Building emotional relationships from scratch is no easy feat.
Moreover, ordinary strangers don't hold much worth. According to Ren Suo's calculations, one "friend who can lend money" should equal four "acquaintances who rely nod in greeting."
Of course, due to the diminishing marginal utility of friendship, once the value of a friendship reaches a certain level, it becos very hard to increase unless it can break through to the four-digit "close friend" level.
There is a dynamic equilibrium in this. If expressed mathematically, it would be the (1, ∞) interval of y=lnx. When the X-axis represents ti and the Y-axis represents emotional value, although this interval is monotonically increasing, there inevitably exists a point at which Ren Suo can achieve the maximum emotional value with the least investnt of ti.
This is Ren Suo's most efficient point of harvesting emotions.
However, finding this emotional harvesting point is not easy. If starting from scratch with strangers, Ren Suo would inevitably have to spend a long ti adjusting. Therefore, he naturally focused on acquaintances with whom he already had high emotional value.
Ren Suo was well acquainted with these friends' and girlfriends' interests and habits. Although he hadn't learned, and hadn't had ti to learn, how to build character models or similar knowledge, he vaguely knew their compatibility with certain people.
For example, Zhao Huo prided himself on his passions: Ani Fans and Martial Arts. Therefore, Ren Suo gave him an offer he couldn't refuse: an ignorant girl with a foundation in Martial Arts who had a mild interest in Ani Fans. Now, Zhao Huo was already teaching the Martial Arts girl, Xiao Suo, about harem ani, putting aside his own study of the "Azure Dragon Crescent Wind."
The others were a bit more troubleso. This was mainly because Ren Suo had to establish friendships with them using a second identity, and they, well, were far more intelligent and emotionally savvy than the old version of Ren Suo. It was unlikely that they would beco close friends with an online acquaintance.
For this reason, Ren Suo chose an identity that was closer to them in reality: a freshman at Heavenly Lotus Academy.
Then he chose an identity that could arouse their curiosity and resonance on an emotional level: a Ren Suo fangirl.
He figured these two personas should be enough to serve as a foothold for becoming good friends with them online.
Although he had almost hit a snag with the tough nut Lin Xianyu at the beginning, after chatting for a while, he managed to establish a relationship with her, albeit with difficulty.
The reason he chose this particular ti to add friends was because adding them late at night could better reflect a young girl's indecisive mindset. Oh my, I'm so nervous, should I add her as a friend? Should I do it? Should I not? Oh well, I'll just go for it and add her!
By the way, after careful consideration, Ren Suo decided to exclude Qiao Muyi from his "Ren Suo fangirl" plan.
This was because, according to Ren Suo's understanding of Qiao Muyi, there was an 81% probability that she would use various thods to track down the real identity of the "Ren Suo fangirl." Even if she couldn't start with social dia, there were only so many people at Heavenly Lotus Academy. If she wanted to, she could indeed obtain everyone's WeChat and then investigate them one by one.
Others might not have the interest or the capacity, but Qiao Muyi was the Deputy Director of the Tactical Bureau. Her subordinates had long been trained to obey her completely. She wouldn't need to do it herself; there would be people willing to help her turn Heavenly Lotus Academy upside down.
I can't take that risk. I just can't.
Upon discovering that emotional value could be reaped and then grow again, Ren Suo had already begun to contemplate the "Ren Suo fangirl" plan. Zhao Huo's case had been entirely accidental, but every little bit helps, so he assigned his clone to develop that particular side story.
Based on his actual experience at that point, among the people from whom Ren Suo had harvested emotions and with whom he had close relationships, Zhao Huo was the first to sense a change in him. Zhao Huo had given the ambiguous assessnt that Ren Suo was becoming more "Ani Fans." This sounded an alarm for Ren Suo.
He imdiately reassessed the risks of trading emotions, lest the next sound he heard be a death knell.
It had to be emphasized once more: Ren Suo was not devoid of emotions. The feelings he held before he beca Absolutely Rational were all transferred to his present self. It was just that all emotions now had a clear price.
And now that Ren Suo realized there was a possibility of his emotional trading being exposed, the risk of selling emotions naturally increased. He would have to take the matter even more seriously.
In such a situation, choosing to open a second front using the identity "Ren Suo fangirl Xiao Ren" to harvest emotions seed the safest and most appropriate course of action.
