"The dust is so thick... cough..."
Amidst the dust caused by the collapsing high-rise, Alister, with his spiritual energy depleted, stepped out from a crevice in the ruins.
Alister's gaze turned towards the depths of the wreckage, where the slender ghostly figure was buried.
"...If you're not dead..." He gasped for breath, slowly making his way through the debris. "Then I'm out of options..."
Originally, he had planned to conserve his spiritual energy and continue the struggle, but the slender ghostly figure still had its trump card in the third stage. Alister had no choice but to bet everything on that one strike.
Several tens of seconds passed, but the buried slender ghostly figure showed no signs of movement. Instead, the night wind blew the dust higher, carrying it away.
Just as Alister thought that the slender ghostly figure hadn't been defeated...
A pale blue system interface abruptly appeared, accompanied by a clear and ethereal notification sound that echoed throughout the Linggu District, announcing the convergence of the rules.
"Containment Entity - Slender Ghostly Figure has been defeated by (Anonymous)!"
"This sequence game has ended."
"Player performance is being evaluated..."
"Countdown to return to reality: 59 seconds..."
"...It seems that I've won."
Alister stood still directly above the buried slender ghostly figure, adjusted his disheveled breathing, brushed off the dust from his clothes, and gradually regained his focus.
The evening breeze rustled his hood, causing his hair to sway slightly. The edges of his black long coat danced, resembling a traveler wandering in the night.
"The end." Alister declared in a calm tone.
"Detected A-Rank accommodable ability - Shadow Hunter."
However, at this moment, "Blank" suddenly activated, indicating that Alister could absorb the abilities of the slender ghostly figure.
"Hmm? How is this possible..."
Alister was somewhat surprised, amazed that he could assimilate the abilities of the slender ghostly figure.
Normally, obtaining a new ability would be a cause for joy, but Alister couldn't feel happy. Instead, he felt a sense of gravity, and his thoughts began to turn...
He opened his own ability interface and reexamined the description of "Blank's" ability.
"Within the limits allowed by the origin consciousness, the ability holder can accommodate any number, level, and type of abilities from other players."
The slender ghostly figure... was a player?
If "Blank" was activated, it meant the player had died, but in this game, players couldn't die... Alister reexamined the second rule of the game.
"Rule Two: Within the specified time, if a player is defeated by a containment entity or other players, they will return to the real world."
...The descriptions contradicted each other. What was the sequence game really hiding?
A series of questions flooded Alister's mind, but before he could ponder them further, "Blank" popped up with a new prompt.
"Detected same origin as Shadow Domination and Shadow Hunter abilities. Would you like to merge?"
Alister stared earnestly at the system interface. "Then let's merge."
"Merging in progress..."
As soon as he spoke, Alister felt the burden of the origin consciousness intensify, and his headache worsened.
"Merge completed."
With the ethereal sound of the system prompt, Alister's ability interface shrunk and disappeared into a pale blue data...
Then, a new ability interface suddenly unfolded before his eyes.
"Ability: Shadow Sovereign."
"Level: A"
Alister rested his chin on his hand, contemplating, before raising his hand and touching...
"Even with the fusion of two abilities, it still falls short of the S-level, huh..."
He was about to click on the detailed description of Shadow Sovereign when the system's notification sound echoed in his ears once again.
"Player performance evaluation complete."
"Player sequence ranking increased."
"Player's current rank: E-Rank, 5,326,932nd place."
Winning an E-Rank sequence game had boosted Alister's ranking by approximately five million places.
It was comparable to, no, even better than the effect of killing a foreign player last time, surprising Alister with the evaluation weight of the sequence game.
Generally, the higher the ranking, the more prestigious it was, and the more difficult it was to climb.
"Although there's still some distance to the top 100,000 of the three-person team..."
However, as the ultimate winner of this sequence game, the system's prompts to Alister were not yet finished. The data continued to generate.
"Rewards have been distributed."
"Item: Ability Enhancement · A"
"Can enhance player abilities to a certain extent, with a maximum applicable level of A."
"Very well, 'Blank,' super-evolution."
When Alister saw the detailed description of the item, he hesitated for no moment and chose to enhance "Blank." After all, it was his fundamental and most reliable trump card.
However, in the list of usable targets for the item, there was no option for "Blank." Only "Shadow Sovereign" stood alone.
Alister once again confirmed his suspicions and sighed.
"'? Rank' of 'Blank' is indeed higher than 'A Rank'..."
So there was no need to ponder the next options. The only ability that could be enhanced was the newly fused "Shadow Sovereign."
Without hesitation, Alister touched the option for "Shadow Sovereign," and the interface rippled with data.
"Prompt: The use of this item cannot be undone."
"Would you like to proceed?"
Alister looked earnestly at the system interface and said, "Yes."
"Player's will has been confirmed."
Once again, the familiar closing interface appeared, and after a few seconds, the pale blue data reassembled, revealing a brand-new ability interface.
"Ability: Shadow Sovereign"
"Level: S"
"With the limits allowed by the spiritual energy, the ability holder can dominate all shadows and their conceptual extensions, absolutely suppressing all lower-level shadow abilities."
Moreover, the S-Rank ability interface had additional remarks from the system.
"Shadow is your domain."
"System, let me ask..." Alister spoke to the empty void. "How many S-Rank ability holders are there?"
Setting aside the unknown "Blank," Alister had only been an A-Rank ability holder before. Now, he was a bona fide S-Rank ability holder. The system should give him some preferential treatment, right?
So, the system's answer to Alister was...
"Countdown to return to reality: 25 seconds..."
The system was really unapproachable...
Alister closed the ability interface, turned around, and surveyed the approaching players who were about to surround him. Then, he pulled down the shadow mask he used to conceal his identity.
"...So, what are you hiding?" Alister murmured to himself, and with a yawn, he was reminded of something. "I almost forgot, I haven't dealt with the leader of those guys..."
"Countdown to return to reality: 5 seconds..."
"Well... I guess it's time to get some rest after using up all my spiritual energy..."
"Countdown to return to reality: 3 seconds..."
"Hmm... but before I go, I should teach those guys a lesson..."
"Countdown to return to reality: 1 second..."
In the final moment, Alister stopped in the moonlit night, raised his hand, and removed the shadow mask used to conceal his identity.
The black-haired youth looked at the moon with pride, a smirk appearing on his lips, as his calm voice echoed in the empty alley.
"The price of plotting against 'Shadow'... Are you prepared to pay it?"
"Returning to reality in progress..."
A bright light enveloped their vision, and all the players returned to the real world.
...