CHAPTER 88: CHAPTER 88: SPECIAL RAFFLE EVENT (SEEKING RECOMMENDATION TICKETS)

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

"A mysterious phenomenon has appeared in the southeastern part of the Pacific Federation, suspected to be a young man activating a relic from the Mayan Civilization!"

Ren Suo, fresh from the shower, opened his phone only to find a QQ News notification pop-up. This prompted him to dive into the QQ settings and turn off the news push function—unbeknownst to him, it had been automatically enabled after a recent reinstallation.

After changing his clothes, Ren Suo headed to the Cultivation Ground’s dining hall. He ordered a pudding milk tea and a serving of teriyaki chicken rice, then, feeling refreshed, placed his laptop on the table.

Today was the second day of the May Day holiday, and he was due back at the Tactical Bureau for a strength evaluation the following day. Although Ren Suo felt that cramming at the last minute was useless, he still got up early that morning and obediently went to the Cultivation Ground to see if the day might bring a ’Sudden Enlightenment’ or a ’Flash of Inspiration’ for a rapid advance in his Cultivation...

It seemed the Tactical Bureau and other departments were also on holiday, so the Cultivation Ground was quite busy early in the morning. Many people, like Ren Suo, would head to the rest area or dining hall to eat, rest, and read when tired from Cultivation, waiting until they had recovered enough before continuing their practice.

This also gave Ren Suo insight into the daily routine of those ’half-step ahead’ public servant cultivators: incredibly busy as usual, they would seize every second to cultivate in the Cultivation Ground as soon as they were off work or on holiday, radiating energy and vivacity.

However, he didn’t encounter any acquaintances. Perhaps they had all gone to the ’Meditation’ area for quiet cultivation.

The laptop screen quickly lit up. After Ren Suo entered his password, the classic Windows desktop appeared, devoid of any software—he had reinstalled the operating system on this laptop and disabled all network connections, dedicating it solely to recording his discoveries on the Mini-World Game Console.

Incidentally, he had also factory reset his phone to thoroughly erase all traces from it. Too many ridiculous apps requested ’camera,’ ’microphone,’ and other absurd permissions upon installation. To protect his secrets as much as possible, he only downloaded a few essential apps after the reset and even covered the front and back cameras with paper, rendering them completely useless.

Ren Suo knew this was akin to an ostrich burying its head in the sand. If someone were really investigating him, the Mini-World Game Console could not be hidden. However, by taking these precautions, he at least eliminated the possibility of ’his secrets being accidentally exposed.’

Recording information about the Minor World was a necessity, as Ren Suo’s memory had not yet reached the ’Photographic Memory’ level. If he didn’t log the information, he would eventually forget it. Naturally, it was safer and more efficient to record it on a computer than in a notebook.

He even gave this content a name: "Novel Settings."

A man in his twenties, not wanting to work, fantasizing about being a writer—that’s normal, right?

First was the "Protagonist Ability" document, where Ren Suo listed all his Abilities, including aspects of the Skills that weren’t explained in their descriptions.

For example, ’Unlimited Energy,’ a Skill that, when activated, prevented one from feeling sleepy or being able to Sleep; or ’Touch of Healing,’ a Skill that truly could create six-pack abs.

Ren Suo touched his stomach. Just the day before, it had been flat but soft; now, it had turned firm, and a cross-shaped mark had emerged—a physical trait he recognized from classmates who regularly played basketball.

’Touch of Healing’ would invariably be effective once activated. If the touched area didn’t exhibit a severe ’deficiency,’ it would ’improve’ based on the optimal expression of the genetic blueprint.

Moreover, ’improvement’ consumed more resources than ’Healing.’ Yesterday, after waking up, Ren Suo had endured the pain and cut a slit on his finger. He healed it without feeling tired, and the wound was restored to its original state.

Subsequently, he made thirty successive cuts on his arm—the kind of injuries that, if he’d photographed them and posted to his social media, would have had all his relatives rushing him to a psychiatric hospital within a day. After healing them all, Ren Suo still felt nothing.

He then continued ’improving’ his stomach, becoming fatigued in less than ten seconds. Any Healing performed after reaching that state of Exhaustion would inevitably plunge Ren Suo into a deep Sleep.

Although ’Touch of Healing’ also consumed internal Spiritual Energy, the amount wasn’t significant; instead, it drained Ren Suo’s Physical Strength and spiritual power. If I could equip two Abilities, ’Unlimited Energy’ plus ’Touch of Healing,’ I could probably resurrect the dead and regrow flesh on bones in dire situations, he thought.

But that was just wishful thinking. Players gained an extra reserve slot only when their Level increased by 1. The prospect of an increase in Ability or props slots remained distant.

Ren Suo opened the second document: "Main Plot."

This outlines what I plan to do next, he thought.

By clearing ’Jedi Priest,’ he now had an additional Two-Star Treasure Chest, but the problem was, he had no Key.

Therefore, his next step was to find a way to obtain a Key—the items obtainable from Treasure Chests were quite good, and there was always a chance of a surprise.

Next up, my game choices, he mused.

’May Day Golden Week Special Sale: Discounted games 20%~50% OFF!’

’Free Games: "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters," "Infiltration" Chapter One.’

There were only two free games this month, and one of them, ’If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters,’ was a game he had already bought!

