Apocalypse Descends: I Win Effortlessly by Turning Trash into Treasure

This was followed by all sorts of boasting.

Old Master Alden basked in the gazes of those around him, a smile never leaving his face.

Likewise, Xavier Alden, once a nobody, had become the second center of attention after Old Master Alden, drawing countless eyes.

Xavier Alden looked at the people flocking around him, smiling and acting familiar. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought they were all old friends.

This was a privilege that, in the past, had been reserved for his older male cousins.

After all, for certain reasons, he had always been subtly ostracized by this circle. Whenever an occasion like this came around, he could only pretend not to care and find a corner to kill time. But now...

’So this is what it feels like to be the center of attention. It’s not as great as I thought.’

Perhaps because he’d never experienced it growing up, Xavier Alden quickly found dealing with all these people draining.

Just then, Xavier’s gaze met a pair of teasing eyes.

It was Perry Yates, the daughter of his youngest paternal aunt, his cousin. She was someone whose situation in this family was both similar and dissimilar to his own.

He recalled his father mentioning on the way over that she was apparently a player, too.

At that thought, Xavier Alden pushed through the crowd and walked toward Perry Yates.

Seeing this, others tried to follow, but Xavier had lost his patience for dealing with them. He simply raised a hand, and an invisible, transparent wall materialized behind him, blocking those who tried to catch up.

A few people in the group were moving too quickly and, not paying attention, slammed right into the transparent wall with a loud THUD. Laughter immediately erupted from the surrounding crowd.

Meryl Shaw, who had just made a fool of herself, glared viciously in Xavier Alden and Perry Yates’s direction, thinking with disdain, ’So what if you’re a player? Everyone knows how high the death rate for players is. They might look impressive now, but who knows when they’ll end up dead in some game, their bodies torn to pieces.’

As Meryl Shaw stewed in her malicious thoughts, the jealousy in her eyes was impossible to conceal.

Meanwhile, Xavier found Perry, and the two just looked at each other. Neither spoke, and the scene quickly grew awkward.

They had barely spoken to each other before, so for a moment, they didn’t even know how to begin with small talk.

"Long time no see."

In the end, it was Xavier Alden who broke the silence.

"It has been a while," Perry Yates said.

The two hadn’t seen each other since she left the Alden Family’s home.

Although they had attended the same banquets during that time, attending didn’t mean they would run into each other. After all, they were both nobodies back then.

"By the way, when were you chosen to enter the game?" Xavier Alden asked.

"A little over two months ago. I just went through my third round not long ago. What about you?" Perry Yates asked.

Based on the information she had, Xavier Alden should have entered the game a bit earlier than her.

In fact, Perry Yates was quite shocked that Xavier Alden had managed to survive in the game.

After all, only those who had truly experienced the cruelty of the survival games knew just how dangerous they were.

The reason Perry Yates could appear so relaxed was that she had numerous items and Advanced Cards to back her up.

’As for Xavier... It’s not that I look down on him,’ Perry thought, ’but saying he was ostracized solely because of his parents isn’t entirely correct.’

’If Xavier had shown any promise, how could Old Master Alden have not noticed? The main issue was that Xavier himself was a hopeless case.’

’Xavier was the model of a spoiled heir: drinking, smoking, fighting, clubbing, street racing, womanizing... It’s safe to say he’d done everything he should and shouldn’t do, short of breaking the law.’

’The old Xavier had a pale face and a scrawny frame, looking completely drained of vitality. Though he was still thin and pale now, he looked worlds better than the haggard, dissipated man he used to be.’

’Of course, this transformation was most likely related to the game.’

"Me? I started a bit earlier than you. I’m a second-round player."

Hearing that Xavier Alden was a second-round player, Perry Yates’s eyes widened in shock.

She had figured Xavier entered the game before her, but she never imagined it was this much earlier.

Especially the second round. If she remembered correctly, the "theme" of that round had been nuclear radiation.

Seeing the shocked expression he was hoping for in Perry Yates’s eyes, Xavier Alden broke into a smug grin.

He mused on his own past. ’Thinking back to when I first entered the game... if it hadn’t been for good luck, I probably would have died in that round, unable to even last the first fifteen days.’ But in the end, he had held on. Not only did he make it past the fifteenth day, but he even survived until the very end of the game.

Adopting the air of a senior and an older cousin, Xavier Alden began to earnestly impart his in-game experience to Perry Yates.

Perry, for her part, listened with great interest.

Although the game content he was talking about was all available on the forums, hearing it from someone in person was a different experience.

"I remember there seems to be an item on the second floor of The Card Tavern that can predict the next game round. It’s called a Knowledge Crystal. You could go try it. I heard you can even get an Immersive Experience out of it.

But the item seems to be a bit inaccurate. All the players who’ve used it on the second floor came back saying the predictions were off."

The inaccuracy wasn’t a problem with the theme, but with the content.

For example, in the game Perry Yates just experienced, the Knowledge Crystal had indicated torrential rain and floods, and the Immersive Experience showed the same. However, the typhoon wasn’t reflected, nor were the Deep Sea Cannibals.

Of course, Perry Yates wouldn’t admit this was a problem with the Immersive Experience. She could only conclude that her own judgment had been flawed and that the Immersive Experience was not a good match for the Knowledge Crystal.

"But the tavern owner seems to have realized this, so they canceled the Immersive Experience feature. If you’re worried, you can still go test it out just to prepare in advance."

Hearing this, Perry Yates waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it. I can’t afford a price that high anyway. Besides, what good would knowing the content do? When the time comes, if I can’t beat it, I can’t beat it."

Hearing Perry Yates’s casual, life-and-death-be-damned tone, Xavier was at a loss for words. What she said... actually made a lot of sense.

After that day, Xavier Alden started contacting Perry Yates frequently.

It was as if he had suddenly awakened to the role of a doting older brother, and he began frantically trying to get on Perry’s good side.

In fact, it wasn’t just Xavier Alden. The rest of the Alden Family also did a complete one-eighty in their attitude toward the two of them, becoming incredibly warm.

"I’ve decided to live at The Card Tavern for a while," Xavier Alden said, sitting across from Perry Yates inside the establishment itself.

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