Chapter 224: Chapter 224 – Promoted To A Level 4 Player!
Ren Suo was overjoyed, but he held his breath as he first looked at the details of the specialized reward he acquired from “The Mage Under the World Tree”:
[Small Holy Grail of Purity]
[Grade: 3-star Prop. Pre-requisites: None.]
[Effect: When equipped, the effects of all non-damage abilities would be increased by 30%~100% (the stronger the ability, the smaller the increase). The energy used by all abilities would be decreased by 10%~50% (the weaker the ability, the greater the decrease). There is an extremely low possibility (<1%) for a kind wish that the player has prayed for (must have been spoken aloud) to be fulfilled.]
[Remarks: ‘The only thing that cannot be given up is to wish’. Holy Grail Mages of the past depended on the small hope in them to suppress the wild thoughts of all living beings within them. Although that tiny speck of hope was eventually unable to save the world from becoming depraved, the hope that was passed on from one generation of these mages to the next turned into a small Holy Grail. Hidden within the large Holy Grail, the small Holy Grail wills to provide some assistance to these mages who are willing to bear the weight of the Holy Grail.]
Non-damage abilities…? Ren Suo thought that [Ability: Clothes], [Ability: Heal], [Touch of Recovery], and [Heart-Strengthening Ability] could be barely considered as non-damage abilities.
It was the second effect ‘energy used by all abilities would be decreased by 10%~50%’ that seemed more beneficial, especially for Ren Suo when he was treating Practitioners on a usual day.
The most interesting effect was the ‘extremely low possibility for a kind wish that the player has prayed for to be fulfilled’, with the given condition that the wish ‘must have been spoken aloud’ and ‘kind’. The hidden condition was that it was ‘random’—it was not an active ability.
In other words, if Ren Suo equipped the ability and said that he ‘wished to become a beautiful female warrior’, there was a chance that his wish would come true. However, the probability of a wish coming true was extremely low; if it did, it would, at most, be like an easter egg. Unless Ren Suo acquired other ability props which could increase the probability, this particular effect of the ability need not be taken into normal consideration.
However, amongst all of the items he acquired from playing the games, [Small Holy Grail of Purity] could be considered as one of the best items he received, in terms of its practical value. It was second only to [Combat Fighter (Partial)], which could do well in many occasions, formal and informal, both at home and outside, and in both group and solo combat.
“Up next would be…”
Ren Suo took a deep breath and slowly clicked into the system message.
[Congratulations, you have been promoted to a Level 4 Player!]
[Equipment Back-up Slot +1, Ability Slot +1, Prop Slot +1.]
[As a reward for becoming a Level 4 Player, you have 1 free chance at the ‘Fantasy Draw’!]
The next instant, the screen turned into that of a starry sky. The camera panned, and Ren Suo could see that the starry sky was actually a neatly arranged… roulette wheel!
The stars clearly divided the roulette wheel into segments of varying sizes. The glimmering starlight weaved into words on every segment, so that Ren Suo could see clearly what reward each segment represented.
The set up was incomparable and absolutely amazing!
[Fantasy Draw: The player may spend merit points to turn the roulette wheel once and receive a surprise grand prize. The Fantasy Draw will only appear whenever the player is promoted to the next level. Fantasy Draw chances remaining: 1.]
“Wow…”
Ren Suo exhaled lightly. Although he already knew that there would be an extraordinary event when he was promoted to a level 4 player, he was truly awed by the Fantasy Draw.
Just look at the possible rewards on the roulette wheel!
[Fulfill a Random Wish], [Heart-to-Heart], [Photographic Memory], [Enhanced Appetite]…
The rewards were all very practical, and would be able to enhance Ren Suo’s life in reality—he would become a winner in life if he drew any one of them!
[Super-optimization of Player Privilege], [Doubling of Ability Slots], [Doubling of Prop Slots], [Doubling of Back-up Slots]…
The segment size of those rewards was significantly larger than the rest, and it seemed that the Fantasy Draw was geared towards ‘game-based’ rewards. It hoped that the player would draw rewards that would enhance the capabilities of the game itself.
In addition, there were also extremely tiny segments whose rewards made Ren Suo’s eyes sparkle!
[Offering System from “The Mage Under the World Tree”], [Superpower System from “The Hitman”], [Fate System from “Immolation”]…
There were at least a dozen game systems that could be drawn!
However, the sizes of the segments for most of those systems were tiny, and Ren Suo did not know what the systems entailed in detail either as he had not played most of those games. Nevertheless, he knew what the [Offering System from “The Mage Under the World Tree”] could do: the special offerings could enhance the effects of magic spells!
In Ren Suo’s opinion, the so-called ‘offerings’ were no different from the Reiki items in “The All-Devouring Soul”; they were items of special significance.
