Fucking hell… Isaac groaned, blinking his bleary eyes open. Just what did they put in that beer?

  In his short life, he had only ever gotten drunk once—and he had sworn never to do it again the morning after. Yet, here he was, his head splitting open from a hangover that not even his regeneration could get rid of. The only mercy was that he could remember the last night pretty well.

  And what a night it was…

  Ignoring the small detail that the residents of Silent Oasis had somehow acquired alcohol strong enough to get him drunk after two beers, it had actually been a fun night.

  Sure, at first, he had been as awkward as someone who only interacted with people when absolutely necessary could be, but as the night progressed, he relaxed. Hell, at some point, he had even allowed Elaine to drag him out to dance.

  Isaac groaned again, slapping a hand over his eyes. That… wasn’t one of his finer moments. Worse, he remembered James being around at that time. The man would never let him live this down.

  Hopefully, he doesn’t remember.

  Wishful thinking aside, Isaac lowered his hand and took in his surroundings.

  He was inside the shared house, lying atop his bed. That much was obvious. It was still mostly dark. Only a few rays of morning sun slipped in beneath the front door. Good, at least he hadn’t slept for too long.

  After sitting up, his eyes moved to the other parts of the house. It didn’t take long to locate his missing friends.

  Elaine, much like him, was sprawled across one of the beds, soft snores escaping her slightly open mouth. Marie was in a similar position, though Isaac had to stifle a laugh when he noticed the large arm hugged to her chest.

  That can’t be comfortable, he thought, chuckling silently.

  James, who had obviously joined the party sometime during the night, was also here. Unfortunately for him, aside from the arm Marie had claimed, none of his body had made it onto the bed. Instead, he was knocked out on the floor beside it, face down.

  Thought they went to sleep together. Marie kicked his ass off, or what?

  Either way, it was impressive that the older man hadn’t woken up yet. With how twisted his arm was, there was no way he didn’t feel it. The alcohol must have hit him even harder than it had Isaac.

  I really need to ask them what they put in those things. And where the hell did they even get it?

  He sighed and lay back down. Now that he had returned to the land of the living, his regeneration finally decided to kick in and fight against the skull-splitting headache. Until it won, though, he preferred to stay right where he was. There was something else he could take care of in the meantime anyway.

  Come on, Interface. Show me what you got.

  To all winners of the first round of the Virus War. The Battleworlds have been terminated. Fusion War functions are now locked. Enjoy your break, Hosts.

  Pretty much what Isaac had expected to see first. No surprises there. He moved on to the next notification, his eyes growing a bit wider as he read.

  As the winners, Earth has received the following boons:

  -5 level-ups for all survivors

  -Bonus 100,000 points to be used in the reward shop for everyone

  -Fast-travel cooldown permanently reduced to 30 hours

  -Each Host may now connect to 5 Overseer-powered Safe Zones of their choosing.

  A grin tugged at Isaac’s lips. This… this wasn’t bad. Not at all. The first boon alone was massive. The last one, however? That was the real game-changer.

  Now he didn’t have to worry about reaching the friends he had made during the first round. A connection to London and Naples was all he needed. As for the remaining three? He would save those for later, though connecting to some city in Asia was the obvious choice.

  Perfect. Next.

  You have leveled up 5 times. You are now level 52. Distribution of Ascension Power has advanced the tier or grade of the following attributes: Power (Unbound V->Awakened I), Agility (III->IV), Regeneration (III->IV), Insight (I->II). No further changes detected.

  Five levels yet no Toughness advancement. As disappointing as it sounded, Isaac had long since given up on expecting much from his weakest attribute. He just had to continue working around it as he had been doing until now. Maybe one day he could find a way to fix this imbalance.

  Yeah, doubt that.

  He snorted and called forth the next notification.

  Isaac Walker, you have accumulated 1,416,422 Fusion Points (1st Contributor). You may now exchange them in the Reward Shop. You can do that until the beginning of the second round.

  Here it is.

  Level-ups, better fast travel, and the Safe Zone connections. All those were mighty useful, but not what Isaac had been waiting for. No, this reward shop was.

  He sat up on the bed and gave his next order.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Show me.

  At once, a large blue window appeared before him. In seconds, it filled to the brim, and Isaac had to blink a few times to make sure what he was seeing was real. Items, hundreds of them, small and large, rare and common. The shop had everything he could think of and then some.

  Thank god there are categories…

  Indeed, a list ran across the top of the window. Weapons. Armor. Tools. Ingredients. And much more. Right away, Isaac selected the first option and scanned the presented goods.

  Useless. He frowned. The Root is much better than any of this.

  A bit disappointed, he moved on to the next category. While he didn’t mind his current clothing, adding some more high-grade protection couldn’t hurt. The mask and Adventurer’s Boots alone weren’t cutting it anymore.

  For a while, he browsed through the massive selection. He was by no means picky, but now that he had a chance to get something that suited him, he wanted to take his time.

  In the end, he settled on just two pieces—one Mystic-grade, the other Arcane.

