Mini World Game Console-Chapter 664 - 665 A Pit Kill and Reputation Damage
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Ren Suo was roused early in the morning, herded like pigs, donned a cat scarf, and followed his parents and sister to pay New Year's visits.
These so-called New Year's visits were essentially trips to relatives in the city for a casual sit-down and stroll. Although Ren Suo was still at an age where he could receive New Year's Money—the custom being that one stops receiving it after marriage, and Ren Suo always felt he could keep receiving it until he died—he no longer needed such small sums. Surprisingly, this year his relatives had given him hefty red envelopes; it seemed people were indeed growing wealthier.
The problem was that their conversations mostly centered around Ren Suo and Ren Xingmei. Only then did Ren Suo realize he was already renowned among his relatives as a 'high-quality blue-chip stock.' After all, labels like 'cultivation,' 'nationally famous,' and 'doctor (Healing Cultivator)'—any one of which would attract attention, let alone all three that Ren Suo possessed—effectively turned the family gathering into a consultation session for relatives.
A family consultation would have been manageable. However, the relatives knew an astonishing number of eligible young men and women. They were already pulling out their smartphones, ready to make introductions to Ren Suo and Ren Xingmei. Ren Xingmei cleverly hid behind Ren Suo, saying, "Let brother go first."
Facing this group of well-meaning relatives, Ren Suo couldn't outright refuse. But if he didn't, he would certainly be set up on blind dates. To be fair, Ren Suo had some self-respect as a boyfriend; he wouldn't go on blind dates while he already had girlfriends.
Most importantly, lying at home playing video games was so much better. Going out to make awkward small talk with strangers was incredibly dull.
But the relatives' argument was "just to get acquainted" and "expand one's network," which was rather hard to turn down. Even if Ren Suo bluntly said he had a girlfriend, it wouldn't work. Couldn't you meet new friends even if you had a girlfriend? Were you married to your girlfriend or something?
The relatives would probably only back off if Ren Suo claimed he was married.
After pondering for a moment, Ren Suo finally said, "Firstly, I am a virgin."
"Hmm, we can tell," the relatives nodded in agreement.
"...So, I do have some requirements for my other half," Ren Suo said seriously.
"Understood, understood," the relatives chimed in. "I get it, I get it, men are all like that."
"Yes," Ren Suo said, "so I hope that my other half is also a virgin."
"No questi... huh?"
The relatives blinked, exchanged glances, and then finally gave up on Ren Suo, no longer discussing the topic. Whether they believed him or not, Ren Suo had made his stance quite clear, and they saw no point in pressing the issue.
Plus, Ren Suo's move had indeed hit their Achilles' heel—they had no candidates who met Ren Suo's criteria.
"So... just chat more with your cousins," they said.
"Yeah, yeah!"
Everyone exchanged glances. After asking for the Wi-Fi password, they tacitly took out their phones to play. What was there to talk about when they only met once a year and could barely remember each other's names? Playing on their phones and snatching up red envelopes was more fun.
Ren Suo then continued his Divine Descendant-hunting journey in 'Light and Dark Traitor.'
Yes, Los was going monster hunting.
After Los returned to Dark Descending, Dragon Priest Kerinake believed his trip had been a great success. Sony's forceful suppression of Bargulf, the Governor of Snowy City, would surely incite dissatisfaction within the military towards the Xides faction.
Then Kerinake said, "Sony has the protection of a Divine Descendant like Lanaya; he's beyond our ability to kill. But since you can use Divine Descendant Cartridges and possess Infiltration skills, you should go to the Songarde Divine Realm and seize the Godlight Shard that is about to manifest!"
Through Kerinake's explanation, Ren Suo came to understand that the Songarde Divine Realm was a place similar to an Arena.
The Sixteen Great Monarchs had vast conflicts amongst themselves. To resolve these disputes and vent frustrations, they dispatched warriors to hunt each other in the Songarde Divine Realm and compete for the artifacts that manifested in the Didra Plane, like the Godlight Shard.
Kerinake himself only knew that the Godlight Shard was greatly beneficial to Divine Descendants. But since they were not Divine Descendants themselves, they did not know its true effects. Thus, Kerinake hoped that Los merely participating in the fight for the Godlight Shard was incidental; his true aim was for Los to eliminate other Divine Descendants.