For example, the teleportation spells commonly used by the mages were cast from offerings like [Bird Feathers]; to summon long swords and spears, the mages relied on [Sword Fragment] and [Spear Fragment]; to cast Forbidden Spells, the mages naturally made use of their own body.
As such, in the current era of Reiki rejuvenation, offerings should not be hard to find. However, there were no mages on Earth, which meant that the offering resources were virtually unlimited to Ren Suo. Furthermore, the types of offerings on Earth were far better than those in other worlds, so it was likely that there were many more significant and more meaningful offerings:
Perhaps, for example, he could use his hand as an offering and summon the corresponding 2D character or the like…
Apart from the Offering System, the [Superpower System from “The Hitman”] was decent as well. If Ren Suo could learn ‘Bullet Time’, then in the face of any danger… well, he would be able to delay his death.
Ren Suo drooled as he fantasized about leading a luxurious life. He wiped the saliva off the corners of his mouth, then began the draw excitedly!
“I have only one chance, I must draw a good one!”
Ren Suo closed his eyes and waited for the wheel to stop spinning. He opened his eyes for a split second and saw a ray of light, which shone through the entire universe of the star spinner, land on a segment taking up less than 5% of the wheel—
[Fulfil a random wish]!
“Alright then, I want ten more wishes!” Ren Suo said loudly, in accordance with the ‘correct method of making a wish’ that had been circulating on the Internet for a very long time!
However, the system ignored him: [Drawing a random wish…]
Eh? Ren Suo was slightly stunned. It was only then when he noticed the word ‘random’.
Could wishes be random too? It would not be drawn from the new year’s resolutions he made over the years, which magically vanished just four days into every new year, would it?
Nonetheless, Ren Suo’s new year’s resolution for the past six years had been to leave his single life and be in a relationship!
Could a girl suddenly appear out of nowhere for him to date?
No, if this ‘wish fulfillment’ worked in the same way as the Holy Grail, it would not even be a surprise if a guy appeared instead…
Ren Suo’s doubts did not last for long as the system quickly drew one of his wishes: [The wish ‘quicker development of hardware accessories for the game console’ has been fulfilled.]
“Why did you choose such a wish that many people would wish for… Why couldn’t you have given me a girlfriend…”
Ren Suo was indignant with discontent. He recalled that he really did make such a wish before; after all, playing games with the game controller and a mouse was somewhat troublesome in certain situations. However, the development of hardware accessories for the game console was completely out of Ren Suo’s control, and he had only thought about it casually.
Who would have known that that wish would be recognized by the system and be turned directly into reality!
“There are still some benefits to me, I suppose… Forget it…” Ren Suo muttered to comfort himself. He looked up at the screen and found that the roulette spinner had not disappeared.
[Fantasy Draw: Chances remaining: 0. The player may recharge a chance to draw by spending merit points. Merit points required to recharge: 200.]
“One recharge requires 200 merit points?” Ren Suo remarked as he blinked. He recalled the time when he first accumulated over 200 merit points, and Naisser Games sent him a message to advise him to save up and not buy more games.
The merit points were meant to be used here!
“Recharge! Draw!”
That was a limited time draw. If he missed the current opportunity, he did not know during which player level up would the draw appear again.
Merit points could be saved up slowly, but the limited time Fantasy Draw was a rare opportunity not to be missed!
The result of the second draw was: [Super-optimization of Player Privilege], whose segment took up 35% of the wheel!
The system prompted: [The player has only one privilege currently. The player privilege will be automatically super-optimized.]
Then, Ren Suo watched as his player privilege, [A Little Goes A Long Way] morphed into a new privilege which appeared in shimmering, golden words:
[Seizing All Opportunities: When making any purchase within the Mini Worlds game console, there is a 50% chance of spending 1 less merit point.
There is a 30% chance of spending 10 less merit points (the transaction cannot be of negative value).
There is a 19% chance of not needing to spend any merit points at all.
There is a 1% chance of triggering special effect ‘Profiteer’: the next purchase would not require any merit points to be spent at all (even if the value of the next purchase is higher than the number of merit points possessed by the player).
One (and only one) of the special effects would be triggered by this privilege. This privilege cannot be further upgraded.]
The 200 merit points spent… could still be considered worth it.
At the least, Ren Suo need not be afraid to spend his merit points in any game that had in-game purchases.
If the special effect ‘Profiteer’ was triggered, Ren Suo could even buy a game for free, regardless of its purchase value. Although there was only a 1% of triggering that special effect, he would already make a huge gain if it was triggered once.
[A Little Goes A Long Way] had already saved Ren Suo close to a hundred merit points. Now, with [Seizing All Opportunities], it certainly lived up to its name—whichever one of its effects were triggered, the effect was ‘brutal’.
