Chapter 436 - 426: Sailing Carnival 28

On closer inspection, she could faintly make out a serial number.

"4399?"

Moira Lynch stared at the number, completely baffled.

"Patience, is there any special meaning to this Black Gold Card and its number?"

When in doubt, ask Patience.

Patience simply scanned the Black Gold Card in Moira Lynch’s hand and quickly provided an answer.

[Black Gold Crystal Stone Card. Forged from Black Gold Crystal, its surface is an uneven black with flowing golden patterns. This card was first issued by The Adventurer’s Guild. Only S-rank adventurers, or those deemed to have the potential to become S-rank adventurers, are qualified to possess one.]

After hearing Patience’s explanation, Moira Lynch gave the Black Gold Crystal Stone Card in her hand an odd look.

’So, The Adventurer’s Guild thinks I have a chance of becoming an S-rank adventurer.’

’Looks like I’m going to have to disappoint them. I have no plans to raise my adventurer rank anytime soon, let alone become an S-rank.’

Moira Lynch knew that once an adventurer reached A-rank, The Adventurer’s Guild would start assigning them mandatory missions.

These missions were impossible to refuse. In other words, they were duties that A-rank adventurers had to undertake, and refusal would lead to punishment.

’If it’s already like that for A-rank adventurers, I can’t even imagine what it’s like for S-rank.’

As she thought about this, her eyelids grew heavy, and a wave of drowsiness washed over her.

Just as she was about to drift off, she decided to check her adventurer rank one last time.

’I just captured two A-rank wanted criminals. Logically, my adventurer rank should have gone up.’

Name: Moira Lynch

Status: B-rank Adventurer

Adventurer ID: 94977238971525

When she saw the "Status" line, Moira Lynch’s drowsy eyes instantly shot wide open.

’If I remember correctly, I was a Novice Adventurer before this.’

Novice Adventurers were E-rank by default.

’I can’t believe it. Capturing two A-rank wanted criminals made me jump from Novice Adventurer straight to B-rank, skipping D and C entirely.’

’No wonder they gave me a Black Gold Crystal Stone Card.’

What Moira Lynch didn’t know was that while capturing the two A-rank criminals was a major factor in her rapid promotion, a significant part of the reason was her own doing.

Remember those missions Moira Lynch completed with the Yeti Horns?

The rank of those missions wasn’t low, either.

In fact, her adventurer rank should have increased when she completed those missions. The only reason it wasn’t reflected was that Moira Lynch hadn’t proactively updated her status information.

When The Adventurer’s Guild noticed Moira Lynch hadn’t initiated an update, they assumed she wasn’t in a hurry and turned their attention to other pressing matters.

As it happened, several S-rank adventurers returned from their missions around the same time, and in the ensuing chaos, her case was forgotten.

It was only after Moira Lynch reported the two A-rank wanted criminals that they finally remembered and updated her status.

Staring at the status line, Moira Lynch thought to herself, ’Looks like I’ll have to keep a low profile for a while.’

But as the saying goes, the tree may wish for calm, but the wind will not subside.

Sometimes, the more you try to avoid something, the more it feels like a great, unseen hand is pushing you forward.

After dealing with the two A-rank wanted criminals, Theodoric Graham and Laina Carlton, the group enjoyed a rare period of peace.

During this time, however, an incident of some note occurred: the captain’s quarters were burglarized.

But at the time of the incident, Moira Lynch and Kai York had already been pushed into the sea, so naturally, they were cleared of suspicion.

Aside from that, the following month could be described as smooth sailing.

One day, the group gathered again in the first mate’s room.

After dinner, Moira Lynch projected the map onto the table again. Their journey was now more than halfway complete.

"This is great! If nothing else goes wrong, we’ll be able to complete our mission ahead of schedule!" Joy Rhodes said, her tone excited as she looked at the short distance left on their route.

Moira Lynch looked over at Joy Rhodes. For some reason, hearing those words gave her a sudden, bad feeling. She couldn’t shake the sense that something terrible was about to happen.

’In all the dramas, anime, and novels I’ve seen, whenever a protagonist or villain says something like that, some kind of disaster always strikes in the very next moment.’

’When that happens, the lucky ones get a chance to salvage the situation, but always at a terrible cost. That’s usually what happens to the protagonists.’

’The unlucky ones see all their hard work go up in smoke in an instant, and they might even get themselves killed.’

’That’s what usually happens to the villains.’

’We’re not in a drama, and this isn’t a novel. We can’t be that unlucky, can we?’

Moira Lynch tried to reassure herself with this thought, but only she knew how little effect it had.

The group lingered in the room for a while longer before getting up to leave.

Moira Lynch suddenly thought of something and deliberately fell a few steps back to walk alongside Hugh Finch.

"Something you want to talk about?"

Seeing Moira Lynch’s expression, Hugh Finch knew she had something to say to him.

This had been happening frequently lately.

Sometimes when Moira Lynch came to Hugh Finch, it wasn’t to find a solution to a problem, but simply to have someone to talk to.

Ever since he’d figured out Moira’s hidden identity, Hugh Finch felt like he had become her personal sounding board.

"What is it this time?" Hugh Finch asked.

"Caelus is about to descend into chaos."

Moira Lynch’s expression remained placid, but her opening words were a bombshell.

"What!" Hugh Finch stared at Moira Lynch in disbelief. "What’s going on? Did someone intentionally start a war, or...?"

"Neither," Moira Lynch said, shaking her head. "It’s because of us."

"Previously, when we entered the game, it was usually for two or three days, sometimes seven or eight. There was also that one time I stayed in the game for a month. But that was just time inside the game. By the time we finished, very little time would have passed on Caelus. It didn’t affect our lives at all."

"To ordinary people, it was like we players had only vanished for a few minutes."

Hearing this, Hugh Finch understood what Moira Lynch was implying. "Are you saying the time in the game world has synced with Caelus?"

If that were the case, it would be a massive problem. They had already been in the game for over a month and a half.

Setting everything else aside, the disappearance of all the players alone would be enough to cause mass panic.

Seeing the worry in Hugh Finch’s eyes, Moira Lynch explained, "It’s not quite that dramatic, but six days have already passed on Caelus."

"Things are still manageable in Cathaya. As long as you’re willing to work, you can get at least one full meal a day. But in other countries..."