CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 63 RATING, GRAIN RAIN PROMOTION

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

"AD 266, the second year of Taishi in the Western Jin, and the second year of Ganlu in Eastern Wu."

"The Sima family had seized power throughout the land, leaving only Sun Wu gasping for survival. The great war had paused, giving the people time to recover and rejuvenate, as Demons gradually faded and disappeared."

"In AD 279, Jia Chong, the Grand Commander of the Western Jin, led six armies in a campaign against Wu."

"By AD 280, Wu State had surrendered. Its lord, Sun Hao, was conferred the title ’Marquis of Guiming,’ contrasting amusingly with Liu Shan, the ’Duke of Anle.’ From then on, the Western Jin united the realm."

"In AD 266, Ren Han, the Sixth Generation Family Head of the Ren Family, entered the deep palace of Luoyang by night. He left behind the ancestral secret plan of Emperor Guangwu: the Imperial Path Magic ’Cutting All Ties with Heaven and Earth’."

"However, until AD 299, the Jin Dynasty did not use ’Cutting All Ties with Heaven and Earth’ to lock the Spirit Vein. Instead, they scoured the realm, cutting off all Cultivation Methods that had found their way into the hands of the common people."

The scene suddenly switched to a house in the dead of night. Ren Han lay on a sickbed, his pale skin illuminated by the flickering candlelight, yet his eyes were strikingly bright.

Ren Han said, "Ancestors of the Ren Family, we were all mistaken... Not every founding monarch can be as wise and martial as Emperor Guangwu, holding such great power. The Sima family... is merely a slightly larger clan, after all. Our Ren Family’s future... must not depend on others!"

He then shakily pulled a token from his robes. "The Red Sky Command..." he continued, his voice filled with a mix of reverence and urgency. "After Emperor Zhaolie of Han was recognized by the emperors of the Han dynasty and transformed into the Ghost King, this miraculous object condensed within him...

"This object is immensely mysterious. Merely possessing it allows the nearby Han people to gain various benefits. And if someone could make the Red Sky Command recognize them as its master, they could even break free from their shackles, earning the recognition of the Han dynasty’s emperors and becoming a royal of the Yan Han Family!

"For us, that means breaking the first bloodline chain and being able to traverse the world with our own Spells, establishing our own regime!

"As long as our Ren Family can establish a regime and unify the world with supreme Spells, we can execute ’Cutting All Ties with Heaven and Earth.’ This will solve the curse of our bloodline from its very root...

"However, having the Red Sky Command recognize a master is incredibly difficult... You must preserve the Red Sky Command well. The Sima family is without virtue, and the great clans are unbenevolent; they will inevitably bring about their own destruction. By then... a Purgatory will naturally appear in the Human World, and the Han commoners will be the first to suffer.

"Our duty to slay Demons and traverse the world must not be forsaken! When the Han people are in peril, there must be someone among the Ren Family Descendants... who can gain the recognition of the Red Sky...

"Remember this! Remember this well!"

"Ren Han died in AD 270 at the age of 20. His last words: ’The Ren Family... still exists.’"

"In AD 299, the second War of the Eight Princes erupted in the Jin Dynasty, a conflict that dragged the Central Plains back into a mire for seven long years..."

The screen went dark, and then several messages popped up:

System Notification: "☆ Achievement Unlocked—Yan Han Chronicles!"

System Notification: "You’ve earned the right to play ’Over My Dead Body’ Chapter Two!"

System Notification: "Your gameplay has been recorded, and you can inherit the save data in Chapter Two."

Ren Suo rolled his eyes. If he had actually bought this game, that would be one thing. But since he hadn’t... Unless he was flush with cash or a klutz who accidentally bought it, I can’t imagine going through another playthrough of this game.

It would take a few days to grind for the optimal save file. Considering my usual bad luck, getting a perfect start wouldn’t be a quick process.

In the middle, it’s also a matter of chance. If the Family Head accidentally encountered a powerful Spirit and was forced into a Spiritual Exchange, but the resulting child didn’t inherit the family’s Spells, then the Family Head’s Inherited Spell lineage would be lost.

Then there are also the fortunate encounters. Had I not stumbled upon the Cao Zhi encounter in this save, it would have been impossible to last until AD 265.

Finally, it depends on reproduction and mortality rates. If my ancestral spirits hadn’t been just barely enough, allowing the Sixth Generation Family Head to deal with Emperor Zhaolie of Han in the final wave, I would have been devastated. Having a save file ruined when it had reached its grand conclusion is frustrating enough to make anyone want to smash their controller.

Looking back, the Spells of the Shu Han Ghost Army weren’t particularly strong. If not for their numerical advantage and the artificial battlefield, the Ren Family’s Flying Sword Cultivators could have taken down Liu Bei in just a few rounds at the start.

