"So that's how it is..."
Ren Suo looked at his balance, which had only 2 Merit Points left, but it was all worth it—he had managed to raise his mission score to 80 points!
"Mission completed."
"Achieving the basic mission objective—60 points;"
"Completing the side mission—15 points;"
"Rescuing others—5 points;"
"Total score is 80, evaluated as 'Extraordinary.'"
"Current mission score: 80 (Extraordinary), highest mission score: 80 points (Extraordinary)"
"Would you like to upload this result as the final outcome? Upon successful upload, you will receive Merit Points and exclusive rewards corresponding to the evaluation level."
"Evaluation can only be uploaded once."
There were no other prompts for score improvement in the game, and even if there were, Ren Suo wouldn't want to continue—he had played all night just to barely meet the target.
Moreover, it was already 4 AM, Ren Suo had to go to the National Security Bureau tomorrow, and he must sleep now, no more delays.
The key point was, he was almost sick of playing too much.
Unlike the highly challenging climbing before, helping stick figures reach the summit was a very difficult task that depended on luck, especially since the game itself was tough. Ren Suo started helping stick figures from the Fifth Camp at 9600 meters, supposedly, covering the remaining 400 meters shouldn't have been particularly difficult.
However, however...
He couldn't help but grind all night, spending an additional 4 Merit Points in the process, making Ren Suo feel like he was being played by the game.
Thankfully, it was now time to harvest. Ren Suo gathered his energy and nervously uploaded the mission evaluation.
"Mission evaluation uploaded successfully. You have received 24 Merit Points. Please use them wisely."
"You have obtained a One-Star Treasure Chest*1, which can be opened in the Content Preservation Vault."
"You have obtained an exclusive reward: Physical Fitness Optimization, which can be opened in the Content Preservation Vault."
"'If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters' upload completed. Thank you for playing, endless fun in the Mini World!"
"How come it's only 24 points!" Ren Suo was stunned, where were the promised 40 points?
Although he only scored 80, they shouldn't deduct that much, he thought it should be 40*0.8=32 Merit Points!
Is that not how it's calculated?
If this game console was any other system, Ren Suo could have questioned and even asked for a refund, but the Mini-World Game Console has no customer service at all, no one to question...
However, at least he broke even and even earned an additional 12 Merit Points. That was a win.
Ren Suo opened the Content Preservation Vault, and he saw a sphere flickering and emitting a soft green light inside, besides the Treasure Box.
'Physical Fitness Optimization: A one-time reward that can strengthen the physical condition of any material life form. It disappears after use and can only be used by players. The worse the player's physical condition, the greater the enhancement amplitude.'
The Treasure Box still required a key to be opened, but the One-Star Sleep Key that Ren Suo had previously obtained was already used up, meaning he had to find another way to get other keys to open the Treasure Box. However, he could use the Physical Fitness Optimization right away.
"Do you confirm the consumption of 'Physical Fitness Optimization'? Yes/No"
Choosing yes, Ren Suo watched as the green sphere in the Content Preservation Vault slowly dissipated.
"Hmm?"
"And then?"
A minute went by, and Ren Suo didn't notice any changes in himself. While feeling depressed, he saw that it was now 04:15 and yawned...
By the time he completed that yawn, it was already past 12 PM.
"Ah..." Ren Suo rubbed his eyes, seeing that the Content Preservation Vault display was still on the screen, and it took him 30 seconds to recall how he had fallen asleep.
He first checked his rear and relaxed when he found nothing wrong; then he went to the bathroom to wash up and ponder what had actually happened...
"Wait a minute!?"
Ren Suo was shocked!
This was the first time since he had obtained the Mini-World Game Console that he had woken up without feeling as famished as a Tokyo Ghoul!
In the past two days, every time Ren Suo woke up, he could barely get up, and fetching takeout required herculean effort, whereas now he felt refreshing, stretching with exuberance!
After freshening up, Ren Suo pondered for a while and decided to order takeout—not because he couldn't go out but purely out of laziness.
Ren Suo: "Hello?"
Aunt Jian Ji: "Hmm?"
Ren Suo: "Hmm."
Aunt Jian Ji: "Hmm."
After placing the order, Ren Suo walked around the living room and became increasingly convinced that this must be the result of "Physical Fitness Optimization.'
"But I don't seem to smell...' Ren Suo sniffed himself and rubbed his arms—rubbing off a bit of old dirt, which was normal sebum accumulation after sleep.
In Ren Suo's rudimentary and unscientific worldview, a transformation of his body should result in some noticeable changes, like pores excreting toxins and making his whole body smell as if it had been soaked in excrement...
However, Ren Suo looked at his pores—they were smaller than a needle's eye. If such pores could squeeze out excrement, then his blood was almost entirely composed of it.
And even if it was these sebaceous impurities, most of them consisted of airborne dust, cell debris, and bacteria; the sebum simply stuck them together to form dirt, so it was quite unrealistic for a normal person to expel toxins and fats through pores.
To detox, one would probably use—
"Damn!"
Ren Suo scrambled into the bathroom; as soon as he dropped his trousers, he felt as though he was witnessing the creation of the universe, where Pangu split heaven and earth with his axe, pure qi rose, turbid qi fell, thunder rolled, stones sang, and waterfalls surged—a spectacular explosion of life...
It seemed too potent; when Ren Suo left the bathroom and opened the door to see the delivery man, who had been waiting for several minutes outside, the delivery man seemed about to complain. However, as soon as he took a breath, his face turned purple and he quickly left with the delivery.
Ren Suo also silently closed the bathroom door; come April, the weather in Lianjiang was heating up, and although he had flushed, the remnants of that explosive life event had already begun their molecular dance...
Ren Suo waited a while and felt uncomfortable, deciding to eat his meal on the balcony. After he had finished eating, he suddenly received a message on his phone.
"Director Ye: Please bring an extra two sets of clothes to the interview in case of emergencies.'
Extra clothes? Did the interview require a change of clothes? Ren Suo was stunned when his phone suddenly rang.
"Hello?" a clear female voice came from the other end of the phone: "Is this Ren Suo?"
"It's me." Ren Suo finished the fresh soup provided by Aunt Jian Ji and noisily licked his lips.
"Are you having a meal? Sorry."
"No problem, I've finished. You are…"
"I'm Li Qingxuan, we have an interview at the National Security Bureau this afternoon together."
"Ah." Ren Suo remembered, as Director Ye had called him yesterday to tell him about the interview at the National Security Bureau today, mentioning that there were great benefits if he passed, and that another girl also qualified for the interview.
"Did you forget?" Li Qingxuan couldn't help but laugh, "It's already one o'clock."
"No, no," Ren Suo shook his head in denial: "I was just about to leave... What do you need?"
"This interview call came under strange circumstances, and I wanted to see if you knew anything about it."
"How could I? I'm just an ordinary college student." Ren Suo glanced at the Mini-World Game Console in the living room and shamelessly claimed.
"Then let's head to the interview together; at least we'll have each other's backs. How about we meet at the entrance of the National Security Bureau at two?"
Ren Suo was wary: "Is it a date?"
Li Qingxuan was cautious: "Didn't you used to like men?"