Chapter 7: Resurrection and Reward
"It's not the familiar ceiling." Leon looked at the white ceiling, dazed after waking up again. He knew that he had been sent out of the game and returned to the real world.
At this moment, a gentle voice came to his ears: "You're awake. It seems your recovery is going well. However, you've died once in the game and are now in a period of mental recovery. Please do not enter any games during this time. This isn't a warning, but please be sure to take heed."
Then, a white light enveloped Leon, and a countdown appeared in his eyes, with the number '90 days' written in red letters.
Leon was already used to such situations. According to official sources, although the game world and the real world were closely integrated, they were still completely different worlds.
Players controlled their game characters through mental power. If they died in the game, their mental power would be damaged and had to recover before they could continue playing. Otherwise, the severe loss of mental power could lead to them becoming comatose.
Therefore, after dying in the game, every player was sent to a hospital with this mark. Under this mark, they could only move in the real world and couldn't enter the game until their mental power had fully recovered.
Leon had anticipated this when he took on the fatal mission, which is why he had made so many requests to the archer. It was all to ensure that during these three months when he couldn't enter the game, he wouldn't suffer too many losses.
Unlike others, when Leon confirmed his death in the game, the first thing he did was close his eyes and quickly fall asleep through meditation.
As soon as he fell asleep, Leon found himself in a purple void. The figure in the center of the void seemed much dimmer. After Leon entered, the figure began practicing punches on its own, performing the martial arts moves that Leon had been familiar with since childhood.
Unable to figure out what changes had occurred to the figure, Leon exited his meditation and sat up in bed.
After stretching and confirming that he was fine, Leon stood up and prepared to take a walk. He had been busy with his job for a while and hadn't returned home in a long time.
Just as he got up, Victor pushed the door open and walked in. Leon was surprised to see a red dot on Victor's forehead, a sign of recovering from death in the game.
Leon hurriedly asked, "Senior Victor, you too..."
"Normal, you'll get used to it," Victor said nonchalantly. "It's not just you and me; all the dual-trained magic and martial arts students involved in the mission are the same."
Leon was shocked and quickly said, "Forget it, don't say anymore. I don't want to know anything."
Victor smiled instead, "You're too cautious. Even if you don't ask, I was going to tell you. This is an unspoken rule. You'll get used to it."
"Another unspoken rule?" Leon said helplessly.
"Yes, to ensure everyone's interests. Think about it. What was the school's guarantee to all students? Each one could enter a five-man dungeon once, right?"
Although Leon didn't understand why Victor was saying this, he still nodded.
"But when to enter the five-man dungeon is arranged by the school. With so many people, waiting is inevitable. Those students won't complain; after all, getting one chance at a five-man dungeon is already a gain for them. But for us, it's different. We contributed significantly to this operation.
Although the rewards have been settled, it wouldn't make sense if they didn't arrange for us to enter a few batches of five-man dungeons ahead of time.
But what can we do if we go early? Go for the first kill? Do you think we have the strength? Or do we have the support of a big guild or mercenary group?
We have none of that, and the school isn't confident either. After all, first kills can be sold to big guilds for huge profits.
So, we can only die once. But killing us outright wouldn't make sense, so they let us complete a fatal mission and then compensate us according to the unspoken rules.
By the time we've recovered our mental power, three months will have passed. By then, not only the five-man dungeons but even the forty-man dungeon first kills may have already been taken. At that point, they won't care if we ask for more."
Victor explained, and Leon nodded along. Although he didn't know how much he understood, he realized what was going on.
After talking for a while, Victor suddenly asked, "How do you plan to spend these three months?"
"Me?" Leon raised his head and said, "I want to go home. Ever since I started school, I've rarely gone back. I don't know how things are at home. What about you, Senior?"
"I have nowhere to go either. I'll probably spend three months in the library. I want to take advantage of this rare rest period to rework my job ceremony. I feel like there's still potential to be tapped."
"Me too. After I get back from home, I'll visit the library as well. I've been moving too fast these past few years. I should calm down and think carefully about my future path," Leon responded.
At this moment, the door to the room suddenly opened, and a robot walked in with a box. After glancing at the two of them, the robot focused on Leon.
"Player DS-54370681-157, this is your mail. Please sign for it."
Leon gestured for the robot to bring the box over. After signing on the screen provided by the robot, he opened the box.
Inside were several cards, the top two entirely purple, with three stars engraved in silver on the front.
The first card had an image of a giant hippo-like skull, with information on the back.
[Corroded Skull of the Behemoth]
[Quality: Lv3 (Purple)]
[Uses: Alchemy, Forging, Architecture, Summoning Sacrifices]
[Description: A Behemoth that died on the way to the Behemoth graveyard. Its skull is still filled with resentment and unwillingness to return to the earth.]
The second card was a weapon, a dagger that looked like it was made from a claw.
[Behemoth Claw]
[Quality: Lv3 (Purple)]
[Attack: 20-25]
[Attributes: +5 Strength, +1 Agility, +3 Constitution]
[Equipment Feature: Downgrade (This equipment can be used one level lower)]
[Equipment Class: Rogue, Assassin, Warrior, Hunter...]
[Equipment Level: Lv2]
These two cards were clearly Leon's rewards for 'killing' the Behemoth. The skull was what the archer had promised to help Leon obtain, and the dagger was likely loot from the Behemoth that was also sent along.
In addition, there were other rewards from the mission. Apart from the standard ten units of green resources and a five-man dungeon pass that all students received, there were two items from the Double-Headed Vulture Cain: one was a task list called [Cain's Memory], and the other was a Lv2 (blue) magic material called [Feather of Cain].
Lastly, there was compensation from the Sunshine Squad for completing the fatal mission: 4000 units of currency and thirty units of green resources, the standard price for a student fatal mission. Additionally, there was a hiring slip stating that Leon could hire a mercenary team from the Sunshine Squad to protect him during one five-man dungeon run for free.