Chapter 15: Returning a Favor

“Xu Xiao, come here for a moment.”
Lu Li waved at Xu Xiao.
The latter looked wary, hesitating for a while before slowly moving over.
“What’s up? Are you going to kill me to keep me quiet?”
Having witnessed Lu Li’s skilled handling of corpses and collection of loot, Xu Xiao felt anything but at ease.
She sensed that Lu Li had completely changed.
The Lu Li she had liked before was quiet and reserved, behaving in a way that suited a high school student.
But now, with the apocalypse descending, how had he changed so drastically overnight?
“Kill you to keep you quiet?”
Lu Li paused, then laughed bitterly, “Why would I do that? You saved my life, and I’m giving you something in return.”
Seeing Lu Li’s relaxed expression, Xu Xiao’s tense heart eased a little.
She stared curiously at the short skirt in Lu Li’s hand.
“This?”
“That’s right, this. I’m giving it to you—consider it paying back part of the favor.”
Like tossing away a plague, Lu Li threw the skirt to Xu Xiao.
For even a second longer in his hands, it would be disrespectful to his tough, straightforward image!
Xu Xiao’s face twisted oddly, assuming Lu Li was just trying to get rid of some useless gear.
But after reading the skirt’s description, she was stunned.
“It can unconditionally upgrade a talent’s rank?!”
With the apocalypse’s arrival, all players had information injected into their minds.
Xu Xiao was no exception.
She knew clearly that a player’s talent rank was determined at awakening and could not be raised afterward, except through special items.
But even items that could upgrade ranks were extremely rare.
Lu Li had finally obtained such an item—and it was of perfect quality!
And he was just giving it to her?
“So, if I wear this skirt, I can raise my ‘Amplification Field’ talent to the Emerald rank?”
As Lu Li headed toward another loot chest, he scanned the skirt again.
When the item’s binding notification appeared, he finally relaxed.
“That’s right. It should suit you well… both in terms of effects and appearance…”
Xu Xiao blushed deeply at that.
From Lu Li’s tone, he wanted her to change into it immediately.
Looking around, she saw that Wang Chao and Ma Han wouldn’t be back anytime soon, so she turned toward the podium at the front of the classroom.
The stage curtains could serve as a temporary dressing room.
“I-I’m going to change into the skirt now. Lu Li, y-you better not peek…”

Without looking back, Lu Li said, “Don’t worry, I’m opening the chest.”
At the last loot chest, Lu Li sneered and silently prayed,
“Please don’t drop anything weird this time…”
He opened the chest, and a golden light flashed!
Lu Li’s eyes widened, excitement overtaking his face.
He had just gotten this item!
[Item Name: Primordial Crystal Dissolution Solution]
[Quality: Mythical]
[Description: This solvent can dissolve primordial crystals of any level, absorbing and storing the experience they contain. Drinking the solution grants 80% of the stored experience.]
[Note: The main ingredient of this item comes from… never mind, it’s basically the whole in one.]
Lu Li knew this item well.
In his previous life, it was considered the most useless mythical item.
Its value on the trade market was even less than ten Fate Coins.
The reason lay in its function.
[Dissolve crystals, store experience, then release it.]
The entire process caused no net gain—in fact, it lost 20% of the experience.
Its only usefulness was bypassing the weekly limit of absorbing only ten primordial crystals.
But compared to the experience lost, this advantage was negligible.
Yet Lu Li understood its true potential!
The Primordial Crystal Dissolution Solution had to be used in conjunction with a hidden rule of the leaderboard!
In the previous apocalypse game, players only discovered the leaderboard’s hidden rule in the third year after the apocalypse began.
That rule was: players who dominated the top three positions for a long time could receive extraordinarily impressive rewards!
To maintain a top spot long-term, players had to meet two conditions:
First, survive continuous challenges from other contenders.
Second, absorb more experience than others in the same time frame, leveling up higher.
The first condition wasn’t too hard.
Players who reached the top three were either strong or had powerful backing.
But the second condition was harsh.
Monster levels also increased over time.
During the early apocalypse, third-level primordial crystals might appear.
But fifth or sixth-level crystals were impossible.
Thus, player levels remained capped within a range.
But with the Primordial Crystal Dissolution Solution, it was different.
This item allowed the dissolution of many low-level crystals to accumulate experience!
Although gathering large quantities of low-level crystals was difficult for casual players, for Lu Li—a reincarnator—it was easy as pie!

“The global trading market should go online at midnight on the third day of the apocalypse; I still have two days and eleven hours!”
Lu Li pondered silently.
Players would soon realize the ten-crystal absorption limit per week.
Then, the market would flood with low-level crystals!
High-level crystals would become very expensive!
Lu Li could simply trade his high-level crystals for many low-level ones, quickly creating a “super crystal” packed with massive experience!
Dominating the leaderboard would be a breeze!
“I need to find a way to gather more high-level crystals in the next eleven hours…”
Lu Li muttered to himself, suddenly noticing someone approaching.
It was Xu Xiao, now wearing the skirt.
He had to admit, the pink plaid JK skirt really suited the beauty, radiating youthful vitality.
Though…
It was a bit too short…
Short enough to be distracting!
“Lu Li, d-do you think the skirt looks good?”
“Uh, yeah, it looks good…”
Lu Li nodded, quickly shifting his gaze away.
An awkward silence fell.
To ease the tension, Lu Li said,
“By the way, you still have a third-level primordial crystal, right? I want to trade five second-level ones for it.”
One second-level crystal gave 20 experience points; five would make 100.
Xu Xiao glanced at Lu Li’s bulging pockets, assuming he wanted convenience, and agreed,
“Sure, but the crystals are with Wang Chao—you’ll have to wait for him.”
“Oh, okay…”
The awkward atmosphere lingered.
Fortunately, after a while, footsteps sounded at the door.
Ma Han and Wang Chao entered, followed by Wang Xuyan and her group.
Seeing three corpses on the floor and Lu Li standing unharmed, Wang Xuyan’s eyes flickered, and her face lit up with a flattering smile.
She quickly approached Xu Xiao, feigning concern,
“Hey, Sister Xiao, are you okay? Wang Chao said you asked me to come save someone—is Lu Li hurt?”
Seeing Wang Xuyan’s act, Wang Chao and Ma Han rolled their eyes in unison.
Just moments ago, Wang Xuyan had been bargaining like a market vendor.
Now, she was taking the initiative…