Mini World Game Console-Chapter 732 - 733: Door of Truth
Ren Suo instantly knelt when he saw the content of the game.
Do I really need to learn AE, PS, and PR to play a game?
Although it seemed interesting, if he wasn't mistaken, the moment Ren Suo edited the video content, the subsequent video content would also change, giving a sense of the Butterfly Effect.
But what did it mean to use AE, PS, PR, and Aegisub? Add battle effects with AE? Beautify the protagonist directly with PS and Meitu XiuXiu? Was Aegisub supposed to add subtitles for the protagonist? Add BGM through a music player?
Ren Suo conjured an image in his mind: In the majestic BGM, the protagonist, embellished with eighteen layers of filters, struck a punch, delivering a five-cent Fire Fist effect. Although the protagonist didn't speak, the name of the move, "Flame Special Effects Punch Made After Three Hours of Learning," appeared on the screen; the enemy was turned to ashes.
Of course, the actual gameplay was certainly not like this, as I feel it's unlikely I would be able to create a Flame Special Effects Punch in just three hours...
So Ren Suo shifted his attention to the second game:
"Door of Truth"
"This game is a role-playing adventure game.
The good follow you, the evil admire you.
The light yearns for you, and the dark also hopes for you.
You are an existence that transcends everything, the color coated on all things by the gods.
Door of Truth, descend.
The Player will become the Gatekeeper of the Door of Truth, battling to protect and open the Door of Truth. The Door of Truth is the essence of everything, the root of past, present, and future; it represents immortality, liberation, Redemption, the end, the beginning, the whole, and the one.
If you want to receive a reward, you must pay a price.
As long as you pay the price, you will surely receive a reward.
As the Gatekeeper of the Door of Truth, the Player will control the power of Equivalent Exchange.
The completion reward is 500 Merit Points, and the exclusive reward for completing the game is the 'Door of Truth.' There are in-app purchase options and possible subsequent chapters; the game's difficulty level is 6 stars."
It was Ren Suo's first time seeing a situation where the "game name is also the exclusive reward," which was rare in the gaming world. It was similar to a game titled "To Battle with a Millennium-Old Friend, I Personally Sacrificed My Fairy Wife or Undead Sister to Forge a Sword" or "You Don't Know Why You are Here, but You'll Soon Go on a Killing Spree and Turn into a Box"—too crude and clear, with an obvious outcome.
However, this game indeed had the confidence for such a naming.
According to the description, the astonishing Door of Truth was such that Players could obtain this exclusive reward simply by completing the game.
Even though I don't yet know what it could be used for, I feel it could be useful: for instance, sacrificing a clone every day could at least get me some spicy crab, garlic stir-fried clams, or braised prawns, right? Or at the very least, some daily necessities like firewood, rice, oil, and salt?
Upon further reflection, Ren Suo realized his life was already quite affluent. Although not financially independent, with Qiao Muyi taking charge of his work and Gu Yueyan ensuring his safety, he lived a relaxed life.
For food and housekeeping, he either freeloaded meals from Dong Chengling Family or let his clones get takeout before doing housework, maintaining a healthy and clean lifestyle.
In terms of entertainment and games, with help from his sister and his clones, unless he was playing ranked matches with Lin Xianyu, he was mostly likely to get carried by his teammates, making for a good experience.
He just needed to see when Luna would improve relations with the Moon Chanter; then Ren Suo could move freely in his dreams. Even if his Lifespan did not increase, the Freedom in his dreams would alone extend his life by a third.
So, after some thought, Ren Suo realized he actually didn't have much Desire for the Door of Truth.
If the Door of Truth really possessed all Knowledge of the past and future, could I play future consciousness-diving games, directly entering an era of brain-computer interfaces and the communistic Datafication of souls?
Of course, the most likely scenario is that once I obtain the Door of Truth, I could rise to unprecedented heights, becoming the strongest in the world, punching Angel Zack, stepping on Taoist You Jian, commanding universal allegiance, surrounded by a harem of thousands, and partying every night until exhausted...
