Sirin looked at the three girls, a faint smile appearing on her pretty little face. She then looked up at the sky and silently used a skill: Summon Mount.
The next moment, a massive dragon roar echoed out of nowhere. A giant red dragon abruptly appeared ten meters above her head, its wingspan making it look like a moving mountain.
This red dragon mount had been hatched from a dragon egg Sirin had obtained, and it had accompanied her step by step to where she was today.
As for how she got such a super-rare dragon egg, one that hadn't seen a second of its kind appear to this day?
Emmm...
Sirin jumped onto the red dragon's head, then looked down at Asuna and the other two girls, smiling and giving a gentle nod.
"Come on up, we can't let Eriri and Kaguya steal all the spotlight."
After she spoke and saw the three girls jump onto the dragon's back, she commanded the red dragon to dive toward the bosses in the sky.
...
Compared to Eriri and the other girls who had various anti-air methods, the rest of the players, aside from Rikka, could only chase after the bosses and wait for them to land.
This included Anshera and the demons.
But since it was an event, the bosses would eventually lower their flight altitude after scattering to various locations.
Therefore, it wasn't long before basically all the players who participated in the event started reaping rewards.
However, the players who had gained some loot suddenly realized that the number of bosses wasn't decreasing from their slaughter; instead, they were becoming more and more numerous.
Even when these bosses landed, they didn't attack the players. Instead, they silently marched in a specific direction. If a boss heading in a certain direction died, a new boss would appear to continue their path.
The players were thrilled about this. Aside from not feeling the massive amount of experience promised by the event and wondering if the boss drop rate was a bit too low, almost everyone obtained varying amounts of Christmas points.
Time flew by, and soon the event reached its end.
Players who had harvested a large number of Christmas points happily went home with their companions.
Some of them were still living in inns.
Some rented lower-floor rooms with their friends.
Others lived in grand mansions, enjoying a quality of life they could never experience in the real world.
On the fifty-fourth floor, Sirin and the other five girls, having finished the event, chatted and discussed with each other in extremely cheerful tones.
"Hey, hey, everyone, did any of you get any special reward drops?"
Chika Fujiwara looked at the group with a face full of anticipation, only to see them all shake their heads.
"Eh?! I thought I was the only one with bad luck. You mean none of you got any reward drops? Isn't the drop rate for this event way too terrible?"
Hearing this, Sirin nodded with an expression of utmost agreement.
"I told you guys a long time ago, the mastermind behind this game is a stingy, grudge-holding bad guy! You should believe me now, right?!"
"Yeah! This is way too stingy!"
"I wonder if anyone else in the guild got any high-tier rewards."
Eriri: "..."
Looking at Kaguya and the other three nodding in agreement, Eriri silently apologized to Chen Changsheng in her heart, though she also started to feel a bit of resentment herself.
Never mind the others, she had just killed thousands of bosses! Aside from a slight increase in experience, she hadn't received a single reward. Brother Changsheng really was being a bit stingy.
Despite their verbal complaints, the girls were actually quite satisfied in their hearts. After all, they had obtained a lot of points this time. The Christmas gift box redeemed with points surely wouldn't be empty, right?
Plus, with so many points, they might even open a grand prize.
"Everyone, I'm going back to rest first. You all should rest early too. Tomorrow we can go find the Christmas tree together and see who has the best luck, how about that?"
"Hehe, when it comes to drawing prizes, I, Chika Fujiwara, hold absolute authority!"
"..."
After the girls made their agreement, they used their teleport crystals to return to their respective homes.
Sirin watched the fading silhouettes of the girls before teleporting back to her own home as well.
Upon returning to her room, she casually operated the game interface. The equipment on her body transformed into ordinary, casual pajamas. They were very cute, black-and-white panda pajamas with fluffy ears on the hood.
These pajamas were actually hand-made for her by Ai Hayasaka. They were incredibly comfortable to wear, and lately, she had gotten used to falling asleep in them.
After casually washing up, Sirin went to her bedside. Her gaze then caught sight of the large, snow-white stocking that had appeared at the head of her bed when the Christmas event notification first started.
Compared to how it looked initially, the stocking was now bulging, as if something had been stuffed inside.
Seeing this, Sirin opened the stocking with some curiosity and found a Christmas gift box with a note attached.
She picked up the note and read it.
"Wishing the lovely Miss Sirin a Merry Christmas, make sure to be happy every day O(∩_∩)O — Miss Sirin's exclusive Santa Claus 297 (*^_^*)"
"A Christmas present? What is it?"
Sirin subconsciously opened the gift box. Immediately, the box transformed into three streaks of light: one white and two gold. The white light was the box automatically dissipating, while the two gold lights were two rare items that entered her inventory. All that was left in her hand was the blessing note with the two cute emoticons.
Looking at the sign-off and that strange numerical designation on the note, Sirin couldn't help but feel that something was a bit weird.
...
The next day, a giant, interactive Christmas tree appeared in the main towns of every floor, set to exist in reality for just one day.
By the time Sirin arrived in front of the Christmas tree, many guild players had already gathered there.
"Sachi, did you receive a gift from Santa Claus? He actually gave me a pink-grade weapon selection box! Too bad it's bound to me, so I can't trade it to anyone else."
"I received one too. My gift is a level-up ticket that can only be used today; it can raise my level by one. But it's so weird, why did the note on my gift say 'Miss Sachi's exclusive Santa Claus 471'? Isn't this number way too strange? Silica, did your Santa have a number?"
"Ah! Now that you mention it, I remember my note had a special number too. I think it was 621."
Sirin had heard quite a few conversations like this since leaving the guild.
And when she walked under the Christmas tree in the fifty-fourth floor's town, she noticed that the surrounding players were all looking at her with strange expressions.
Some of the players even looked like they were furious but dared not speak out upon seeing her.
What happened?
Sirin looked at everyone's strange expressions in confusion. After all, the fifty-fourth floor was their guild's headquarters. More than half of the players here belonged to their guild, and the other half were basically casual players who had no intention of fiercely competing, peacefully waiting for the game to be cleared.
These players had always gotten along so well with their Number One Guild in the World, so why did it feel like everyone suddenly had a huge problem with her?
It wasn't until she walked up to the Christmas tree and chose to interact with it that she finally understood why everyone was giving her such weird looks.
Floor 45 Santa Claus Kill Leaderboard.
NO.1: Sirin — Kills: 4396!
NO.2: Eriri — Kills: 1479!
NO.3: Kaguya Shinomiya — Kills: 1319!
...
NO.10: Kirito — Kills: 67!
Looking at her own name sitting in the first-place spot on the kill leaderboard, with a kill count higher than the next nine people combined, and then recalling the conversations she had overheard from other players earlier, Sirin suddenly had a very bad feeling.
And when she saw the Christmas tree's exchange list—where the only redeemable item, a Christmas gift box limited to one purchase per person, required zero Christmas points to exchange—that bad feeling in her heart grew even stronger.
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