"This Godlight Battle, organized before the invasion, is likely intended to suppress the conflicts between the Great Lords, and even to determine the distribution of servants after the Great Lords cleanse the world. Therefore, the most favored Divine Descendants of the Great Lords are sent to Songarde. But those Divine Children, who are the most favored and second only to the Blood Offspring, are merely responsible for commanding and observing; they don't enter the battlefield themselves, unlike Sony in the past.
However, Sony is now a Blood Offspring, and he no longer needs to participate in the Godlight Battle.
If you can impersonate someone and assassinate other Divine Children, it will undoubtedly cause political upheaval, possibly even leading to the fracturing of Didra. The death of other Divine Descendants is one thing, but Divine Children are equivalent to the next generation of Blood Offspring, the next generation's proxies for the Great Lords. If a Great Lord doesn't reclaim justice for this, they'll lose all authority!
Once the political situation is chaotic and the surveillance network fractures, we'll have our chance to pull the Great Lords down from the world's apex and restore Didra!"
Los also knew he was currently unable to kill Sony. His own lack of strength, however, made him perfect for hunting Divine Descendants. After all, his One-Star Werewolf Divine Descendant Cartridge was a mere pittance and desperately needed upgrading.
The Songarde Divine Realm was completely a No-Hunting Zone; it was inaccessible via spatial travel and situated on an isolated island in the ocean. The island was also sealed off by brilliant barriers, so Ren Suo could only have Los lurk in the sea, waiting to ambush a Divine Descendant.
But it seemed the Godlight Battle had already started; arriving now would certainly mean being late.
It was unclear how long Los had been waiting in the game, but soon, while drifting in the sea, he locked onto three Divine Descendants flying ahead. Without wasting words, Los immediately initiated a surprise attack with an Action Card. Attack!
"Devil's Return Wolf's Roar Ice Blocking River!"
The sea environment was just too perfect for Ice System Spells. In an instant, Los transformed into a fluffy werewolf and, along with the river of ice, surged towards the Divine Descendants like an ice mountain collapsing into the sea!
It was night, with Azura's Star Moon gazing down upon the world. Perfect cover for murder and arson!
"How dare you!" the three roared in unison.
But it turned out that those who arrived late were often the underachievers. These three Divine Descendants' combat power was not only incomparable to Lanaya's but even a notch weaker than Wilcas's.
They faced off against the werewolf Los, who reacted almost instantaneously, and were immediately thrown into disarray and utterly crushed. Moreover, the ice palace created by his Ice System Spells effectively prevented their escape.
"Divine Child Magina, flee!" Among the three, two appeared to be guards, desperately trying to stop Los. However, this merely reminded Ren Suo, who immediately instructed Los to focus on the weakest, the Divine Child, and beat him relentlessly.
This shameless action stirred their rage. "You coward!" "Your infamy is known from Snowy City to Solitude!" "You must be Sony's whelp, aren't you?!"
However, their clamoring was futile. Los's superior Physical Condition and explosive power left them in disarray, effortlessly crushing them.
"Great Lord Vicus will not spare you!" the Divine Child screamed in anger before being torn to shreds by the werewolf's blood-slicked claws.
Next, of course, came the exciting time to collect the spoils. Upon careful inspection, Ren Suo was truly thrilled.
Firstly, these three contributed four Divine Descendant Cartridges: two 'One-Star Sage' and two 'One-Star Blind Fool.'
"'One-Star Sage': Significantly increases constitution and reaction speed, has extremely high resistance to all Energy damage; each attack can jolt the opponent's mind, sowing mental confusion."
"'One-Star Blind Fool': Significantly increases constitution and reaction speed, has extremely high resistance to all Energy damage, reflects a portion of Energy damage, automatically avoids targeted Energy fluctuations; each attack drives the opponent into a frenzy. Active effect: Refresh any one ability, 10-minute cooldown."
Ren Suo then recalled that when Los was fighting them, his Action Card selection time had been drastically reduced from 5 seconds to 3.14 seconds. But even if they managed to hit the werewolf Los, it wasn't a major issue, as he could withstand several hits. So Ren Suo hadn't paid much attention to tactics, simply letting Los charge forward and brawl.
