Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Oxford, United Kingdom
The University of Oxford. Training Grounds.
Matthew woke up on the sofa and found himself still holding Natalie's small hand.
But now she looked even more beautiful before she had entered the fourth layer.
If Matthew wanted to describe her current appearance, the words he would use would be "more perfect."
Even though this change in her appearance was only minor and not drastically significant.
This was most likely the effect of the Ageless Trait they had obtained, and Matthew suspected that the effects would only increase over time.
The other students also woke up one after another.
This trip to the supernatural realm felt like a dream to everyone.
"All students who are awake, please stand up and come over here."
Someone from the teaching staff shouted loudly.
Upon hearing this, the students all headed towards the location designated by the teaching staff.
However, some students remained asleep, still leaning against the sofa in their previous positions.
The return of supernatural individuals from the supernatural realm was always at the same time, without any delay.
If they didn't return immediately, it meant they had already perished in the supernatural realm.
Therefore, these students who hadn't woken up would probably never wake up again.
Fortunately, there weren't many people. It was just a few scattered individuals.
Matthew glanced around and roughly estimated that about a dozen people hadn't returned.
Greed truly costs people their lives.
If these students had chosen to stand by and just watch the events after their Extra Life Coins ran out, they would be alive now. Alas...
But the freshmen were gradually adapting to the rhythm of the supernatural realm, and the casualty rate will decrease from now on.
The high casualty rate in the first two layers of the supernatural realm was primarily due to the freshmen's lack of experience fighting enemies.
Soon, a group of university workers came over and moved the sofas away.
The unawakened students' bodies were also moved along with them.
The other students just watched quietly, and no one said a word.
Having already experienced the four layers of the supernatural realm, everyone had become accustomed to the deaths of their classmates.
"Students who have received the mission results, please report them to your professor immediately."
Someone from university management shouted.
Upon hearing this, many students immediately raised their hands.
Back when workers were moving the sofa, people had already begun to receive mission results from the Supernatural realm.
The professors in each class immediately began to tally their students' grades and data.
"Filip Walker, Denis Read, Charles Francis, Bobby Burns."
"MVP Kill Count: 3782"
"MVP Currency Coin: 12,102,407"
"Comprehensive Grade: A-Grade (Based on Kill Count)."
"Overall Ranking: 47th."
"Obtained Basic Reward: 152 Attribute Points"
The first one to read it out was Ms. Professor Grant from Class A.
And it was an excellent start for the university.
An A-grade mission rating was already an outstanding result.
Matthew thought the Supernatural Realm added the "MVP" label before the Kill Count and Currency Coin results because it was based on the individual with the highest score and coins on the team.
Next, everyone's results were pretty good, with most missions rated B, very few rated C, and none rated D.
Even one team from Class B achieved an A-grade mission evaluation.
In the fourth layer of the supernatural realm, as long as someone's luck wasn't too bad, it was not difficult to get a B-grade mission rating. After all, killing 500 avatars within 12 and a half hours was enough to obtain a B-grade result.
In the fourth layer, 250 kills were the thresholds for C-grade, 500 kills for B-grade, 1000 kills for A-grade, and 5000 kills for S-grade.
The thresholds for SS and SSS grades were not yet known because no one had yet achieved them. Therefore, Supernatural Reality had not yet revealed this information.
The university managers and teaching staff were all smiling when they saw the students' outstanding performance.
Soon, most of the students had finished their reports, leaving only Matthew and Natalie.
The professors naturally weren't worried about the two students' poor grades, and the students stopped making sarcastic remarks.
Matthew and Natalie had achieved SSS-grade results in the first three supernatural realm tiers, so they had an excellent foundation. And their attribute points were quite high.
This meant they had a considerable amount of Attribute Coins when they entered the fourth tier.
Far surpassing other students.
With such a foundation, it would be utterly illogical for them to be still struggling at the fourth level of the supernatural realm.
At that moment, all the students suddenly became attentive.
"Professor, a super announcement has appeared," a student reported.
Upon hearing this, the teaching and university staff all smiled.
Professor Grant and Professor Holland also breathed a sigh of relief.
They believed, as they had on the previous three occasions, that the two people who would appear on the super announcement would be Natalie and Matthew.
But the next moment, the students' expressions all turned strange.
Many students even showed expressions of surprise.
The reason for this was that they clearly saw the content of the super announcement.
[Announcement. The "Victor" team, comprised of four supernatural individuals, has achieved an outstanding performance in the fourth layer of the Supernatural Realm, surpassing 25,000 Kill Counts and earning an excellent mission rating: SS-grade.]
This was the super announcement that just appeared.
It wasn't about Natalie Russell at all.
The students all knew the name "Victor" because he was a genius freshman from Russia, a user of the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
It was said that Victor achieved S-grade ratings in all three previous supernatural realm layers, and his ranks were very high. He was always in second place.
Only below Natalie Russell's team.
Unexpectedly, this time, he was able to go even further and get an SS-grade mission rating.
And in this way, humanity also learned the 25,000 Kill Count threshold required for SS-grade.
...
"What's wrong with you?"
Professor Grant noticed the students' unusual behavior and quickly asked, "What's wrong with the Super Announcement?"
"Professor, you should see it yourself." It was said by a student standing next to Professor Grant.
Without hesitation, Professor Grant approached the student and read the contents of the super announcement.
Then, a look of surprise appeared on her face.
