Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Free Reward!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Mini worlds of endless fun await.”
Ren Suo noticed that the opening sound played by the system when it was turning on had changed slightly. Previously, it seemed clearer and crisper as if a young lady was crunching tunefully on an apple; now, the sound appeared much more soothing, as if a young college girl was reciting a passage from the textbook calmly.
“As long as it doesn’t sound gloomy and ominous…” Ren Suo muttered under his breath. He used to like watching the animation of “Thriller Paradise”, but he would always end up skipping the OP (opening theme) as he was scared of hearing the different people saying “Welcome to Thriller Paradise” in various sinister and gloomy tones.
Ren Suo navigated to the safehouse inventory and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw his key still in the inventory, shining splendidly.
[1-star close friend key: +10% chance of receiving additional close friend-type rewards]
The description was typical and similar to that of the 1-star sleepy key. Ren Suo could make guesses as to what sleepy-type rewards could entail, but close friend-type rewards…what on earth could they be?
Could it be a 15-times magnification eyepiece? Or could it be an electron microscope capable of magnifying objects over three million times?
Regardless, Ren Suo soon found that it did not matter for now—his luck had not been sufficient for him to hit the 10% chance of receiving the reward.
He thought that it was better to believe that the promised rewards could actually be obtained rather than doubt the system. The game console could well be a holy treasure and would cut him some slack and increase his chances of obtaining the special rewards upon seeing that he was sincere and faithful. If licking the game console could earn him bonus points, Ren Suo was sure to do so to such a large extent that the console would appear to have been waxed.
Nervously, Ren Suo opened the treasure chest he had earned from completing the game [A Strong Warrior Ascends 10,000 Meters].
[You have used a 1-star close friend key to activate the treasure chest.]
[You have received the ability ‘Unlimited Energy’.]
[Unlimited Energy—Grade: 1-star ability, Pre-requisites: A physical body.]
[Effect: When equipped, the player would possess unlimited energy. Although the player will still be limited by the maximum capabilities of his/her physical body, the energy recovery rate is increased to the MAX physical ability value of carbon-based lifeforms that walk upright on the third planet from the sun in the Solar System located near the inner rim of the Orion-Cygnus arm of the Milky Way. In addition, any discomfort would be suppressed within tolerable limits of the player.]
[Action: For every 1 second using ‘Unlimited Energy’, the player’s lifespan will be shortened by 1 second.]
[Remarks: In the journey towards fame and glory, the Seekers trained hard and endured much suffering, depleting all of the energy that ordinary people possess. They signify the highest capabilities of ordinary people—but that is just the limit of ordinary people.]
“Eh…this seems like a formal explanation of the gameplay and settings…”
In the game [A Strong Warrior Ascends 10,000 Metres], it would have no big deal if he had just been a matchstick character jumping from one platform to another. However, it had been translated into reality by a female Seeker climbing the 10000-meter-tall Hyjal mountain, and it was highly illogical and unthinkable to have happened in real life.
Putting aside the last scene where the Seeker “Transcended Nothingness in accordance to Dao” (this was the explanation that appeared most frequently in the bullet comments on the screen, and this showed the increasing prevalence of online novels in influencing the spread of Taoist culture) for a moment, the fact that the Seeker could climb from 0 meters above sea level all the way up to the peak at 10,000 meters above sea level without any sleep or rest was sufficient to make people suspect that she could just as well be a robot devised by a mad scientist.
It is a known fact that no one on earth can survive without sleep, and only an extremely small handful of extraordinary people (less than five) can remain in a conscious state of full alertness for close to 24 hours. In actual fact, these people merely distributed their sleep times throughout the day, and thus they could complete one sleep cycle in tens of seconds when they closed their eyes for a very short amount of time. As such, it would seem like they could remain awake forever without sleeping. Regardless, the longest record for a human remaining awake without sleep was for 11 consecutive days.
It is also a known fact that no one on earth can survive longer than 2~7 days without water, and no one on earth can survive longer than 90 days without food. Nonetheless, these are extreme cases and in reality, these timings would be shortened based on one’s physical and mental conditions.
Without a doubt, the Seeker’s physical capabilities and mental conditions were those of the highest limits of humans. It did not seem illogical for the Seeker not to sleep or rest, nor eat or drink for five consecutive days…but as if!
In those five days, the Seeker was almost consistently expanding a large amount of energy as she climbed the cliffs and walked the forests. In contrast, those who held the records of not sleeping or eating or drinking for the longest periods of time would have been lying down to minimize movement and hence energy expenditure. Furthermore, there was no reason to doubt that the Seeker was fake for there was a video recording of her entire journey up the mountain, and there were even real people appearing in the video. There were absolutely no loopholes.
The Seeker had encountered people from Xuan Nation as well as those from other countries, and foreign video streaming sites on the internet were already bustling with the commotion about the Seeker. Some television stations had also conducted long-distance video interviews with people who encountered the Seeker while on their expedition journey. As such, there was absolutely no doubt that the Seeker was real.
