Fingers gliding over the Hell 4PRO Gaming Console that looked like a piece of art, Ren Suo placed it next to another unmarked circular game machine, his eyes darting back and forth between the two.
The Hell 4PRO Gaming Console was square, the front adorned with the Hell Corporation's trademark, resembling four square boxes stacked on top of each other at a slightly inclined angle.
Since the Hell 4 Gaming Console looked like it was made of three layers of boxes, and the Hell 4PRO appeared to have four, this version was dubbed online as the "True Hell Gaming Console," signifying three layers of Hell, four layers of Hell. Netizens even used photo editing software to create an image of the supposed Hell 18th Gen Gaming Console—yes, that's eighteen layers of boxes stacked up.
The Hell 4PRO Gaming Console came with everything – HDMI video output cable, original power cable, original USB cable, a Hell Corporation exclusive wireless Bluetooth controller, original gaming headsets, and the user manual.
This was the gaming console set Ren Suo had in mind.
On the other hand, the circular gaming machine—or more accurately, the black cylindrical object—was completely beyond Ren Suo's imagination.
He had no idea what this thing was for or how to use it.
If the Hell 4PRO Gaming Console was a stack of four boxes, then the circular game machine was like over a hundred circular plates piled up.
No logos, no cables, no controllers – it had nothing; it was like a product with no identifications.
When put next to the Hell 4PRO, the circular game machine was as subdued as a kebab-loving billionaire—yes, even Ren Suo, with his straightforward male aesthetics, thought the circular game machine looked much better than the Hell 4PRO.
The shiny black exterior, reminiscent of a crystal-clear shell, was indeed a sight for sore eyes. Even if he eventually deemed it useless, he'd still keep it at home as a decorative piece, as it certainly looked impressive.
However, after fiddling with it for a few more minutes without finding a power button and completely running out of patience, he set it aside and turned his attention back to the Hell 4PRO.
When Ren Suo took the game controller out of the box, he saw the light on the wireless Bluetooth controller suddenly come on, blue in color.
At the same time, a blue light emerged from the center of the circular game machine that he'd set aside, the whole device emitting a faint operational sound, and the wall-mounted TV in the living room suddenly turned on by itself.
Bewildered, Ren Suo watched as countless bizarre colors appeared on the TV, eventually coalescing into a blue sphere. A crisp and cheerful voice came from inside, proclaiming:
"Endless Fun in the Mini World!"
Ren Suo looked down at the Hell Game Company controller in his hand, then at the circular game machine without any connection cables, and then at the Xiaomi LCD TV that had turned on automatically.
"Can somebody tell me how a Hell Game controller can connect to this unidentified game machine, and how this machine links up to the TV?"
Suddenly, the screen went black, displaying new information:
"Wireless Bluetooth Controller 'Hell 4th Gen Pro Game Controller' detected, now automatically connected."
"4K Video Player 'Xiaomi L55M5-AB' detected, now automatically connected."
"Dear Player, welcome to the Mini-World Game Console, Endless Fun in the Mini World."
"Since you are using this product for the first time, please register for a World account."
Then a rectangular frame appeared, and by now Ren Suo was intrigued – this Mini-World Game Console was impressive, capable of wirelessly connecting to a Hell Company controller and a Xiaomi TV, full of futuristic black technology vibes. But as a die-hard gamer, why hadn't he heard of this console before?
The name suggested it could be developed by a domestic game manufacturer, but most domestic gaming consoles turned out to be duds...
Could it be a prototype of a new gaming console? But why was it sent to him?
Ren Suo now carefully inspected the package of the Mini-World Game Console and found that the recipient's name was indeed his, and the address was correct as well. The only odd thing was the sender's name, which he had never seen before—Naiser Company.
Ren Suo searched online for the company and found absolutely no information about it. However, he didn't dwell on this and turned his head to look at the TV, which was still on the stage of registering a World account.
"Name? Hmm? Can I directly use Xuan Wen phonetics?" Ren Suo was slightly surprised, remembering that Hell 4PRO personal accounts could only use English. It seemed that this gaming console must be domestically produced—fully utilizing Xuan Wen, which could be considered an advantage for Mysterious Country players who have been tortured by English and Japanese.
As for naming, Ren Suo didn't fuss over it either.
He had quite some experience in registering names as a skill, so to quickly distinguish his own information from spam emails and text messages, he chose to use a company's name directly as his own.
For example, when registering a Penguin Communications account, he'd register as Ren Penguin; for registering a Nine Cities Game account, he'd register as Ren Nine Cities—simple and crude.
Originally, he had thought that the game account linked to his newly-purchased console would be called 'Ren Hell', and if Xuan Wen couldn't be used, he'd go for English.
But this console wasn't from Hell Game Company; it was the 'Mini-World Game Console'.
Should he call himself Ren World?
Ren Suo remembered that the sender of this gaming console was 'Naiser Company.' At least, Naiser Company must be the distributor of this console, right? It shouldn't be wrong to reach out to them, right?
So, Ren Suo named himself "Ren Naiser."
The Mini-World Game Console suddenly emitted a red light aimed at Ren Suo, holding the controller, scanning his entire body and making him jump. At that moment, the screen displayed:
"Soul information, body information have been entered. Besides Ren Naiser, no other entities will be able to use this product."
"Ren Naiser, Level 1 player, welcome to the Mini World, where the fun never ends!"
Then the console's main interface appeared. Ren Suo saw no games on the screen, just a background of Earth amidst a starry sky twinkling with stars. He could even identify any planet from the Solar System directly through the background image. The background music was soothing and relaxing, quickly calming Ren Suo down.
"Not a bad interface, so what games are there? Where do I recharge to buy games?"
On the screen, there were two very large square options: "World Store" and "What Should You Do Now?"
Ren Suo chose "What Should You Do Now?" and then a prompt appeared:
"You'd best go to the World Store and play this week's free game."
"There's a free game too?" Ren Suo was a bit surprised. He remembered that Hell Game members also got free games every month, but Hell Game membership required a payment to buy.
And in this Mini-World Game Console, just by registering for membership without recharging, there was a free game?
"But it's probably just a very common small game, like pushing boxes around..."
Ren Suo entered the "World Store" and found it empty, with only "Free Game of the Month" and "Search." And when he went to select "Search," a prompt suddenly appeared:
"Searching once will cost 10 Merit Points, you broke ass can't afford it."
Ren Suo stared in bewilderment, only then noticing that his Merit Points balance showed zero in the upper right corner.
"The currency here is Merit Points? But you have to tell me where to recharge it! And isn't this prompt a bit too down-to-earth?" Ren Suo complained, then selected "Free Game of the Month." After a three-second loading time, a game appeared that looked very cool—
Assassin.