"Hello? Hello?"
"Blank! Can you hear me?"
"The thing on the sea just now, did you see..."
Arthur slowly lowered the hand holding the walkie-talkie as Ellen's panicked voice came through.
At this moment, he felt like he was flying!
Success!
It didn't reach here.
All nuclear missiles were successfully intercepted!
[Ding! You have completed the special mission "Peace Lover".]
[You perfectly prevented the EMP from the electromagnetic pulse bombs from reaching land.]
[Mission Evaluation: S+.]
"Mission rewards will be calculated after exiting the instance."
The third mission had finally appeared.
He'd gambled, and won.
It wasn't just the Takagi family.
No… or maybe the Takagi family was part of it after all.
If he had successfully prevented their home from being overrun and destroyed by the undead, that alone should've counted as completing a mission.
After all, the Takagi residence only fell in the original timeline because the EMP disabled the school bus, sending it crashing straight through their defenses.And since he had dealt with the EMP in advance… didn't that mean he had indirectly averted their downfall?
"Ding! Survival time has ended."
"You and your bound survival character, Saeko Busujima, have successfully survived for 30 days."
"Survival Rating: S."
"Mission rewards will be calculated after exiting the instance."
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
A survival rating… not a mission rating?
Arthur fell into deep thought.
It seemed his guess had been right all along.
This mission was never just about surviving for thirty days, it was about how you survived throughout the entire apocalypse.
If he had simply holed up in some safe corner, even if he technically cleared the mission, his rating would've been mediocre at best.
He was genuinely glad he hadn't gotten greedy for comfort and stayed longer at Rika Minami's place.
He had a strong feeling that if he'd lingered there for just a few more days, an S rating would've been completely out of reach.
Which left only one final question...
"Ding! You have perfectly cleared the First Floor instance of the Reincarnation Tower: Highschool of the Dead!"
"Based on your overall performance, you have received a final mission rating: SSS!"
"As the first Reincarnator to achieve an SSS-ranked clear, you will receive additional mission rewards."
"Clear rewards will be distributed after exiting the instance."
"You have obtained an SSS clear rating and may now exit the instance."
"Based on your rating, you are permitted to remain in the Highschool of the Dead world for up to 24 additional hours."
"During this period, no new missions may be triggered, and no reincarnation points can be gained."
Perfect!
Arthur clenched his fist tightly.
Just as he'd expected, the ratings from individual objectives were being calculated together into a final evaluation.
His analysis, based on all the intel he'd gathered, had been spot-on.
Before entering the Reincarnation Space this time, he had deliberately researched instance mechanics and mission structures.
After all, the internet was never short on people eager to flex their achievements and share their experiences in the Reincarnation Space.
Because of that, for popular instances like this one, Arthur had already seen countless different clear methods used by other players.
And now—
He'd surpassed them all.
Although most instance ratings recorded so far were extremely low… Arthur suddenly considered another possibility.
Why would the Reincarnation Space calculate mission ratings separately, only to perform a so-called "comprehensive evaluation" at the very end?
That could only mean one thing.
All mission ratings achieved within an instance were likely being integrated together, forming the final instance clear rating.
The Reincarnation Space had existed for over thirty years. Arthur had no doubt that others had come to the same conclusion before.
After all, verifying this theory wasn't difficult.
All it took was completing multiple known missions within the same instance, ideally as many as possible, and then observing the final settlement.
If the comprehensive rating surpassed the highest individual mission rating, then the theory would be proven.
Arthur had been fortunate enough to come across a crucial data point: someone had completed three D-rank missions simultaneously, yet their final instance rating had risen to C-rank.
That alone was proof.
However, most people never managed to replicate this result.
The problem wasn't the theory, it was feasibility.
Very few Reincarnators could even discover multiple missions within a single instance, let alone complete all of them.
And among the countless instances available, many side quests didn't influence the final rating at all.
For example, in Highschool of the Dead, rescuing the loli Alice and her father was clearly just a side quest.
Likewise, eliminating the cultist Koichi Shido was also a side objective.
Since neither affected the final clear rating, Arthur hadn't bothered with them.
His only goal had been to test the upper limit of the Reincarnation Space's evaluation system.
And in a world containing billions of Reincarnators...
He was the only one with the qualifications to touch that limit.
After all, for most people, completing even a single A-rank mission was an incredible feat.An S-rank was something achieved only through sheer luck.
To locate three major missions within the same instance and complete all of them at S-rank?
That was practically impossible.
"Ding! Instance Notification!"
"Reincarnator 'Blank' has perfectly cleared the instance Highschool of the Dead with outstanding performance, achieving the highest mission rating: SSS!"
"As expected…"
At that moment, Gavi, still within the Takagi residence, looked toward the distant horizon, his expression filled with bitterness.
The sound of artillery fire there had already ceased.
It probably wouldn't appear again after today.
Although he knew that person was no ordinary individual.
But even he hadn't expected it... that an unprecedented SSS-rank evaluation would appear… and for the very first time.
He glanced at the dim B-rank clear rating displayed on his own mission settlement interface.
Then he let out a long, heavy sigh.
Comparisons truly were odious.
Enough to drive a man insane.
Ellen, seated inside the Humvee, shared that exact feeling.
Although she didn't know much about the deeper mechanics of the Reincarnation Space, it had long since woven itself into everyday life. Half of the news on television and the internet revolved around it.
Having grown up surrounded by that information, she at least possessed some basic common sense.
And one thing she knew for certain—
An SSS-rank evaluation had never appeared before.
She remembered clearly, when a Reincarnator from Luminar, her country, had once obtained an S-rank evaluation, every TV station hyped it up for more than a month.
So much so that, even now, she still regarded that beautiful and powerful woman, Selena, as her idol.
But starting today…
That ranking might have to change.
Her eyes sparkled as she gazed at the majestic figure standing atop the tank ahead.
From this moment on Blank was her greatest idol!
"Blank!!!"
---
At the same time, inside a battered school bus, Jacob slapped the writhing female student off his body and shoved her into the side seat.
It had to be him.
He still vividly remembered that man's calm, indifferent expression when he walked away back then.
Damn it!
Why could that bastard get an SSS-rank evaluation, while he was stuck with nothing but a D-rank?!
He stared at Koichi Shido, who was driving up ahead, his expression twisted with regret and resentment.
The plot character he had been bound to was Rei Miyamoto.
But staying outside the party state for too long had caused his survival mission to be judged a complete failure.
As for Katty and the others?
He had abandoned them long ago, left them behind as bait to draw the Zombies away.
At least, by sheer luck, he'd later run into Koichi Shido driving the school bus.
That bastard hadn't even wanted to let him onboard at first.
If Jacob hadn't deliberately shown off the exaggerated physical strength he'd gained from clearing several previous dungeons, enough to make Fuji wary of him.
By now, he probably wouldn't even have a bound character at all.
------
The High School of the Dead arc is coming to an end, and with it, the next chapter will finally mark the moment when Saeko and Arthur take the final step in their relationship.
Be ready.