So that's how it is...
Ren Suo looked at his balance, which showed only 2 Merit Points remaining, 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."
The game didn't offer any other prompts for score improvement. Even if it had, Ren Suo wouldn't have wanted 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 the next day, and he absolutely had to sleep now; he couldn't delay any longer.
The key point was, he was almost sick of playing.
Unlike the highly challenging climbing section before, helping the stick figures reach the summit was an incredibly difficult task that relied heavily on luck, especially since the game itself was inherently tough. Ren Suo had started helping stick figures from The Fifth Camp at 9,600 meters. Supposedly, covering the remaining 400 meters shouldn't have been particularly difficult.
However, however...
Not only had he ground away all night, but he had also spent an additional 4 Merit Points in the process. It made Ren Suo feel like the game was playing him.
Thankfully, it was now time for the harvest. Ren Suo forced himself to focus 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 activated in the Content Preservation Vault."
"'If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters' upload completed. Thank you for playing; there's endless fun in the Minor World!"
"How come it's only 24 points!" Ren Suo was stunned. "Where were the promised 40 points?"
Even though I only scored 80, they shouldn't deduct that much! I thought it would be 40 * 0.8 = 32 Merit Points!
Was that not how it was calculated?
If this game console were from some known system, I could at least question it and demand a refund. But the Mini-World Game Console doesn't even have customer service. Who the heck am I supposed to question?
Still, at least he had broken even and earned an extra 12 Merit Points. This round wasn't a loss.
Ren Suo opened the Content Preservation Vault. Inside, besides the Treasure Box, he saw a sphere of light flickering, emitting a soft green glow.
'Physical Fitness Optimization: A one-time reward that can strengthen the physical condition of any material life form. Disappears immediately after use. Can only be used by the player. The worse the player's physical condition, the greater the enhancement.'
The Treasure Box still required a key to open, but the One-Star Sleep Key Ren Suo had obtained previously was already used up. This meant he had to find another way to get keys to open the Treasure Box. This Physical Fitness Optimization, however, could be used right away.
"Do you confirm consumption of 'Physical Fitness Optimization'? Yes/No"
Choosing yes, Ren Suo watched as the green sphere of light in the Content Preservation Vault slowly dissipated.
"Hmm?"
"And then?"
A minute passed, and Ren Suo didn't notice any change in himself. Feeling depressed, he noticed the time was now 04:15 and yawned...
When he finished that yawn, it was already past 12 PM.
"Aah..." Ren Suo rubbed his eyes. He saw that the Content Preservation Vault display was still on the screen and took a full 30 seconds to recall how he had fallen asleep.
He first felt his rear and, finding nothing amiss, breathed a sigh of relief. 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 obtaining the Mini-World Game Console that he had woken up without his stomach making him feel as famished as a Tokyo Ghoul!
In the past two days, whenever Ren Suo woke up, he could barely get out of bed. Fetching takeout had required herculean effort. Now, however, he felt refreshed and clear-headed, 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 because he was lazy.
Ren Suo: "Hello?"
Aunt Jian Ji: "Mm-hm?"
Ren Suo: "Mm-hm."
Aunt Jian Ji: "Mm-hm."
Order placed. Ren Suo walked around the living room for a bit, becoming increasingly convinced that this must be the result of the "Physical Fitness Optimization."
But I don't seem to smell... Ren Suo sniffed himself and rubbed his arms—rubbing off a bit of grime—just normal sebum accumulation after sleep.
In Ren Suo's rudimentary and unscientific worldview, a physical transformation should involve some noticeable changes, like pores excreting toxins, making his whole body stink as if he'd been soaked in excrement...
However, Ren Suo looked at his pores—they were smaller than the eye of a needle. If pores that small could squeeze out excrement, then my blood must be mostly excrement too.
Besides, even these sebaceous impurities mostly consisted of airborne dust, cell debris, and bacteria; sebum simply binds them together to form dirt. Therefore, it's quite unrealistic for a normal person to expel toxins and fats through their pores.
To detoxify, one would probably use—
Damn!
Ren Suo scrambled into the bathroom. As soon as he dropped his trousers, he felt as though he were witnessing the dawn of creation: Pangu splitting heaven and earth with his axe, pure qi ascending while turbid qi descended, thunder rolling, stones resonating, waterfalls surging—a spectacular explosion of life...
It seemed to have been too potent. When Ren Suo left the bathroom and opened the front door, he saw the delivery man, who had clearly been waiting outside for several minutes. The delivery man looked as if he was about to complain. However, the moment he took a breath, his face turned purple. He quickly put down the takeout and fled.
After closing the front door, Ren Suo also silently closed the bathroom door. The weather in Lianjiang was starting to heat up in April. Although he had flushed, the airborne products of that great biological explosion had already begun their molecular agitation before the flush...
Ren Suo lingered for a moment but still felt it was too much, so he decided to eat on the balcony. After he had eaten and drunk his fill, his phone suddenly buzzed with a message.
"Director Ye from the Sub-district Office: Please bring two extra sets of clothes to the interview, just in case."
Extra clothes? Did the interview require a change of clothes? Ren Suo was stunned. Just then, his phone suddenly rang.
"Hello?" A clear female voice came from the other end. "Is this Ren Suo?"
"Speaking," Ren Suo replied, having just finished the fresh soup provided by Aunt Jian Ji, and smacked his lips contentedly.
"Are you eating? Sorry to bother you."
"No problem, I've finished. You are..."
"I'm Li Qingxuan. I'm the one who's also going for the National Security Bureau interview with you this afternoon."
"Ah." Ren Suo remembered. Director Ye had called him yesterday about today's interview at the National Security Bureau. The director mentioned there would be significant benefits if he passed and that another girl had also qualified.
"Did you forget?" Li Qingxuan sounded exasperated. "It's already one o'clock, you know."
"No, no," Ren Suo quickly denied, shaking his head. "I was just getting ready to leave... What did you call for?"
"This interview qualification feels a bit strange. I wanted to ask if you knew any inside information."
"How would I know? I'm just an ordinary college student," Ren Suo said shamelessly, glancing at the Mini-World Game Console in the living room.
"Then why don't we head to the interview together? At least we can look out for each other. How about we meet at the entrance of the National Security Bureau at two o'clock?"
Ren Suo became wary. "Is this a date?"
Li Qingxuan was equally cautious. "Wait, I thought you liked men?"