Chapter 58: Silver Treasure Chest, Skill Upgrade Card

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Silver Treasure Chest, Skill Upgrade Card

[Ding! Survival Game - The Insect Frenzy - Instance Ended!]

[Ding! Worker Talent - Stealing Master Agreement - Ability activated!]

[Please select one Ability from the Perfumer Profession: ’Sleeping Fragrance’ or ’Sweet Fragrance’.]

[Ding! Experience requirements met. Player Level successfully increased to Level 2.]

[Ding! Detected Player has reached Level 2. The Disaster System’s newbie mode has ended. Future instances will be more dangerous, and Players must explore on their own to make new discoveries!]

Seraphina Sullivan felt a wave of intense dizziness, as if the whole world was spinning madly.

Unlike her two previous, calm returns, this teleportation was agonizing. The system had forcibly terminated the instance, and the process made her stomach churn violently.

"BLEGH—" She collapsed to her knees, her vision going black.

The next moment, the familiar outlines of her furniture gradually came into focus.

She was back in her own apartment.

The clock showed that only a few minutes had passed since she entered the instance.

Before she could even recover, a series of system notifications exploded in her mind.

But Seraphina was too exhausted to deal with them right now. She dragged her weary body over to the sofa, collapsed onto it, and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

An hour later, Seraphina bolted awake, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

She’d had a short nightmare, dreaming that she was being torn apart by countless swarms of insects.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she began to review the perilous instance she had just experienced.

"This time really taught me a lesson..." she muttered to herself with a wry smile, pouring a glass of warm water.

The warm water sliding down her throat helped her wake up completely.

The thought of Tina Lewis, a High Rank player, still made Seraphina’s heart pound with fear. ’If it’s possible to encounter Advanced Players like her illegally entering instances, then there’s no way for regular Players to survive.’

She couldn’t help but feel relieved that the system had finally intervened and identified Tina Lewis’s non-Azure Star identity. Otherwise, the 24-hour pursuit by The Swarm would have been an absolute death sentence.

What left an even deeper impression on her was the system penalty triggered when Tina Lewis revealed her Player identity.

’This penalty mechanism is a bit strange...’ Seraphina frowned in thought. ’Caleb Chase had obviously guessed our "outsider" identity, but as long as we didn’t explicitly reveal it ourselves, it seemed the penalty wouldn’t trigger.’

She recalled the details of that moment.

When Justin Brooks claimed to be a "soldier," it aroused Caleb Chase’s suspicion, but the system didn’t issue a penalty.

But when Tina Lewis directly said keywords like "Player" and "instance," the penalty mechanism was triggered.

’It seems the system’s criteria for a violation is "explicitly revealing," not "being figured out by the Native People,"’ Seraphina concluded. ’That’s a loophole I can exploit.’

She called up her system panel to check the notifications she had ignored earlier.

Seraphina took a deep breath and turned her attention to the final tally for her most prized Worker Talent.

On the system panel.

The two skill options for the [Perfumer] Profession shimmered with a faint light:

[Sleeping Fragrance] - Hypnotizes a target, putting them into a state of Sleep.

[Sweet Fragrance] - Charms a target, briefly taking Control of its actions.

’Which one should I choose?’ she bit her lower lip, conflicted.

The hypnotic effect of Sleeping Fragrance had proven its worth multiple times in the instance, but the Control Ability of Sweet Fragrance was just as tempting.

Especially after witnessing a dangerous Player like Tina Lewis, a Skill that could briefly Control an enemy seemed particularly valuable.

After a fierce internal debate, Seraphina finally chose [Sweet Fragrance].

"A Control Skill is more important at this stage," she murmured to herself. "When facing a powerful enemy, even just a few seconds of Control is enough to turn the tide of battle."

As she made her choice, a warm current flowed into her throat, and she could feel that she had gained a more precise Ability to Control fragrances.

Next, Seraphina eagerly checked the reward for Mission Two of [The Insect Frenzy].

It was a shining Silver Treasure Chest.

’I wonder what rewards are inside the Treasure Chest! It seems the Disaster Game still has a lot for me to discover.’

’Since I got a Silver Treasure Chest, that means there must be gold ones, and maybe even higher tiers exist.’

As this was her first time getting a Treasure Chest, Seraphina’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster.

’I hope I get something good...’ She rubbed her hands together and chose to claim the reward.

An exquisite, silver-white Treasure Chest the size of a jewelry box appeared in her palm. Its surface was engraved with intricate patterns, and a faint light seemed to flow across it.

Seraphina took a deep breath and slowly opened the lid—

[Ding! Congratulations, Player, you have obtained Skill Upgrade Card x1.]

[Ding! Congratulations, Player, you have obtained Pet Contract Card x1.]

[Ding! Congratulations, Player, you have obtained Weapon Fusion Card x1.]

Three cards, each shimmering with a different luster, floated out of the Treasure Chest and hovered before her.

Seraphina carefully caught them, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

1. Skill Upgrade Card: Can raise any Skill by one Level.

2. Pet Contract Card: Can form a master-pet contract with a non-human creature (success rate depends on the target’s Willpower).

3. Weapon Fusion Card: Perfectly fuses the traits of two weapons.

"I hit the jackpot!" Seraphina’s eyes lit up. The value of these three cards was far beyond her expectations.

She immediately began to calculate the best way to use them:

’The Skill Upgrade Card can upgrade my existing Skills... I could probably use the Pet Contract Card on Flora. With a contract, I’d feel more secure. As for this Weapon Fusion Card... how should I use it...’

Seraphina began to ponder.

First, Seraphina took out the Skill Upgrade Card.

’Which of my Skills should I upgrade?’

Currently, Seraphina’s skill list only contained the three Skills she had permanently acquired through her Worker Talent, [Stealing Master Agreement].

[Scavenging Backpack], [Quick Sewing], and the newly obtained [Sweet Fragrance].

’Which one should I use it on?’

She wanted to upgrade every Skill. It was obvious that a Skill upgraded by the card would become much more powerful.

Seraphina bit her nails, her gaze shifting back and forth between the three Skills.

Every Skill was crucial, and upgrading any of them would bring a qualitative leap in power.

"Scavenging Backpack..." she murmured, the predicament of having insufficient Space in the instance flashing before her eyes.

The memory of having to abandon an entire Power Apple Tree in the last instance made Seraphina frown in distress. ’If I can expand my Space, I can hoard so many more survival supplies, weapons, and gear.’

Having a large Space was king, especially in apocalypse-type instances.

But [Quick Sewing] was equally tempting.

This Skill had not only given her a powerful weapon like the Silver Needle Strike, but it had also saved her from danger on multiple critical occasions.

It didn’t just have offensive Ability; its support functions were also excellent, allowing her to sew up enemies and even stitch up wounds as a form of healing.

Upgrading it might unlock the ability to craft higher-level weapons, or increase the lethality of her Silver Needles.

And Sweet Fragrance was a Control ability; upgrading it would surely extend the duration of Control over a person.

"Argh! This is so hard to choose!" She grabbed her hair, rolling around on the floor like someone with analysis paralysis.

In the end, however, Seraphina still chose to upgrade the Scavenging Backpack. After all, hoarding supplies was her main objective right now.