Now, looking back, he realized it was the opponents' Divine Descendant Cartridges that had caused Los's mental confusion.
However, this had no actual effect on Los, because it was Ren Suo who controlled Los.
Who would have guessed? Behind this successful man stood an even more successful one!
These two types of One-Star Cartridges were primarily effective against ranged magic units. Since Los was currently a melee combatant in his werewolf form, their Energy resistance was largely negated.
Although both the 'Blind Fool' and 'Sage' were One-Star, the former was clearly a tier stronger than the latter. Since it came from a Divine Child, it seemed there were tiers even among One-Star Divine Descendant Cartridges.
The active skill 'Refresh' was also quite useful. Ren Suo had noticed that after using Action Cards with abilities like 'Shield of Darkness' or 'Phantom Strike,' similar Action Cards wouldn't appear for the next few rounds, leaving only ordinary actions like 'Feather Dodge' and 'Demon Wolf's Inferno.'
Then, there was the most important loot—
"'Armor of the Hope Divine Child': Spiritual Energy Defense Value 0/10,000. For every 2,000-point decrease in Defense Value, automatically casts a high-priority Purification Spell, removing all abnormal conditions from the wearer."
"'Belt of the Wish Divine Child': 7 slots. Each additional Vicus series cartridge increases the wearer's physical resistance by +5%. Can equip 2 Divine Descendant Cartridges."
It could equip two Divine Descendant Cartridges!
Ren Suo had Los update his equipment. First, like Son of God Magina had, Los equipped two 'One-Star Blind Fool' cartridges. Then a prompt popped up: "Identical Divine Descendant Cartridges: Cartridge effect amplified by 1.5x."
Two of the same Divine Descendant Cartridges, only a 1.5x effect…
Then, he tried a combination of 'One-Star Sage' and 'One-Star Blind Fool.' The prompt still indicated 'Identical Divine Descendant Cartridges,' but the amplification was only 1.2x.
Next, Ren Suo switched to a combination of 'One-Star Blind Fool' and 'One-Star Werewolf,' and finally, a different prompt appeared:
"Activated synergy effect 'Blind Hunter': Conduct a sneak attack on a teammate who trusts you, guaranteeing a 3x critical hit."
Ren Suo's eyes lit up. That's it! This will be handy very soon!
Only Los could equip multiple Divine System Cartridges from different series, as each cartridge was encrypted and unusable by others. Only Los, with his 'Better Loot' ability, could directly decrypt them, making him the ultimate freeloader.
Then Los 'assimilated' Magina's body. When he emerged from the ice fortress on the sea, he had become Son of God Magina!
Los's new identity provided an introduction: "Magina, the beloved Divine Child of Great Lord Vicus, the designated successor for the next generation's Bloodline Great Law. Great Lord Vicus mainly oversees the 'Chaos Law Brigade,' tasked with hunting down traitors, and is not particularly interested in power but detests slaughter-loving Great Lords like Mei Nielusi, Morag, and Namira. Vicus is an elegant Great Lord who enjoys inducing Despair through pranks and abhors gratuitous death and bloodshed."
"Magina's subordinates had already arrived at Songarde; he was slightly delayed because he had to deal with a male vampire."
These Great Lords really are like dogs fighting among themselves, the eunuch dog looking down on the mangy dog, Ren Suo thought.
With a legitimate identity and the [Token of Songarde] as his pass, Los took to the sky and flew directly towards Songarde. Divine Guards patrolled the periphery of Songarde. Upon seeing Los, they hurried over. "Divine Child Magina, have you come alone?"
Possessing Magina's complete memories, Los said nonchalantly, "Has the Godlight Shard appeared?"
"It seems not yet. Please follow this way; your warriors await your command." The Divine Guard led Los to another side of Songarde, directing him to enter through the barrier on that side.
With the Token, Los passed through the barrier without any obstacles and arrived at the God-Battle Ground, Songarde!
The sky above was not adorned with stars, the moon, or the sun, but rather by an ethereal river of galaxies resembling silken ribbons. Before him lay mountains, rivers, and forests, devoid of any high-tech surveillance.
This was the purpose of the God-Battle Ground: to cast off all restraints, let blood and death resound through heaven and earth, further solidifying the chains of hatred. However, the defeated must bow to the victor!
