After Ren Suo returned home, he opened his computer to look for online resources. Indeed, someone in Sky Capital had captured the scene of the Red Lotus Aurora blazing across the sky.
Although it was a mere ten-plus seconds, Sky Capital was the capital of the Mysterious Country and a tourist city, so it was perfectly normal for people to be taking photos with their mobile phones late at night.
However, the country hasn’t banned these videos yet. It’s probably because they seem like a special astronomical phenomenon, so there’s no need to deal with them, right?
Upon opening the intranet, Ren Suo didn’t see any posts discussing the Red Lotus Aurora. However, while searching online, he found that a few astronomy enthusiast forums had discussed the spectacle that occurred several minutes ago.
In a few days, these people’s thoughts will completely change.
However, since the Red Lotus Aurora had appeared, Ren Suo also felt it was time to make a decision.
"Minor World, endless fun!"
He turned on the game console and selected ’Information’ in the top-left corner, clicking on the grayed-out message at the top of the list, which indicated it was a "read message."
"Congratulations on advancing to a Level 3 Player!"
"Spare slot on Equipment Interface +1."
"You can choose one of the following Player’s Privileges as a reward."
"① Weak Ability Holder: Add an ability slot to the Equipment Interface."
"② Fat Sheep Gambler: Delete one game in exchange for a new one, lowering it by one star-level (cannot be a free game) (minimum of one-star, maximum of Three-star)."
"③ Novice Player: Each time you receive Merit Points rewards, the Merit Points you obtain will increase by +5% (not less than 1 Merit Point)."
"④ Strengthen an existing privilege."
Having completed "Pass the Hat," although he didn’t get any Merit Points and the exclusive rewards were given out randomly, he still gained player experience. This was just enough to enable Ren Suo to advance to a Level Three Player!
However, after opening this message, Ren Suo spent a whole day unable to decide which to choose.
Weak Ability Holder seems the simplest, but it also appears to have the lowest cost-effectiveness.
Whether Ren Suo is equipping himself or a game character with abilities, he can switch them out with ease and doesn’t actually need more ability slots.
If I didn’t sometimes use them myself, I’d even think that one ability slot and one props slot would be fine, without needing a spare slot.
But for "Weak Ability Holder," such a low-cost-effectiveness option, to appear among the ’important’ upgrade privilege choices makes me think about other possibilities. Either this option is inherently poor value and the game console is just being quirky, or there’s a stronger use for ability slots that requires more of them to be effective.
For example, an ability might require two slots—a setup I’m all too familiar with. Many computer games enhance ’inventory’ capacity by making large items occupy more space; they wouldn’t allocate the same capacity to a ’colossal two-handed sword’ and a ’ring’.
Nevertheless, I definitely won’t choose Weak Ability Holder. I’ll figure out a way if I need it later.
There’s no need to even consider Novice Player, but "Fat Sheep Gambler" actually makes me a little indecisive.
This is truly exchanging old for new. Although the new game would be one star-level lower, and the Merit Points and rewards would be reduced, I’ve already completed the old games. So why keep them? To burn them as offerings to my ancestors during Qingming?
If it were before the "Grain Full Promotion," I would definitely have chosen this privilege without hesitation.
But things are different now.
I’ve already begun to get a sense of the value of characters from completed games.
Even the weakest Truth Seeker played two roles in the game "Pass the Hat": identifying which hats had been worn by The Mist Girl (revealed by a red light).
Besides, she alone dealt with the very last hat, which was the boss of "Pass the Hat"—the Hat of Regret.
If it were a normal computer game, I might have thought it was scripted.
But with the Minor World Game Console’s games, I genuinely can’t be sure. Was the Hat of Regret being instantly dealt with by the Truth Seeker—who was in harmony with the Heavenly Heart and aided by the Will of Heaven—scripted, or did I just get lucky and choose the right character?
Facing nine million points of Resentment, I feel that other than the Devouring the Spirit of the World and peak Ren Family Cultivators, no other characters could probably solve it.
Yet the Truth Seeker, with modest combat power but an incomprehensibly high realm, was just the right character for the challenge, almost carrying me to an easy win.
In terms of combat power, the Truth Seeker can only be considered an extraordinary human who never tires. However, in terms of willpower, if one goes by the game’s setting, she’s already halfway into the Way of Heaven, where the Heavenly Heart is her own heart, and the Will of Heaven is her own will.
