"As I tear through the veil of dawn and twilight that covers this half-mile universe, the three-foot blade of azure light spins and cleanses the dust"—
Ren Suo, asleep on the sofa, heard his phone ringing beside him. He muttered something, grabbed the phone, glanced at the caller ID, and perked up a bit. Suppressing his grogginess, he answered the call, "Hello, this is Ren Suo."
"Ren Suo, you need to report to the Lianjiang National Security Bureau by 2:30 p.m. tomorrow." Director Ye's voice came through from the other end, "Just woke up?"
"Yeah..."
"Sigh, young people these days, sleeping in so late, just like my son in middle school..." Director Ye nagged. "Remember to come, alright? If you don't show, it will be considered a forfeiture of your interview spot."
"Forfeit my spot?" Ren Suo sat up, suddenly alert, "What spot?"
"It's not specified right now," Director Ye lowered his voice, "but if you pass, it's likely to be a direct transfer to the National Security Bureau."
"The National Security Bureau?" Ren Suo was surprised. "Are the benefits good?"
"Don't know," said Director Ye, "but the base salary is higher than a neighborhood office job, plus there are a bit more various allowances."
"Then I'll go!" Ren Suo said cheerily, discovering quite unexpectedly that he had been bumped up a notch in the employment hierarchy, which would make anyone happy: "Is there anything I should look out for?"
"Nothing special, but it's just you and Li Qingxuan that have qualified. You should communicate well with each other." Director Ye's voice was laced with a strange chuckle, "Li Qingxuan's mobile number is 14..."
After hanging up with Director Ye, Ren Suo rubbed his face, went to wash up and brush his teeth, and realized it was already 10 a.m.
10 a.m. on April 1st.
He had purchased "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters" on March 28th, and continued his climb from the 5896-meter-high base camp on the 30th. After pulling an all-nighter for two days and nights, he finally got the Truth Seeker to the ten-thousand-meter altitude last night at 11 p.m.!
The exhaustion of the process goes without saying, and the mental fatigue was even more crushing. After reaching the base camp, the game's difficulty skyrocketed. Initially, it was just a matter of wider gaps between platforms of varying widths, with the occasional fragile grey platform that would shatter upon contact.
But later on... It got tough...
The background abruptly turned into snowy mountains and ice cascades. The Truth Seeker, just by standing, might encounter the bitter gusts of wind that could blow her off completely, or sweep her away from her target foothold while jumping.
Then there were the slightly light blue platforms—you'd jump onto them, and they'd instantly sprout ice spikes resulting in a game over. Yet the safe platforms were hidden among the ice cascade platforms, sometimes the only grey platform was among them, with no other safe platforms in sight. The Truth Seeker had to jump onto it and then immediately leap again, relying on Ren Suo's quick change of direction for a safe landing.
Besides that, there were stormy weather conditions, with screens full of blinding snow, obscuring the safe platforms. In such cases, the Truth Seeker could only stay in a safe area and wait out the weather. Even after the storm Revelation eased, there would still be a whiteout area that only became visible once the Truth Seeker jumped in.
Additionally, it seemed the game had day and night cycles. Before reaching base camp, it didn't matter, but after base camp, the shift between day and night had a certain impact—such as not being able to distinguish the colors of the platforms...
The difficulty after the base camp, compared to starting from zero altitude, was like the difference between reciting pi forwards and reciting it backwards...
The most irritating part was that Ren Suo would occasionally see other stick figures. They weren't risking their necks jumping on dangerous platforms like the Truth Seeker, but were instead advancing slowly along an easy path. Whenever they saw the Truth Seeker, they would stop to ask if she needed help, with the game offering the usual two choices: "No thanks" and "No, thanks."
Through numerous deaths and challenges, Ren Suo controlled the Truth Seeker, climbing to checkpoints like the 6690-meter Advance Base Camp, the 7200-meter First Camp, the 7900-meter Second Camp, the 8400-meter Third Camp, the 9000-meter Fourth Camp, and the 9600-meter Fifth Camp...
Then, at 11:11 p.m. last night, Ren Suo finally got the Truth Seeker to climb to the ten-thousand-meter mark for the first time, leaping onto a shiny golden platform!
The next second, he fell asleep.
His tense body and mind, suddenly relaxed after achieving the final goal, plunged him into the deepest rest, lasting a full 11 hours until he was woken up by the phone. And then...
"Ah, ah..." Ren Suo found himself so hungry he could barely move and had no choice but to make a phone call, "Hello... two large bowls of beef brisket fried sauce Yi Noodles... Tianlan Garden 233 number 1506... right above your place."
Thankfully, he remembered the number for Jian Ji downstairs; otherwise, he might have truly starved to death at home...
Only then did he remember that he had cleared the game and quickly turned on his console to check his score.
'Mission accomplished.'
'Achieved the basic goal of the mission—60 points;'
'Final score is 60 points, rated as barely acceptable.'
'This mission's score: 60 points (barely acceptable); highest score for this mission: 60 points (barely acceptable)'
'Would you like to upload this result as the final outcome? Upon successful upload, you will receive Merit Points and an exclusive reward corresponding to your evaluation level.'
'Evaluation can only be uploaded once.'
"Only 60 points!?" Ren Suo was stunned. Isn't this game linear? How can there be differences in scores?
The mission rating was slightly different from "Assassin". In "Assassin", after uploading the evaluation, the game would also prompt that it would close. However, "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters" did not have this, suggesting bought games were different from free ones.
'Since the player earned a barely acceptable rating and met the hidden requirement, you will receive information on the hidden sub-mission for this chapter.'
"'Assassin' requires a decent grade to unlock hidden requirements, while this game just needs a passing grade... Is it because this game is too hard, or is it just too lowbrow..."
'Sub-mission: Only a strong person who is watched by others is truly strong, those unknown are just pitiful strong ones! Please let more people witness your ascent to the ten-thousand-meter summit, the more onlookers you have, the higher your score.'
Ren Suo was about to burst out laughing—what the heck, now I have to deliberately find an audience to show off?!
In certain novels, showing off includes all sorts of knowledgeable spectators commenting explosively on things from electrical circuit analysis to the material of the Emperor's chamber pot, and even what the next anime episode is about.
Even in TV series, movies, anime, or in-game cutscenes, there is often a deep, magnetic voice providing narration.
This game didn't care about having an audience, yet it insisted on showing off; insisting on showing off was enough, but now it required players to bring in people...
"Find people, find people... Where can I find people..." Ren Suo grumbled, and as the Jian Ji delivery arrived, he went out to get it. When he came back, he noticed the game had autosaved and returned to the Fifth Camp at 9600 meters.
At that moment, on the screen, five stick figures were departing from the Fifth Camp, struggling to move upwards...