Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging

"By the way, what kind of blessings did your Blessing Badges give you?" Moira Lynch asked curiously.

Kai York took out his own badge. It depicted a pair of emerald green wings with a tornado sealed by chains in the center. "Mine is a speed boost," he said. "It increases my speed by three hundred percent."

A boost like that was nearly on par with someone who had just awakened a speed-type talent.

Shane Rhodes took out his badge as well. His was purple, with a lightning bolt sealed by chains in the center.

"The blessing I received is an energy boost. My energy reserves are five times what they normally are."

Just then, Kai York slung an arm around Shane Rhodes’s shoulder, a lecherous grin on his face. "Boss, we can’t let a blessing this awesome go to waste. Come on, let’s go... entertain some guests."

Moira and Hugh Finch both thought that sounded incredibly strange.

Just then, Hugh Finch suddenly glanced at his phone. His expression immediately turned strange. He looked up at Moira and said, "Someone online just exposed what the badges do. The internet’s going crazy over it. A lot of people are regretting their decision now."

Hearing this, Moira opened her phone. Sure enough, the trending topic about talent awakening that had been number one just yesterday was no longer in the top spot. It had fallen out of the top ten.

#WorstDecisionEverNoContest#

#TheBadgesDoWHAT#

#[flrst]ShopHighPriceBadgeBuyback#

...

Moira closed her phone and opened the game’s forums.

As she expected, the forums were as bustling as New Year’s Day.

The only difference was that on New Year’s, everyone was full of festive cheer. Right now, the forums were filled with nothing but regret and complaints.

[ThunderCat]: If I had known the badges could grant blessings, I wouldn’t have handed mine over, not even if they’d beaten me to death for it.

[IAmAMale]: Hindsight is 20/20. You already handed it in, so what’s the point of regretting it now?

[Nanster]: The game developers just preyed on our desire to clear the game quickly. That’s why they tempted us with the offer to leave early.

[ThunderCat]: You guys don’t know jack squat! My family’s poor. I can’t afford an Elf Tree House. I would’ve given anything to stay in the game longer.

A young man was huddled in his bed, shivering uncontrollably despite being buried under five or six blankets.

He sniffled, his nose running, as regret threatened to overwhelm him.

When the game first contacted him with the offer to leave in exchange for his badge, he had refused without a second thought.

Because returning just meant being cold, he figured he was better off staying in the game a while longer. There was no way he’d get such comfortable treatment back home.

When the game finally ended, he thought he would be teleported straight home. Instead, he opened his eyes to find himself in a "game space" with a large prize wheel in front of him.

He was all too familiar with this kind of setup.

Walking up to the wheel, he saw that all the prize slots were just question marks. The corresponding rewards would only be revealed after placing an item from the game onto the central tray.

Furthermore, the more valuable the item placed on the tray, the more valuable the potential prizes on the wheel.

At the time, the only thing he had was his badge, so he placed it on the tray without a second thought.

The question marks on the wheel quickly vanished, replaced by images of one item after another.

The young man was thrilled. If he could just walk away with any one of these items, he would have made out like a bandit.

That’s what he thought at the time.

And so, he won a high-tier item: the Ice Gloves. When worn, they could summon a powerful blizzard from the user’s palms. The only drawback was that the blizzard could also affect the wearer.

Basically, to use the Ice Gloves, the wearer had better not be afraid of the cold.

The side effect was significant, but it was still a high-tier item.

Even if he couldn’t use it himself, he could always sell it when he got back. The young man remained optimistic, still feeling like he’d hit the jackpot.

That feeling lasted right up until the [flrst] shop suddenly began buying up badges from players.

The price they offered for the badges was even higher than that of a typical high-tier item.

By then, the young man was starting to feel a pang of regret.

Later, someone who couldn’t stomach the [flrst] shop’s deceptive practices decided to blow the whistle and expose the badges’ true purpose.

When the young man learned that the badges could actually grant various blessings, that’s when the real regret set in. He was absolutely kicking himself.

Meanwhile, Moira was also getting the full picture.

It turned out that [flrst], a shop that specialized in high-end goods, had suddenly started buying up Blessing Badges at a premium.

When players saw how much the badges were worth, they scrambled to be the first to sell.

One player, unable to stand by and watch [flrst]’s deceptive practices, exposed the badges’ true effects on the forums. That one post caused an uproar.

Overnight, the [flrst] shop went from being seen as a reputable establishment to a den of crooked merchants.

Players who hadn’t sold their badges yet were counting their lucky stars. Meanwhile, those who had already completed the trade were kicking themselves, demanding that the [flrst] shop return their badges and pay them compensation for the deception.

Of course, their demands were met with silence.

After all, they had made the trades willingly. Even if they complained to the system, there was nothing they could do about the [flrst] shop.

Left with no other recourse, they could only raise a stink online and on the game forums, hoping this public pressure would force the [flrst] shop to concede.

As for how effective this was? Well, it was better than nothing.

Moira asked Patience curiously, "The ones trying to collect the badges probably aren’t part of the system, but The Crimson Alliance, right? But it’s not hard to awaken a Blessing Badge, so why don’t they just do it themselves instead of tricking other people out of theirs?"

[Each person can only awaken one Blessing Badge themselves, but they can wear an unlimited number of them. In order to gain more blessings, their only option is to trick others out of their Blessing Badges.]

[Furthermore, there’s a legend circulating within The Federation. It says that if someone can gather enough Blessing Badges, they might be able to earn the recognition of the legendary item—the Eternal Blessing.]

[Being blessed by the Eternal Blessing grants a single permanent blessing. But being *recognized* by it grants *all* of its blessings.]

After hearing Patience’s explanation, Moira finally understood.

’Never mind whether the legend is true or not. Even if it’s fake, countless people would still try their luck.’

’They’d all think the same thing: *Just because others failed doesn’t mean I will. What if I’m the chosen one?*’

[You could also collect Blessing Badges, Master. What if you’re the one who succeeds?]

For a moment, Moira’s heart stirred at Patience’s words, but she quickly composed herself.

’Setting aside whether the legend is real, even if it is, the people from The Crimson Alliance have been trying for so long without success. Gaining its recognition must be incredibly difficult.’

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