Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level Drop Rate with Abundant Resources

The evening sunset cast its glow on Xinghui Cultural Square.

Shen Xi walked through the frenzied crowd, with Ming Ying following behind, her steps faltering.

Before entering the job change dungeon, he was wearing brand-new silver equipment, but now it was tattered and broken. Several shocking cracks appeared on the skeletal breastplate on his chest, and the blades of his bone twin swords were chipped. He looked like he had just crawled out of a meat grinder.

But no one dared to approach.

The silver-gray figure walked ahead, its hood obscuring most of its face, yet the starlight swirling around it remained clearly visible in the sunlight. Behind it stood a two-meter-tall skeletal Asura, covered in blood, radiating a chilling aura that kept the living at bay.

The crowd automatically parted to form a passage.

As I walked out of the square and turned into a quiet alley, the frenzied shouts were finally left behind.

Shen Xi stopped and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath.

The period of weakness from his bloodlust and frenzy had passed, but the fatigue from the series of battles remained. He turned to look at Mingying, who, though silent, was clearly unsteady on his feet.

"Let's find a place to rest first."

Mingying nodded slightly.

Shen Xi did not move.

He raised his head and looked toward the faintly visible black giant gate in the direction of the square.

On the door, the two large golden characters "Taichu" (太初, meaning "the beginning") gleamed in the sunlight.

"Do you know why I insisted on clearing this dungeon first?"

This question, seemingly directed at Mingying, is actually a soliloquy.

"Getting through here is partly about showing off. But more importantly..."

"The first person to clear the job advancement dungeon will automatically receive 10% of the gold earned by all players in that dungeon afterwards."

Shen Xi continued, "This is a rule I overheard in my previous life. It's a hidden mechanism of the game system... the first person to clear it gets a share. As long as this dungeon still exists, as long as there are people fighting monsters here, I get one gold coin for every ten they earn."

He looked at the door, his smile widening.

"How many players are there in Starshine City? How many people will change jobs here in the future? If each person has one gold coin, that's thousands or tens of thousands. If each person has ten, that's hundreds of thousands."

"This is the real secret to wealth."

"The 30,000 gold coins for the Starshine World Badge are now secured, aren't they?"

Mingying remained silent.

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you!"

Shen Xi looked away and patted his shoulder.

"Let's go to the stadium first. Your clothes are all tattered and need fixing."

Xinghui Stadium.

A day had passed, and the dilapidated shed still stood there. There were many more players around than yesterday, and when they saw Shen Xi and Ming Ying enter, everyone lowered their heads and didn't dare to breathe.

The sight of countless shooting stars falling from the sky yesterday is deeply etched in everyone's mind.

Shen Xi ignored them and walked straight to the store.

The grotesque figure in the tattered robe at the doorway raised its head, its chaotic face beneath the hood facing him.

"Welcome back, our valued returning customer."

Shen Xi nodded and led Mingying into the store.

The light screen inside was still floating, its dense array of product icons dazzling the eye. Shen Xi first opened the repair interface and placed Mingying's tattered equipment piece by piece onto it.

Repaired 12 pieces of silver-grade equipment, totaling 2350 gold coins.

Shen Xi's cheeks trembled involuntarily; he was too expensive.

This set of equipment cost 23500 when I bought it, and each repair costs one-tenth of that.

But seeing Mingying's tattered and battered appearance, and considering his terrifying ability to withstand blows, he gritted his teeth and clicked "confirm."

Repair complete! Gold coins deducted: 2350

[Remaining Gold Coins: 8313]

A flash of golden light, and Mingying's tattered equipment was instantly restored to its original condition, its durability fully restored. He looked down at his restored equipment, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

Shen Xi ignored him and turned to look at the skill area.

He is still missing a defensive skill.

The current skill set provides sufficient damage output, but lacks survivability. While Bloodlust Berserk grants a massive boost to all attributes, the resulting weakness afterward is devastating. A skill that can absorb damage in crucial moments is essential.

His gaze swept quickly across the silver-level skill screens...

