game had something to do with water.”

It was no secret among players that the private rooms on the second floor of The Card Tavern could predict, or even allow one to experience, the next game round ahead of time. However, very few people actually used them.

One reason was the steep price. Not just anyone could pull together ten one-star cards.

What about pooling resources, choosing a representative to enter the private room, and then having them report back?

That method could work, but there was no guarantee everyone would be teleported into the same game instance.

The Knowledge Crystal and Immersive Experience only showed information about the *user’s* next game.

So, if you relied on this method, you’d better pray you were assigned to the same game as the person who used it.

On top of that, the chosen person’s integrity had to be impeccable. If they concealed key clues or just fed everyone nonsense, the ones who suffered would be their trusting benefactors.

For all these reasons, very few people actually used the private rooms.

”I saw torrential rain, floods, and a tsunami. In the mid-to-late stages of the game, the sea and the rain will submerge the entire city. And then, massive marine creatures will appear in the water.”

It was precisely because he knew the dangers of this game that he wanted to gather all the players.

Cole Kane glanced at the blinding sun outside. ”We probably won’t be seeing sunlight like this for much longer.”

「By eight o’clock that evening」

Compared to the daytime, it was still incredibly hot, but at least within a tolerable range.

The once-quiet streets gradually grew busier.

Perry Yates controlled her Wood Clone, directing it toward the central square.

By the time it arrived, a considerable number of people had already gathered in the square.

Perry’s Clones already had appearances distinct from her own. Now, with a deliberate disguise, even someone who knew her wouldn’t make a connection.

Among the players who had shown up, some were clearly loners, exuding a keep-your-distance aura. Most of them had survived several rounds of the game; some might have even been among the very first batch of players.

People like that had both strength and experience. They understood better than anyone what they truly needed to survive the game.

Perhaps because they had been through too many games and seen too much death, they were cold and indifferent toward other players.

But people like that were a minority. Most players still chose to stick together for safety. The majority of them had only one thing on their minds: survival.

According to the data, ninety-eight percent of new players chose to quit on the fifteenth day of their first game.

The remaining two percent were either overconfident in their abilities or simply couldn’t bring themselves to quit.