Chapter 81: ch81- Mysterious Arrival
The recent conquest of the monster lair had yielded Alex an astonishing 94% contribution, which netted him 7,555 N-tier resource crystals, 846 R-tier crystals, and 94 SR-tier crystals—nearly double his previous haul! The rest of the team, including Mason, Jessica, and the other classmates, also did well. With no one else splitting the loot, the remaining 6% was shared among the 10 or so students, and each ended up with over 3 million points.
In short, Alex's wealth had nearly doubled since noon. They had found the ultimate farming strategy: first, conquer resource points, let monsters reoccupy them, and then retake the lair. This method would not only provide double the quest rewards but also a vast number of high-value resource crystals.
With this approach, Alex was confident that if they repeated the process a few more times, his wealth could rival that of nations.
After briefly tallying his current resources, Alex found he had 830,000 points, 8.91 million merit points, 129 skill points, 40 super skill points, and enough growth value to level up 13 times. His wealth had become so overwhelming that he was unsure how best to use it. After some thought, he decided to wait until tomorrow to purchase more "Attribute Fruit Packs" to raise his other attributes to B-tier before focusing on skill upgrades.
As the sweltering night passed with many either asleep or restless, the morning came quickly. It was now the 10th day since the game had descended upon the world and the third day after the end of the prologue. It was also the second day of the store event.
As usual, Alex rose early. Just as he was about to freshen up, a slight tremor, followed by a deafening thunderclap, reverberated through the air. The sensation was eerily familiar, and Alex immediately thought back to three days ago when the first resource points had appeared.
However, compared to the earth-shattering tremors of that time, this disturbance, though loud, felt less intense.
Alex quickly realized he was wrong as he stepped out of his room. The courtyard outside his quarters was cast in an ominous light. The sky had turned a sinister shade of purple-red, resembling an apocalyptic scene. Huge, twisting blue, red, and white lightning bolts crisscrossed the sky, and distant thunder rumbled ominously.
Beyond the safety of the city walls, columns of smoke rose into the sky, while East Sea City remained calm, protected by some mysterious force. Without this shield, the city might have faced far greater destruction.
As the eerie minute passed, the dark clouds began to dissipate, and golden rays of sunlight pierced through, as if the world had been reborn. But Alex noticed something new had appeared beyond the city limits—three awe-inspiring phenomena stood out in the post-storm landscape.
The most striking was a "Sky City," hovering amidst swirling smoke and clouds. Even with the storm fading, it was still shrouded in dark clouds, and flashes of white and blue lightning danced across its surface.
The second anomaly was a towering mountain that seemed to pierce the clouds, though it was obscured by distance and the lingering smoke.
The final sight was perhaps the most unsettling—a massive, shadowy form far to the east, its shape impossible to discern. However, it seemed to distort the very sky around it, making the air ripple as if it were liquid.
Recalling yesterday's world announcement, Alex quickly surmised that these strange phenomena were the new high-tier resource points mentioned in the update.
Though the city's protective barrier had shielded it from the worst of the tremors, the noise had woken nearly everyone. It wasn't long before Ethan, looking visibly shaken, flew towards the City Lord's Mansion.
By the time Alex had finished washing up and entered the main hall, a large group of classmates, along with Ethan, were already gathered, discussing the recent events in hushed tones.
"City Lord!" Ethan greeted Alex with a respectful bow before addressing the crowd. "I'm here to explain the situation regarding the newly appeared resource points."
Jessica glanced at him curiously and asked, "You seemed pretty rushed when you arrived. Is there something wrong with these resource points?"
Ethan gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "The resource points themselves aren't the issue. In fact, they're premium and top-tier R-level resource points."
This left Alex and the others momentarily stunned. Chris couldn't help but ask, "If they're top-tier, isn't that a good thing?"
"In theory, yes," Ethan replied gravely, "but the problem is that they've appeared too early." His voice grew more serious as he explained, "Let me put it this way: one R-tier resource point is equivalent to at least 100 N-tier resource points in terms of value. And, accordingly, the monsters guarding them are just as powerful."
The students, being quick thinkers, quickly connected the dots. "So, you're saying that the monsters guarding an R-tier resource point are stronger than all the monsters from 100 N-tier resource points combined!?"
The towering figure of Ethan, masked beneath a shell-like helmet, nodded slowly, his tone now more measured. "Yes. If we were only talking about ordinary R-tier resource points, it wouldn't be too bad. These points typically have ten times as many levels, ten times as many monsters per level, and the monsters themselves are ten times stronger than those found in N-tier points. With enough strength and numbers, it's possible to capture them even at this stage."
He paused and then added, "But the three R-tier resource points outside East Sea City are something else entirely."
Ethan glanced warily towards the courtyard, visibly unsettled. "I don't recognize two of them, but the Sky City to the east—I've seen it before."
This piqued everyone's curiosity. For a long time, Alex and the others had wondered about the true nature of the guides, the game, and the monsters. Unable to hold back, Alex asked, "You've seen it before? Does that mean you guides are players too?"
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