ShoujoDirector

Someone asked why Athena has purple text. Well, I can't explain it all as this story is in the early stages and you will understand later on; the first chapter already has a lot of holes. Anyway, some of you may already know the conclusion that every player in this game has an "advantage" over the others. Big Bear has extreme luck, Water Sprite, on the other hand, has a limitless water supply, and the Scroll Guy gets limited scrolls every day. It depends on the players how to make use of those unique advantages for themselves to thrive, like Athena. Although I "might" provide the full answer in the near future

So much information conveyed only one thing: the system had been updated, and they were now officially out of the beginner phase.

After leaving the beginner phase, an increase in difficulty was unavoidable, but what surprised everyone was that today's round of offense and defense had just ended, and another one was scheduled for tomorrow at noon. Furthermore, the system would no longer provide information about the monsters in future offensive and defensive rounds.

Athena was surprised by this information, but what caught her attention more was "Independent Region." Opening the system panel, a new function called "Region" was added to the top right corner. Clicking on it revealed a long list of rankings.

At the top was Athena herself, followed by someone named "Black Planet," and third was a string of gibberish. Scrolling down, she quickly found familiar names. Fourth was "Ask-The-Heavens," and seventh was "Big Bear."

The rankings were based on overall performance. Athena tried clicking on her own ranking, but there was only a brief system evaluation.

What kind of evaluation was this?

Athena tried to modify it but found that these things couldn't be changed. Only when she clicked on the region number did a new window pop up, showing a total of 98 nearby regions. Each region had its own number, followed by indicators of whether it was independent or merged.

Clicking on other regions prompted a message saying they were not open or visible.

When Athena clicked on other region again, they were no longer invisible. She could see the overall rankings of other regions and the geographical environments most people belonged to in those areas.

However, just browsing briefly didn't benefit her much at the moment, and organizing data wasn't a very good activity for her.

Considering the current situation, there would definitely be region wars or activities in the future. Knowing oneself and the enemy would ensure victory.

Athena think for a while and decided, she chose to use her own permissions and designated Ask-The-Heavens to share permissions with despite the skepticisms. She held the dominant position in this permission, able to revoke it at any time.

Another additional function of the system was the Monster Guide. However, this Monster Guide didn't show all monsters; only those she had defeated would appear in it, akin to a trading card collection.

At the bottom was a share button, allowing her to share information about defeated monsters with others.

Turning to the page of the Snowstorm Beast, because this page was different from the others, it was a golden paper.

It also has a tracking function and can track this monster to its unique instance.

This function was triggered because Athena had previously participated in special events and completed faction tasks. Next time she obtained a World Stone, she could return to that instance based on the golden paper page.

That was all the content of the system update. And the rewards she had received for completing the faction tasks before the system update, delayed due to the update, had finally arrived in her mailbox.

There were two packages in the mailbox, one emitting a golden light, and the other a blue light.

She opened the golden package.

Athena took out the blue package, and a prompt in purple font followed.

This earth wall was the one Athena and the others had used in their battle against the monsters before. If used properly, its effect would be greater than that of normal weapons.

Well, there was no need to say more, things were getting steady again. But according to the previous lesson, she had to be more stable, not showing too much aggression, or she might be mobbed by these guys again.

Or just wipe them all out at once, not giving them a chance to send any messages.

The monsters here aren't just blindly aggressive; on the contrary, they all possess a certain level of intelligence. If one displays excessive attack power like last time, those guys will directly choose to call for reinforcements.

Athena plans to see how these guys fare tomorrow. If they're easily killed, she can take the risk of letting them call for reinforcements to gain more experience points. Moreover, more monsters would help her become more skilled in using her bow and axe, serving as a form of training.

She hadn't forgotten that she needed to prioritize body training, and attribute points definitely needed to be added. But she couldn't afford to be as reckless as last time; who knows, she might end up dead from overexertion.

Hopefully, most players have acquired some capital this time. Tomorrow's time is tight, and many people may regret not preparing more supplies.

Last time, the Snowstorm Beast brought the scene with it, posing greater danger, which is why there was temporary compensation. However, this time, with the Iron Beetle, there wasn't any.

After a round of battles in a snow storm, many unprepared individuals depleted their resources. This round might be even tougher.

Strange, why the Lost Soul getting later and later? Before, it used to arrive whenever darkness fell, but now it's always past midnight.

There was even one time it didn't come at all. Although Athena didn't inquire last time, it didn't mean she wasn't concerned. It's not that she cared about the guy who lives in darkness every day, but she worried about any major changes that might occur. Just because that guy was forced to sign a contract doesn't mean he's powerless. Darkness is their home turf.

Athena absentmindedly teased the three small grass animals, leaving the other two exhausted while the little panda remained eager, its eyes shining as it stared at the roasted meat in Athena's hand.

"Ah—"

"Roar!"

Different roars echoed in the silent night, sounding particularly abrupt.

Athena stayed in the house, casually tossing the roasted meat to the hungry little panda, ignoring the resentful gazes of the other two, and went out.

At this hour, the only thing that would trigger the system's and the purple font's warnings would be the Lost Soul. The eerie cries, just like the ones when she trapped the Lost Soul in her house before, made it clear.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw two grass lions confronting the now harmless Lost Soul.

Their sharp claws were tightly gripping the ground, fur standing on end, eyes flashing with ferocity, and sharp teeth bared.

The sound of the wooden door opening startled both sides, and the Lost Soul quickly shrank back to appear harmless again. Meanwhile, the two grass lions became even more agitated at their master's arrival.