But I think diving into consciousness games seems a bit more interesting. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Although I feel sure it wouldn't be such a great windfall, and even if it were, it would certainly cost me a significant price. Regardless, I'll have to complete the game and obtain the Door of Truth before anything else; otherwise, it's as meaningless as fantasizing about a future child's name upon seeing a Goddess.
There isn't much to hesitate about; I'm not much interested in "Observer of Destiny," so I can't just ignore this six-star game.
Choose "Door of Truth"!
The game downloaded rapidly. Unlike on a flat screen, in the VR perspective, Ren Suo could clearly see the main interface sweeping through countless streams of blue-silver data as if receiving a data stream from a distant server.
As the chaotic streams gathered, they formed a new game icon—
In a pure white space, an ancient gate hovered, surrounded on all sides, originating from it.
"Door of Truth"!
Ren Suo eagerly chose to enter the game. After a few seconds of black screen, the game suddenly popped up a prompt:
"Significant changes detected in external device; proceed with game adaptation?"
Figures. The Mini-World Game Console had not anticipated Ren Suo being rich and reckless enough to actually buy the extravagance of Pandora's Magic Box. It had still prepared a flat-screen game for Ren Suo.
Not to waste the 36 months of installment payments, Ren Suo naturally chose to proceed with the game adaptation.
"After the game adaptation, the game mode will undergo significant changes; Players should explore on their own."
It wouldn't have been originally a text adventure game that I now forcibly turned into an action combat game, would it?
A moment later, as darkness dispersed, Ren Suo found himself standing in a vast, pristine space.
The light source poured directly down, casting a rectangular shadow on the white ground from the ancient gate suspended before Ren Suo's eyes.
Ren Suo looked down at himself. He was completely naked, yet his body was thinner than his True Form, his hair slightly longer, and devoid of any sexual characteristics, resembling a Divine Messenger from religious myths or a human of the V1.0 asexual reproduction version freshly sculpted by the Goddess Nüwa.
Hopping and jumping around, although his body was different from his True Form, he felt no discomfort. It seemed the Mini-World Game Console's game adaptation and optimization were top-notch.
There were no guidelines in the game, no "Start Game," no "Continue," and no "Exit Game." Ren Suo tried to run into the distance, yet the pure white space was boundless, with no edges.
However, when Ren Suo wanted to return, he teleported back in front of the old-fashioned gate. The experience was quite thoughtful.
Ren Suo raised his head to examine the old-fashioned gate, noticing it was roughly ten meters tall and one meter thick, with ten interconnected rings on the face of the gate—three on the left, three on the right, and four in the middle, adorned with script unreadable to him.
He placed his hand on the gate and pushed hard!
The gate didn't budge an inch.
However, Ren Suo saw a small 10×10 matrix appear on the left side of his vision, filled with four types of beads: burning flames, swirling winds, crystal-clear water drops, and solid earth.
Curious, Ren Suo tried to tap the matrix, but as he waved his arm, he saw a Fire Pearl and a Wind Pearl swap places in the matrix.
Then three Fire Pearls lined up and boiled away. Simultaneously, a crimson Radiance emerged over his naked body. Sensing something, he punched the ground, shattering the pure white floor instantly!
Although the floor quickly returned to its original state, my punch hadn't even left a mark before!
After trying again, Ren Suo got the hang of this matrix system.
It was actually quite simple; when at least three beads connected, they would be eliminated, and more beads would fall from above. Depending on the type of beads eliminated, Players could receive different enhancements.
Fire Pearls strengthened all Attack damage, Wind Pearls enhanced speed and Agility, Water Pearls boosted Healing effects, and Earth Pearls fortified Physical Condition and defensive power.
The Fire Pearls and Water Pearls seemed to be one-time use, disappearing after use, but the Wind Pearls and Earth Pearls appeared to be continuous effects, allowing for stacking in a short period, potentially allowing one to 'take the hardest hits by stacking the thickest armor.'
The way to move the beads was for Ren Suo to make effective motions, including Casting Spells and physical movements.
Once Ren Suo made an effective motion, the matrix beads would automatically find a match and move. The more dynamic Ren Suo was, the faster the beads played their elimination game, and the stronger the benefits gained by the Player!