Professor Grant was now worried, so she went to Natalie's side and asked, "Natalie, what was your situation at this layer? Do you think you can get a perfect SSS-grade result again?"
Although Natalie had a fairly strong foundation, there were bounties on her head, and if the other supernatural freshmen were after her, it could lead to dire consequences.
And although Professor Grant wanted Natalie not to push herself too hard for a perfect score at the fourth layer and to be a spectator if she died, deep down, she still hoped Natalie would achieve a new SSS-grade result.
Fortunately, Natalie's answer did not disappoint her.
Natalie glanced at Matthew first, then said, "Don't worry, Professor. Our results are sufficient for an SSS-grade result."
Upon hearing this, many students around were taken aback.
The minimum score required for the SSS-grade was still unknown to anyone. How could Natalie Russell speak with such certainty despite this?
Professor Grant was overjoyed and immediately felt relieved.
She wasn't interested in the scores, only in whether they would get the SSS-grade.
And she knew Natalie well. Natalie wasn't the type to speak so definitively without being sure.
As expected, all the students saw the super announcement appear again.
[Announcement. The team of supernatural individuals, "Matthew Atkinson" and "Natalie Russell," has achieved a remarkable feat in the fourth layer of the Supernatural Realm, surpassing 100,000 Kill Count and 2 Billion Currency Coins. Earning a perfect mission rating: SSS-grade]
Another perfect mission rating. This was Natalie and Matthew's fourth SSS-grade mission evaluation.
Despite being prepared, everyone was still amazed when the moment arrived.
Moreover, it seemed the threshold for the SSS-grade was 100,000 Kill Count and 2 billion coins. And one of them, Natalie or Matthew, had managed to surpass both.
While they were struggling to reach 1,000 Kill Counts, Natalie Russell was achieving over 100,000.
Was the difference between them really that big?
And wasn't 2 billion coins a bit of an exaggeration? 100,000 Kill Counts should have earned them 100 million coins. Even if NPCs provided some coins, where did the rest come from?
Upon seeing this, Professor Grant immediately asked, "Is it Natalie's super announcement?"
The students around them nodded in agreement.
Professor Grant then looked at Natalie and said. "Natalie, although it has been confirmed that you have once again received an SSS-grade mission evaluation, the university still needs to record your result data. Are you okay with it?"
Professor Grant spoke these words entirely in a tone of request.
Natalie nodded and said. "Of course."
Professor Grant then smiled and approached Natalie.
She would check other people's results by pointing at their foreheads with her finger.
But instead of pointing her finger at Natalie's forehead, she took Natalie's hand.
Pointing at Natalie's forehead seemed a bit disrespectful to her.
Soon, Natalie's mission result panel appeared in Professor Grant's left eye.
She immediately read it aloud.
"Natalie Russell, Matthew Atkinson".
"MVP Kill Cou…"
But Professor Grant suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened in astonishment.
After a while, when Professor Grant remained silent, one of the university managers intervened and said, "Professor Grant, what happened? Why aren't you continuing to read the results?"
Upon hearing this, Professor Grant regained her composure and said, "Oh... I'm sorry, I was just surprised."
Thereupon, the Professor began rereading Natalie and Matthew's results, but her voice was trembling slightly.
"Natalie Russell, Matthew Atkinson".
"MVP Kill Count: 2,061,763"
"MVP Currency Coin: 594,742,387,126"
"Team Artifact Hunt Recorder Time: 12:00:00"
"Comprehensive Grade: SSS-Grade (Based on Kill Count and Currency Coin)."
"Overall Ranking: 1st."
"Historical Ranking: 1st."
"Obtained Basic Reward: 350 Attribute Points (Capped)."
"Obtained Additional Reward: 200 Attribute Points (Capped and Divided Equally Among Team Members)."
"Achievement Reward for a Perfect Mission Evaluation: Two Extraordinary Treasure Chests (Reward belongs to the main contributor and will be distributed upon entering the next layer of the Supernatural Realm)."
"Achievement Reward for the Artifact Hunt Event: Seven Supernatural Items. (They were distributed within the fourth layer and already used by the winners."
Compared to the rewards from the previous three layers of the Supernatural Realm, the rewards from the fourth layer of the Supernatural Realm have increased significantly, both in terms of basic and additional rewards.
The base reward was previously capped at 300, but now it has been increased to 350.
The extra reward has been increased even more, from 100 points to 200 points.
But what Matthew didn't expect was that the Supernatural Realm would mention the seven supernatural items they'd obtained after winning the Artifact Hunt event in the results.
Luckily, both of them had used all the supernatural items within the layers, and the Supernatural Realm had shared this information.
Otherwise, they would most likely have faced many questions.
And Matthew couldn't have imagined the consequences of bringing the Ageless Trait Potion Special Supernatural Item here.
Upon hearing Professor Grant's report, the students all showed expressions of surprise, then envy.
2 million Kill Count, 594 billion coins, 450 attribute points, 2 extraordinary treasure chests, 7 supernatural items...
They envied Natalie's achievements.
The teaching staff thought even more deeply, knowing that Natalie's current achievements were unstoppable and that she was destined to become a top expert.
Realizing this, all the teaching staff looked at Natalie with smiles, even with a hint of flattery.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.128: A Strengthened Extraordinary Treasure Chest
Ch.129: Bizarre Fifth Layer
Ch.130: Representatives of Oxford University