[Your trial membership has expired. The viewing-time ratio for short dramas has been restored to 120:1.]
After Akaseki called out in his mind, the system's voice rang out as expected.
[Starting random playback...] [Wait!] Akaseki immediately stopped it in his mind.
Akaseki hadn't expected that "stop" would actually work.
[Who wants to watch your lousy drama? What about the reward? What about GG?] Akaseki immediately asked. [Would you like to inquire about "ad-free viewing"?] [Who wants to ask about ad-free viewing? I want to...] [You selected no. A random short drama will now play...]
Akaseki: ???
[Stop! I want to inquire about ad-free viewing!] Akaseki immediately made his choice.
Akaseki realized that this so-called "platform" seemed to be playing dumb. No matter what, it looked like it just wanted him to watch first; every option somehow led to "random playback."
But Akaseki had also figured it out. It was fine to ask about "ad-free viewing." Only after asking how to get rid of the ads could he find out how not to get rid of them!
[You are currently a non-member. Every hour you spend immersed in a short drama, GG will play, and you will be prompted to try it. Opening a membership will remove GG.]
Once every hour?
That seemed...
Pretty good?
Membership... He had to be careful. He couldn't become a member!
[Next, a short drama will be randomly selected for you: Family Happiness. Duration: two and a half years. Total playback time for non-members: 180 hours...] [W-wait! 180 hours is way too long! Wouldn't I die of thirst if I didn't starve to death first?] Akaseki's scalp tingled. He didn't dare imagine what would happen if he "passed out" for 180 hours. [You may preset the immersion time. The minimum is one hour. You may exit after the first GG appears.]
Only then did Akaseki breathe a sigh of relief...
To find out whether every so-called "GG" came with a reward, Akaseki chose to try again.
Besides...
Was this short drama called Family Happiness?
It sounded much more normal than the previous <I Chased You for Ten Years, You Ignored Me—Why Are You Crying Now That I'm Dead>. It even sounded warm and cozy. Could it be... that he would actually enjoy this one?
[Default permission to control the "hypothalamus" has been granted. Control permissions for the "hippocampus" and "amygdala" have been enabled automatically...] [Stop!] Akaseki decisively stopped it. [Control permissions for the "hippocampus" and "amygdala" have not been granted. You can enable them in settings...]
Akaseki also realized that this platform had no shame. The moment he let his guard down, it automatically enabled a bunch of permissions!
Once again, Akaseki felt that familiar sensation of his consciousness being pulled away...
Hong Yan, you are the second son of the Hong Family. You are six years old...
Today is your first day of elementary school...
[Hmm? Looks like another weird world without ninjas...] [Why should you get so many new clothes? It's only right that you wear your older brother's hand-me-downs. What's there to feel wronged about?] [Huh? Big brother, it's bad enough that you stole money, but now you're blaming me, your little brother?] [Even though you shouldn't betray your family, you should still be honest with the teacher... This is for his own good!] [What do you mean? The family said I was the one who stole it, and my brother was covering for me?] [Holy crap, what's wrong with these people? Do you even know what family means?]
In one hour, Akaseki experienced about 120 hours within the drama, while roughly a month passed in the story. Sleeping, attending class, and the like were skipped, so he experienced only three or four hours a day.
Now...
No matter how he looked at this Family Happiness, Akaseki found it utterly ironic. Could someone tell him why a family like this would be described that way?
A father who knew no other word but "filial," a fierce and unreasonable mother, and a grandmother who doted on her eldest grandson without limits...
Hong Fu stole something, and his family lied to the teacher and said Hong Yan had done it. They repeated the lie so often that they seemed to believe it themselves, beating Hong Yan for most of the night and repeatedly insisting he was unfilial and ungrateful.
Akaseki couldn't understand how anyone had come up with this plot. Wasn't Senju Old Ghost deliberately trying to disgust the Uchiha Clan?
But because his "hypothalamus" had been taken over, even though the whole thing made no sense to Akaseki and he couldn't relate to it at all, his emotions were still involuntarily led along by the story!
That hour felt incredibly long to Akaseki...
At one point, his emotions surged, and a cool, tingling sensation spread from his brain to his eyes.
His Dojutsu Power even began to gradually increase under the intense emotional stimulation...
He endured until Hong Fu asked him to write his name on Hong Fu's monthly exam, and he refused. At last, Akaseki saw the long-awaited GG. It meant not only a "reward," but also that he could finally leave.
[Wangjie Full-Body Massager. Human-like kneading with moderate pressure. For those who sit at a desk for long hours and suffer from full-body aches, relax with the press of a button. Enjoy a massage at home without spending money at a massage parlor...]
Hmm? This GG was different from the previous ones? Akaseki stared in surprise.
Akaseki couldn't understand these GG messages at all. What did "sitting at a desk for long hours" mean? What did "full-body aches" mean? Had someone ambushed him and left him badly injured?
[Product trial in progress...]
Ah—
Akaseki couldn't help groaning. Luckily, there was no one else at the training ground right now. The training grounds in the clan compound were small and couldn't be used to practice destructive techniques. They were only for physical training, so there were rarely many people around.
This time, Akaseki genuinely felt "sore" all over, but it wasn't a painful soreness. It was... an exhilarating kind of soreness?
[Your body's fatigue has been fully restored. Your training results have temporarily improved...]
After the pleasant, tingling sensation passed, Akaseki sprang to his feet.
"What is this..." Akaseki was surprised to find that he wasn't tired at all anymore.
He hadn't pushed himself until the last drop of his strength was gone, but he'd still trained until he was thoroughly exhausted. If he had continued, his muscles wouldn't have recovered by tomorrow, and the chance of sustaining internal injuries would have kept increasing...
Yet now, Akaseki had recovered completely!
It wasn't as shocking as being directly granted Lightning Style chakra transformation, but the reward was worth the price of admission... Not!
The "torture" Akaseki had endured hadn't lasted an hour. It had lasted 120 hours from his perspective!
"Who the hell set this thing up?" Akaseki shuddered.
If his Dojutsu Power hadn't increased too, Akaseki would have felt thoroughly cheated...
But the increase in his Dojutsu Power made him a little "addicted." After all, for an Uchiha who had already awakened the Sharingan, improving it was undoubtedly the fastest way to increase his strength.
However, the way the Sharingan improved after awakening was just as unreasonable. Training his chakra could only extend the time he could maintain the Sharingan, which counted as an indirect improvement, but at most it increased his "proficiency." If he truly wanted a fundamental improvement—an increase in Dojutsu Power—he still needed emotional stimulation... ```
Before you continue