Chapter 23 Ranch's Reward

Originally, Ranch, who was still in the corridor on the second floor preparing to return to the sanctuary to find Hyberion and Frey, stopped in his tracks as he watched the castle scene gradually dissolving.

"Well, looks like I don't have to walk."

As the castle walls gradually dissipated, the light of dawn, at its most intense moment, was suddenly replaced by a deep darkness.

In the blink of an eye, Ranch found himself in a transparent cabin seemingly surrounded by an eternal starry sky.

Only a few stars twinkled sparsely, as if telling stories of millennia, shining brightly, and Frey and Hyberion were also here, bringing enough light to their vision to see the scene before them clearly.

This was a wondrous space, where the real world and the Shadow World intertwined, forming a liminal edge.

Not far away, a spreading crack quietly appeared on the transparent barrier, and a few strands of tranquil purple light overflowed from the gap. Soon, they could return to the real world through this small void gate, back to their familiar Icrete campus life.

The Shadow World's settlement had not yet appeared.

Based on their previous experience, Ranch and Hyberion were certain that if there were too many instances of not following the mechanics during the real Shadow World challenge, the settlement process would be slightly longer.

They didn't know how much longer this would take.

Ranch smiled and looked at Hyberion and Frey, ready to chat with them.

"Our rewards shouldn't be bad this time either."

Ranch confidently assured them.

"After all, we sacrificed merit to boost the rating..."

Hyberion covered her cheeks. In order to make her reward better this time, Ranch had her personally activate the solar-powered merit-generating machine several times.

Although she was very grateful to Ranch, the longer she stayed with him, the less she felt like a normal person.

"I'm getting a little excited."

Frey's magic cards were all given to him by his teacher, Knight Commander Sfinthos, but so far, he had only given Frey cards with a maximum purple rarity grade.

At the thought of earning his first pink sacred or even orange epic magic card, Frey had a happy problem--

Should he use it himself, or sell it to gamble for more money?

"Frey, if you get a top-tier magic card that suits you and then sell it, I don't think Headmaster Sfinthos will let you off..."

Hyberion naturally knew the old man who was the Knight Commander.

He was also the teacher of Duke Micaiah Alanzar.

The fact that Frey was favored by the old man Sfinthos meant that Frey also possessed talents no less than Micaiah, who was known as an all-rounder.

Just as the three of them were chatting idly like usual in the student council, the information that suddenly appeared in this tranquil and strange space finally began to flicker, and pure white halos rolled line by line in the dark space.

[Shadow World Sanctuary Villain Banquet has been cleared.]

[Calculation complete, evaluation being generated.]

[Since challenger Ranch & Hyberion & Frey entered as a team, the team settlement method is adopted.]

[In this reasoning-type Shadow World, the challengers took a total of 120 hours, with the challenger side finding the traitor in 11 hours and 30 minutes, and completing the full information reveal in 17 hours and 58 minutes.]

[The team has achieved the following achievements.]

[Noble Instructor ss - Under your influence, most living beings will evolve in just one day, and for those who cannot evolve, you will help them evolve in another way]

[Villain Feast A - Successfully achieved the traitor's goal in this reasoning-type Shadow World, rescuing and controlling Viscount Augustine]

[Foreign War Expert s - The traitor fell into your trap and was tortured by you beyond recognition]

[Ritual Enlightenment e - At your request, the Great Love Poet earnestly played the organ, without choosing to transform it into an earth-shattering kitchen utensil according to her preferences]

[Vampire Release sss - You have released and sealed Viscount Augustine more than 10,000 times in total]

[Conscience d - You are a kind witch, you are the only one acting like a human]

"These should be for me and Hyberion."

Ranch looked at the refreshing light curtain and happily said to the other two.

"...What the hell is that Ritual Enlightenment?"

Despite having many things to complain about, Hyberion felt that the most incomprehensible thing was the achievement about the Great Love Poet.

"Could it be that the Great Love Poet has always been thinking about that organ?"

She asked doubtfully.

"I was wondering why she was always staring at that organ in the sanctuary, I thought she wanted to play it a little more."

Frey nodded, finally understanding the Great Love Poet's habits.

It turned out that what was burning in her eyes was not the soul of music, but the soul of a craftsman.

"I have to keep a closer eye on my summons in the future, she's too weird, I must never let her get close to precious musical instruments."

Ranch was a little scared.

The Great Love Poet had complete self-awareness, and even Ranch couldn't guess what she was thinking. He didn't expect her to really seem a little crazy.

If she accidentally damaged some priceless musical instrument from the kingdom's collection, the losses caused by the summons would be borne by the summoner, and Ranch might be bankrupted.

As they were talking, the Shadow World's evaluation continued to refresh.

[Great Detective ss - You are a detective who coexists with wisdom and force, so much so that the enemy can't tell whether you are solving the case with strength or intelligence]

[Castle Protector c - Because of efficient case solving, the bedroom door was not destroyed by the traitor on the first night, and you completely protected Lichtenst Castle]

[Gospel of the Vampire s - Thanks to your efforts, the vampire has obtained an unprecedented evolutionary direction, the mummy]

[Achievement sorting completed, evaluation generation completed.]

[A killing game has changed its nature because of your existence. The two traitors originally referred to by the Sanctuary Villains are like two people compared to you.]

[Comprehensive evaluation: sss]

[Rank increase: Ranch 3rd tier → 4th tier, Hyberion 4th tier → 5th tier, Frey 4th tier → 5th tier.]

At the moment when the rewards were settled, all three of them experienced a rank breakthrough.

Ranch even found that he had just reached the fourth tier and was not so far away from the fifth tier.

For a third-tier person like him to challenge a fifth-tier Shadow World was already an excessive reward, let alone achieving an sss rating.

Frey, who was experiencing this divine gift for the first time, clenched his fists in surprise.

"Frey, how do you feel?"

Ranch asked.

Compared to him and Hyberion, the changes brought about by Frey's rank increase should be the most obvious.

"...Is this the fifth tier? If I fought the Saintess of Destruction in the jungle terrain at night, I could also kill her."

Frey was sure that with the increase in rank, some of the werewolf characteristics on his body had awakened.

Ranch nodded.

When Frey was at the fourth tier, he already had strength comparable to the fifth tier.

Now that he had reached the fifth tier, although there was a watershed between the fifth and sixth tiers, Frey had a racial bonus at night, and even if he was placed in the sixth tier, he could not be underestimated.

It could be said that he was currently the strongest combat force in their team.

[Reward settlement: Tear of Imperishable Glass (4th Tier Epic Equipment Card), Pride of the Wolf King (Epic Material), Warm Companion of the Witch (5th Tier Sacred Equipment Card).]

Soon, along with the appearance of this information, three light clusters lingering with misty halos floated towards them.

(End of this chapter)