CHAPTER 289: CHAPTER 289: NEW GAME, HIGH ENERGY AHEAD!

After clearing the game, the only ones that continued to offer post-game content were "Jedi Priest" and this one, "Midnight Walker."

On the main interface, aside from "Start Ghost Walking," "Continue Ghost Walking," and "Quit," there was an additional option: "Ghost Walk."

The first three options were red with black text, looking as if inked with blood. "Ghost Walk," however, was red with white text, resembling a lotus blooming amidst blood.

When Ren Suo clicked on "Ghost Walk," the familiar world map appeared on the screen.

Ren Suo pondered briefly, opened the city list, sorted by "Concealment Concentration," and found that the city with the highest concentration was... Mumbai.

He had walked as a ghost in Mumbai once before, yet it had climbed to the top so quickly. One could only say... Peacock Country was awesome!

This time, after selecting the city, the camera zoomed in sharply from the world map to the city map.

A small blue circle appeared on the map. Ren Suo could move the circle, and a game prompt appeared upon clicking: "Do you want to fix the Collector in this place? Estimated Ghost Walk Duration: 8 hours."

"Ghost Walk: When the Collector guards this area, it will collect the desires of the powerful Demons and Ghosts in the area, causing a ’Ghost Walk’ phenomenon—a rapid decrease in Demons and Ghosts, with a few powerful entities fleeing the area."

"Ghost Walk Area: A radius of 1.28 kilometers"

"Collection Speed: 1.00"

"Estimated Ghost Walk Yield: 1,300 units of desire"

Not rushing to arrange the collection, Ren Suo returned to the world map. He noticed that the "Desire Collection Amount" in the upper-left corner was still 12,800 units, but an icon resembling a gift package had appeared next to the Desire Gold Cup.

Clicking on the package, an exchange list appeared:

"10,000 units of desire: 1 Merit Point"

"100 units of desire: Increase the radius of the Ghost Walk by 0.01 kilometers"

"1,000 units of desire: Increase the collection speed by 0.01"

"20,000 units of desire: Cast Ability ’Desire Suppression.’ Only the Collector can use this Ability. It can make all observing intelligent beings lose their desire to fight. (Can be exchanged when the Collector is active)"

"10,000 units of desire: Create a ’Desire Gourmet Ver1.0’ for the target; consumption clears psychological issues and enhances the effects of desires. (Only one consumption per person allowed.) (Can be exchanged when the Collector is active)"

"100,000 units of desire: Create a ’Desire Gourmet Ver2.0’ for the target; consumption clears psychological issues and enhances the effects of desires. (Only one consumption per person allowed, but those who have consumed low-level gourmet can still consume high-level gourmet.) (Can be exchanged when the Collector is active)"

"100,000 units of desire: Star Fall. Causes the Collector’s game character to drop to One-Star. The price increases tenfold after each exchange."

"More exchange options will be unlocked once a certain amount of desire is collected."

Ren Suo stared dumbfounded at the list. Even wearing the "Seeker of the Dao Correction Hat," it took him quite some time to analyze it. First off, trading for Merit Points was the least cost-effective use.

Ren Suo felt somewhat relieved that he had decided to have a meal with the Fairy Palace Food God on the tenth day; otherwise, he would now have to spend 10,000 units of desire for a single meal.

But he could now exchange for Desire Gourmet Ver2.0, which cost 100,000 units of desire, and in the future, there might even be versions 3.0 and 4.0. These gourmet dishes could not only enhance Talent but also dispel any tendencies toward corruption in the mind.

’When you walk by the river, how can you not get your shoes wet?’ Although Ren Suo felt there were no issues with his character, life always unpredictably dealt a hard blow or an Orochi Nagi. Having this assurance was quite nice.

The ’Star Fall’ option, which incurred a tenfold price increase with every exchange, was also good.

Clearly, this exchange was targeted at ’Rippling Spring Sounds.’ Every use by a game character could potentially increase its star level, while ’Star Fall’ could reduce the Collector’s star level to One-Star, thus increasing its summoning frequency.Not to mention, the Collector was currently a Four-star game character and couldn’t summon the equally Four-star ’Rippling Spring Sounds.’ However, once the Collector dropped to One-Star, it could be summoned and used.

As for the ’Desire Suppression’ Ability, it was costly and not a direct damage Skill. However, if it truly could make all observers lose their will to fight, then in other games, the Collector’s combat power would rival characters like ’Ren Woxing’ or ’Devouring the Spirit of the World.’ It would be conquering others without violence.

Exchanging for Ghost Walk range and collection speed was an investment in the future. Only with increased collection speed and range would the rate of desire collection increase exponentially.Most importantly, the Collector’s operations didn’t require Ren Suo’s attention; it was like an idle collection mini-game.

