Chapter 437: Startling Development

Chapter 437 -436: Startling Development

Seraphina Sinclair fell silent for a moment, already suspecting what was happening.

With a sense of anticipation, she opened the private chat window.

Her friends list was, indeed, empty.

Seraphina Sinclair stared at the completely empty friends list, silent for several seconds.

The list had once held a few names: Chrona, Pretty Guardian, and several other friends she had added through the trade channel.

Now they were all gone. Not a single one remained. Even the contacts whose avatars had long ago gone dark had vanished.

“The Zone merge even reset the friends list?”

Seraphina Sinclair muttered to herself, her brow furrowing slightly.

‘That’s something I hadn’t considered.’

But on second thought, it made sense. People from different regions were now sorted into the same Zone. Even if their original friendships were preserved, they were no longer in the same Zone as each other, making private chats pointless.

‘Is the system trying to force a level playing field?’

‘No.’

Seraphina Sinclair slowly dismissed the thought.

‘The system isn’t trying to create a level playing field. It’s trying to put everyone in an unfamiliar environment.’

People are a product of their environment.

Since entering this world, Seraphina Sinclair’s understanding of that phrase had grown far more profound.

What did an unfamiliar environment mean? It meant that the trust, connections, and small groups established in the old regions had all vanished. The old, familiar society where everyone knew each other, where you could even borrow supplies through the trade channel, was gone.

Everyone had been thrown into a brand-new pool where no one knew anyone else, and no one dared to trust anyone easily.

‘That was the system’s true purpose.’

And this was only the prelude.

The paths were extended to two weeks, the Immunity Crystal would only drop once, and now there was this new, overtly malicious Fire System.

Every single thing was designed to force them to kill one another!

‘Not enough Immunity Crystals? Then what are you supposed to do?’

‘Take them from others.’

‘Want the Fire System’s rewards, but killing monsters is too inefficient? Then what?’

‘Kill people.’

Standing in her small cabin, before the dying embers of the fireplace, Seraphina Sinclair gazed at the empty friends list, feeling a chill run through her.

The system’s design was a series of interlocking traps. It was as if a pair of unseen eyes were watching every survivor from the shadows, calculating the precise moment they would break down, descend into madness, and turn their blades on their own kind.

Seraphina Sinclair suddenly recalled the messages from last night’s Zone channel:

“Don’t want to kill anyone? Then just wait to be killed yourself.”

“Instead of thinking about killing others, you should be thinking about how not to get killed.”

At the time, she had dismissed it as people just venting their panic. Looking back now, it seemed more like a prophecy.

Before, while there had been plenty of internal friction among humans, the facade of uniting against the monsters had still been maintained…

But now, even that facade had shattered.

Seraphina Sinclair took a deep breath, forcing the chill down.

‘She had the strength and the skill. No matter how harsh the environment became, she would survive.’

Seraphina Sinclair’s gaze shifted from her friends list to the Zone channel.

As expected, it was already in an uproar.

“HOLY SHIT! Where are my friends? What happened to my huge friends list?”

“Same here! They’re all gone! I just made plans with someone yesterday to team up and grind mobs today!”

“System, get out here and explain this!!!”

“Stop yelling. The system’s not going to explain anything. Didn’t you read the announcement? Zone merge, new Zone assignments.”

“But that doesn’t mean they should just wipe our friends lists!!! What about all the top players I added?! What about the power-players I finally managed to latch onto?!!!”

“LMAO, you think any of those top players remember you? They probably have hundreds of people on their list. A reset just cleans things up for them.”

“You can’t say that. My bro and I promised we’d survive together, and now I don’t even know what Zone he’s in. With the old server merges, we should have stayed in the same Zone forever!”

“Well, the system wasn’t completely heartless. My bestie and I used a Team Certificate, and we’re still in the same Zone.”

“What?? The system plays favorites? How come my bro and I didn’t get assigned to the same Zone?”

“That’s your own fault, don’t blame the system. The system is definitely fair. My bro and I are both in this Zone.”

“Did you guys not choose the same path?”

Seeing this message, Seraphina Sinclair raised an eyebrow slightly.

It seemed the system hadn’t completely sealed off all hope. It had at least left a crack for those who were truly teamed up.

But it was only a tiny crack.

The system had even split up teams that hadn’t chosen the same path.

Seraphina Sinclair continued scrolling.

“The same path? Damn it, you had to choose the same path, too? How the hell was anyone supposed to know that?!”

“My condolences. In this world, just being alive is a win. Don’t worry about the rest.”

Seraphina Sinclair stared at the “My condolences” message, silent for a few moments.

‘Just being alive is a win.’

She had heard that phrase too many times.

People had been saying it since the very first day she entered this world.

Some of those who said it were still alive; others were already dead. The living kept repeating it, and the dead could no longer hear.

Seraphina Sinclair closed the Zone channel. She wouldn’t look at it anymore.

‘It was pointless.’

‘Dwelling on all that negativity would only cloud her judgment.’

‘What she needed now was information, not emotion.’

Just as she was thinking this, a new message popped up beneath her friends list—

[Cross-Zone contact history detected with the following users. Send friend requests?]

Listed below were a few names: Chrona, Pretty Guardian…

Seraphina Sinclair’s finger hovered.

‘They’re all still alive.’

Frowning in thought for a couple of seconds, Seraphina Sinclair sent requests to all of them.

‘If the system has this function, it must be useful for something.’ Less than three seconds after she sent them, her request to Pretty Guardian was accepted.

[Pretty Guardian]: AHHHHHHHHHHH, BOSS!!! I thought I’d never be able to contact you again!!! I almost cried when I saw my friends list was empty!!!

Seraphina Sinclair looked at the long string of exclamation points, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.

[Dark Ford]: Calm down.

[Pretty Guardian]: I CAN’T CALM DOWN!!! Boss, do you know, I was so nervous last night I couldn’t sleep a wink!!! The new rules are terrifying, killing people for points and everything!!! A nobody like me isn’t going to make it past the third stage, is she? Boo hoo hoo…

Seraphina Sinclair fell silent for two seconds as she read the message.

She recalled her own reaction in the cabin last night. After reading the announcement, her first thought had been, ‘Looks like they just added a bonus reward.’ The comment had scared Luna Jacobs so badly she’d nearly choked.

The gap between one person and another, she mused, was sometimes greater than the gap between a person and a dog.

[Dark Ford]: What Zone are you in?

[Pretty Guardian]: 444! What about you, Boss?!

Seraphina Sinclair raised an eyebrow. ‘The same Zone?’

[Dark Ford]: Dolorum?

[Pretty Guardian]: Huh…? Boo hoo hoo, Boss, why did you pick Dolorum! I picked Sylvestris!!