The game popped up a hint: "Player activates the Door of Truth· Energy Complete Conversion System, Bead Rotation Matrix."
"The Bead Rotation Matrix will automatically harvest Energy routinely wasted by the Player, convert it completely into effective Energy to feedback to the Player, and produce no additional effects."
At first glance, the system seemed insignificant, but upon careful thought, it radiated an impressive yet inexplicable unscientific vibe. Superfluous Energy consumption during Casting Spells goes without saying, and human movement also results in much excess consumption. In fact, whether it's any biological system or any system, Energy is always declining, unable to be completely utilized. This Bead Rotation Matrix, however, could extract heat from a single heat source and convert it completely into useful work without producing other effects... While it felt somewhat unphysical, from a Player's perspective, I naturally found it extremely useful. This matrix is likely going to be my primary game system for the time being.
Ren Suo moved slightly, activated a Five-Star Fire Pearl enhancement on himself for double Attack Strengthening, and pushed hard on the ancient door!
This time, the door finally moved a bit, revealing a small crack!
Ren Suo peered inside and saw that there was also a big eye in the darkness behind the door watching him.
The two sets of eyes met. It was difficult for me to explain my feelings at that moment; I could only say it was a good thing I wasn't holding a controller, or the TV would have been smashed by my "controller javelin" technique.
However, soon a new interface appeared before Ren Suo—the character customization interface.
The game suddenly prompted, "Do you want to activate full adaptation?"
"After activating full adaptation, the Player will break through the limitations of the gaming device and control the game character in a 100% complete Status, and the game character's sensations will also be truly reflected back to the Player."
"You can turn off full adaptation at any time."
Ren Suo blinked his eyes. Since I can turn it off at any time, of course I'll choose to activate it.
After activating full adaptation, Ren Suo saw the default character on the character customization interface directly change into his own appearance!
Well, it doesn't look as good as I imagined… It must be an issue with the character customization interface! Sigh, is this game's adaptation optimization only to this extent?
Ren Suo sighed as he made adjustments. I can't adjust my body anymore because if I change the muscle and height settings, it would be vastly different from my True Form, naturally not counting as a 100% complete Status.
Ren Suo could only adjust things like his hair, eyes, and nose.
After all, this is the first game character I'm controlling with VR equipment, and it's also my 100% adaptation body. I'm not a weirdo; I naturally wouldn't make the game character bizarre. I'll try to make it as close as possible to my True Form—smart and handsome.
However, adjustments did have their limits; they couldn't conflict with his True Form's facial contours. So, as I tweaked the settings, I found that once I made it a bit more handsome, the overall style became... um, a bit effeminate. I suspect the Mini-World Game Console is targeting me. But adjustments are definitely needed. If I dared to let this game character, who's slightly uglier than me, run around out there, Dad would be in trouble later on.
Ren Suo was the beloved son Ren's mother had raised painstakingly. Even if Ren Suo claimed he was just trying to help lovers get together, Ren's mother would still chase him with two glass bottles to hammer him for his meddling. Now, if a young man exactly like me suddenly appeared outside, Mom would probably treat Dad like a taiko drum and unleash a 300-beat musical feast on him.
But I don't want to make the character ugly, nor do I want to feminize myself. I'm afraid the immersion would be too strong, and if I keep playing like this, I might end up learning makeup tips from Qiao Muyi and buying things like those 'big red bottle' skincare products... I never would have thought the Mini-World Game Console would make things difficult for an Eastern hunk like me in this way! However, I soon figured out a workaround: lighten the skin, make the hair blond, give the nose bridge more definition...
Done. Now, in front of Ren Suo appeared a rather feminine Western blonde hunk.
Immersion: zero. I can use this game character wholeheartedly without any qualms.
Upon confirming the game character and returning to the stark white space, Ren Suo's first reaction was—Did my True Form transmigrate here?
There was absolutely no sensation of wearing a Rubber Suit, nor did his feet feel as if they were stepping on hardened green slime, and there wasn't even the sensation of wearing earmuff glasses on his head, let alone the smell of cucumber-flavored chips Ren Suo had just opened!
