"Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Or did I remember wrong? Didn't Lin Xiaoran only have a little over 200 points yesterday? How did it become 315!?"
Andrei rubbed his eyes in disbelief, trying hard to recall the rankings he had seen last night!
He wasn't old yet. There was no way he had remembered wrong!
Surely he hadn't drunk so much yesterday that his memories had gotten muddled?
If he remembered correctly, that meant Lin Xiaoran had earned another 100 points last night!
"Didn't she sleep at night? Or did she run into danger?"
Andrei could only suspect as much, utterly unwilling to believe that Lin Xiaoran had kept killing fierce beasts at night for better national fortune rewards!
Outside the game, E Country's viewers watched in confusion as Andrei stood there in a daze on-screen.
[What did Andrei discover? Why does he look so awful?]
[Were a lot of people eliminated overnight?]
[No, weren't there still 147 people?]
[Wait! I know! It's the points! The first-place score is wrong!]
[The points? What's wrong with them?]
[I remember perfectly! Lin Xiaoran from Country L, the one in first place, had 215 points before the livestream shut off! Now it's 315!]
[Th-this! How is that possible!]
[Lin Xiaoran's score on the very first day already caught up with Andrei's final score last round?! If she wins this round, wouldn't the national fortune rewards be...?]
[No! She can't! We absolutely can't allow it!]
[Andrei! You have to give it your all! Work hard and overtake her! You absolutely can't let Lin Xiaoran survive to the end!]
Lin Xiaoran's terrifying score left viewers from every country sitting on pins and needles, worried sick!
A high score wasn't the problem. What it represented was!
By now, everyone could roughly gauge the challengers' strength and potential from their performances and those of their Heroic Spirits on the first day.
Among them, aside from a handful such as Andrei, Park Bu, Tanaka Ning, and Julian Reik, Lin Xiaoran stood out the most!
Even many who hadn't watched Lin Xiaoran's first-person perspective had learned about her through word of mouth.
Not to mention, the points rankings for all challengers appeared on the left side of every livestream!
And Lin Xiaoran, the challenger from Country L, led the entire field with an overwhelming points advantage!
That was enough to prove that Lin Xiaoran's Heroic Spirit was extremely powerful!
And this was only the first day!
If Lin Xiaoran successfully made it through five days while continuing to earn points at such an outrageous pace, then defeated every challenger to become the sole victor, just how high could the ceiling for her national fortune rewards rise?!
Nobody dared imagine it! They feared that merely thinking about it would make it come true!
The leaders of the various countries, in particular, did not want to see Country L tower above the rest and become the strongest!
They all prayed silently that their own countries' challengers would work a little harder and stop Lin Xiaoran from winning!
Even teaming up with one another to take Lin Xiaoran out first would be fine!
Country L's National Fortune Analysis Bureau.
Because of the National Fortune Survival Game's appearance, all staff now started work at six in the morning, with no exception even for Director Jiang Jiayou.
Of course, because of the longer working hours, their benefits and salaries were correspondingly much higher than those in other departments.
Fortunately, besides office space, the premises allocated to the National Fortune Analysis Bureau also included nearby staff apartments, with individual rooms in three-bedroom, one-living-room units. Family members were allowed, the walk to work took less than fifteen minutes, and the area was under military administration, providing ample assurance of safety.
The soldiers Jiang Jiayou had previously sent to Lin Xiaoran's home belonged to the military, and their assignment was to bring her here after she returned and keep her safe.
Today, Jiang Jiayou entered the large command room as usual, and his first priority was to confirm the challengers' safety.
"Director Jiang, there's good news." Che Yisi had arrived a few minutes before Jiang Jiayou.
"What news?"
"Student Lin's score has increased again!" Che Yisi reported.
"Increased again?! Did Student Lin run into danger last night?" Jiang Jiayou instinctively thought of that possibility.
"That's possible, but clearly, even at night, Student Lin can handle things smoothly with her Heroic Spirit's help. It probably isn't a major issue."
Che Yisi guessed the same thing, never imagining that Lin Xiaoran had casually killed another ten E-rank fierce beasts out hunting simply to practice her own abilities.
Of course, ordinary challengers would never be as bold as Lin Xiaoran and dare to venture out at night. The other challengers could barely hide fast enough!
"An increase in points is good, but in that case, could Student Lin be targeted by the other challengers?" Jiang Jiayou was somewhat worried.
The intelligence and cunning of those challengers were not to be underestimated.
Among the 200 countries remaining in the world today, each was an enemy of the others, and all would stop at nothing to win.
Otherwise, why was every country's national fortune at roughly the same level, with none pulling particularly far ahead or becoming especially powerful?
It was because no victor had managed to win more than three consecutive rounds of the game!
Every winner of the previous round would invariably be targeted in the next!
If they were lucky enough to hold on until the third round, it became even more dangerous: all the challengers would join forces to surround and kill them!
Only after killing them would they compete to determine a new victor!
Originally, Andrei was supposed to be the one targeted this round, but nobody had expected Lin Xiaoran to suddenly burst onto the scene and shine so brightly!
That left Country L's viewers and Jiang Jiayou very worried.
Che Yisi also frowned, his expression grave. "Even though we know this now, we have no way to tell Lin Xiaoran to be more careful."
Jiang Jiayou sighed. "We can only hope Lin Xiaoran thinks of this and acts more cautiously, and that her Heroic Spirit Yixiao still has trump cards he hasn't revealed."
Outside the game, they could only cheer Lin Xiaoran on and pray for her. There was nothing else they could do.
As it turned out, Jiang Jiayou's concerns were justified.
Before setting off on the second day, the challengers all opened the rankings to see whether anyone had been eliminated, easing the pressure of surviving and winning. Naturally, they also noticed the issue with Lin Xiaoran.
Thus, the challengers who were relatively confident in their Heroic Spirits directed their greatest hostility toward Lin Xiaoran. They had even begun considering how to persuade other challengers to form a temporary alliance if they encountered them.
Unaware of what the others were thinking, Lin Xiaoran took out the bread left over from last night and shared it with Yixiao as they walked and ate.
"Master, are we doing the same as yesterday?" Yixiao asked.
"I'm afraid not. As the game's remaining time decreases, the map of the entire instance will shrink too. If we take detours, I'm afraid we won't make it in time. In that case, we won't have time to rest or eat along the way."
The game lasted five days in total. To push all challengers to reach the finish line-the city center-on time on the final day, the amount of time they could remain in one place while moving during the daytime would grow shorter and shorter. Yesterday, it had been an hour; today, it would be only forty minutes.
Of course, time spent fighting did not count as passive play. Surely they couldn't make the challengers fight while walking? That would be far too absurd.
Thus, Lin Xiaoran could only advance in a straight line today, doing her best to eliminate the fierce beasts within reach and earn a few points.