Zhuge Liang’s abilities, in particular, were clearly intended for quick kills. I truly don’t believe that in the first Chapter, one could cultivate a character strong enough to withstand 2,240 damage.

At this moment, the screen finally switched to the interface Ren Suo had been most looking forward to:

"Mission Complete."

"Basic mission objective—60 points;"

"Large Clan: Total family members exceed 50—5 points;"

"Long-standing Spirit: Engaged in union with a deity—1 point;"

"Historical Tracker: Witnessed 10 historical events—5 points;"

"Life’s Too Long: Maintained good relationships with more than 20 special historical figures while they were alive—5 points;"

"Total score is 76 points, rated as Very Good."

"This mission’s score: 75 (Very Good), Highest mission score: 75 points (Very Good)"

"Do you choose to upload this result as the final outcome? Upon successful upload, you will receive Merit Points and exclusive rewards compatible with your evaluation level."

"Evaluation can only be uploaded once."

Unexpectedly, the mission rating for this save is actually not bad.

But it might be because the game has a high degree of freedom, so there are many bonus points available.

Or maybe it’s just that the game is too hard, and anyone who can clear it has likely racked up a lot of bonus points.

However, what surprised me the most was the ’Life’s Too Long’ bonus.

Being friends with historical figures can actually earn bonus points!?

I thought those Ren Family Descendants who were, say, practicing archery with Lv Bu one day and reading with Guan Yu the next, were purely a game mechanism to suppress players—encouraging proliferation and large numbers, only to stir up trouble.

Game characters weren’t afraid of Heavenly Calamities, but this kind of man-made disaster really reduced their numbers drastically.

To think that if they just endured, they’d actually get bonus points at the final mission score calculation!

So, should I upload the result?

Create a new save and play again?

Seventy-six years... And if I really played, to aim for a high score, I’d have to grind for a perfect opening. Even then, I might not survive until AD 266...

Ren Suo checked the time and realized it was already 2 AM. Crap, I have to work tomorrow.

Well... I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

Ren Suo exited the game. As he was about to shut down the console, he suddenly noticed something out of the corner of his eye: it was "raining" inside the World Store icon!

He had never seen this before, so he clicked the "World Store."

Then he saw, "Grain Rain Solar Term Promotion Event!"

Ren Suo was taken aback. Are the twenty-four solar terms also a reason for discounts!? He checked the time; indeed, today was Grain Rain, the last solar term of spring.

Wait, back during Qingming... I was at a training camp!

Ren Suo felt like he had missed out, but soon he let it go. After all, I couldn’t afford it anyway.

By the way, the "One Punch Clears the Road of Life and Death, Two Feet Shatter the Gates of Right and Wrong" section was gone. It had been replaced by a new one called "Death Comes." Driven by boredom and a touch of curiosity, Ren Suo clicked on it and was utterly flabbergasted—what the hell, 468 Merit Points.

It would be more reasonable if it cost real money, but Merit Points... Looking at his pitiful tally of 25 Merit Points, he could only humph. This game is definitely not fun...

Then Ren Suo couldn’t help but click into it. The game had a very down-to-earth name—

"Death Gods Within Three Feet Above."

"This is a puzzle game where players become a Grim Reaper. They use various miraculous causal relationships to kill extremely evil targets. The game is endless: task targets refresh randomly, and there is no option to clear it. However, it features an achievement list. Achieving certain milestones grants Merit Points and exclusive rewards, and there are in-app purchases. The game’s difficulty ranges from 1 to 3 stars."

"Some repeatable achievements: Kill 200 thugs—5 Merit Points; Kill 5 low-level thug Awakeners—10 Merit Points; Kill 1 mid-level thug Awakener—30 Merit Points; Kill 1 high-level thug Awakener—100 Merit Points."

Ren Suo commented, "This game looks... very grindy."

For a game like this, with its fluctuating difficulty and ’puzzle’ label, excelling would surely mean pulling all-nighters every day, perhaps even needing an ’Unlimited Energy’ buff.

By then, I would surely find my hair all over the floor and bed—anywhere but on my head.

However, Ren Suo was realizing for the first time that there were games that allowed infinite farming of Merit Points, and he made a mental note of it. With a game like this available, earning Merit Points would just be a matter of time.

But with an entry threshold of 468 Merit Points... I couldn’t afford to grind it even if I wanted to.

Ren Suo opened the "Grain Rain Solar Term Promotion Event!" and his eyes lit up.

In the column, there were a total of four games on promotion, but the prices for the other two games were in the triple digits. This just proved that even with a discount, some things were still out of reach for broke folks like him.

Only two games had prices that seemed somewhat affordable—

"Slaughter Rain of Blood," 50% OFF, 45 Merit Points.

"Jedi Priest," 50% OFF, 50 Merit Points.