This is... breaking through the limitations of the game equipment! 100% complete Status character control, receiving 100% game feedback!
Although it's still some way off from my dream of a consciousness-diving game—after all, my True Form still needs to move and will eventually tire—I can no longer find fault with this. With this fully adaptive mode, playing games in the future will be just like transmigrating into another world!
Ren Suo excitedly continued to push against the Door of Truth, but this time he couldn't even pry open a crack in the door. Only after triggering a one-time elimination of the Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth Pearls in the Bead Rotation Matrix did the game pop up a message:
'To become the Gatekeeper of the Door of Truth, one needs to walk the Path of the Fire Sword, light up the Essence of Life, then utilize the Truth, and take control of the Exchange Scepter.
To gain a reward, one must pay a price.
As long as you pay a price, you will surely receive a reward.
Please choose the price to pay: Sensibility, Rationality.'
'Absolute Rationality: After sacrificing sensibility, the Gatekeeper will discern the values of all things in the world, rationally allocate resources, and all actions will be carried out according to the maximization of benefits. The Gatekeeper can perform precise manipulations on the Bead Rotation Matrix and activate more functions of the matrix, but the downside is the inability to independently produce resources of sensibility.'
'Absolute Sensibility: After sacrificing rationality, the Gatekeeper will define the values of all things in the world, allocate resources at will, and all actions will be carried out according to the maximization of happiness. The Gatekeeper's Bead Rotation Matrix will rotate automatically; the better the mood, the stronger the matrix boost, but the downside is the inability to rationally and collectively produce resources of sensibility with others.'
Ren Suo carefully read the descriptions. These seem to be two different game paths. The game character with Absolute Rationality should have stronger regular output and be capable of steadily enhancing their power. Whereas the game character with Absolute Sensibility would likely be more luck-dependent for both output and power enhancement. As for the choice, it's naturally beyond doubt.
As a science and engineering major, I naturally consider myself very rational. I'm never reckless, never let emotions spoil things, never act rashly due to Desire, and never court disaster through greed... My situation today is entirely the result of my careful consideration. I haven't been impulsive at all—well, except for that one time I impulsively encouraged Zhao Huo to give lingerie to his girlfriend. So, Sacrifice Sensibility! I choose the path of Absolute Rationality!
After making the choice, Ren Suo blinked.
He checked the game character's body and found no changes.
He walked around the great door and still couldn't see any changes.
Then he slowly placed his hands on the door, and finally, the game popped up a message:
'You have now become the Gatekeeper of the Door of Truth, with the authority to use the Exchange Scepter.'
'You can freely convert everything you use into Truth Points, and also convert Truth Points into anything you want.'
'Here is the sale list.'
'10 Merit Points = 100 Truth Points'
Ren Suo smirked. "Looks like the Mini-World Game Console won't give me the chance to exploit any loophole with 'Plucking Feathers from a Flying Goose.'"
'Unlimited Energy = 180 Truth Points'
'Martial Arts Mastery = 90 Truth Points'
Ren Suo nodded. "So, these useless game abilities can also be directly converted into usable resources in this game? Not bad."
'Night Moon Warrior = 3,800 Truth Points'
'Unlimited Fried Chicken Set = 280 Truth Points'
'Mage's Death-Defying Feather = 450 Truth Points'
"These useful Skills and props, I'm definitely not trading them."
Ren Suo chuckled, clicked on the next page, and saw new items for sale. At the bottom of this page, there was a remark: 'The stronger the game character's power, the higher the prices of the items on this page will be.'
'Will to Live = 100 Truth Points'
'Will to Know = 100 Truth Points...'
The prices for the will to survive, the will to know, the will to express, the will to perform, the Desire for comfort, and Sexual Desire are all 100 Points. That must be the default price.
There were several more trivial Desires:
'Desire for Video Games: 300 Truth Points'
'Self-Indulgence Desire: 50 Truth Points'
"Self-indulgence... so, masturbation, huh? Not much room for appreciation. If I need Points, I'll sell this one first," Ren Suo quickly confirmed the order of sale.