[Iron Barrier (Silver Tier) - Generates a shield that lasts for 5 seconds, absorbing 500 damage. 60-second cooldown. Price: 2800 Gold]

[Blood Armor (Silver Tier) - Consumes 10% of current health to generate a layer of blood armor that lasts for 10 seconds, increasing defense by 50%. Cooldown: 45 seconds. Price: 3000 Gold]

[Unyielding Will (Silver Tier) - After activation, reduces all damage taken by 50% for 3 seconds. 90-second cooldown. Price: 3200 Gold]

Shen Xi's gaze lingered on the third skill.

Unyielding will.

Reduces damage taken by 50% for 3 seconds.

In a critical moment, these 3 seconds can save a life.

"That's it."

Purchase successful! 3200 Gold Coins deducted.

[Remaining Gold Coins: 5113]

The skill card landed in his palm. With a slight thought, the card transformed into particles of light and entered his body. Another silver-level survival skill was added to his skill bar.

Thus, the skill set is: Whirlwind Triple Slash (Silver), Bloodlust Frenzy (Gold), Bloodlust Thrust (Silver), Death Whirlwind (Gold), and Unyielding Will (Silver). Five skills, offering a good balance of offense and defense.

perfect.

Shen Xi nodded in satisfaction, then took a deep breath.

Next, is the main event.

He looked up and gazed into the deepest part of the store.

There, golden light had begun to shimmer.

[The Domination System has intervened!]

[Host detected entering the game store...]

[The hidden shopping channel in the Star Shop will be forcibly activated!]

A black vortex appeared before my eyes, with golden runes swirling wildly around its edges.

Shen Xi stepped inside.

In the confined space, three orbs of light floated silently.

The other two have already been sold.

The third one is pale gold, with countless runes flowing inside... the Starlight World-Radiance Badge, priced at...

Shen Xi's gaze fell on that line of numbers, and her pupils suddenly contracted.

【Starry Sky Badge (Special Item)】

Price: 300000 Gold Coins

Three...three hundred thousand?!

He blinked hard and looked at it again.

That's right, 300,000.

Not 30,000, it's 300,000!

Shen Xi froze completely.

He remembered the first time he entered the hidden shop; he clearly saw the price was 30,000. At the time, he thought that although it was expensive, he could manage to get it if he tried hard enough.

I didn't look closely when I entered the hidden shop the second time.

This was his third time entering the hidden shop.

Looking at it now, that's clearly 300,000!

I was so excited at the time that I forgot to look at a zero!

"I……"

Shen Xi opened her mouth, wanting to curse, but found that she couldn't utter a word.

Three hundred thousand gold coins.

His current gold coin balance: 5113.

It's not even a fraction of what's needed.

He stared at the pale gold badge, at the countless runes flowing within it, at the glaring "300000", feeling as if a thousand rotting corpses had trampled over his heart.

"No wonder it's called 'Starry Night Shines Over the World'..."

"So it was Yaoshi, not that damn Yaowo..."

Shen Xi smiled bitterly and muttered to herself.

He recalled that he had just been dreaming about the future, calculating how to accumulate 30,000 gold coins from the rewards of the job change dungeon. Reality slapped him in the face; 300,000—a full ten times less.

How many players will have to wait to change classes?

How many players in Starshine City have reached level 10? Even if they level up by one, there still won't be that many!

Even if each person changes their job and contributes dozens or hundreds of gold coins, it would still take several thousand people to raise 300,000!

When will we finally get there?

He stared at the badge for ten minutes, without moving.

He only came to his senses when the black vortex began to dissipate, and reluctantly exited the hidden shop.

Outside, Mingying still stood silently at the door.

Shen Xi looked at him and suddenly felt exhausted.

"Do you know how much that thing costs?"

Mingying remained silent.

"Three hundred thousand."

Mingying remained silent.

Shen Xi took a deep breath and then began to spend money like crazy.

Damn it, since there's such a big difference, I'll just spend it all!

He rushed to the supplies area and swept all the healing medicines away...

