"Physical Fitness Optimization"

"So that's how it was..."

Ren Suo looked at his remaining balance of just 2 Merit Points, but it had all been worth it—he had raised his mission score to 80!

"Mission complete."

"Basic mission objective completed—60 points;"

"Side mission completed—15 points;"

"Rescued others—5 points;"

"Total score: 80. Evaluation: Extraordinary."

"This mission score: 80 (Extraordinary). Highest mission score: 80 (Extraordinary)."

"Would you like to upload this result as the final result? After a successful upload, you can receive Merit Points and an exclusive reward matching your evaluation grade."

"An evaluation may only be uploaded once."

The game did not offer any further score-grinding prompts, and even if it had, Ren Suo would not have wanted to keep going—he had spent another entire night playing just to barely meet the goal.

Besides, it was already four in the morning. Ren Suo still had to go to the National Security Bureau tomorrow, so he had to sleep. He could not keep putting it off.

More importantly, he was about to play himself sick.

Unlike the highly challenging climb earlier, helping the stick figures reach the summit was an extremely difficult, luck-dependent task. The game itself was hard enough already. Ren Suo had started from Fifth Camp at 9,600 meters and kept helping stick figures reach the top. Logically, with only 400 meters left, it should not have been especially difficult.

Yet, yet...

Not only had he spent the entire night grinding, he had also spent 4 additional Merit Points in total. Ren Suo felt as though the game had been playing him.

Fortunately, it was time for the harvest. Ren Suo forced himself to stay awake and nervously uploaded the mission evaluation.

"Mission evaluation uploaded successfully. You have received 24 Merit Points. Please use them wisely."

"You have received One-Star Treasure Chest x1. You may open it in the Content Repository."

"You have received the exclusive reward: Physical Fitness Optimization. You may open it in the Content Repository."

"'If You're Strong, Climb 10,000 Meters' has been uploaded. Thank you for playing. The Infinite Fun of Little Worlds!"

"Why is it only 24 points?!" Ren Suo was dumbfounded. Where were the promised 40 points?

Even if he had only scored 80, they should not have deducted that much! He had thought it would be 40 × 0.8 = 32 Merit Points!

So that was not how it was calculated?

If this game console had been some kind of system, Ren Suo could at least demand an explanation and ask for a refund. But the Little World Game Console did not even have customer service. Who the hell was he supposed to complain to...?

Still, he had at least earned back what he spent, with 12 extra Merit Points besides. This round was not a loss.

Ren Suo opened the Content Repository. Besides the treasure chest, there was a flickering orb of light that gave off a soft green glow.

"Physical Fitness Optimization: One-time reward. Can strengthen the constitution of any material life-form. Disappears immediately after use. May only be used by the player. The worse the player's physical condition, the greater the enhancement."

The treasure chest still required a key to open, but the One-Star Sleep Key Ren Suo had obtained earlier had already been used up. He could only find another key before opening the chest. This Physical Fitness Optimization, however, could be used immediately.

"Do you confirm the consumption of 'Physical Fitness Optimization'? Yes/No."

After choosing yes, Ren Suo watched the green orb in the Content Repository slowly disperse.

"Hm?"

"And then?"

A minute passed, yet Ren Suo noticed no changes in himself. Just as he was feeling frustrated, he saw that it was already 04:15 and let out a yawn...

By the time he finished that yawn, it was already past noon.

"Ahh..." Ren Suo rubbed his eyes. Seeing that the Content Repository was still displayed on the screen, it took him thirty seconds to finally remember how he had fallen asleep.

He first felt his butt. After finding nothing wrong with it, he breathed a sigh of relief, then went to the bathroom to wash up and consider what had happened...

"Wait!?"

Ren Suo was stunned!

This was the first time since obtaining the Little World Game Console that he had woken up without his stomach starving him into a Tokyo Ghoul!

For the past two days, Ren Suo had been too weak to even get out of bed after waking up. Even picking up his delivery orders had taken every ounce of effort. But now, he felt utterly refreshed, bursting with energy even when he stretched!

After washing up, Ren Suo pondered for a while and decided to order delivery again—not because he could not go downstairs, but simply because he was lazy.

Ren Suo: "Hello?"

Jian Ji Auntie: "Mm?"

Ren Suo: "Mm."

Jian Ji Auntie: "Mm."

After placing the order, Ren Suo paced around the living room for a while. The more he moved, the more certain he became that this was the result of "Physical Fitness Optimization."

"But I don't seem to stink..." Ren Suo sniffed himself, then rubbed his arm—he rubbed off a tiny bit of dead skin and grime, but that was within the normal range of sebum buildup after sleeping.

In Ren Suo's simple, unscientific worldview, if his body had undergone a transformation, there should have been some obvious changes. For example, toxins being expelled through his pores and making his whole body stink, as if he had soaked in shit...

But Ren Suo looked at his pores. They were smaller than needle holes. If shit could be squeezed out of pores that small, then his blood would practically be made of shit.

Besides, most of that sebum grime consisted of airborne dust, skin flakes, and bacteria. Sebum merely bound them together into dirt, so it was not very realistic for a normal person to expel toxins and fat through their pores.

If he needed to detox, then he should use—

"Fuck!"

Ren Suo scrambled into the bathroom. The instant he pulled down his pants, he felt as if he were witnessing the creation of the universe: Pangu split heaven and earth with a single axe blow; the clear rose while the turbid sank; thunder rumbled, sand and stones cried out, waterfalls roared—a magnificent explosion of life...

Perhaps it had been too powerful. When Ren Suo left the bathroom and opened the door to find the deliveryman who had been waiting outside for several minutes, the man looked as though he wanted to complain. But after taking one breath, his face instantly turned purple. He set down the food and bolted.

After closing the front door, Ren Suo silently closed the bathroom door as well. The weather in Lianjiang had begun to heat up in April. Although he had flushed, the products of that explosion of life had already begun their molecular thermal motion before he did...

Ren Suo stayed there for a while and felt that it would not do. He decided to eat on the balcony. Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, a message suddenly arrived on his phone.

"Director Ye from the Neighborhood Office: Please bring two extra sets of clothes to change into for the interview, in case of emergencies."

Change of clothes? Did an interview require a change of clothes? Ren Suo froze for a moment, when his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?" A clear female voice came from the other end. "Is this Ren Suo?"

"It's me." Ren Suo finished the complimentary fresh soup from Jian Ji and smacked his lips.

"Are you eating? Sorry."

"It's fine, I'm done. And you are...?"

"I'm Li Qingxuan. I'm going with you to the National Security Bureau interview this afternoon."

"Ah." Ren Suo remembered. Director Ye had called yesterday to tell him that he was going to the National Security Bureau for an interview today. If he passed, the benefits would be enormous. Besides him, another girl had also qualified for the interview.

"You forgot?" Li Qingxuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "It's already one o'clock."

"No, no." Ren Suo naturally shook his head in denial. "I was just about to head over... What did you need?"

"This interview qualification came out of nowhere, so I wanted to ask whether you knew any inside information."

"How could I? I'm just an ordinary college student too." Ren Suo glanced at the Little World Game Console in the living room and said shamelessly.

"Then why don't we go to the interview together? At least we can look out for each other. How about meeting at the National Security Bureau entrance at two?"

Ren Suo became wary. "Is this a date?"

Li Qingxuan became wary. "Didn't you say you liked men?"