Mini World Game Console

"Cheng Ling, let me ask you something."

At the Heavenly Lotus Academy cafeteria, Ren Suo listlessly poked at his Hainanese Chicken Rice. His eyes were glued to his phone. He suddenly asked Dong Chengling, who was sitting across from him eating a large serving of teriyaki chicken cutlet rice, "What would you do if you couldn't finish your homework at night, and not finishing it would get you beaten by your dad?"

Dong Chengling mumbled unclearly, "I've never not finished my homework."

"What if Godzilla attacked your school and you had no time to do your homework?"

"My dad still wouldn't hit me."

"What if your dad was extra angry that night because he missed breakfast, lunch, and dinner?"

"Going hungry does make one prone to anger," Dong Chengling said after thinking seriously for a moment. "Then I'd stay up all night to finish my homework."

"What if you're already very tired and don't want to do it?" Ren Suo asked.

Dong Chengling replied, "Homework is so joyful, how could it possibly be tiring?"

Ren Suo paused slightly and nodded. "Makes sense!"

He then looked at the 'Pass the Hat' game interface on his phone. The screen showed a scene of pulling an all-nighter on homework; an incandescent lamp illuminated the homework book on the desk.

I was criticized by the teacher for not submitting my homework. Father said if I don't finish it today, he'll beat me to death, but I really can't finish it.

The screen displayed three options: 'Continue until death (Truth Seeker with Unlimited Energy option available)', 'Stop and sleep', or 'Explain the situation to Father (requires 5 units of Courage)'.

Ren Suo weighed whether to use a unit of Courage. After discussing it with Dong Chengling, he resolutely chose 'Continue until death'!

The scene began to change, displaying a forty-five-minute countdown hourglass. Ren Suo, satisfied, turned off his phone. Just then, Dong Chengling asked, "What were you looking at so intently?"

"Oh, just someone seeking advice on emotions," Ren Suo shrugged.

In a sense, he wasn't entirely wrong with that statement.

The 'Pass the Hat' game initially looked like a horror game, but after playing it, Ren Suo found out... it was a freaking difficult idle text-adventure game!

Yes, an idle, text-adventure game!

Once the Truth Seeker casually chose a hat, they would enter the hat's trial, and the game screen would fall into a reminiscence.

'The Truth Seeker put on Cheng Xiao's hat.'

'The Truth Seeker is experiencing Cheng Xiao's childhood.'

'The Truth Seeker is experiencing Cheng Xiao's childhood, gaining 1 unit of Gentleness.'

'The Truth Seeker is scornful of Cheng Xiao's bratty behavior, losing 1 unit of Gentleness.'

'The Truth Seeker felt Cheng Xiao secretly helping his first love's innocent youth, gaining 3 units of Gentleness.'

...

Then, it was no longer Ren Suo's concern. He turned on the Bluetooth on his phone, originally intending to search for the Mini-World Game Console. However, as soon as he activated Bluetooth, the 'Pass the Hat' app appeared on his phone's desktop.

Upon opening the app, there was a log of messages generated as the Truth Seeker experienced the hat owner's past.

After 30 to 60 minutes, the Truth Seeker would have experienced a relatively peaceful segment of the past. Then, they would confront dilemmas the hat's owner once faced. These included, but were not limited to, not confessing to a first love, not fighting back when bullied, and hurting parents in a fit of rage.

At that point, it was up to the player to make a decision.

If Ren Suo didn't play in time, it was fine; the Truth Seeker would spontaneously relive the past to accumulate 'Courage' and 'Gentleness' resources.

Most major choices required either 'Courage' or 'Gentleness,' and sometimes both. However, these options were not necessarily the correct ones. Some options that consumed more resources could be wrong, while those requiring no resources at all might lead the hat owner out of past regrets.

Choosing the wrong option wouldn't immediately end the hat's trial. Instead, the Truth Seeker would experience the hat owner's worsening situation. This would reduce resources but also present new choices. If the right choices were made then, one could still turn things around and pass the hat's trial.

This game had two challenges: resources and time.

Resources could only be obtained by idling, that is, from the Truth Seeker experiencing the hat owner's past. However, idling for just 30 minutes might not yield enough resources to meet the needs of the choice.

At that point, Ren Suo could choose to continue idling or take a risk with options that consumed fewer resources or none at all. Some of these options were correct answers, but they could also lead the Truth Seeker into a more difficult predicament within the hat trial.

However, the intrigue of the hat trial lay in the fact that as long as you dared to keep going, it wasn't necessarily a dead end.

For example, in one hat trial, there was a scene: I was bullied by a fatso. After we scuffled, the teacher punished us both. When I argued, she said, 'A single palm makes no sound.'

One option, 'Slap the teacher and ask, "Does it make a sound now?"' required 15 units of Courage. Ren Suo had used too much Courage in previous decisions and lacked resources. So, he chose the other option, 'I'll call Dad!' which required no Courage and seemed reliable.

However, when 'Father' arrived, he only berated the Truth Seeker further. Even after taking the Truth Seeker home, 'Father' considered resorting to physical discipline.

If the Truth Seeker didn't resist, they would lose 5 units of Courage and 5 units of Gentleness. Therefore, Ren Suo equipped the Truth Seeker with 'Combat Basics,' allowing them to soundly thrash 'Father.'

After beating up 'Father,' the Truth Seeker was naturally kicked out of the house. He lingered outside for several days, neither attending school nor returning home, and found a job as a helper in a restaurant. Suddenly, he saw a military enlistment ad on TV. On impulse, he went home, stole his household registration booklet and ID card, and enlisted in the military.

Then, this hat was surprisingly cleared that way, becoming the first hat successfully transformed by the Truth Seeker.

Once successfully transformed, no matter what the hat was before, it would be wreathed in a green glow.

As long as one passed the trial, the 'Courage,' 'Gentleness' resources, and Skills obtained by the Truth Seeker in that trial would be fully inherited, allowing them to be used in the next hat trial.

Moreover, if one wore a transformed hat, the resources obtained from idling would be doubled.

However, no matter how abundant the resources, failing to pass the hat trial on the first attempt rendered them useless.

Once the Truth Seeker entered the trial, there was only one outcome: passing the trial or being forced to remove the hat.

Being forced to remove the hat meant one of two things: either the Truth Seeker had fallen into a predicament during the trial, constantly consuming resources to struggle for survival, or they had made a series of wrong choices, instantly depleting all resources and making it impossible to continue.

Moreover, even if Ren Suo could remember the choices for a hat trial, and even if it was a hat that had been worn before, upon re-entering, the Truth Seeker could choose to skip previously experienced content and go directly to the scenes requiring a decision.

However, to make decisions, one must idle to gather resources.

But just as 'Unlimited Energy' could generate other options, Ren Suo discovered that equipping the Truth Seeker with different Skills or props could temporarily add some surprising options to choices. These often reduced resource consumption or even accelerated the trial's completion.