[Happy New Year. May this year bring peace and happiness to you and your loved ones.]
Matthew Atkinson
Oxford, United Kingdom
{Congratulations to our two exceptionally talented students, Natalie Russell and Matthew Atkinson, for achieving another brilliant feat, once again obtaining a perfect SSS-grade mission rating in the second layer of the supernatural realm, setting a new world record...}
[Achieving SSS-grade perfect mission ratings twice in a row is an astonishing achievement! The outstanding performance of these two students has also shown the world the formidable strength and profound foundation of the United Kingdom's supernatural individuals...]
When Matthew woke up, he saw that the People's Daily, the largest official media in England, had devoted a whole page to reporting on his and Natalie's story.
Of course, the writing about Natalie was undoubtedly much more extensive than his.
The People's Daily reported on Natalie entirely as a positive role model, using extremely complimentary language.
{Finally, to sum it up with a sophisticated statement, those who chase the light will eventually shine brightly!}
'Okay, okay! Well written!' Matthew strongly approved of this article.
After all, it was praising his fiancée and future wife.
In addition to the People's Daily, major news media outlets were also reporting on it.
Anyone who opened their phone would inevitably encounter the name "Natalie Russell"!
Because the whole internet was talking about it;
"Holy crap?! Two consecutive record-breaking missions, SSS-grade perfect rating? That's awesome!"
"The second layer of the supernatural realm? I remember it being hazardous! Did they manage to achieve such results with just the two of them as a team? That's truly impressive."
"This is unprecedented! With such a foundation, Natalie Russell will definitely become a top expert in the future, right?"
"That's right, as long as Natalie Russell doesn't die young, she will definitely become a top expert!"
"Natalie Russell is amazing! She's the hope of our nation!"
"Most importantly, this girl is gorgeous, extremely beautiful! She's really outstanding. I wonder which bastard will end up with her?"
...
These were all pretty standard comments from netizens.
There were also many abnormal comments.
"I have to correct you guys. The really amazing one is only Natalie Russell. Her teammate doesn't deserve such honor!"
"That's right, that kid is just a freeloader who clings to a big shot. The fact that Natalie Russell can carry him to new heights is enough to prove how powerful she is."
"He's already received two SSS-grade mission ratings in a row. Matthew should be satisfied, right? I hope he'll be sensible and leave my waifu alone soon, so as not to drag her down."
"That's right, it's not easy for us women to produce such a strong supernatural; we can't let that useless simp drag her down. If he had any self-awareness, he should just get lost. What a jerk!"
"??? Can you guys use your brains? Without Matthew Atkinson's Flame-Flame Fruit, Natalie Russell wouldn't have achieved this, right? Besides, after two consecutive SSS-grade mission evaluations, have you even calculated how many attribute points Matthew Atkinson got? He's already one of the strongest among the freshmen, okay?!"
...
Number one trending topic nationwide!
Was on the front page of major news media outlets!
And on blogs, forums, short videos... everywhere netizens gather, they were discussing Natalie Russell at this moment.
It went viral!
Natalie became incredibly popular!
Perhaps her current fame was not as great as that of the well-known experts, but if we talk about the most popular celebrity in the United Kingdom right now, it has to be Natalie.
Even Matthew's fame has increased dramatically!
However, netizens' opinions on Matthew were mixed, unlike Natalie, who received overwhelming praise.
Besides becoming a massive hit in the country.
Their fame had also skyrocketed overseas.
Many well-known international media outlets were reporting on this subject.
However, the language and style used by many foreign media were entirely different from those used in the United Kingdom.
For example, one of the USA's media outlets wrote:
{Why haven't such geniuses been born in our nation? Is God abandoning us?}
Media outlets with hawkish leanings were very direct, trying to poach Natalie:
[Russell, our nation desperately needs talent like you. We hope you will join us; you will receive hero-like treatment!]
North Korean media were the most shameless:
{According to reliable investigations, the prodigy Natalie Russell is likely a descendant of a famous general from the reign of King Seonjo. Therefore, Natalie Russell is actually a North Korean!}
…
"As expected of North Korea, they always manage to surprise people." When Matthew saw what the North Korean media said, he was just amused.
Indeed, whether it's on Earth or Blue Marble, North Korea was North Korea.
He hoped that North Korean citizens in this world would be better off than in his old world.
The next day, when Matthew arrived on campus, he noticed that the security level had been significantly upgraded.
The most noticeable change was the addition of many young and strong security guards at the entrance.
Previously, Matthew could enter the campus at will.
But from then on, students needed to show their student ID to the security guard at the entrance before they could be let in.
After entering the campus, Matthew could clearly sense that the atmosphere had become serious.
Security guards were patrolling everywhere!
Moreover, these security guards had all unfamiliar faces, each with sharp eyes, clearly elite, and carrying weapons at their waists.
And those weapons seemed to be real!
Seeing these changes, Matthew could vaguely guess that something big had happened.
He arrived at the Class B classroom and, as soon as he sat down, asked the student next to him for information.
"Why are there so many security guards on campus?"
"Huh? You don't know Matthew?"
Seeing Matthew shake his head, his classmate explained, "Last night, several bounty notices suddenly appeared on the dark web! Most of them were for Natalie Russell, and the amounts were huge. You can search for them online, and you'll see. The People's Daily just published an article condemning this behavior, but those bounty notices were all published anonymously, and no one admitted them, so they could only condemn them."
Matthew was taken aback.
He initially thought it was Magneto who wanted to avenge his daughter and issued a bounty, but his classmate said that there were actually several bounties.
It seemed that Natalie's behavior had made many people uneasy!
He immediately took out his phone, went online, and found that the online sentiment had indeed changed.
United Kingdom netizens were outraged by the bounty notices that have appeared on the dark web.
"Damn! Who issued these bounties? What are they trying to do?"
"Is that even a question? They must have seen how outstanding Natalie Russel is, and they're afraid that she'll grow up and change the world balance, so they want to stifle our genius, right?"
"Damn it! This is outrageous!"
"I don't understand why they would do this? Don't we humans have a common enemy? Every year, so many heroes sacrifice their lives on battlefields on the Front Line. Why would they still do this kind of thing?"
"Heh, wherever there are people, there will be conflict. Internal strife is ingrained in the human genome. They would rather see all of humanity destroyed by external enemies than see you living a better life than them!"
"The last commenter is right, that's just how humans are!"
...
As Matthew scrolled through the comments from netizens, he pondered.
The fact that so many elite security guards appeared on campus right after the bounty was issued was enough to show that Natalie had already attracted the government's attention.
They must have sent over those elite security guards!
The campus didn't have the financial resources to hire so many elites as security personnel.
"Oh, right, Matthew!"
While Matthew was pondering, his classmate suddenly said, "There's another bounty on the dark web, and the target is you..."
"Oh?"
Matthew's eyes lit up.
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LAST DAY!
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---------------
Author's Note: You folks can also read up to +40 chapters on my P@treon Pages as an early access privilege.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.75: Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit User
Ch.76: Supernatural Skill: Armament Haki