After seeing the Truth Seeker clear the final hat trial on her own, Ren Suo couldn’t help but entertain a thought—
If the Truth Seeker could cultivate...
Ren Suo knew this was mostly his own wishful thinking, like when he was eighteen and fantasized that by twenty-five he would have a virtual girlfriend through a neural link.
Yet the Minor World Game Console was a light in the darkness. It wasn’t bright, but it was enough to keep Ren Suo waiting with hope.
In this situation, sacrificing a character from a completed game just to play a low-star-level game, gain a few Merit Points, and get an unknown game character... Ren Suo pondered for a long time and decided against it.
On the other hand, although I’m a pragmatist, the games I’ve cleared are, more or less, a part of my gaming honor. I’d prefer to keep them if possible. Games like "Over My Dead Body," which was incredibly influential and which I found enormously challenging, are definitely ones I want to keep.
Ren Suo’s choice to become a civil servant, to go to Heavenly Lotus Academy, and to become a researcher muddling along, was because he preferred to play it safe, steady, and solid as an old dog.
It’s not that I can’t handle taking risks, but in the current situation, I’m still not clear on the value of characters from completed games.
When the benefits and losses can’t be estimated, it’s better to choose the most secure option.
"Your Player’s Privilege has been enhanced."
"Gentle Stream: When making any Merit Points expenditure in the Minor World, there is a 60% chance of reducing the required Merit Points cost by 1."
The probability increased by 10%, and the minimum expenditure limit of 1 Merit Point was removed!
The overall effect was significantly enhanced!
Ren Suo breathed out. Even just upgrading to a Level Three Player to strengthen this privilege was well worth the time I spent clearing that half-baked game "Pass the Hat"!
However, Ren Suo now found himself with some free time. There were still a few days until June, no promotions were currently running, and Dong Chengling’s Awakening was also a few days away...
A thought struck Ren Suo. He returned to the main interface and selected "Jedi Priest."
After the game’s upgrade, it ridiculously requires a Level Three Player to play the new content. What the hell!
It’s not even a four-star game, and even four-star games directly restrict access to Level Four Players.
Where does it get off having this awkward restriction for Level Three Players?
Quickly skipping the intro, Ren Suo noticed that in addition to "Start Trial" and "Continue Trial," there was now a new option—
A mini-game after clearing... I wonder if there are any Merit Points rewards~ Ren Suo clicked it excitedly.
After studying the rules for a minute, he realized there were no Merit Points rewards for the mini-game.
But Ren Suo’s eyes gradually lit up.
Ren Suo looked at the time. Hmm, 11:48 PM. Still early. He immediately made a call. "Hello, it’s me!"
"If you’re going to scam people, at least be professional about it! It’s already 12 o’clock!" his mother bellowed from the other end of the line and hung up.
Ren Suo w(゜Д゜)w redialed. "Mom, it’s me, Ren Suo!"
His mother said, "Son, let me tell you, someone just called me playing that ’it’s me, it’s me’ scam. It’s so outdated! And don’t even get me started on the time! Calling when I’m already in bed—no sense of civic duty at all!"
Ren Suo replied, "...Right, no civic duty. But Mom, next time just check the caller ID. If you see a strange number, just hang up."
His mother responded, "It’s pitch black; looking at the phone is bad for the eyes. Look at your father, always wearing glasses all day long, looking so unattractive."
Ren Suo could practically hear his father’s exaggerated snorting but didn’t pursue that line of conversation and went straight to the point. "Dad, Mom, you and my sister are all home these days, right?"
"Yeah, we’re all at home. With the college entrance exams approaching, the school has lifted restrictions, so your sister is coming home every day for meals, soup, and sleep... What’s up?"
His mother suddenly lowered her voice, as if something had occurred to her. "You... you’re not coming home with a wife and child in tow, are you?"
"Because of work, I won’t be coming back for the time being."
Ren Suo couldn’t be bothered to argue. "Just remember, don’t go out to eat in the next few days, okay? Make sure the whole family is home for dinner! Okay? Bye!"
Ren’s father saw Ren’s mother put down the phone and asked, "What’s up with our son? Is he short on money?"
After thinking for a moment, Ren’s mother said seriously, "...A girl might show up at our house during dinner in the next few days, holding our grandchild. Shouldn’t we clean up our son’s room? We can’t have someone staying in a room that hasn’t been cleaned in three months, can we?"
Ren’s father was also startled.
"He left three months ago! I thought you’d be cleaning it from time to time!"