As soon as Los entered, thirteen people surrounded him and said in unison, "Greetings, Divine Child!"
Thirteen people, that means thirteen Divine Descendant Cartridges for the taking, Ren Suo noted.
The game presented three options: "'Ambush and kill them,'" "'Lead them into battle against others, then betray and kill them all,'" "'Fight normally, secretly collecting cartridges.'"
Is there even a choice to make?! Ren Suo decisively picked the second one.
Los looked reluctant. Do we really have to do this? Then the three options reappeared.
Ren Suo still chose the second one.
Los sighed and questioned his subordinates, learning that the contingent of Great Lord Valmina's Divine Child was to the east.
"How strong are they?"
"We are stronger than them!" the warriors boasted proudly, implying their combat strengths were comparable.
"Do we have a grudge against them?"
"No, our relationship is alright."
No grudge is even better, Ren Suo thought, forcing Los to lead the team eastward. It wasn't long before they spotted a group of female Divine Descendants.
"Crobelus!" Los shouted. Internally, a voice supplied: Crobelus, Great Lord Valmina's favored Divine Child. Her attack method is suspected to be Mental Shock.
The opposing Divine Child hesitated for a moment. Instead of attacking, she stopped and waited for them, then asked, "Magina, what brings you here?"
Crobelus had green hair, pale skin, and wore a black and white apron, looking much like a Corpse Ghost. Los slowly approached, inventing a pretext. "I just encountered those bastards from Morag's faction. Want to team up and annihilate those dregs?"
This reason didn't arouse suspicion. Crobelus frowned slightly and replied, "That's your business. I'm not interested in getting involved."
Los edged closer and said, "But I know that several of your Divine Descendants were tricked and toyed with until broken by Morag's people."
Crobelus replied, "Whose people haven't been messed with by Morag's faction? They only dare to target those newly promoted 'outsiders.' I couldn't care less."
Los thought, So even if one advances to become a Divine Descendant, they're still looked down upon by the established ones? If they're violated, no one will protect these new Divine Descendants…
This distance was sufficient. The game presented a surprise attack Action Card. Ren Suo immediately selected it, but Los was still hesitant. Must I really harm others to survive?
This was different from before. Los was now consciously setting these people up, and the psychological burden was immense.
Therefore, a single tap wasn't sufficient; the player had to tap ten times within five seconds.
The relatives, seeing Ren Suo tapping furiously on his phone, assumed their cousin had joined a chat group that frequently sent out red envelopes.
After ten rapid taps, Los finally cast aside his reservations and unleashed 'Devil's Return Chaos Burst' directly at Crobelus!
With the boost from 'Blind Hunter,' he achieved a triple critical hit; it shattered her armor and obliterated her head!
"Kill them!" Los bellowed.
"Avenge the Divine Child!" Crobelus's subordinates went mad with rage. Their Divine Child had been slain before their very eyes! Even if they survived and escaped, the Great Lord would undoubtedly sentence them to death by eternal nightmare! They had to kill the murderer to have even a sliver of hope for survival!
Magina's followers were also stunned. Though they didn't understand why their master had suddenly killed Crobelus, the enemy was attacking, so they had no choice but to counterattack. "Protect Divine Child Magina!"
They hoped Magina would retreat immediately. However, once Los entered a combat state, he once again became the master of the battlefield, assisting his new subordinates in annihilating all dozen-plus opponents!
Of course, some enemies attempted to flee using Teleport, and Los would make a show of chasing them. By the time he returned, his subordinates had finished off the enemy. However, they had suffered heavy losses themselves; everyone was injured, and only six remained.
Given that all involved were powerful Divine Descendants and the enemy had fought with desperate ferocity, such a casualty rate was to be expected.
Seeing Los return, a subordinate immediately said, "Divine Child, with only these few brothers left, it will be difficult to contend for the Godlight Shards. Divine Child, why did you kill Crobelus? How will we answer to the Great Lord for this?"
Then Ren Suo picked an interesting option, and Los said, "Hmm, come closer. The reason I killed her... is a secret."
As his followers gathered around, Los unleashed 'Devil's Return Wolf Claw,' slaughtering all the survivors with a single swipe.
