As news of the qualification distribution spread among the races of the Earth Alliance.
The qualification distribution page on the Monster World Official Website, quiet for so long, instantly became the center of attention.
Countless players without qualifications kept their computer screens fixed on this page, watching the countdown tick away as every second felt like a year.
In the final hour of the countdown, it was as though someone had muted every major city on Earth.
City streets once bustling with traffic stood deserted, with only automated cleaning robots circling forlornly along the roads, collecting trash that did not exist.
Every staffed shop had temporarily suspended business.
Only unmanned stores remained open under the watch of robots, yet no customers came through their doors either.
The fountains in city parks continued running according to their programming, their sprays tracing graceful arcs through the air, yet not a single spectator was there to appreciate them.
Traffic lights at intersections mechanically changed color. When the red lights came on, the empty crosswalks cast long shadows in the sunlight; when the lights turned green, still no vehicles or pedestrians broke the eerie silence.
Even the usually popular mainstream forums had few users still posting, and livestreamed programs analyzing the number of qualifications had all ended early.
The experts who had been holding forth on those programs moments ago had now returned to their rooms, just like every other internet user.
Waiting for fate to favor them.
In contrast to the silence outside, every room held a pair of eyes glued to a screen.
At that moment, the Monster World Official Website changed as well.
A mass of burning crimson flame appeared on the main qualification distribution page.
When the flames dispersed, what appeared before the players was:
``` [Number of qualifications in