Claiming the Global Number One Spot
Xin Jiu explained expressionlessly, "The system made it very clear: players had to obtain them, not have them distributed equally. They stayed in the safe zone and never even encountered a single goblin. How could the system count that as obtaining anything?"
In fact, all they had to do was kill a single goblin. Even if they didn't get a heart, they could still clear the stage.
All the system wanted was for them to take that step out. Unfortunately, none of those twenty-odd players had realized this.
Everyone understood at once.
"In future instances, make sure you listen carefully to the system's requirements. You only have one life," Xin Jiu reminded them.
The players nodded hastily.
That afternoon, the system began announcing the global points rankings.
All the players, and even the viewers in the livestreams, waited with bated breath.
Before this, viewers from other countries had emailed the officials to protest, essentially arguing that the Nine Provinces had the most players, so simply counting total points was unfair to countries with fewer players.
The official website had issued a special statement.
Within instances, the points players could obtain would increase or decrease based on player numbers.
For example, a Nine Provinces player would earn five points for killing a goblin, while a player from a small country would earn a hundred. The difficulty was also reduced, and most importantly, the probability of triggering hidden achievements was increased too.
After that, nobody protested anymore.
[First, announcing the national total points rankings.] [1: Nine Provinces] [2: Big Bear] [3: Lighthouse] [...]
The Nine Provinces viewers in the livestream were all cheering.
Meanwhile, Big Bear's viewers were so furious they smashed things in their homes.
Their people were recognized worldwide for their toughness, yet they had actually lost to the Nine Provinces. They refused to accept it!
[Next, announcing the top fifty players in the individual points rankings.]
Xin Jiu looked up at the large screen in midair.
She had only earned a little over two thousand points in the first and second rounds. In the third round, each goblin was worth fifty points, and she couldn't remember exactly how many she had killed.
But there had been around twelve hundred.
[1: Xin Jiu, total points: 69800 (Nine Provinces)] [2: Heartless Dao Dabao, total points: 50265 (Nine Provinces)] [3: Alex, total points: 47860 (Big Bear)] [...] [7: Hash Brown Heavy Dependence, 45320 (Nine Provinces)] [...]
The livestream erupted.
[Nearly twenty thousand points ahead of second place. Is she a demon?!]
[Global number one! Jiujiu is number one in the world!!!]
[Our Nine Provinces took three spots in the global top ten!]
[I'm so happy I'm about to faint.]
[Someone give this woman a wish-fulfillment novel.]
[Nine Provinces players are awesome!!!]
Xin Jiu withdrew her gaze. She was quite satisfied with this result, but if she hadn't taken breaks along the way, she could have earned even more points.
The old man, the ponytailed girl, and the other players in this instance all looked at Xin Jiu.
They were genuinely curious. Was she really that number one player?
Before they could ask, the system gave them the answer.
A golden treasure chest popped up in front of Xin Jiu.
It was the reward for first place.
She opened it.
[Item: Team-up card x3 (A-rank)] [Instructions: After using a team-up card, you can forcibly bring a player into your current instance for two days.] [Tip: If you're about to die, you can pull in a friend to save you!] [Attribute points x10 (freely allocable)]
Xin Jiu put the rewards into her inventory.
Team-up cards... she had no use for them.
As for the attribute points, she would decide how to allocate them after entering the next instance. Meanwhile, the "goblin hearts" she had collected earlier had all been reclaimed by the game.
On the panel, the trading hall, chat channel, and friends list all unlocked simultaneously.
The players were chatting enthusiastically on them.
After experiencing such a harrowing game, they were bursting with things to say and urgently needed an outlet.
[Attention, all players. The service area will open in ten minutes. The next game will begin at eight in the morning sharp the day after tomorrow.] [Tip: Balancing work and rest will help you face the upcoming challenges in better condition.]
There was still some time before the service area opened.
Xin Jiu opened the shop interface first.
The shop interface opened after an instance ended and only closed when the next instance began. It stayed open for so long out of consideration for players who had trouble making choices.
Another reason was to allow players enough time to trade with others for sufficient points to purchase items.
In that respect, it was quite accommodating.
The trading hall, meanwhile, was where players bought and sold items and equipment among themselves.
It was a bit like a flea market. Anything could be bought or sold.
She glanced over the shop interface.
As for the system's merchandise... how should she put it? It was garbage.
[Rusty kitchen knife: 100 points] [Cloak full of holes: 180 points] [Sharp wooden sword: 150 points]
Xin Jiu frowned as she looked. It was about on par with Meow-Meow-chan's collection.
The other players were also browsing the shop.
They had originally planned to buy something, but their faces fell when they saw the items the system offered.
"Better not spend our points in the shop. Once we reach the service area, there'll definitely be players selling items. We can buy then. Our points won't reset before the next instance starts anyway," one player said.
"How do you know people will sell items?"
"Do you even need to think about it? Everyone gets different stock. What if someone gets a top-tier item but doesn't have enough points? Won't they have to sell what they have for points? That'll be the perfect time to pick up bargains. Don't forget, this game has tens of millions of players."
Xin Jiu's lips curved into a smile. Pretty smart.
She continued scrolling through the shop pages. Most of it was garbage, until she spotted a golden ticket in a corner on the last page.
[Item: Attribute refresh voucher] [Price: 10000 points] [Item description: Randomly generates a new attribute upon use. Takes effect immediately after purchase.]
Xin Jiu raised her eyebrows.
An item costing ten thousand points was outrageously expensive for ordinary players.
After all, most players had somewhere between one thousand and five thousand points after the tutorial matches. Anyone who reached ten thousand was already an expert.
Spending ten thousand points to gamble on an uncertain attribute honestly wasn't very worthwhile.
But Xin Jiu had more points than she could spend. Getting a rare attribute would naturally be ideal, but failing to get one wouldn't affect anything either.
After she clicked purchase, ten thousand points were instantly deducted.
At the same time, a multicolored wheel appeared.
It had five sections: mana, intelligence, luck, charm, and defense.
Anything but charm, Xin Jiu thought.
The pointer swept rapidly across the sections before finally landing on luck under Xin Jiu's expectant gaze.
[Congratulations to player Xin Jiu for generating a rare attribute: luck] [Current luck: 7]
Luck... what effect would it have in an instance?
As Xin Jiu pondered this, another system pop-up appeared.
[A large purchase has been detected. The system is granting you one free shop refresh. Would you like to use it?]
She clicked yes without hesitation.
The refreshed merchandise was clearly much better.
Xin Jiu spotted the golden item at a glance.
[Item: Clown doll (A-rank)] [Instructions: Activate when in danger to block fatal damage for its owner. Uses: x3.] [Price: 8000 points.] [Tip: Cats have nine lives. Buy this and you can have three. Highly recommended!]
A death-substitution item, with three uses at that.
Buy, buy, buy!
She continued scrolling down, hoping to find a suitable weapon, but none of the shop's weapons were very good.
Perhaps she should wait until she reached the later floors and look for that heavy sword again. That heavy sword had accompanied her all the way to the top of the tower.
As she scrolled to a certain page, a dull gray icon flashed past.
Xin Jiu had already scrolled past it.
Then she scrolled back.