Chapter Fifty-Two: The End of the Event

After clearing out the minor monsters, they quickly took down an elite captain, spending less than twenty minutes. This time, the little secretary died again, her equipment still lacking; she just couldn't withstand the attacks. No one had the energy left to complain. The boss didn't drop anything remarkable, only one piece of orange equipment—a bow, which was won by one of the archers in the group. The rest were level twenty-five purple gear, which the veterans considered trash, not worth mentioning. They did, however, get another orange material, claimed by someone else; Zhang Shan’s luck was average this round. With fifty people rolling for loot, the chances of him winning were slim to begin with. There would be more opportunities to collect materials later, anyway. At present, no one really knew what these materials were for.

After defeating this orange boss, another member of their guild entered the top ten of the leaderboard. Zhang Shan retained his place at the very top, Storm Under Heaven was second, the little secretary moved up one spot to seventh, and Storm Blade—a surprise—just squeezed into tenth place. If they could maintain these ranks until the event ended, it would be a tremendous harvest. Out of all the players in the New World, their guild alone occupied four spots in the top ten. They were bound to draw attention.

“Let’s go, let’s find a random purple boss and kill it. We’ve got a few minutes left, we should make it,” Storm Blade urged impatiently. His rank at tenth was precarious; he needed more contribution points or he’d soon be overtaken. With six or seven minutes remaining, taking down a purple boss was a bit risky, especially since clearing out the minor monsters took time. Still, it was worth a try—if successful, they’d gain plenty of contribution points. Even if they didn’t kill the boss, clearing the minions still counted for some contribution, though it was less. But every little bit added up.

Contribution points were valuable—they could be exchanged for merit. When merit reached a certain level, it granted a rank and a salary. Zhang Shan’s current rank was only squad leader, earning just one gold coin a week. To be promoted to centurion required five thousand merit. Before the city defense event, he didn’t know where to get merit; a boss first kill only awarded one hundred merit. To reach centurion would require fifty orange or higher boss first kills—a truly despairing prospect. Now, with another avenue for merit, hope was rekindled.

Imagine, if he eventually reached the highest rank of general, earning ten thousand gold coins a week, he could live carefree in the New World, never needing to struggle again. He had to work hard, never missing the weekly city defense event, squeezing out as much contribution as possible for merit.

They soon found a purple boss. During the monster siege event, bosses flooded the city; as long as one was strong enough, there was always another boss to fight. The little secretary pulled the boss, and everyone began clearing the minions. With less than five minutes left before the event ended, it was difficult to kill the boss after clearing the minions. Each minion had a hundred thousand health—even Zhang Shan needed nearly half a minute per monster, and others were slower.

At this moment, Storm Under Heaven spoke up: “Six Barrel, Blade, and I will attack the boss. You guys clear the minions. Let’s try to kill the boss before the event ends.”

“That’s best. Bosses give more contribution. If you finish it, your rankings should be stabilized.”

“No worries. A boss with two million health? I can almost kill it solo in five minutes. Get ready for the treasure chest,” Zhang Shan said confidently. His damage output had tripled since the first priest boss, with one weapon unseal and two new accessories. Critical effects triggered often now, and his output had soared. With Storm Under Heaven, the little secretary, and Blade, their combined damage could easily deal two million in five minutes.

Time passed swiftly; the boss’s health dropped rapidly. Just before the event ended, the demon elite captain was killed by the four of them. The others hadn’t even finished clearing the minions—over thirty monsters with a hundred thousand health each took more time than the purple boss itself.

No one expected much from the elite captain’s drop; the chance for good loot was negligible. They only cared about their city defense contribution rankings, hoping nothing unexpected would happen.

System Announcement: Thanks to players’ valiant efforts, the demon siege force has been repelled. Players may now check their rankings via the event leaderboard. Reward chests have been sent to your in-game mailbox. City defense contribution points have been automatically converted to merit; please check your status.

“Damn, that was close—I almost dropped out of the top ten! The eleventh place player was just a few hundred contribution behind me, ha!” Storm Blade exclaimed joyfully.

“Just lucky, huh.”

“Jealous, aren’t you? Just wait until I open a legendary item.”

“Keep your eyes peeled, then. Three-star chests can’t drop legendary items; only five-star chests have a tiny chance.”

“What’s going on? Let me see.”

Zhang Shan opened his mailbox, retrieved the chest, and meanwhile saw the details about the reward chest mechanics for the city defense event. Five-star chests had a one-in-ten-thousand chance to drop a legendary item. Four-star chests had a one-in-ten-thousand chance for spirit-grade items. Three-star chests had the same chance for red-grade items. Two-star chests for orange-grade, and one-star chests for purple-grade.

“Damn, what a joke! Three-star chests only have a one-in-ten-thousand chance for red gear? That’s outrageous—what’s the point?”

“We all made it into the top ten thousand. Two-star chests might drop orange gear, so it’s not bad—time to see who gets lucky.”

“Damn, after all that, it still comes down to luck,” Storm Blade complained.

“Don’t be so proud. Three-star chests might rarely drop red gear, but the odds for orange equipment are definitely much higher.”

“Yeah, if you don’t want yours, give it to me.”

“Keep dreaming.”

“Forget it, I’m opening mine now.”

“Damn, what trash—wasn’t a four-star chest supposed to drop orange gear? All I got was a white material. What does that mean?”

“Ugh, mine was just a useless whiteboard item, too.”

“Are the chests really this bad? I’m scared to open mine now.”

“Watch me—red gear, come on!” Storm Blade had some hope for his three-star chest, but now he was just bluffing.

“Haha, not bad—an orange material. At least it wasn’t a waste,” Storm Blade laughed heartily. It was far from what he hoped for, but an orange material was some consolation—a lot better than a whiteboard item.

“Boss, you’ve got a four-star chest—maybe you’ll get a spirit-grade item. Open it up!”

Though Zhang Shan had the highest-tier five-star chest, no one paid attention to him—they were afraid to face the blow if Zhang Shan actually pulled a legendary item. Their fragile hearts couldn’t take it.