Standing atop a pile of corpses, Los lamented softly, "Must I truly harm others in order to survive?"
Ren Suo chuckled and had Los gather the cartridges.
A whopping twenty-eight of them!
Although most of the cartridges were the same, like 'One-Star Sage' and 'One-Star Prophet,' only Crobelus's 'One-Star Death Prophet' was relatively rare.
Ren Suo then selected a few cartridges, spent 10 Merit Points, and initiated the reset process.
'Werewolf,' 'Ogre Magician,' 'Prophet,' 'Sage,' 'Shadow Warlock.'
On his first try, 'Werewolf' appeared, and Ren Suo quickly selected it. He then spent over forty more Merit Points on resets before a second 'Werewolf' showed up. Adding the 'Werewolf' cartridge he'd obtained from Wilcas, he finally had three identical ones!
Fusion!
There were no flashy special effects—the three cartridges simply vanished, and a new one appeared: 'Two-Star Werewolf.'
Once equipped, Los's body radiated a blood-red aura visible to the naked eye, and the synergy effect 'Blind Hunter' had its critical hit damage boosted from 3x to 4x!
His Life Value, Spiritual Power Points, and all attributes increased dramatically!
The only drawback was that resetting cartridges was incredibly expensive in terms of Merit Points. It cost 10 Merit Points per reset, with no guarantee of getting the desired cartridge. Even Ren Suo, with his 'Plucking Feathers from a Flying Goose' innate talent, found it unsustainable.
Just then, a game prompt popped up:
"Because Los successfully synthesized a Two-Star Demigod Card, 'Better Loot' has unlocked an advanced reset option."
"You can now consume one Divine Descendant Cartridge to reset other One-Star Divine Descendant Cartridges."
Ren Suo's eyes lit up.
Compared to 10 Merit Points, these Divine Descendant Cartridges—which he could snatch by the dozens in the game—were practically worthless!
Ren Suo had initially thought he might gather all the necessary cartridge materials in one go this time, but it now seemed he was still far from having enough.
Ren Suo then consumed all his remaining cartridges and finally managed to roll two more 'One-Star Blind Fool' cartridges!
After synthesizing the 'Two-Star Blind Fool,' the 'Blind Hunter' critical hit damage increased to 5x!
Los lowered his head, gazing at his power-filled hands. Suddenly, he looked up, seemingly past the screen at Ren Suo, and said, "Let's go! I see figures up ahead!"
Ren Suo blinked. You little rascal, he thought. Just a moment ago, you were lamenting, 'Must I truly harm others to survive?' and now you're eagerly leading the charge!
At that moment, Ren Suo heard his sister Ren Xingmei suddenly start giggling beside him.
He turned his head and saw Ren Xingmei holding her phone, scrolling through her Moments feed. He leaned over and asked with a smile, "What's so funny?"
Ren Xingmei turned her phone screen towards him. After Ren Suo glanced at it, his expression instantly darkened.
His sister had actually recorded his earlier dialogue of 'I hope my better half is also a virgin' and posted it on her Moments — he'd faced the relatives head-on for her, and she'd backstabbed him!
Ren Suo shot his sister a fierce, mock-angry glare, like a little tiger. Ren Xingmei immediately feigned pitifulness, saying, "Don't worry, this post is only visible to your friends; no one else can see it. It's fine!"
"What do you mean, 'it's fine'? This is a serious problem, okay?!" Ren Suo glanced at the comments and likes under the Moments post, feeling his public image had taken a serious hit.
Yu Kuangtu, Li Dan, Zhao Huo, and Bai Ji had liked the post.
Yu Kuangtu: "Good thing I'm not one."
Li Dan: "Good thing I'm not one. But Vice-Director, is it really appropriate for you to say this here?"
Yu Kuangtu replied to Li Dan: "Damn it, I was kidding! I actually still am."
Qin Lian: "..."
Zhao Huo: "I was wondering why he was suddenly so nice to me last night! So that's why... Little Star, please tell him for me: we're friends for life, but we can't be 'bed-friends' for life."
Bai Ji: "A very reasonable request."
Qiao Muyi replied to Bai Ji: "...Get lost."
Gu Yueyan replied to Bai Ji: "??? Teacher Bai?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Qiao Muyi replied to Gu Yueyan: "Private chat."
