"As I tear through the veil of dawn and dusk that defines this small realm, the three-foot azure light spins to wash away the worldly dust—"
Ren Suo, dozing on the sofa, was startled by his phone ringing. He muttered, grabbed it, and glanced at the caller ID. Perking up slightly and suppressing his morning grumpiness, he answered, "Hello, this is Ren Suo."
"Ren Suo, you need to report to the Lianjiang National Security Bureau by 2:30 p.m. tomorrow," Director Ye's voice ca from the other end. "Just woke up?"
"Yeah..." Ren Suo replied.
"Sigh, young people these days sleep in so late, just like my son who's in middle school..." Director Ye nagged. "Rember to co, alright? If you don't show, it will be considered a forfeiture of your interview spot."
"Forfeit my spot?" Ren Suo sat up, suddenly alert. "What spot?"
"It's not specified right now," Director Ye lowered his voice, "but if you pass, it's likely to be a direct transfer to the National Security Bureau."
"The National Security Bureau?" Ren Suo was surprised. "Are the benefits good?"
"Don't know," said Director Ye, "but the base salary is higher than at the sub-district office, plus there are a bit more miscellaneous allowances."
"Then I'll go!" Ren Suo said cheerily. It was an unexpected boon to find his official position upgraded; anyone would be happy. "Is there anything I should be aware of?"
"Nothing special, but it's just you and Li Qingxuan who have qualified from our office. You two should communicate well." Director Ye's voice was laced with a strange chuckle. "Li Qingxuan's mobile number is 14..."
After hanging up with Director Ye, Ren Suo rubbed his face, went to wash up and brush his teeth, and realized it was already 10 a.m. on April 1st.
He had purchased "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand ters" on March 28th and continued his climb from the 5,896-ter-high base camp on the 30th. After an intense session that spanned a day, a night, and another day, he finally guided the Truth Seeker to the 10,000-ter altitude at 11 p.m. last night!
The physical exhaustion of the process was imnse, needless to say, and the ntal fatigue was even more crushing. After reaching base camp, the ga's difficulty skyrocketed. Initially, it was just a matter of wider gaps between platforms of varying widths, with the occasional fragile grey platform that would shatter upon contact.
But later on, things got intense. The background abruptly changed to snowy mountains and ice cascades. The Truth Seeker, just by standing still, might encounter fierce, biting winds that could blow her off completely or sweep her away from her target foothold while jumping.
Then there were so light-blue platforms; jumping onto them would instantly cause ice spikes to erupt, resulting in a ga over. Yet, safe platforms were hidden among the Ice Cascade platforms. Sotis, the only safe spot was a single grey platform amidst them, with no other safe platforms visible. The Truth Seeker had to jump onto it and imdiately leap again, relying on Ren Suo to quickly change her direction for a safe landing.
Besides that, there were stormy weather conditions, where the screen would fill with blinding snow, obscuring the safe platforms. In such cases, the Truth Seeker could only stay in a safe area and wait out the weather. Even after Storm Revelation subsided, whiteout areas would remain, their true nature only revealed when the Truth Seeker jumped into them.
Additionally, it seed the ga had day and night cycles. Before reaching base camp, it didn't matter much, but after base camp, the shift between day and night had a significant impact—such as making it difficult to distinguish the colors of the platforms.
The difficulty after base camp, compared to starting from zero altitude, was like the difference between reciting pi forwards and reciting it backwards.
The most frustrating part was that Ren Suo would occasionally see other stick figures. Unlike the Truth Seeker, they weren't jumping on dangerous platforms but were instead advancing slowly along a gentle path. Whenever they saw the Truth Seeker, they would stop to ask if she needed help. The ga, as always, offered two choices: "No, thanks" and "No, thanks."
Through nurous deaths and trials, Ren Suo controlled the Truth Seeker, climbing to checkpoints: the 6,690-ter Advance Base Camp, the 7,200-ter First Camp, the 7,900-ter Second Camp, the 8,400-ter Third Camp, the 9,000-ter Fourth Camp, and the 9,600-ter Fifth Camp.
Then, at 11:11 p.m. last night, Ren Suo finally guided the Truth Seeker to the 10,000-ter mark for the first ti, where she leaped onto a shiny golden platform!
The next second, he fell asleep.
His tense body and mind, suddenly relaxed after achieving his ultimate goal, plunged him into the deepest sleep. He slept for a full eleven hours until his phone woke him. And then...
"Ugh..." Ren Suo realized he was so hungry he could barely move. He had no choice but to make a call. "Hello... two large orders of beef brisket and fried sauce with yee in noodles... Apartnt 1506, Building 233, Tianlan Garden... It's right above your shop."
Thankfully, he rembered the number for Jian Ji downstairs. Otherwise, he might have actually starved to death at ho.
Only then did he rember that he had cleared the ga. He quickly turned on his console to check his score.
'Mission accomplished.'
'Achieved the basic goal of the mission—60 points;'
'Final score is 60 points, rated as barely acceptable.'
'This mission's score: 60 points (barely acceptable); highest score for this mission: 60 points (barely acceptable)'
'Would you like to upload this result as the final outco? Upon successful upload, you will receive rit Points and an exclusive reward corresponding to your evaluation level.'
'Evaluation can only be uploaded once.'
Only 60 points!? Ren Suo was stunned. Isn't this ga linear? How could there be differences in scores?
The mission evaluation was slightly different from "Assassin." In "Assassin," after uploading the evaluation, the ga would prompt that it was closing. "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand ters" didn't do this, however. It seems bought gas are different from free ones.
'Since the player earned a barely acceptable rating and t the hidden requirent, you will receive information on the hidden sub-mission for this Chapter.'
"Assassin" required a "Fairly Excellent" rating to unlock hidden requirents, but this ga only needs "Barely Acceptable"... Is this ga too hard, or just too crude...?
'Sub-mission: Only a strong person who is watched by others is truly strong; those unknown are just pitifully strong! Please let more people witness your ascent to the ten-thousand-ter summit. The more onlookers you have, the higher your score.'
Ren Suo almost choked. What the heck? Now I have to deliberately find an audience to show off?!
In certain novels, when a character shows off, there's always a crowd of omniscient-seeming bystanders providing comntary—knowing everything from the cause of the Big Bang and circuit analysis principles, to the material of the Emperor's chamber pot and what the next day's new ani episode will be about.
Even TV series, movies, ani, and ga cutscenes often feature a narrator with a deep, resonant voice.
This ga didn't bother with an audience for its show-off monts, yet it insisted on them. Fine, insist on showing off, but now it even wants the player to find people...
Find people, find people... Where am I supposed to find people... Ren Suo grumbled. Just then, his Jian Ji delivery arrived. He went to get it, and when he returned, he noticed the ga had automatically loaded his last save, returning him to The Fifth Camp at 9,600 ters.
On the screen, five stick figures were just then departing from The Fifth Camp, struggling upwards.
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