“Draw again!” Ren Suo exclaimed as he proceeded to recharge again. However, he discovered that the number of merit points required to draw again had now increased to 400!
It doubled!
“Indeed, there are such restrictions…” Ren Suo muttered. He had already planned to exit the game and play games for a few more months to save up his merit points so that he had sufficient ‘funds’ for the Fantasy Draw when he leveled up.
One draw only required 200 merit points, which was still within Ren Suo’s limits: it only took about half a month for him to earn back the merit points, by clearing a 3-star game.
However, if the number of merit points required to recharge doubled each time, there was nothing that Ren Suo could do either—no matter how good he was at playing games, he would not be able to keep up with the exponential growth of the number of merit points required.
Even if it was not doubled but only increased by 200 merit points each time, the benefit-cost ratio was too low for Ren Suo to make use of it. Moreover, it was just a lucky draw—if he saved up for months and ended up drawing something that was not useful, it would be better if he quickly promoted to a level 4 player and be able to play 4-star games.
Ren Suo looked at the number of merit points he had remaining—460 merit points. Fortunately, he had managed to clear “The Mage Under the World Tree” and earned 276 merit points; otherwise, he would certainly not have sufficient merit points to recharge.
“Draw again!”
Watching as the number of merit points he had dropped from three digits to two digits, Ren Suo definitely did not regret it—when else would he make a gamble, if not now!
At the same time, Ren Suo had already closed his eyes and was trembling as he waited for the verdict of fate. It looked as if he had pawned all of his family’s fortune to bet on a soccer match and was watching the match on the stand in agony.
He slowly opened his eyes after a short moment and squinted at the screen.
It did not necessarily have to be related to game privileges, it would also be good to draw something related to real life!
Suddenly, Ren Suo’s eyes widened. He watched as the light shining through the universe of the star wheel landed on a segment that took up an area less than 1% of the roulette wheel!
————————
3 a.m., Main Library, Cambridge University, England.
It was a comprehensive research library with three floors and a total of 8 million books. At that time, it was brightly lit but empty. Apart from one or two small libraries that were open 24 hours a day, most large libraries closed before the day ended, and students were not allowed to remain inside.
“Let’s go, George!”
Old George, who had been drinking, stood up slowly. He walked into the brightly lit library with his companion and said, “It’s great not needing to carry a flashlight, I have a free hand to hold my beer bottle now. All thanks to the dead souls, all hail to the dead souls.”
His companion said, “You’re drunk, don’t blabber nonsense outside. Ever since the ‘dead soul killing incident’ in the library three months ago, many people have been talking about it to this day, and everyone’s still afraid.”
“I know, I know,” Old George replied as he patrolled the third floor of the library, dragging his beer belly along with him. All of the lights were on, and the path was brightly lit.
Although it was a waste of electricity, ever since the ‘dead soul killing incident’ which took place in a library three months ago, almost all of the libraries had to be lit at night; otherwise, the security guards were unwilling to patrol the compound.
If a paranormal incident really were to occur, the lights certainly would not have any effect, but at the least, it provided a sense of comfort to the personnel on duty. It was still better than playing hide-and-seek while using a flashlight to see in the dark.
Old George, who was in his uniform, burped as he leisurely patrolled the rows of bookshelves. He loved to drink, and yet the library was a place where thieves and burglars would not appear (original copies of important documents were stored elsewhere, and those which could be borrowed were duplicated copies). As such, what would be a better job than one which allowed him to drink some alcohol as he took a slow stroll?
“Eh?”
Old George saw a book lying on the ground. He walked unsteadily towards the book and picked it up. He fiddled with it and found that it was a book with a brown cover.
The texture of the book cover felt strange. It did not feel like leather, and neither did it feel like paper… Old George opened the book and looked at it. It was not written in English nor in German—either way, he could not recognize the words.
The spine of the book did not indicate that it was a book from the library, so it could have been a book that a student had dropped.
Although it was slightly troublesome, Old George still took the beige-colored book with him to place it at the front desk—the student who dropped the book would return to the library to retrieve the book when he needed it.
However, at that juncture, Old George turned his head to see a peculiar scene outside the window: there was a lush, dense forest, a flowing stream with glistening waters, blooming flowers…
Clang.
A slight noise sounded due to the wind blowing onto the window.
“I probably drank too much…” the stunned Old George remarked to himself. Then, he opened the alcohol bottle and took another sip from it. He muttered, “I must drink more to regain my senses…”
Suddenly, he looked down at the book in his hand and questioned himself, “What is this?”
Old George shook his head. In his daze, he squeezed the book into a gap in the inner bookshelf—unless all the other books were removed, it would not be possible to touch or see the book he had squeezed in. Then, he resumed his patrol.
When Old George walked away, a strange sound came from deep within the bookshelf. It revealed a fact in a language that was not from Earth:
[It was ‘him’ again.]