[Intermediate Healing Potions x20 - 200 Gold Coins per bottle, Total 4000 Gold Coins]

【Advanced Hemostatic Bandage x30 - 100 Gold Coins Each, Total 3000 Gold Coins】

[Energy Restoration Potion x10 - 150 Gold Coins per bottle, Total 1500 Gold Coins]

Then rush to the item area—

[Molotov cocktails x10 - 80 gold coins each, total 800 gold coins]

【Eye of the Watchers x5 - 120 gold each, total 600 gold】

[10 Corpse-luring grenades - 150 gold coins each, total 1500 gold coins]

[Flashbang x5 - 100 gold coins each, total 500 gold coins]

[Signal Flares x10 - 50 Gold Coins Each, Total 500 Gold Coins]

After a frenzy of spending, my gold coin balance plummeted from 5113 to...

[Remaining Gold Coins: 713]

Looking at the three-digit balance and then at the storage space filled with medicines and props, Shen Xi suddenly felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

I've spent it all.

It's all gone.

Although he couldn't afford the 300,000 badges, at least these medicines and items would give him and Mingying more lives in the upcoming battles.

If other players heard his thoughts, they'd probably be furious.

More than 50,000 gold coins were spent, leaving only a few hundred within two days.

Of that, over 20,000 went to buying equipment for Mingying, over 3,000 to repair equipment, over 3,000 to buy skills, and over 10,000 to buy medicine and items...

This level of consumption is unique in the entire world.

But Shen Xi didn't care.

Money can be earned back, but once you lose your life, you lose everything.

He led Mingying out of Xinghui Stadium and found the abandoned residential building from before; the tents were still there.

"sit down."

Mingying obediently sat down.

Shen Xi took out the healing medicine she had just bought from her storage space and handed over a bottle of intermediate-level healing potion.

"I drank it."

Mingying took it and tilted her head back to drink it.

A pale blue light flowed around him, and the hidden wounds left from the previous battle healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Shen Xi also drank a bottle, then leaned against the wall and closed her eyes to rest.

Outside the window, the sky was gradually darkening.

Night fell again.

After Mingying finished drinking, she stood guard at the door, motionless.

Shen Xi lay there for a while, but couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

My mind was filled with the badge worth 300,000 gold coins.

He opened his eyes and looked at the night outside the window.

The moon was obscured by clouds, and only a few stars were twinkling.

"If you want to get coins quickly, you can only go to Starshine Subway Station..."

he murmured.

There, there is a level 20 silver-rank lord corpse.

In his previous life, that subway station was one of the most terrifying forbidden areas in Starshine City. Countless players went in, and countless players died inside. Until his rebirth, that lord still lingered deep within the subway, untouched by anyone.

but now……

Shen Xi recalled the information she had seen through her all-seeing eye.

A level 20 lord, with unknown attributes and skills, but it shouldn't be much stronger than the Desperate Reaper.

With my level 15 character and the bonuses from the Kaitian class, my actual combat power is comparable to that of a level 20 player.

Although Mingying hasn't changed classes, with her full set of silver equipment, along with her legendary talents and skills, she is also a powerful tank.

There's also the Ghost Child, who's now a level 15 boss and can save lives in crucial moments.

Plus the bunch of medicines and supplies I just bought...

"Perhaps...we could give it a try?"

Shen Xi sat up and walked to the window.

The night was deep, and the faint roars of rotting corpses could be heard from the distant ruins.

He was about to carefully consider the specific tactics...

Suddenly, Shen Xi's pupils contracted sharply.

Outside the window, countless dark shadows were hovering in the air.

crow.

A dense swarm of crows.

They swarmed in from all directions, obscuring half the sky. The crows were entirely black, but their eyes were an eerie scarlet, particularly striking in the night.

A rough estimate suggests there are at least tens of thousands.

They circled and cried out in the air, their piercing cries echoing above Starshine City.

Shen Xi stared at the crows, and a name suddenly flashed through her mind...

[Corpse & Raven]

[Type: Mutant Creature - Social]

[Level: 5-8]

[Note: Crows infected by carrion are gregarious creatures and extremely vengeful. Once they spot prey, they will hunt it down in packs, relentlessly pursuing it until death. Their eyes can detect the body temperature of living people.]

Shen Xi's face darkened.

These crows seem to be gathering in a certain direction.