Apocalypse Descends: I Win Effortlessly by Turning Trash into Treasure

The other players heard the familiar sound of game completion, but what Perry Yates heard seemed a little different.

[Congratulations, Player Perry Yates, on successfully completing the "Xenomorph World" game. Due to your superior performance over several consecutive rounds, you have become the first Croupier on Cerulea #68656.]

[Number 001]

[Friendly Reminder: The game favors Croupiers, but the Executor detests anyone who presumes to challenge his authority.]

After returning to her residence, Perry Yates was still replaying the message in her mind.

First, she’d received a number, 68656, which appeared to be the designation for her planet, Cerulea.

’So, there really are other civilizations in the universe.’

’Or maybe parallel universes.’

Second was the matter of her new title, Croupier, and the designation Number 001.

’If there’s a 001, there must be a 002. I just wonder if the Croupier numbers are fixed.’

Finally, there was the friendly reminder. The game favoring Croupiers seemed like good news for Perry Yates, Croupier #001, but the mention of the Executor sounded ominous.

Beyond these three clues, the most critical detail was the complete lack of a timer for the next game.

After every previous game, there had always been a notification: "The next game will begin in thirty days."

Perry Yates rubbed her temples, a sudden sense of foreboding washing over her.

After wrestling with her thoughts for a moment, she let out a long sigh. ’Forget it. I’ll just have to take it one step at a time.’

’That Executor... they don’t sound easy to deal with. If that’s the case, then...’

A glint flashed in Perry Yates’s eyes, her resolve solidifying.

’...the only thing to do is to perform Ascension on more four-star and five-star cards.’

With this in mind, Perry Yates called for her butler.

"Master, what are your instructions?" the butler asked respectfully.

"Suspend all high-level card customization orders. Also, have all the high-grade ingredients in the warehouse brought to the fifth floor."

After giving her orders, Perry Yates headed straight for the fifth floor.

A short while later, the items she had requested were delivered to the fifth floor.

By then, Perry Yates was already sorting through her cards.

This time, instead of Skill Cards, Perry Yates focused her attention on item cards.

She decided against trying her luck with White Cards, instead searching directly for what she needed among her one-star, two-star, and three-star item cards.

Before doing so, Perry Yates first took stock of the items she currently possessed.

After removing all the cards she’d brought back from games, along with some useless ones, from her Card Storage Device and sorting them, Perry Yates looked at what was left.

These cards were: Space Backpack, Safe House, Spider Armor, Magic Water Pot, Undying Fire, Cat Face Mask, Card Storage Device, Tent Shelter, Candy Box, Identification Beauty Lenses, Protection Suit, Spiritual Ability Gun, poker cards, Claudia Vance, Sleeping Cloud Mist, Noah’s Ark, Golden Spirit Illusion Feather, and the recently acquired Healing Wand.

’I never realized I had so many until I laid them all out.’

And truth be told, Perry Yates rarely used most of these cards. Aside from the Space Backpack and Card Storage Device, which she used frequently, the only others she used with any regularity were the Magic Water Pot, Identification Beauty Lenses, and Claudia Vance.

Perry Yates studied the cards, weighing which ones to keep and which to get rid of.

As she pondered, Perry Yates suddenly thought of the Knowledge Crystal.

She hurried to the second floor and entered the private room at the very end of the hall.

This was a private room Perry Yates had reserved for her own use, where the Knowledge Crystal itself was kept.

The Knowledge Crystal itself resembled a huge, irregularly shaped crystal. When not in use, its surface was like that of an ordinary mirror.

"Knowledge Crystal, Knowledge Crystal, answer my question."

As Perry Yates spoke, ripples suddenly spread across the surface of the Knowledge Crystal.

Soon, her reflection vanished from the crystal’s surface, replaced by a pair of eyes and a mouth.

This was the first time Perry Yates had used the Knowledge Crystal. For some reason, seeing this, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was Snow White’s evil stepmother and the crystal was her Magic Mirror.

"Please, ask your question, my dear master."

’The Magic Mirror,’ she thought, correcting herself, ’no, the Knowledge Crystal,’ spoke slowly, its voice gentle and pleasant.

"I want to know the theme of the next game," Perry Yates asked.

The eyes and mouth on the Knowledge Crystal vanished, and its surface rippled once more.

Before long, two words slowly materialized on the crystal’s surface.

[Battle Royale]

Seeing those words, Perry Yates’s pupils dilated slightly.

"Location," she pressed on.

[An isolated island]

"Can I leave the island?"

’Even though it’s a battle royale, I have Noah’s Ark. Leaving shouldn’t be too difficult.’

To her disappointment, however, the Knowledge Crystal’s surface rippled again, and a single word appeared: [Cannot].

’Great. Looks like Noah’s Ark will be useless.’

"When does the game start?" Perry Yates asked.

[Any moment.]

Those two words shocked Perry Yates far more than the "Battle Royale" reveal.

"Last question. What is an Executor?"

This time, Perry Yates waited a full two minutes before the Knowledge Crystal gave an answer.

[Executors. They were once the establishers and enforcers of order.]

’They *were* once... Does that mean they aren’t anymore?’

After asking her questions, Perry Yates left the private room. The matter of the Executor wasn’t important for now. She would cross that bridge when she came to it.

Since the game could start at any moment, she had to be ready to jump in at a moment’s notice.

First, her cards. She decided not to bring Noah’s Ark or the Healing Wand.

Noah’s Ark was useless and too large. The Healing Wand was clearly meant for team support, and she didn’t have any teammates. Besides, she already had her own healing ability.

Because Perry Yates, the owner of The Card Tavern, had suspended customization services, many players grumbled in protest. After all, they had gone to great trouble to collect the cards required for their custom orders.

However, The Card Tavern soon launched another service: [Card Rental]. This service was specifically for renting item cards.

Four-star and five-star cards were too expensive for the average person to afford, so the considerate owner of The Card Tavern introduced the rental service. Just like renting a car, players could pay a "fee" to rent a four-star or even a five-star item card. Once the rental period expired, the card would be automatically reclaimed.

There was no risk of players failing to return them. After all, Perry Yates was the true owner of the cards; she could reclaim them with a single thought.

Three five-star cards were made available for rent: Noah’s Ark, the Healing Wand, and the Any Door. There were also over a dozen four-star cards, most of which had been acquired from the Frostfell game.

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