Mini World Game Console

Ren Suo chose a hat emanating a green glow within "Pass the Hat," waiting for the Truth Seeker to go AFK and automatically collect resources from the plot.

Ren Suo opened the intranet to see if there were any new messages.

However, 'Ren Naiser' had already been quiet for a full ten days or more, and discussions about 'Ren Naiser' on the intranet had gradually calmed down, with other topics rising in succession.

Yet, as soon as Ren Suo entered the intranet, he saw a popular post published by the 'Ren Naiser Special Task Force'!

Ren Suo had no idea who was in the 'Ren Naiser Special Task Force,' nor did he think they could find out anything significant. They hadn't asked the Special Consultant any questions these past few days, which further convinced Ren Suo of this.

But the post they released stunned even Ren Suo—

"The Origins of the Female Protagonist of 'If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters' Have Been Determined."

Huh?

Ren Suo clicked into the post. It contained a series of forest scenes, each with footprints marked in red.

"The Special Case Group traced the footsteps of the female protagonist of 'If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters' (henceforth 'the female protagonist') all the way from Hyjal Peak to an unmarked pond in the Tadamia Mountain Range, 26 kilometers away."

"The female protagonist's footprints ended abruptly at the pond. The nearby trees exhibited strange withering, starting to turn yellow in summer. The pond connects to an underground river and contains aquatic plants and fish."

"Among the aquatic plants, we found a skeleton."

A skeleton!?

The images provided showed photos of the skeleton, buried in mud with plants growing from its eye sockets. Most of its ribcage was in the soil, and it looked quite old.

"Upon examination, this skeleton has been there for 400 years and is male."

"Through on-site investigation, we found traces of artificial digging in the soil not far from this skeleton. Using spell tracing, it was discovered that another skeleton had indeed been present in this location not long ago."

"Currently, the Special Case Group has made the following deduction: The female protagonist is the other skeleton. After dying 400 years ago, she was brought back to life due to the resurgence of Spiritual Energy. Her strong obsession allowed her to absorb nearby nutrients and eventually be reborn into the Human World. The female protagonist was most likely an ancient Cultivator from the European Continent who came to Hyjal Peak on a pilgrimage, wandered with companions in the Tadamia Mountain Range, and ultimately died in the dense forest. A hundred years later, the place of her death transformed into a pond."

The post ended there and did not allow replies. Ren Suo exited and noticed that the question, "Is the enactment of the 'Spirit Protection Law' Ren Naiser's goal, and could he possibly be a Monster?" had been bumped up again.

This question had appeared ten days ago and already had many highly upvoted answers. Now that it was bumped up again, it seemed many Researchers had changed their minds after reading the Special Case Group's post, despite previously disagreeing with its viewpoints.

The most upvoted answer had even been slightly modified, adding a new perspective:

"Ren Naiser may be the spokesperson for Spirits, undead, ghosts, and strange creatures that crave order."

In fact, this time, even Ren Suo himself thought the Special Case Group's investigation might be correct.

I indeed don't know the True Form of the Female Seeker. If I rule out the possibility of creating something from nothing, then the Female Seeker must have been something that once existed on Earth. Well, from my perspective, the Female Seeker was just a jumping stick figure—I had never before considered the Female Seeker's origins.

He just hadn't expected the Special Case Group to personally go to Hyjal Peak to investigate 'Ren Naiser', even bringing a potent Traceur to find the Female Seeker's initial point of appearance.

So, the Female Seeker could very well be that missing skeleton. If I had chosen a male character at the beginning, then the Special Case Group would now be seeing the Female Seeker's skeleton... Nothing is created from nothing; does the Mini-World Game Console also use everything that already exists to create its games...?

This information about the Female Seeker wasn't confidential but rather important reference material, which was why it was published on the intranet; however, it would definitely not appear on the public network.

It was only then I realized another advantage of my current identity: I could also learn more about the Mini-World Game Console through the government's investigation into 'Ren Naiser.' For example, investigating the Female Seeker's origins is something I definitely couldn't do myself. Only a Special Case Group, with government backing in terms of manpower and resources, could conduct such a thorough investigation. So, the Ren Family possessing Huo family bloodline, Zhao Zili being a deceased person, Devouring the Spirit of the World starting as just a Pangolin...

Ren Suo looked down at his phone. "So... is this also based on something that originally existed in reality?"

In the lamp-lit circular room, a dozen or so ghostly figures hovered around the Round Table. The Truth Seeker and The Mist Girl sat opposite each other, the air thick with an 'either you die, or I don't make it home' atmosphere.

The Truth Seeker put down her green-glowing hat. She now possessed 35 units of Courage and 30 units of Gentleness, ready for the next hat trial.

However, there were no suitable hats left now.

In the Truth Seeker's view, all the hats yet to be transformed had already been worn once by the girl hidden in the black mist. These hats now emanated a strange red glow, contrasting sharply with the green glow of the transformed hats.

Ren Suo had started the challenges with ordinary hats. Even though he hadn't tried the red-glowing hats, he knew they likely represented increased difficulty, so, naturally, he had cleared the simpler ones first.

When the Truth Seeker chose a hat, The Mist Girl sitting directly opposite her would also put on the hat before her. When the Truth Seeker put her hat down, The Mist Girl would also put down her hat, which would now be glowing red.

However, if The Mist Girl put on an already transformed (green-glowing) hat, nothing would happen; when she put it down, the hat would still be surrounded by green light.