The unquestionable fact that the Seeker was real was naturally the reason why people began suspecting that the Seeker was one of the group of special people who were termed as “Extraordinaires” or those who had “Awakened” and who were trending on the internet periodically. Furthermore, the last scene where the Seeker turned into a bright light made people’s minds wander especially wild.
Now, with the ability [Unlimited Energy], Ren Suo figured that she was not a Practitioner but an ordinary person. The strongest ordinary person on earth!
“But this ability comes at a price…that’s tricky,” Ren Suo said as he scratched his head.
For every one second [Unlimited Energy] is equipped, one second would be deducted from one’s lifespan. That meant that if Ren Suo equipped the ability when had 50 more years to live, his lifespan would be halved to just 25 more years when he might quickly age and die.
On second thought, Ren Suo figured that he may not even be able to live to half his original lifespan. Today, the probability of one dying of old age was low; instead, most people would suffer from geriatric diseases and die due to the immune system weakening with age. By this logic, after cutting his lifespan by half, Ren Suo thought that it was highly likely that he would grow into old age much faster and suffer from various geriatric diseases at a much earlier age and consequently die even earlier.
But I will still try it and see how it feels like first, thought Ren Suo.
Ren Suo opened the [Equipment] page and removed the currently equipped [Fighter Novice] ability. He then equipped himself with the [Unlimited Energy] ability.
The moment he equipped himself with the ability, Ren Suo felt that something was amiss.
He had felt lazy and slightly drained physically due to practicing the advanced breathing technique just moments ago as if an ordinary person feeling fatigued from a jaw ache after sucking on river snails. He also felt mentally drained as if he had just completed a three-hour-long comprehensive science examination and could not concentrate any longer. This was also why he had stopped practicing and returned to his game console.
However, after equipping the ability [Unlimited Energy], Ren Suo felt refreshed and alert, as if he had just finished reading a number of erotica books. He also felt physically energized like he had just ended work and relaxed like he had removed a few hundred jin of fats from his body.
Ren Suo stood up from the couch and started jumping around his house. He first did 100 push-ups and after realizing he was not tired at all, he started doing sit-ups while performing the advanced level breathing technique and continued practicing…
It was not until he felt slightly uncomfortable due to a full body of sweat that he stopped to wipe his sweat with a piece of cloth.
Ren Suo looked at the mirror and saw the sweat on his body as he felt just a hint of ache from his muscles. He thought that he had never felt so good—he could continue exercising and practicing!
“…It’s actually not bad,” thought Ren Suo happily as he unequipped the ability [Unlimited Energy].
However, the moment he unequipped the ability, Ren Suo immediately fell to the floor in the toilet as his legs momentarily lost all their strength! Fortunately, he was able to hold onto the washbasin with his hands, or he would have collapsed and hit the ground!
An immense, unending aching pain radiated through his entire body as if an octopus was attacking him. He felt as if his body no longer belonged to him; he was just a soul attached to a rotting physical body.
“Equip, quickly equip with [Unlimited Energy]…” Ren Suo thought Ren Suo. But he quickly dismissed the foolish idea.
After a good ten minutes, Ren Suo was finally able to straighten his waist slowly and crawled back to the couch like a baby. He looked at the ability [Unlimited Energy] in the [Backup] list on the [Equipment] page. A wave of fear rushed over him.
Ren Suo had never tried smoking before, nor had he ever tried using illegal drugs. However, Ren Suo knew that this ability had many similarities to those illegal items which were addictive.
They were both harmful and would lead to over-reliance. It would be hard to escape when addicted to them.
Ren Suo knew that if he equipped himself with the [Unlimited Energy] ability now in order to escape from the physical aching pain and mental tiredness, then he would become reliant on the ability for his entire life. He would never be able to escape from the grip of the ability and with it, his lifespan would indubitably be shortened by half.
With the ability, it was as if one escaped the hells and ascended to the heavens, and the feeling of a healthy body was naturally exceptionally tempting. Ren Suo even began to think that the ability could cause the brain to secrete more endorphins, for he felt that the ache and pain from his muscles seemed to be suppressed.
This was akin to having a tonic for a poison. If he did not want to age early, Ren Suo knew that he should only use this ability in times of emergency to save his life.
He understood that equipping such an ability just to last him through the night while playing games was a luxurious waste and he could only fantasize doing so.
After some time, Ren Suo figured that he still did not have the strength to head downstairs for his meal and decided to call the Jian Ji stall located downstairs with his mobile phone.
“Hello,” Ren Suo said.
“All right,” came the reply from the other end of the phone.
Ren Suo glanced at his phone and thought, did the telephone at the Jian Ji stall downstairs have a caller number display…?
Ren Suo sat up on the couch with some effort and opened the [World Store]. He navigated quickly to the [Free Game of the Month] section and exclaimed, “I choose you!”
After a night of contemplation and sleep, Ren Suo finally decided that the lucky game to be selected by him would be—
[Over My Dead Body]!
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