Ren Suo had seriously considered why he should choose "Over My Dead Body."
He knew that the games within the Mini-World Game Console were extraordinary. Before playing, the only thing he could roughly understand about the game from its introduction was that it was essentially useless.
In this situation, Ren Suo had to choose another kind of data to help him evaluate the differences between games.
"Assassin's Bloody Banquet," he had received an "extraordinary" score of 80 and was rewarded with 15 Merit Points;
"If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters," he had also received an "extraordinary" score of 80, but was rewarded with 24 Merit Points.
If one ignored the differences in the types of games, within the same scores, the same evaluations, and the same star-level difficulties, "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters" indeed offered more Merit Points than "Assassin's Bloody Banquet," and Ren Suo also clearly felt that the former was more challenging than the latter.
Thus, Ren Suo obtained an unverifiable conclusion: in the same star level, the games with higher maximum Merit Point rewards were more difficult.
Hence, the difficulty of "Infiltration: Chapter One," which had a maximum reward of 100 Merit Points, would be higher than "Over My Dead Body: Chapter One," which had a maximum reward of 80 Merit Points, although both were two-star difficulty games.
Excluding the option of a direct give-up on the extremely low cost-effectiveness "Slaughter Dungeon," the less challenging "Over My Dead Body" should be his best entry point for trying two-star games.
Otherwise, if Ren Suo chose a game too difficult to complete, it would mean that this month's free game opportunity would be wasted. Without earning Merit Points, even if there were discounts next time, Ren Suo might not be able to afford them.
Because acquiring the key cost 1 point, Ren Suo now had only 25 Merit Points, and he did not believe that amount was enough to afford much — the games from last month were already discounted at 50%, yet Ren Suo still could not afford them, only managing to buy a game like "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters."
Even if more discount promotions were encountered, they might not offer more than 50% OFF. If they were 10%, 20%, Ren Suo might just have to watch helplessly, waiting for next month's free game refresh to attempt earning Merit Points again.
"Slaughter Dungeon" was the safest option, but had the lowest cost-effectiveness; "Infiltration: Chapter One" was the most risky, but had the highest potential benefits.
As a traditional citizen of Mysterious Country, steeped in the doctrine of moderation, Ren Suo chose the middle road with "Over My Dead Body."
What, does Ren Suo seem too cowardly, not like a protagonist?
... After obtaining the Mini-World Game Console, Ren Suo still contemplated becoming a civil servant, which shows his lack of ambition.
His family wasn't very rich or noble, but they were an ordinary household, without ailments or pains; although he wasn't a standout person in his classes during school, because he always attended good high schools, he never faced school bullying; he also never had a girlfriend break up with him for a rich second-generation due to him being poor — first, he would need a girlfriend, of course.
However, Ren Suo didn't consider this as being cowardly but cautious — well, the meaning was still the same.
"Choose 'Over My Dead Body!'"
'Player has selected the free chapter. This month's free chapter of "Over My Dead Body" is "Chapter One: Historical Sweats," with a game difficulty: two-star.'
'This free chapter has a difficulty of two stars, with an exclusive reward of "Strong Heart Technique."'
'This game chapter playtime ends on April 31 at 23:59:59. After this time, the game will automatically delete.'
Upon entering the game, Ren Suo immediately felt the prestige of a game that not only offered numerous Merit Points but was split into chapters: like "Assassin," it had an opening CG.
"Late Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs held sway over the government, relatives of the emperor wielded power, and prominent families dominated all regions, leaving the common people unable to sustain their livelihoods …"
"In A.D. 184, the Yellow Turbans' uprising erupted, shaking the capital …"
"This war, which lasted four years, not only depleted the last of the Han royal family's essence but also led to local warlords carving out their territories …"
"In A.D. 189, Young Emperor Liu Bian ascended the throne, the battle between relatives of the emperor and the eunuchs intensified. Grand General He Jin died in the Imperial Palace, and before his death, he had summoned Dong Zhuo's army into Luoyang to control the court. That same year, Dong Zhuo deposed Liu Bian, installed Liu Xie as a puppet emperor, and declared himself Chancellor, monopolizing governmental authority."
"In A.D. 190, eighteen feudal lords formed the Eastern Alliance Army, clashing fiercely with Dong Zhuo's forces at Hulao Pass, neither side gaining a clear advantage. When Dong Zhuo's army moved to Chang'an, the lords harbored their own ambitions, and their unity began to dissolve,"
Ren Suo watched the ink painting depicting the fierce battle and nodded slightly, "Could this game be a strategy game? Like choosing a lord in 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' to rule all under heaven?"