Although Ren Suo had consciously tried to avoid this, by the time the Truth Seeker began the trials, half of the dozen or so hats were already glowing red. After the Truth Seeker transformed six hats, only red-glowing ones remained.

However, Ren Suo discovered that a new hat would appear each day, along with a new ghostly figure beside the Round Table. That new hat naturally became the prime candidate for transformation.

Ren Suo returned to the living room, deciding to play on the big-screen TV.

After all, it's my first time challenging a red-glowing hat; I want to see more details.

When the Truth Seeker donned a red-glowing hat, Ren Suo knew this was the greatest challenge in "Pass the Hat."

"The Truth Seeker put on Wen Junjie's hat."

Unexpectedly, in the red-glowing hat trial, the Truth Seeker was no longer the hat's owner but an observer.

Moreover, this hat owner's childhood and past were completely skipped, jumping straight to the decision phase.

Ren Suo wasn't pleased; instead, he realized something: If all the hats are red-glowing, I'll have no way to collect Courage and Gentleness resources! It was definitely the right move to clear the non-red-glowing hats first.

The scene showed a middle school boy with a backpack entering his house. His clothes were disheveled and stained with dirt, and there were red marks on his face. As he walked in, a middle-aged woman hurried over, "What have you been doing? Did you get into a fight? You're filthy! Hurry and take those clothes off."

"It's nothing! Leave me alone!" the boy yelled. He ran straight into his bedroom, turned on his computer, launched a shooter game, and grinned, immersing himself in the on-screen carnage.

Time passed. The middle-aged woman pushed the door open and said, "Junjie, dinner's ready."

"I'm busy! Eat by yourself!"

A little later, the middle-aged woman came in with a hot towel and a basin of warm water. She began to wipe the boy's wounds. The boy winced in pain, his mouse twitched, and his game screen went black. He angrily swatted her hand away, yelling, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm helping you clean your wounds."

"I don't need it—I don't need your help! Does annoying me make you happy?!"

The boy yanked his mouse, slammed it forcefully onto the ground, and glared at the middle-aged woman, panting. The woman put down the hot towel and left the bedroom without a word.

More time passed. The boy calmed down and used the hot towel to clean his own wounds. A thought bubble appeared above his head: "I lost the fight... Why did I take it out on Mom? Should I go apologize?"

Hmm, it should be the Truth Seeker's turn to appear now, right?

I feel like in these red-glowing hat scenarios, the Truth Seeker is supposed to be like a 'Ring Grandpa' type character, offering advice to the hat's owner and guiding them onto the correct path in life. Hmm, persuading this boy to apologize will probably require both Gentleness and Courage, right?

However, just then, The Mist Girl, wearing a Witch's Pointed Hat, coalesced from the black mist and appeared beside the boy.

"It's not your fault," she said. "It's clearly your mom who doesn't respect you. If she didn't interfere, why would you lose your temper? She thinks she's being kind by forcing things on you that you don't need, and that's why you get angry."

"It has nothing to do with you losing the fight. Think about it: hasn't your mom often disregarded your wishes before? Forcing you to drink an extra bowl of soup, hurrying you to take a bath, making you stop playing games to come eat? ...It's not your fault. It's because she's treated you poorly in the past that you react this way."

The boy nodded naturally. "Yeah... it's always her, meddling... Otherwise, I wouldn't..."

Just then, it was finally the Truth Seeker's turn.

However, a dialogue box appeared on the screen with a prompt below it: "Please enter a command for the Truth Seeker, such as 'advise,' 'reprimand,' 'hug,' etc. You can also directly input dialogue."

Ren Suo blinked and typed 'advise.'

"The Truth Seeker advised Wen Junjie: 'Your mom only wants what's best for you; that's why she fusses over taking care of you. She didn't even say anything when you lost your temper. Don't you feel guilty at all?'"

"Through the 'advice,' the Truth Seeker attempted to give Wen Junjie 3 units of Courage and 5 units of Gentleness."

"Wen Junjie ignored the 'advice'."

Ren Suo then entered 'reprimand,' 'teach,' 'comfort,' and so on, using up over ten units of Courage and Gentleness, but still to no effect.

Instead, The Mist Girl beside the boy let out a tinkling laugh, as if mocking the Truth Seeker.

Ren Suo was getting annoyed. He examined the command box closely, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He entered 'hug.'

"The Truth Seeker hugged Wen Junjie from behind, attempting to give Wen Junjie 3 units of Gentleness."

"Wen Junjie ignored the 'hug'."

Heh, still angry even when a cute girl hugs you? Just you wait, you'll regret this in a moment.

Ren Suo returned to the main menu to check the 'Equipment Interface,' then went back into the game and entered the command: "Spank his butt until he admits he's wrong."

The Truth Seeker, equipped with 'Combat Basics,' grabbed Wen Junjie, subdued him with a technique he couldn't resist, pulled down his pants, and began to spank him soundly.

"Have you learned your lesson yet?! Huh?! Have you?!"

If hugging allowed for physical contact, then naturally, a more... 'physical' form of education was also possible.

After a full thirty seconds of spanking, Wen Junjie finally yelled, "I was wrong! I was wrong! I'll apologize!"

"By beating Wen Junjie, the Truth Seeker caused Wen Junjie to gain 15 units of Courage and 15 units of Gentleness."

When dealing with rebellious brats, violence is the most practical solution.

At that moment, The Mist Girl let out a strange laugh as she dissipated within the bedroom. "I'm looking forward to your next performance..." she cooed.