Little World Game Console (Part 1)

Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~

The shrill sound of the doorbell kept drilling into Ren Suo's ears. He grunted, rubbed his eyes, and rolled over to continue sleeping.

The doorbell continued to ring, and by now, Ren Suo felt a damp sensation on his right cheek—drool had pooled on the pillow, and he had rolled right into it.

The strange feeling of disgust combined with the irritation of the doorbell finally dispelled Ren Suo's sleepiness. He wiped the mysterious liquid from the corner of his mouth, put on his slippers, walked to the door, unlocked the security latch, and pulled the door open. He saw a courier standing outside wearing a red and white uniform.

"Your delivery," the courier said. "Please sign here."

Ren Suo remembered something, and his heart instantly leaped with joy. He hurriedly opened the security door, signed for the package, carried the large box into his home, and excitedly found a utility knife to tear it open!

"Hehehe—" Ren Suo rubbed his palms together, his eyes burning with fire. He used the knife to slice through the plastic straps of the large box, ready to welcome his dream bride, whom he had pined for for twenty-two years, with a devout heart—

A home video game console!

As a young man growing up healthy, with sound values and nowhere to vent his daily energy, Ren Suo, like the vast majority of people, longed to own a game console he could play however he wanted.

However, his family hadn't been wealthy when he was a child, and for the sake of his studies, his parents never bought him one.

By the time he reached university, due to academic pressures and internships, Ren Suo had only bought a laptop for work and study. Furthermore, he had no spare money for games, and his dorm room wasn't exactly suitable for a console.

Now, he was a senior preparing for the workforce. He had found a job and finished his graduation project. Moreover, Ren Suo's uncle owned a property in Lianjiang City and had let Ren Suo rent an apartment in a residential complex in the city center at a very affordable price, half-gift and half-rent. He could finally say he had a foothold in Lianjiang City.

With a few months left before graduation and starting work, Ren Suo used the small amount of money he had earned during his internship to purchase a Hell 4 Game Console on an online shopping platform, so he could properly experience the thrill of gaming and enjoy the hottest, most popular blockbusters of the moment!

However, when Ren Suo opened the shipping box, what appeared before his eyes was not the Hell 4 box he had seen countless times online, but rather a...

Round, black steel box?

He pulled this round box out with some hesitation. A cool sensation traveled through his palm, like a clear stream dispelling the heat from his body—Lianjiang had already started to get hot in mid-March. To save on electricity, Ren Suo would set his air conditioner to turn off after an hour and a half even on summer nights, which meant he would automatically wake up in the morning due to the heat.

The box looked about the same size as a blue tin of cookies, but Ren Suo couldn't find a lid. It looked like a seamless, solid steel sphere.

Ren Suo weighed it in his hand and felt it wasn't particularly heavy; it definitely wasn't solid steel inside.

Ren Suo flipped the round box over and saw a rotatable indentation in the center of the other side—just like the knobs on those money-grabbing gashapon machines. Without any hesitation, Ren Suo twisted the button in the indentation.

A clanking sound startled Ren Suo. He saw cross-shaped cracks suddenly appear on the top and bottom sections of the round box. Mist, like that formed by dry ice, sprayed out from the cracks, and the box fell apart, revealing the object inside.

Ren Suo picked up the black steel circular lid he had been twisting and examined it. He discovered a mortise and tenon structure along the edge. His twist had just pulled the core support out of the mortise and tenon mechanism, which was why the box had disassembled.

Although Ren Suo could understand how it worked, the fact that so much effort had been put into a box just to create the pretentious effect of spreading mist made him feel that the person who made it really had too much time on their hands.

Inside the box sat a strange, round machine. This machine was also pure black, and its exterior looked like countless vinyl records stacked together.

Ren Suo scraped the side of the machine with his finger. He felt his nail pass over layers of metal cross-sections, confirming that there were gaps between each "layer," though they were so pitifully small that even a fingernail couldn't fit inside.

"This thing isn't a Hell 4, is it?"

Ren Suo was stunned. He immediately took out his phone, found the online platform's customer service, and sent a message: "Hello."

Customer Service: "Dear Mao Mao user, hello. This is the official Hell Games customer service. The Hell 4 Eternal Musou Limited Collector's Bundle is currently on pre-sale (click for details); popular games are 50% off (click for details); Hell Store online point cards (click for details); shipping is via Mao Mao Express. For remote areas, Mission Accomplished delivery is extended to 10 days. To check delivery information (click for details)."

Ren Suo: "Are you there?"

Customer Service: "Hello, yes I am. How can I help you?"

Ren Suo: "It's like this. I found that the Hell 4 game console I received doesn't seem to be the one I bought..."

Customer Service: "Okay, please wait a moment, I will check for you now..."

Thirty seconds later, the customer service agent sent a message: "Dear, when you purchased the Hell 4 game console, you seemed to have automatically used a 2000-minus-888 coupon, but the Mao Mao platform didn't apply the discount during payment. When the information was fed back to the backend, it was identified as you purchasing the 2888 Hell 4 PRO version, so the Lianjiang warehouse shipped a Hell 4 PRO directly."

Ren Suo: "Huh? You sent me a Hell 4 PRO?"

Customer Service: "Yes. If you are not satisfied, you can return it through the Mao Mao platform's after-sales service. However, the 2000-minus-888 coupon you used will be gone, but Hell Games is willing to give you a 2000-minus-500 store coupon as compensation."

Ren Suo looked at the round game console on the table, hesitated for a moment, and replied: "I'll try using it first. If I don't like it, I'll return it."

"That's fine. Returns are unconditional within seven days. Once your return is successful, Hell Games will automatically send you the coupon. If you find the product good, please take a photo and give us a five-star review~"

Ren Suo put his phone away and began to fiddle with the new game console.

However, he still had some doubts in his heart—it wasn't that Ren Suo didn't know about the Hell 4 PRO. In fact, as the latest game console released this year, the Hell 4 PRO was an upgraded version of the Hell 4 with more powerful performance. It had only been released in the Xuan Kingdom two days ago. Ren Suo had considered buying either the Hell 4 or the Hell 4 PRO, but given his tight budget, he had chosen to buy the Hell 4.

But he remembered that the Hell 4 PRO didn't look like this!

"Forget it, I'll use it and see. It's returnable anyway..." With the mentality of 'if it's free, why not take it,' Ren Suo began to study the console.

Soon, he discovered three problems.

First, he couldn't find the power plug for the console, nor could he see any ports on it.

Second, he couldn't find the audio-visual output cable, nor could he see any ports on the console.

Third, he couldn't find a controller.

"This is a piece of oversized trash, isn't it!" Ren Suo was dizzy with frustration. Just as he was about to go to customer service to file a complaint, the doorbell rang again.

He opened the door and found another Mao Mao Express courier outside.

"Your delivery, please sign for it."

"Another delivery?" Ren Suo was puzzled. After signing, he took the package inside and quickly tore it open with his utility knife.

Three seconds later, the packaging box for the Hell 4 PRO game console appeared before him.