On one hand, Xiao Ren would mostly communicate with them online, greatly reducing the possibility of being exposed. On the other hand, Ren Suo could observe in real-ti and adjust the strategies for each person based on new feedback, even indirectly confirming the existence of the "fangirl" Xiao Ren.
In summary, the plan had enormous potential for developnt, low risk, and renewable resources. The only problem was the unpredictable consequences of exposure—even Ren Suo could not foresee them.
But a 100% profit would tempt a capitalist, a 300% profit would make them sell the noose that hangs them, and a 1,000% profit would make a group admin cross-dress. After careful consideration, Ren Suo ultimately decided to implent this infinitely beneficial second-identity plan.
After sorting out this matter, Ren Suo donned Pandora's Magic Box and entered the "Door of Truth" to check the trading permissions. He saw only a slight update in the permissions, but there was a new exchange option:
"10 rit Points = 150 Truth Points"
This was the first ti Ren Suo had seen that ga currency could be exchanged back for rit Points.
Previously, Ren Suo had used 10 rit Points to buy 100 Truth Points. Now, he could buy back rit Points at a 50% premium, which seed like a rather bad deal.
But now that Ren Suo had discovered a way to harvest emotions, Truth Points might beco abundant. Perhaps it wouldn't be impossible to have the ga transfer Mini-World Ga Consoles in return soday.
He glanced at the emotion list again and noticed that Zhao Huo's (Xiao Suo) emotional value had increased by 70 Points, overtaking Zhao Huo's (Ren Suo).
Indeed, leeks only thrive after being watered and pruned.
The Door of Truth had already ignited the Second Pri, "Foundations." Next, it would proceed to the third trial to ignite the Third Pri, "Radiance."
However, things were not that simple. In the pattern of the Door of Truth, the First Pri, "Kingdom," was located at the very bottom in the middle, standing alone. The Second Pri, "Foundations," was just a bit higher than "Kingdom" but also stood alone in the middle-bottom.
The Third Pri, "Radiance," and the Fourth Pri, "Victory," however, were located on the left and right columns, sharing the sa row.
But when Ren Suo tried to push open the Door of Truth, he saw the "Radiance" and "Victory" Pris light up with flas simultaneously. Six paths of fla then ford between the four Pris, connecting them pairwise and creating a 'Y' shape.
The next second, the Door of Truth fell heavily to the ground.
The pure white space shattered completely, and the booming sound of machinery drilled into Ren Suo's eardrums.
Pristine white clouds drifted across blue skies that reflected like an erald sea. Majestic mountains in the distance looked incredibly magnificent. Not far away, one mountain appeared as if it had been cleaved, revealing an enormous, flat cross-section.
Ren Suo landed on soft earth. He turned and stomped, and the ground beneath his feet exploded.
Although the explosion instantly triggered "Ti Roaming," allowing him to dodge, everyone present simultaneously beca aware of Ren Suo and the Door of Truth.
Ren Suo found himself in the center of a vast, open plain.
Surrounding the plain were trenches, lined with barbed wire and electric fences.
Behind the trenches were warrior positions with firearms, and even mortar and heavy machine gun emplacents.
Further out were barracks and groups of Federal Warriors, apparently ready to leave in jeeps.
Tanks were forming up among them, and several helicopters circled overhead.
After taking in everything around him, Ren Suo couldn't help but be montarily stunned.
Soon after, a flash of black light appeared from behind the trenches. Then, a tall, dark-haired man with a cold, handso appearance crossed all obstacles as if by Teleport, appearing directly in front of Ren Suo.
"Door of Truth, Gatekeeper," he said slowly and assertively.
"Federal Undertakers, Roy," Ren Suo responded with a smile.
Guard the Door of Truth. Crush all Seekers until the Third and Fourth Pris are ignited!
Successful defense rewards the Gatekeeper handsoly and substantially increases the Authority of Truth.
Estimated combat duration: 8 minutes!
Ren Suo almost instantly knew where he was.
The third trial ground of the Door of Truth was located in Yosemite National Park, at the West Foothills of the Sierra Nevada in the Federation's state of California.
This was a military restricted area, heavily fortified by the Federation in preparation for battle against the Didra Plane!
And the place where the Door of Truth and Ren Suo had appeared was exactly where the Federation had imagined their enemy would appear. This ant Ren Suo had found himself under the firepower of the Federal Ard Forces the mont he arrived.
The first trial had been to battle the Earth Spirit, the second to fight a team of Transcendents, and the third trial was...
To fight an entire nation's army single-handedly!
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