Chapter 65: Departure Gift Bag

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Departure Gift Bag

"I wanted to say that a minute ago, but I held back because I thought I’d get flamed for it. Thanks for being my mouthpiece!"

"Yeah, I don’t know about other stuff, but I do know the Level divisions! Is this Pretty Guardian a plant? All this praise, how much did they pay you?"

Pretty Guardian replied with cool sarcasm, "There you go again, being superficial. Who said the master is only giving out one rune?"

"Huh?"

"Whoa! It’s like all the wrinkles in my brain just got smoothed out. My whole scalp tingled that instant."

"LMAO, all those people jumping up and down, and it all gets shut down with just one sentence!"

"Wait... so you’re saying! The thing we’re getting is several runes? No wonder the master said it’s a bit pricey and to prepare ourselves. This is definitely worth it!"

"Huh? If one person needs several runes, then the master’s inventory..."

"Holy crap! I’m going to buy, buy, buy!"

Her words were a wake-up call, and Seraphina Sinclair’s private messages finally started chiming nonstop.

Seraphina Sinclair listened with satisfaction for a moment before opening her private messages to pick out suitable trades.

The first message was, surprisingly, from Pretty Guardian, looking for credit.

[Pretty Guardian]: My positive review worked pretty well, right? Next time you have something good, you have to sell it to me first, okay!

Seraphina Sinclair agreed to that request.

After replying with a "yes," she clicked on the next person’s message.

[Call Me Xiao Xie]: Master, I really don’t have anything good. I lack quality, so can I make up for it with quantity? How about 20 stacks of basic materials? 30 stacks would be fine too!

Of course not.

Seraphina Sinclair silently closed his private message and continued to the next one.

’My stock of runes is limited, and I need them myself. If I’m going to trade, it has to be for something good!’

She kept scrolling and soon realized that too much hype wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Too many people were trying to trade with common materials, and some offered nothing at all, just hoping for a freebie.

Seraphina Sinclair frowned, growing a little quiet. ’Why are these freeloaders like cockroaches? You block them, and more just show up next time?’

She was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued her search.

Eight o’clock arrived silently, but the system once again displayed a text pop-up.

[To all surviving survivors! Congratulations on successfully completing the newbie protection period!]

[All survivors will receive a Departure Gift Bag!]

[That’s right! The cruelty of this world has only just begun. Everyone, we hope to see these familiar faces again the next time we raise the difficulty.]

The text appeared all at once.

Seraphina Sinclair waited, but the text simply vanished.

’So, that’s all they have to say this time?’

The main points had been covered last night, and now they just added this little segment and sent a Departure Gift Bag...

Seraphina Sinclair frowned. She had a bad feeling the system wasn’t up to any good.

And that line about hoping to see them again... it had the same energy as a wolf offering New Year’s greetings to a sheep.

The Departure Gift Bag appeared before Seraphina Sinclair. It was light blue, tied with a ribbon in a bow—very festive.

Seraphina Sinclair put her search for a suitable trade on hold and picked up the so-called Departure Gift Bag to examine it.

[Departure Gift Bag]

[Description: Our humble contribution to your official adventure! Open to receive Matchstick x1, Black Fog Coin x10!] ℴ

The Description listed everything inside, and there was nothing unique about it. No reason not to open it.

Seraphina Sinclair chose to use it and, sure enough, received 10 Black Fog Coins and a single matchstick.

Ever cautious, she pinched the matchstick and examined it closely. After confirming it was just an ordinary matchstick, she couldn’t help but frown.

’Something’s not right...’

’This is very not right.’

’Why give us this for no reason?’

Seraphina Sinclair blinked, and a possibility suddenly occurred to her.

’What are matchsticks used for? Starting fires!’

’So... is there a place coming up where we absolutely have to use fire?’

Seraphina Sinclair wasn’t sure if her guess was correct. Sometimes her own erratic train of thought frustrated her.

She opened the regional channel to see what others were saying.

"What’s the point of giving us a matchstick? Are they telling us to cosplay as The Little Match Girl?"

"They didn’t even give us the striker strip from the matchbox! How are we supposed to cosplay if we can’t even light it?"

"Wait, why are we actually discussing this?"

"I thought I’d find something useful in the regional channel. Was I hoping for too much..."

"Can we come up with some reasonable theories, please?"

"Forget the matchstick for a second, what are these Black Fog Coins for?"

"They’re useless. I suggest you gift them to me. I love useless things."

Seraphina Sinclair: "..."

’Having a wild train of thought is a good thing, I guess.’

’I definitely can’t count on anyone else. If I can think for myself, I should think more.’

Seraphina Sinclair sighed, turned the Sunflower toward the sunshine, and went to deal with her trade requests.

After filtering through them for the entire morning, Seraphina Sinclair finally picked out only eight suitable trades. All of these people had chosen The Misty Path, so she was confident she wouldn’t tarnish her own brand.

She looked at the few remaining red dots, sighed again, and felt that finding a few decent trades among so many requests was like finding a needle in a haystack.

’This work is just too tedious...’

Tedious was one thing, but more importantly, it was a huge waste of time.

If she had spent the morning on rune painting, she could have acquired a lot more good items.

Seraphina Sinclair shook her head and quickly completed the trades she had selected. In total, she received: Expansion Crystal x9, Complete Tool Box x1, Team Certificate x1, and Repair Tool Box x3!

The Expansion Crystals came from three different people. Coincidentally, each of them had offered three crystals in their trade with Seraphina Sinclair.

After the trades were complete, Seraphina Sinclair made a point to ask where the items came from.

The first person was tight-lipped, clearly unwilling to say.

The second was much smoother, hinting that Seraphina Sinclair should offer something in return for the information and not ask for free.

Seraphina Sinclair was fine with that arrangement, but before they could agree on the specifics of their trade, the third person replied directly: "I got them from a Supply Box. They came in a set of three, and that’s all I got. I don’t know what they’re for, but they seemed like good stuff, so I came to trade with you."

With the answer obtained from this person, the potential trade with the second person was naturally off the table.

Seraphina Sinclair stared at the chat box in silence for a moment, then told the person the purpose of the Expansion Crystals.

’I guess this counts as a trade, one piece of information for another.’

’But... if this person has regrets... well, too bad. The trade is already complete, and there are no take-backs.’

But the other person’s reply was so sincere that it made Seraphina Sinclair feel a bit petty in comparison.

[RookSolosGruel]: Master, you’re too honest! But I like straightforward people like you! Actually, I already guessed the Expansion Crystals had something to do with upgrading the cabin. After all, in this damn world, everything is tied to survival. Thanks, thanks!