"Wait a minute—what about the remaining tens of billions of people?"
Someone finally noticed the inconsistency in the numbers.
According to the world announcement, the total number of individuals who had received rewards was only slightly above seven billion—barely even reaching eight billion. Yet, on the world channel, there were clearly over eighteen billion survivors still alive.
That meant more than ten billion people had not received a world rating at all and were not included in the rankings.
Once people realized this gap, confusion quickly spread, and someone asked the question that had been lingering in everyone's mind.
"They must have merged together, right?" another person replied. "The Level 3 Shelter across from mine has more than twenty people living in it."
"Tsk tsk, a Level 3 Shelter is only 180 square meters, isn't it? Housing more than twenty people in that space—don't they feel cramped?"
"If quality fails, rely on quantity. That standard applies everywhere," someone scoffed.
"S-rank individuals are definitely different. Most of them probably live alone, existing as beings capable of resisting the Mana Tide by themselves—like the Witch of the Tower."
"Right. But there are also people who band together for warmth and mutual defense."
"That's true."
"She's called the Witch of the High Tower."
"Isn't that basically the same thing?"
"Stuffing a dozen people—or even more—into a Level 3 Shelter to survive natural disasters and avoid prying eyes isn't really a big deal."
"If you calculate it that way, on average, only three or four billion Level 3 Shelters would be needed to house all those unranked people who don't even have shelters of their own."
"Heh. If they don't even have a shelter, then they don't have the Magic Desk that comes with one. That means they can't even send messages on the world channel."
"What else can they do? Abandoning your own shelter to join a Level 3 Shelter is still better than dying, right? And once a Level 3 Shelter upgrades to Level 4, if it expands threefold like before, that's over five hundred square meters. It wouldn't be nearly as crowded then."
"What were those people doing for an entire month? Couldn't they even upgrade to the most basic Level 2 Shelter?"
"Is there a possibility that everyone is already at Level 2, and Level 2 Shelters just aren't included in the rankings? Maybe even Level 3 isn't counted?"
"Uh… that's actually possible."
"Enough talk. Let's just envy those fifty-eight S-rank individuals. They have magic and tools."
"I'm more interested in the knowledge inside the books. Didn't that Witch of the Tower only gain recognition from the world will because she learned Alchemy? I suspect she's definitely S-rank."
"Please remove the word 'suspect.'"
"Isn't that already obvious?"
"I've already started studying like crazy. How could I, a super academic genius, fall behind anyone else?"
"That's great. I can't even afford to buy books right now."
"Don't worry. Won't more than three hundred thousand books appear soon? There are always people who don't like reading or aren't good at it. You can just buy them later when they sell."
"I don't have money. I can't afford the price."
"Then why are you talking nonsense?"
Whether others could afford books or not was still uncertain, but Arya certainly could.
[Congratulations to individual 'Arya' for achieving S-rank in this full moon rating.
You have received the following rewards:
C-rank Magic of choice ×1
C-rank Tool of choice ×1
Book of choice ×1]
The moment she heard the prompt, Arya immediately rushed to her shop interface and adjusted her trade listings.
This time, the trading object was simple: books.
Fifty bottles of life-saving Healing Potions in exchange for a single book—any type would do. The listing clearly showed just how much she valued knowledge.
And it wasn't an exaggeration.
When she saw the reward list, while others were still envying the C-rank magic and tools, Arya's strongest reaction had been directed toward the books.
She knew better than anyone what her true foundation was.
Only after finishing these arrangements did she calmly begin selecting her rewards.
At that moment, the voice of the world will sounded again.
[Ding! Due to the extensive destruction caused by the Mana Tide, certain areas have been reduced to populations of just over one hundred people. A regional merger will now take place between these areas.
This process will occur once per month until the entire region is fully opened.]
Arya, who was just about to make her selections, twitched slightly.
"This 'certain area' you're talking about… wouldn't happen to be Area 666, would it?"
Why not just say the number outright? Why phrase it so vaguely, like it was somewhere far away?
Regardless, she wasn't afraid.
[Ding! This area will merge with surrounding regions.
The merged areas include:
'Area 661 – Abandoned Mountains (Upper Layer)'
'Area 662 – Abandoned River Valley (Upper Reach)'
'Area 663 – Abandoned Mountains (Lower Layer)'
'Area 664 – Abandoned River Valley (Middle Reach)'
'Area 665 – Abandoned Ruins'
'Area 667 – Abandoned Lake'
'Area 668 – Abandoned Beach (Left Section)'
…]
The world will listed more than a dozen areas in one breath, and every single one of them began with the word "Abandoned."
It seemed this was supposed to be considered a normal region.
"One Mana Tide has already ruined my miserable situation, and now this happens."
"Hahaha! The areas are merging soon! Arya, Roy, Tyrion—I'll definitely make sure everyone knows what you bastards have done!"
"That's right! What Witch of the Tower? You're just a damn Bloodsucking Witch! A Looting Witch!"
"That's ridiculous. Roy, that profiteer, and Tyrion, that beast, are one thing—but what did Arya do to you? Don't tell me you didn't buy magic potions from that profiteer during the Mana Tide."
"Hmph! So what if I did? I paid for them! It's Arya's fault for letting that profiteer monopolize the potion market!"
"Exactly! We're all in the same area. Couldn't she have lowered the price a little so everyone could survive together? Look how many people died!"
"Oh? 'Survive together,' you say? Did you forget that the hundred or so people inside Tyrion's shelter all died?"
Eile Ell finally snapped.
"I never said we had to live together! Wouldn't it have been enough to just make things a little cheaper so more people could get through it?"
"Why should others give you a discount? Because your ass is big, or because you don't bathe?"
"Eile Ell, just you wait! Sooner or later, I'll deal with your trashy, foul-mouthed self!"
"Come on, then. Same offer as always—crawl through the internet cable and fight me. If I don't die, you will."
"Damn it…"
Watching the chaotic argument unfold in the regional channel, Arya merely smiled faintly.
She had never cared about slander.
She couldn't even be bothered to feel angry.
In her eyes, these people were nothing more than clowns trying to carve a piece of meat off her. Getting angry at them would only make her angry for no reason.
It was the same as the two thieves who had once appeared inside her room. There had been no need to waste words—two potions thrown down at a price outrageously lower than market value had solved the problem immediately.
What more was there to say?
She even suspected that her assignment to *Area 666—Evilman Valley—*by the world will was closely related to those two individuals.
Three people in one room. Two criminals.
If they weren't sent here, then where else would they belong?
So she simply blocked them.
They wouldn't even be allowed to browse her shop anymore.
If they wanted potions, they could go find the profiteer they loved to complain about. Roy was not nearly as easy to deal with as she was.
"Hm."
As she finished that thought, Arya noticed that her regional channel interface suddenly shifted, signaling the completion of the area merger.
The game had officially entered a new stage.
And this time, the number of enemies—and opportunities—had just increased dramatically.
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