Perhaps the three free games offered last month had given Ren Suo a false impression. In reality, when he first got the Mini-World Game Console in March, there had only been one free game: ’Assassin’ Chapter One.

Therefore, the number of free games updated each month was not fixed. The fact that there wasn’t just a single free game offered this time was already quite generous to Ren Suo.

’If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters’ aside, Ren Suo felt like he had seen ’Infiltration’ pop up many times already.

If not for the May Day Golden Week lucky draw event, Ren Suo would have had no choice but to try ’Infiltration,’ the game that kept popping up. However, the May Day sale offered him another option.

’May Day Golden Week Special Lucky Draw Event: Players can spend 10 Merit Points to randomly draw one game from the discounted games and add it to this month’s free games!’

’Note: Players must not have selected a free game for the month yet.’

When Ren Suo opened "Free Games of the Month," the system immediately displayed a prompt for the lucky draw event, so his gaze naturally fell upon the promotional games.

He could only play one free game, meaning that even if he drew several through the event, he could still only choose one to play.

But this May Day sale was very generous, featuring thirty games. After discounts, most were priced above 50 Merit Points. If I get a bit lucky and draw a medium-tier game, I’ll make a huge profit!

Although the first Chapter of "Infiltration" was Two-Star difficulty, its highest reward was only 100 Merit Points, making it less rewarding than other standalone Two-Star difficulty games.

Moreover, if I draw one of the Three-Star difficulty games from the sale, that would be a huge windfall! he thought excitedly. There’s even a Three-Star+ game—the entire "Over My Dead Body" series!

This was the first time Ren Suo had encountered such an odd rating: Three-Star+. According to the system prompt, it indicated that the game’s overall difficulty was higher than other games of the same rating but had not yet reached Four-Star difficulty.

Only Low Level Players could see the "+" sign. If Ren Suo were a Level 4 Player, he wouldn’t be able to see it.

If a Low Level Player completely cleared a "+" game, they would gain more Player Experience. Player Experience is invisible; it accumulates each time a game is cleared, and once the required amount is met, the Player’s Level will increase.

However, Ren Suo also finally learned the true retail price of "Over My Dead Body": 320 Merit Points. The maximum combined reward for all its Chapters was 800 Merit Points. It consisted of four major Chapters, each with unique rewards and Treasure Boxes, effectively making it like buying four games at once.

But even at 50% OFF, that’s still 160 Merit Points, he calculated. Still, if I draw it, I can play it for free!

The event would last for a few more days, so Ren Suo was in no rush.

「That afternoon」

He continued his Cultivation. Although Ren Suo could use the "Advanced Cultivation Method" and had "Unlimited Energy" to assist him, his Qi Cyclone’s growth was still slow.

I’m no Genius, and even Geniuses need to cultivate persistently. With my sporadic approach and poor Talent, I might even drag down the average Cultivation level of Mysterious Country Cultivators before long, Ren Suo mused.

As for relying on the Mini-World Game Console, it offers some very rare Abilities, but as for directly boosting my Cultivation level... I haven’t seen any rewards like that yet.

If my home were a place where Spiritual Energy naturally gathered, then even if I played games all day, I’d still have time for efficient Cultivation while eating, pooping, and sleeping. But such good fortune is never that easy to come by...

「Later that evening, on the subway ride home」

As he was nearing his stop, Ren Suo suddenly received a phone call.

"It’s me, Suo Zi."

"Oh, Chairman Xie!" Ren Suo immediately replied, "What’s up?"

"What do you mean, ’what’s up’...? Didn’t you ask me to find someone for you a few days ago? I found him."

"Find someone... Oh, Zhao Zili!" Ren Suo instantly remembered. "You found him?"

"I asked my uncle for help," Xie Qiansi explained. "He went to great lengths to find someone fitting your description..."

"How much will it cost?"

"Just remember this favor."

Ren Suo laughed. "As expected of Chairman Xie... Are you so certain I’ll be able to repay this favor in the future?"

"You’re someone who doesn’t focus on proper work and lacks ambition," Xie Qiansi stated. "But you consistently deliver unexpectedly noteworthy performances... I can only conclude that you’re exceptionally lucky. And luck, at any time, is the most solid form of capital."

"Alright, alright, thank you. So, you found Zhao Zili?"

"I found him." Xie Qiansi’s tone became a bit more serious. "Let me ask you something first: did you genuinely not know this person before? Did he offend you in some way?"

"Huh?" Ren Suo was puzzled. "I don’t know him. What’s wrong?"

"In the Mysterious Country, there are 674 people named Zhao Zili. Of those, only 51 match your age description of 16 to 30 years old. And of those 51, only two fit the physical and appearance characteristics you provided. One is in Heilongjiang, and the other is in Lianjiang."

"He’s in Lianjiang? What a coincidence!" Ren Suo was surprised. "Although, the person I’m looking for could also be the one from Heilongjiang..."

"Also," Xie Qiansi continued, "the Zhao Zili in Lianjiang is a drug addict and a diabetic. He has a criminal record for theft and robbery. About half a month ago, he was hospitalized after a fight with some thugs. Since he had no family and no money for treatment, he was just lingering in the hospital, barely clinging to life."

"Then, yesterday at noon, he kicked the bucket. Died. He should be in the Morgue by now."