  The first was a pair of black pants that looked like ordinary joggers. Nothing flashy, but the self-repair and cleaning functions were exactly what Isaac wanted. The decent resistance against bladed weapons was a welcome bonus.

  The second piece was a jacket. Though calling it that didn’t really do it justice. To him, it looked more like a high-grade leather cuirass with sleeves. It shared the same functions as the pants, and thanks to the black-red hide of a beast called Nightstalker, the protection it offered was a bit stronger.

  Oh, and it affected his Legacy, which was a first.

  Arcane-grade indeed.

  All this for not even two hundred thousand points. Well spent money in Isaac’s opinion, and it was just the beginning, too.

  Afterwards, he opened the Tools category, not expecting much. After all, what could the Interface possibly offer him here that he needed?

  It didn’t take long for him to find the answer.

  [Portable Assistant | Grade: Eternal]

  A high-grade item that mimics and improves certain functions already available in the Interface. A must-have for any seasoned Host. Functions: Unlimited Communication, Enhanced Map, and Guides. Can be upgraded.

  Despite the steep price tag, Isaac didn’t hesitate when buying it. Unlimited communication alone made it worth the cost, and while he didn’t care much for the guides, the Enhanced Map could be useful as soon as he learned how it worked.

  Let’s see…

  Another window opened before him—the map. Unlike the one used for fast travel, this version was far more detailed. It displayed names and borders of territories he had already visited, as well as the locations of nests and Quarantines he and his team hadn’t destroyed on their way to LA.

  Nice.

  Dismissing the map, he returned his attention to the shop. Even with this purchase, the Portable Assistant still left him with plenty of points to use. Now he just had to check every single category and see what else could be useful.

  He sighed.

  This is gonna take a while.

  True to his predictions, it took Isaac almost two hours before he closed the Reward Shop for the day. He hadn’t used all his points, but what was left wouldn’t buy more than a few potions or other low-grade items.

  Still worth it, he thought, standing up and stretching.

  To his mild surprise, nobody woke up during all this time. Though James had shifted a few times. His new position looked even worse than the last. Isaac truly pitted the man’s back, or the trapped arm, for that matter.

  Live and learn.

  With a quiet chuckle, Isaac walked toward the door and stepped outside. The sun hit him right in the face, and once he blinked the glare away, he laughed again. Apparently, not everyone had been so lucky to crawl back home after the party.

  People were scattered all around the place. Some lay sprawled in the dirt, others slumped into crates, boxes, or whatever else lined the streets. If not for the slow rise and fall of their chests, he would have thought them dead.

  “What a mess,” Isaac muttered, and transformed.

  No way in hell he was staying here to deal with this.

  Tactical retreat.

  Now high above the Safe Zone, he flew toward the nearby forest and landed in one of its clearings. Every monster in the area scurried away, not even daring to step in his path.

  Smart.

  Now then. First things first.

  With a tug on his Storage Brand, two Virus Blueprints landed in his hand. Then, he allowed his Viron to do its job.

  Skills, Stealth and Basic Filtering, have advanced. Cloaking and Advanced Filtering received.

  [Cloaking | Grade: Mystic | Tier I]

  The passive aspect of this ability makes you and your Viron harder to detect. When active, this effect is strengthened to the point of providing the Host with weak invisibility.

  [Advanced Filtering | Grade: Mystic | Max Tier]

  An improved version of a basic skill. Aside from improving the Mana filtering process, this ability also slightly improves the Host's resistance to said energy.

  Even if the improvement wasn’t massive, Isaac was just glad to have two of his weakest skills finally advance. More would come with time.

  On to the next matter.

  A Virality Core appeared in his hand, only to be consumed a second later. This was followed by another notification.

  Congratulations! Your Virus has entered the second Phase of development (Core Stage). Mutagen efficiency improved.

  At once, something shifted inside his body. Isaac frowned, reaching toward the four Mutagens slumbering within him. Yet, despite the notification and what he felt a moment ago, he couldn’t detect any changes.

  Hmmm… What if I do this?

  With a tug on the first of his Mutagens, the spectral spiders materialised before him. The trio stared at him, and he stared back.

  “Huh,” Isaac muttered. “You’re bigger.”

  From the size of an average cat, the trio grew to that of an adult husky. Quite the improvement indeed, even if the phantoms were still quite useless in a fight. A wave of his hand dismissed them.

  Now for the main meal.

  While he had bought more than just that—including a bomb that should be able to level a small village—those things didn’t matter in the face of his main prize. Though it was almost ironic that the Interface would offer him an item so similar to the reward from the Breakout Stage.

  He extended his hand palm up, and a long crimson feather landed upon it, its surface shifting like flowing blood. Better still, every few seconds, it ignited with bright blue flames or crackled with violet lightning.

  [Feather of a Bloodstorm Roc | Grade: Eternal]

  A tail-feather of a powerful Bloodstorm Roc. The power within this item can be used to advance any Blood, Fire, or Lightning-type Legacy to the next growth stage and guarantee the awakening of another Inheritance. Has to be consumed within a day of purchase.

  Isaac smiled.

  “Well then. No time to waste.”