Flipping to the last page, this page also had remarks about goods appreciating in value as the game character's strength did.
And the highest selling price on this page took Ren Suo by surprise—
'Kinship with Ren's father: 10,000 Truth Points'
'Relationship with Ren's mother: 11,000 Truth Points'
...
'Romance with Dong Chengling: 8,103 Truth Points'
'Romance with Qiao Muyi: 8,103 Truth Points'
...
'Friendship with Yu Kuangtu: 150 Truth Points'
'Friendship with Zhao Huo: 150 Truth Points'
"My emotions... can they really be sold directly in this game?"
Ren Suo's mouth curved slightly as he gently sighed, "Is it worth it?"
"However..."
"Considering the current situation, the Door of Truth is indeed very intriguing."
"If I could control the Door of Truth and use this power to change the heavens and the earth, ruling the world wouldn't be out of the question. Taking it a step further means becoming Omniscient and immortal."
"But is the Door of Truth worth exchanging my emotions for Points to compete for?"
Ren Suo quickly concluded, "It's not worth it."
"Not now."
"As for those like Zhao Huo and Yu Kuangtu, whose friendships are worth about three 'Self-Indulgence Desires,' it wouldn't hurt to sell them now. But these ones above..."
Ren Suo looked at his familial and romantic relationships and shook his head slightly.
"These have high prices and huge potential for appreciation. If I can play until the late stages of the game, their value will definitely increase significantly."
"Also, the price must be dynamic, right? Meaning it can continue to appreciate. Even though I chose the path of Absolute Rationality and can no longer independently produce resources of sensibility, however..."
Looking at the sales list, Ren Suo smiled subtly and calmly made a plan:
"I'll sell these few when I need to."
「… …」
"That's settled then." Qiao Muyi tapped on the calendar on the table, stating seriously, "Since it's settled, you're not allowed to go back on your word or use other methods to sabotage someone else's date."
In her human form, Luna asked softly, "What about at night? I haven't slept with Suosuo in days..."
"No, you, may, not!" Gu Yueyan said sternly, "During this time slot, impure relationships are not allowed!"
Dong Chengling blinked but said nothing.
"What if I use my True Form?" Luna looked wronged. "You all also like to hold my True Form, right? I used to sleep with Suosuo in my True Form!"
Ren Xingmei shook her head. "No, your True Form is also not safe. And by that logic, I could do the same—I used to sleep next to my brother on the sofa when we were tired from playing games!"
Qiao Muyi glanced at Ren Xingmei and shook her head, saying, "Speaking of the past, I shouldn't have dragged you out to buy clothes and let you fully awaken your 'sister' identity. I never thought I, Qiao Muyi, would personally nurture an enemy one day…"
Dong Chengling warned lightly, "Xiao Qiao, if you keep talking like this, I might just send you back to the city early."
Gu Yueyan also looked at Qiao Muyi. "When Sister Qiao, you were our love consultant, I never thought this day would come."
Luna hugged Gu Yueyan and giggled, making a playful kissy face. "I knew it, I knew it! I knew back on The Dark Side of the Moon that Yue Yue and I would both marry Suosuo!"
Little Jiu peeked out from the room, watching them enviously, but eventually succumbed to sleepiness and went to bed.
After much noise, Qiao Muyi finally slammed the table. "Then it's settled! Ren Suo's schedule will be based on this!"
"Okay!"
Everyone exchanged looks, sensing each other's resolve.
Qiao Muyi: I only have one love, and he must also have only one.
Dong Chengling: After all, I was here first...
Gu Yueyan: Among my peers, I have the best development, and among adults, I am the youngest. Keep it up!
Ren Xingmei: I'm the Childhood Sweetheart, and after more than a year apart, I met my brother again, so I'm a heaven-sent Childhood Sweetheart sister. How can I lose?
Luna: I want to eat matcha ice cream.
So, they all needed an opportunity.
As long as they got the chance to be alone with Ren Suo, they all believed they could use various means to make him yield!
With Ren Suo's emotionally impulsive mind, he was bound to be overwhelmed by love!