During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the realm was divided into three warring states, a scenario Ren Suo was well acquainted with, not only from games but also from TV dramas and comics.
However, the style of the image abruptly transformed from a heavy sense of history to a horrifying spectacle of ghosts and ghastly figures: "However, when Dong Zhuo led the Western Liang army out of Chang'an, he not only forced the civilians to leave and burned the city, causing countless deaths, but he also desecrated tombs and destroyed all the imperial mausoleums of the Han Dynasty!"
"Emperor Guangwu of Han, using the art of aligning heaven and earth, summoned meteors from beyond the skies to annihilate all demons and ghosts, reclaiming the Han territories. Afterwards, he redirected the dragon veins of the Central Plains, with the Han royal tombs as the array's heart and the dragon veins as its channels. Utilizing the will of heaven, the energy of earth, and the great force of humanity, he sealed the spirit veins of the Central Plains, nipping the birth of all demons in the bud,"
"Now with the imperial tombs destroyed and the dragon veins in chaos, the great array has failed, and the spirit veins have re-emerged on the land of the Central Plains. The resurrection of demons is imminent, and the heroes of the world will benefit from the spirit veins. Henceforth, the world may descend into the dark ages of the Yin and Qin Dynasties, with demons sewing chaos with their mana, and heroes battling over the common folk with their immense power…"
"But Emperor Guangwu had already foreseen this and prepared a countermeasure."
"At the dawn of the Han restoration, to perpetuate the dynasty and royal lineage, Emperor Guangwu established the Yuntai Pavilion, assigning twenty-eight generals to gather all destroyed cultivation teachings. As the spirit veins were suppressed, cultivation dwindled to mere mortals, turning profound teachings into absurd legends that gradually disappeared, and the entire cultivation system of cultivators and demons directly collapsed,"
"If the spirit veins were to revive, it would mean the imperial tombs were damaged, the dragon veins disturbed, and the Han Dynasty in turmoil. For this reason, Emperor Guangwu located the descendants of the Marquis of Champion from the Huo family, sealing within their bloodline the Yuntai Pavilion cultivation methods and setting three locks on their lineage:
First, they must defend the Han Dynasty to the death and not interfere with political power;
Second, under the conditions of the first, eradicate demons to the death;
Third, under the conditions of the previous two, continue their lineage.
Violating any of these would trigger the curse of the Champion Bloodline, and the locks would become more stringent!"
"Now, as the hidden descendants of the Huo family, with the reawakening of the spirit veins, they have awakened the talents and mission hidden deep within their bloodline…"
The game CG ended there, and an input box popped up:
"Please enter the family surname: Huo."
Default is Huo... Ren Suo thought for a moment and naturally changed the surname to 'Ren'.
"Please enter the name of the first Family Head: **"
Based on the martial arts novels Ren Suo had read before, he input 'Woxing' because that was indeed the most imposing name he had heard for the Ren Family… He had once considered changing his name to Ren Woxing when he was in the third grade of elementary school, until his father, picking up a duster, told him, 'You want to be called Ren Woxing? Then I, your father, will be called Ren WoDa (Ren Wobeating).'"
Ren Woxing was subdued by Ren WoDa, and the plan to change his name was aborted.
The screen changed to show a mountain with several graves, and three young men were kneeling in front of the tombs, burning paper money.
The handsome and robust youth kneeling in the middle, named 'Ren Woxing,' said, "Second brother, third brother, stop crying, now only we remain in the Ren Family. We must shoulder the responsibility and fulfill our mission."
"Mission... mission?!" The third brother, Ren Feifan, wiped his nose and cried, "If we must complete the mission, then so be it, but why did our father, mother, grandparents, and uncles have to die so tragically!?"
"Third brother, recall our inherited knowledge," the second brother Ren Changsheng sobbed once and slowly calmed down, "This is the curse of the Champion Bloodline. Those born with the Champion Bloodline possess immense cultivation talent and a pure body. In an era when the spirit veins revive, they can rapidly become powerful Qi Refiners."
"However, a true pure body is almost 'Joining the Way', we are merely close to it. When we surpass twenty-four years of age, it is the time for a pure body to be achieved. Upon encountering spiritual energy, our bodies will be torn apart instantly… leaving not a single piece of flesh, only a pool of blood,"
"The Champion Bloodline is both favored by nature and cursed by destiny."
Ren Feifan burst into tears once more.