Ren Suo swiftly depleted his Desire Collection Amount by enhancing the collection speed and radius. Then, he clicked around the Mumbai map, finally located the spot with the highest expected Ghost Walk yield, and deployed the Collector there.

Having taken care of this, Ren Suo checked what other benefits he had.

One Four-Star Treasure Chest, one Three-Star Treasure Chest, plus two one-star keys and one two-star key.

Ren Suo wasn’t in a hurry about this. He would have plenty of opportunities to obtain students’ keys after school started. However, it was always better to acquire higher-level keys, as they might grant additional rewards.

It was time to put acquiring Dong Chengling’s three-star key on the agenda as well.

However, at that moment, Ren Suo suddenly remembered something and hastily opened the "World Store."

Because the situation with Lian Jiang had preoccupied him, he had mostly forgotten that today was the End of Heat!

The End of Heat, one of the twenty-four solar terms, signifies "the cessation of summer heat." It held no real significance for cities like Lian Jiang, where summer lasted from May to November. But for the Mini-World Game Console, it was very important.

And sure enough, the "End of Heat Solar Term Promotion" section was still there!

In the promotion section, three games were for sale, all Two-Star and extremely balanced.

For Ren Suo, who had already tasted the sweet benefits of Four-star games and wanted to quickly level up "Rippling Spring Sounds" and earn Merit Points, Low Star Level games held significantly less appeal.

—That was what he thought, but Ren Suo was a Player at heart. He couldn’t help but be tempted when he saw interesting games.

"High Energy Ahead"

"’This game is a reality-enhanced strategy adventure idle game. Players will become adventurers who mistakenly enter a mysterious land, where they will encounter countless strange situations. The only things they can rely on are their backpack and items found in reality! Completing this game can reward up to 150 Merit Points. The exclusive completion reward is any item from the player’s backpack. There are no in-game purchases, future expansion Chapters are planned, and it’s playable on mobile devices. Game difficulty: Two-Star.’"

Reality-enhanced, strategy adventure, idle game. Ren Suo was impressed that these tags could be combined!

Since all three games were Two-Star, this one was relatively more intriguing compared to the other two combat games.Moreover, its exclusive completion reward wasn’t fixed either.

And since Ren Suo was planning to focus on Cultivation and break through to the second turn in the coming days, his game-playing time would significantly decrease. An idle game playable on a mobile phone suited his circumstances perfectly.

However, this game was priced at 125 Merit Points. With a 20% discount, it cost 100 Merit Points. The other two games were priced at 110 and 105 Merit Points, respectively.

The End of Heat solar term promotion was really uninspiring.

Last night, in an effort to be a good female shop owner, Ren Suo had spent dozens of Merit Points on the "Pure White Mini Holy Grail." Only afterward did he realize he had spent so much. Now, he had exactly 200 Merit Points left—just enough to buy one game, definitely not two.

He directly chose to purchase "High Energy Ahead." Moments later, Ren Suo’s phone vibrated, displaying a dark red icon for "High Energy Ahead."

However, Ren Suo naturally chose to try it on the big TV first to see what it was like.

Upon entering the game, the TV screen went black, then a gray fog appeared. When the fog dispersed, the screen showed a stream bordered by a lush forest, its trees blooming with beautiful flowers.

The text explaining the scene appeared at the bottom of the TV:

"’I woke up; the sun was blinding. My friend had left before me and even taken my tent without waking me. We’d agreed to stay up all night on the mountain and watch the sunrise together. What time is it now? Are they angry just because I was tired last night, went back to the tent early to sleep, and didn’t stay up with them?’"

"’I stood up and picked up my backpack. The campsite looked unfamiliar. Not far away, there was a peach grove I hadn’t noticed when we arrived at night. A slowly flowing stream ran next to the peach grove. For several hundred paces on both banks, with no other trees in between, the ground was covered with fresh, beautiful flowers and grass, and a profusion of fallen blossoms. A sudden urge to explore came over me, so I walked deeper into the forest to see if I could find a farmhouse inn.’"

"’The end of the peach grove was the source of the stream. There, I found a small hill with a cave entrance, from which a faint light seemed to emanate.’"

"’I entered through the cave mouth. At first, it was very narrow, barely allowing one person to pass, and I couldn’t see anything. After walking a few dozen more steps, it suddenly opened up and became bright.’"

"’AAAH—’"

The camera followed the narrated text. Just as ’I’ was about to leave the cave, a sudden scream made Ren Suo jolt. Light burst from the cave entrance, filling the entire screen. Amidst the scream, there was a strange sound of biting and devouring.

"’I died.’"