Chapter 26: No. 1 in the Server Ranking
Not long after the vehicle set off, the light screen forced itself open once again.
This time, the visual display was even more dazzling than the usual server-wide announcements. Cheerful music chimed for a full minute as virtual fireworks and colorful streamers filled the screen, leaving everyone dizzy.
Recognizing the special notification, Lin Huai perked up at once. She sat up straight, pulled over to the shoulder of the highway, and fixed her eyes on the display.
She knew this tune and these flashy effects all too well. At the start of every month, the previous month’s leaderboards were revealed, and the monthly champions were crowned!
Ever since she had triggered several global broadcasts, Lin Huai had been eagerly waiting for this moment. In her past life, the highest ranks on the regional leaderboards had always been dominated by large, organized teams. The best she had ever achieved was thirty-fifth place in a single zone, which earned her zero rewards.
This time, however, Lin Huai felt confident that she had secured a spot in the server-wide top twenty.
When the celebratory effects finally finished bursting after a minute, Old Hei’s electronic voice drawled lazily through the air.
“Listen up, you useless bunch. Pull over, park your cars, and look at the screen. I am now announcing last month’s rankings. Prick up your ears and listen closely.”
“Of course, you absolute deadweights don’t even need to bother. You won’t find your names on the board anyway, so it has nothing to do with you. Listen or don’t—see if I care.”
“Mileage Leaderboard, First Place: Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice.”
“Monster Kill Leaderboard, First Place: Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice.”
“Resource Leaderboard, First Place: Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice.”
“The top three on the Server-Wide Overall Combat Power Leaderboard are, in order: Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice, Master Cloud Cliff, and Old Demon of Xiangxi.”
Having revealed the champions, Old Hei pulled up the full leaderboard across the light screen.
“I won’t read the rest of the names one by one; see for yourselves. By the way, congratulations to player Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice from District 44, Zone 444, for claiming the number-one spot across the entire server on the Overall Combat Power Leaderboard. Reward: Bone-Crushing Box x1.”
“For claiming first place in all three zone categories, your reward is: Green Ghost Box x3.”
Old Hei finished speaking, then set off four simple fireworks on the screen by way of celebration before sliding right back into his usual insults.
“The rest of you rookies—have you even hit your mileage quota today?”
“Is your name anywhere on this board? If not, why aren’t you running faster?”
“Oh, right, I almost forgot to mention: the population of this zone has dropped below 5,000. It will soon merge into a town. Every surviving player will be forced to gather at the town ten kilometers ahead. Life and death are up to fate; wealth and honor belong to heaven!”
She had won first place!
Number one across the entire server!
Before Lin Huai could recover from the shock, Old Hei’s electronic voice buzzed directly in her ear. This time, it seemed meant for her ears alone.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not bad at all. Keep up the good work and hold onto that spot. Now, it’s time for your special reward. Three zone first-place finishes earn three special prizes, and one server-wide championship earns another. That makes four rewards in total. Do you want four separate boxes, or should I combine them into a single prize for you?”
Lin Huai raised an eyebrow, amused. “Is this the kind of VIP treatment the number-one player gets? I even get to choose my rewards?”
Old Hei let out a lazy chuckle. “That’s because the special reward for first place is a personal gift from your system assistant, paid for out of my own pocket. This isn’t an official game reward; this is a gift from me, your system.”
So that’s how it works, she thought. The system assistants actually have that kind of freedom?
“Then thank you so much, Old Hei! I really adore you. You’re the best system anyone could ask for!”
Lin Huai clasped her hands together, her eyes shining with anticipation as she smiled. “I choose to combine them into one! Can you get me a top-tier weapon?”
Old Hei scoffed. “I told you to choose the quantity, not the category. What a greedy human!”
Even while calling her greedy, Old Hei still delivered: a small, exquisite sword, no larger than her palm, dropped into her hands looking almost like a child’s toy.
[Giant Greatsword: Advanced magical artifact. Activated by Yang energy crystals. Size can be freely altered.]
Lin Huai marvelled inwardly once again. Old Hei truly gave out the best treasures!
Meanwhile, the Zone 444 chat lobby had already erupted into wild celebration.
[Cute and Sparkling]: Holy cow! Boss Bone Ash is insane—number one on the entire server!
[Milk Tea Seven Parts Sugar]: The server-wide champion is from our very own zone! What an honor!
[Dragon Emerging from the Sea]: Indeed, it truly is an honor!
[Old Wang from Building Materials]: Daily question: Boss Bone Ash, are you taking followers yet? You’re literally number one across the server now; it makes no sense not to take underlings!
[Jiangzhehu Inheritor]: @Old Wang from Building Materials, don’t be dense. Boss Bone Ash is the server champion, which makes Zone 444 her home base. It goes without saying—we’re all her subordinates now.
[Fastest Hand at SF Express]: Ahhh! First, huge congratulations to Boss Bone Ash! Second, congratulations to me! I made the board—eighth place!
[Hungry Spirit Blue Knight]: What?! As a fellow delivery knight, how did you make eighth place?!
[Flash Delivery Yellow Knight]: Wait, how are both of you on the leaderboard? Are we not the Three Knight Brothers who swore to stick together? As my brothers, aren’t you going to help me out?
[Fastest Hand at SF Express]: I drive a delivery van, so giving you a lift isn’t impossible, but how would I even pick you up? I can’t even see you on this road…
[Snowy Mochi]: …I took third place, yay!
[Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere]: Second place… not bad, I suppose. If it weren’t for a certain cold-blooded killer running around, first place would have been mine, wouldn’t it?
Lin Huai raised an eyebrow. Was this guy still trying to act tough?
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: @Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere, see you in town shortly for an in-person meetup. Just so you know, that anti-tracking talisman won’t protect you there~
[Jiangzhehu Inheritor]: Wait, an in-person meetup?! Ahhh, will I finally get to see Boss Bone Ash in real life?
[Cute and Sparkling]: Ah, I want to meet her too!
[Little Grass Don’t Float]: Boss Bone Ash!!! Could you please give us a chance to meet you?
Lin Huai had only spoken up because Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere was being bitter, but now the chat was completely flooded with requests to meet her.
Her hands tightened around the steering wheel, a faint frown touching her brow. Although these survivors seemed to admire her and were eager to see her in person, she wondered if they would still look so happy once they saw her hearse and coffin up close.
She had witnessed that reaction countless times in her past life.
Back then, even after joining a survival squad, her teammates would refuse to eat at the same table once they found out she worked with the dead. They had been terrified of even touching her.
Ever since childhood, Lin Huai had understood that people in her line of work—those who walked between the worlds of the living and the dead and handled corpses—were expected to keep their distance from ordinary people.
Out in the world, she never shook hands with the living, never shared a cup or personal belongings, and never shared a meal.
She had long grown used to being treated like an outsider.
Yet in a brutal game crawling with ghosts and monsters, Lin Huai had once assumed that people might be a little more open-minded.
Especially after fighting side by side, she had believed her old teammates wouldn’t mind those taboos—only to be proven wrong.
