CHAPTER 242: CHAPTER 242 GHOST WALKING (THREE UPDATES)

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

Ren Suo quickly figured it out. How could freebies ever disappear? If you really couldn’t get them, then why would there still be a "Free Games of the Month" section?

Moreover, among the Player’s Privileges, there was the "Picky Freeloader" privilege. If there were no free games, wouldn’t this privilege be wasted? The Mini-World Game Console might have its pitfalls, but at least it was reasonable.

Ren Suo quickly found a "?" next to the "+" sign. Upon clicking it, he saw the update content:

"The ’Free Game of the Month’ is special support for low-level players (Levels 1-3). It allows them to enjoy games even when short on Merit Points. However, it will no longer be provided free of charge to intermediate and high-level players."

"The ’Free Games of the Month’ section will remain. However, intermediate players who want to obtain a free game will need to use one of their other promotional opportunities for the current month (natural month) to acquire it."

"If the free game obtained by consuming a promotional opportunity is of a lower star-level than the player’s current level, its star-level and game rewards will be elevated to match. For example, if a 1-star game is drawn and the player is Level 4, the game will be upgraded to 4 stars. Correspondingly, its rewards will also be enhanced (game content and difficulty will be slightly altered)."

"You can choose only one free game to play each month, and this section refreshes monthly."

"Remaining promotional opportunities this month: The Beginning of Autumn promotion, The End of Heat promotion."

"Can’t I continue to be supported just because I’m poor?" Ren Suo complained, but complaining to a game console clearly made no sense, so he simply chose to accept it—or rather, he accepted it contentedly.

Although Ren Suo complained inwardly, he was actually quite satisfied with this new mechanism. Previously, not all free games matched the player’s level. For instance, when Ren Suo was Level 3, he would still encounter 1-star games. He naturally discarded these—why play them when higher-reward 3-star games were available?

But after playing games like "Truth Seeker" and "Ren Family," Ren Suo realized something. Characters in low-star games weren’t inferior to those in high-star games; sometimes, they were even slightly superior. However, due to the reward difference, Ren Suo usually wouldn’t choose them, even if they were free.

What? Buy at full price? That would have to wait until I have plenty of time and Merit Points. After all, game rewards were often not much higher than the original cost. This meant that unless he achieved a 90% completion score, there would hardly be any profit.

And Ren Suo was still saving his Merit Points for the next lottery draw. Asking him to spend a lot of Merit Points now... Tough, tough, tough.

Overall, the "Free Games of the Month" change was positive for Level 4 players. Promotional games still cost money, and their star-level was uncertain. In contrast, using an opportunity to secure a free 4-star game meant not only getting a freebie but also ensuring it was high quality.

The only issue was that Ren Suo had no choice, or rather, could only pick one of two options. However, compared to the benefits, this was acceptable.

The next issue was choosing which promotional opportunity to use, and Ren Suo naturally didn’t hesitate. Of course, it’s the Beginning of Autumn. The Beginning of Autumn is on August 7th, and the End of Heat is on the 23rd. By the 23rd, I should have completed the game. However, completing it by the 7th is uncertain. If I haven’t finished by then, my Merit Points will still be only 60, possibly not enough to buy the game...

Clicking the "+" sign, he chose to use the Beginning of Autumn promotion. Ren Suo then saw an image dominated by maple leaves begin to spin. Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, creating a sensation like a rare item drop in a gacha game!

Although there’s a high chance the free game will be low-star, it could also be high-star—when I was Level 3, I saw 4-star games several times!

The image slowly came to a halt. Its top edge lit up with white lightning, gradually unveiling downward, very much like the card reveals in gacha mobile games.

Then the image transformed into a deep, dark night. Only a stall resembling a mobile food stall stood by the street, emitting a faint light.

Suddenly, the incandescent light began to flicker, and the dark background of the night turned eerie! A fog, seemingly conscious, swept towards the stall from all directions, visible to the naked eye. Seated at the stall were several creatures—some transparent, others oddly shaped!

"Midnight Walker"

"This is a supernatural management adventure game. ’Ghost Walking’ originally referred to mobile vendors—stalls set up by people seeking to earn a living after nightfall. In this era, it has acquired a new meaning: in the dead of night, customers lurking in the city’s dark corners will appear one by one. The player will embody a shop owner who caters to these desires. Within ten days, they must provide satisfying meals to the city’s visiting patrons. Completing the game can award up to 325 Merit Points, with ’Desire Detection’ as an exclusive reward. In-app purchases are available. Game difficulty: 4 stars."

It was the first time Ren Suo had seen the tags ’supernatural,’ ’management,’ and ’adventure’ combined like this...

The game description is very subtle. It seems like a supernatural game, but it doesn’t look like it involves fighting. It’s hard to tell what the gameplay is actually like.

The only thing I can figure out is that ’Ghost Walking’ probably doesn’t refer to my player character, the shop owner, but to the customers. This is some hardcore ’Ghost Walking.’

But Ren Suo didn’t hesitate. He chose this game right away, without planning to use the End of Heat promotion as well.

The keyword ’in-app purchases’ gives me immense reassurance! My Player’s Privilege, "Plucking Feathers from a Flying Goose," isn’t just for show. Even though I only have 60 Merit Points left, it wouldn’t be hard for me to just pay my way through this game by leveraging this privilege!

The game downloaded extremely fast. Ren Suo, well-rested from the past few days, energetically equipped his "Seeker of the Dao Correction Hat" and "Goddess Jade Pendant," then entered the game.

The opening CG was from a first-person perspective. A figure, seemingly wearing a scarf, walked along a dark path. Streetlights were far in the distance, and no cars appeared on the adjacent road.

’He’ wheeled a mobile food stall to a dimly lit roadside. ’He’ began to arrange the stall, bring out chairs, turn on the power generator, lay out the ingredients, prepare the cooking utensils, and hang a menu board facing where customers would approach.

After finishing, ’he’ clapped his hands, sat down, and began to read the newspaper.

Just then, the TAP, TAP, TAP of approaching high heels was heard. ’He’ looked up and saw a figure entirely cloaked in a black trench coat standing before the food stall.

’He’ put down the newspaper and smiled. "Welcome," ’he’ said.

The figure in the black trench coat slowly lifted its head. The camera zoomed in—closer, closer, closer. Hidden inside the trench coat was—

’Start Ghost Walking,’ ’Continue Ghost Walking,’ ’Quit’

So I can quit if I want to, huh? Ren Suo chuckled and selected ’Start Ghost Walking.’

Then a world map appeared in front of him.

"Please select the city for your ’Ghost Walking’."