Chen Mo roamed the game lobby, stepping on top of glass floors that could magically support any weight. The game lobby was just as lively and bustling as yesterday. Players, each with distinct demeanours and individual styles, crowded the megamall-like expanse, scrolling through hovering holographic screens with casual familiarity.
Those screens were minigames available to be entered. There was its title, a brief glimpse into the environment and thematic worldbuilding of each minigame in the form of multiple still pictures, as well as the rewards overview. Within the rewards overview, it included the slave reward — their appearances and their names. Each minigame would only reward one slave, but they varied across different minigames.
Chen Mo himself began scrolling, paying less attention to the slaves rewarded and more to the riches offered. At first, the system would recommend Chen Mo only E rank minigames, but Chen Mo found them pathetic, as they yielded far fewer material rewards.
The same went with D rank minigames and F rank minigames; neither rewarded more than a thousand Sapphires, and the highest amounts of rubies offered by a minigame of those ranks were merely ten.
Then, after a few more deliberate scrolls, Chen Mo would find a familiar title:
[School of Apparitions - F rank]
[Rewards: 150 Sapphires, 5 Rubies, Slave Reward: Lily Chen]
Then came a picture of this 'Lily Chen'. Chen Mo wasn't surprised that this was an F rank game, as most deductions required were quite fundamental and straightforward. Although, he could also see why this minigame was considered the hardest beginner minigame, because any minor slip-ups would cause the beginner to be forced into a face-to-face encounter with monsters of C rank or higher, which was egregious.
Chen Mo ignored the system's recommendations and looked past D rank minigames entirely. For C rank minigames, the majority of them were still singleplayer, but Chen Mo could now find multiplayer games as well, and they yielded slightly more rewards.
The average C rank minigame offered 1000 Sapphires and 12 Rubies upon completion. But being the money-crazed individual Chen Mo was, he still wasn't satisfied in the slightest.
B rank minigames were predominantly multiplayer, with only a scarce few singleplayer games that flashed red for being already occupied. They offered 2000 Sapphires and 15 Rubies.
More. Chen Mo scrolled further to A rank minigames. Now, they were all multiplayer. Chen Mo tried scrolling even higher, but found no additional minigames, only the text of [403 Forbidden].
He'd ask the system why, as well as whether A rank minigames were the highest difficulty, both questioned through a single passing thought in his head.
The neon-lime system replied: [No. E rank players are simply not permitted from entering S rank or higher minigames.]
Chen Mo nodded in understanding. If a lower-ranked player was able to enter the highest-ranked games immediately, that would create an unfair advantage for people with powerful connections. For example, an F rank player could receive an outrageous amount of rewards by entering an SSS rank game, then having their SSS rank friends carry them through it effortlessly.
Thus, Chen Mo settled on A rank minigames for now. None of the titles particularly caught his attention, but surprisingly, one of the slaves' names did.
[Werewolf By Vermillion - A rank - 6 players]
[Rewards: 3000 Sapphires, 18 Rubies, 1 Emerald, Slave Reward: Roxanne Lindsay.]
The picture of Roxanne, the twenty-year-old classmate of Chen Mo, with beautifully dyed wine-red straight hair curtaining her blemish-free skin. Her eyes shone an alluring lilac, her rosy lips puckered ever so slightly, suggestively: true to her title as the prettiest girl on campus.
That's why she was absent for so many days. Chen Mo deduced. Roxanne was invited into the game, and she lost, becoming a mere possession of the system.
It's this game. Chen Mo settled on it. Perhaps she was a fake crush of Azuki's, but Roxanne was still undeniably a friend of hers. Chen Mo bookmarked it using the system, not yet ready to enter, as he had something else to do first.
He'd saunter through a hallway that Sean had never led him down before, because this area was largely self-explanatory. The signboard hanging overhead read: [CINEMA].
This was where players' streams were broadcasted. Based on their status, the system would assign them a hall with fitting quality and size.
Inside this section, the floor was carpeted in scarlet, and the ceiling was dimly lit with warm, romantic lanterns. The corridors branched frequently, creating what would have been a maze if not for the clear and abundant golden signboards.
There were familiar titles for Chen Mo: Turning left led to Rising Stars, Potential Pros, and Trending Champions. Turning right led to The Unknown, Disliked Streams, and Everyone's Enemy. Straight ahead led to Master's Hall, Golden Screens, and Diamond League.
Walking through the corridors were chattering players, some holding popcorn, some wearing polarised 3D glasses. But Chen Mo wasn't here to watch.
He turned right to find multiple search boards along the walls. Some were occupied, some were free. Chen Mo searched for [quinnaction77], the username that Jason Noir Quinn usually used in video games.
Results: [The Unknown, Hall 127]
As Chen Mo expected, Jason was already in a game. Next to the location was a button that read [Teleport.]
Chen Mo tapped it, and the next thing he knew, the button, along with the search board, vanished, replaced by a heavy, wooden double swing door.
Carved into the aged wood: [Hall 127.]
Chen Mo pushed open the weathered doors, stepping into an empty theatre hall. The seats were crooked, some cushions spilling out cotton, and the quality of the footage was far from ideal.
Nonetheless, Chen Mo could make out Jason on the screen, traversing through what looked like a rainforest at night. At the bottom right corner was Jason's username, next to the name of the minigame: [Tiger's Den - F rank/Beginner]
Chen Mo merely thought of it, and a keyboard appeared in front of him. He'd clack:
[XiaoBai: Hi, Jason.]
The Jason on the screen reacted quickly, "W-what? H-hi? My guy, where the hell am I? Who are you?"
Chen Mo didn't plan to explain everything; he simply didn't want his friend dying.
Three more messages would soon pop up at the bottom left corner of Jason's field of vision:
[XiaoBai donated 134 Sapphires!]
[NEW: Store unlocked!]
[XiaoBai: Good luck.]
134 Sapphires was all Chen Mo had. His balance was now zero.
"What?" Jason scratched his head in confusion, "Xiao Bai... Chen Mo??"
Unfortunately, his friend had already done all he could, and had already left the spectators' hall. Chen Mo didn't attempt further communication, as it was obvious that the system would certainly censor any meaningful tips in the live chat.
Instead, Chen Mo returned to the game lobby, waving his hand to retrieve his bookmarked game.
Yet, when the screen of [Werewolf By Vermillion] descended, another player had already occupied the position in front of it, scrutinising the minigame with intense interest.
She was a bespectacled young woman with sharp eyes, and an even sharper jawline. She donned a working woman's attire, consisting of a white blouse and a black skirt.
Before Chen Mo could approach, Sean called out from behind, "Xiao Bai! Yo, no way..."
Sean scampered forward until he stood beside Chen Mo, casting a shadow with his advantageous height over the 148cm girl. "Is that B rank actually considering joining an A rank minigame? Uh... She's dead, bro. Haha..."
Chen Mo, an E rank, was about to join as well...
He extended the strange woman's profile:
[Username: Jenniferhouse (Age: 31)]
[CT: Headstarter (Fighter-Class)]
[Power: 338 (B rank)]
[Guild: *None.]
"I'll be joining it too," Chen Mo commented calmly.
Someone else scolded him before Sean could respond, "What?! Are you crazy??" It was Eleanor, the teenager with dual pink hair buns.
"I don't think so," Chen Mo shook his head lightly.
"System thinks so, it even named you psychopathic. E rank in an A rank? You're not surviving, dude," Eleanor insisted as she unwrapped a lollipop for her parched mouth.
"Dumbass number two is right." The calm, monotonous Theodon arrived as well, and his nickname for Eleanor made her crush the lollipop between her teeth. Theodon elucidated, "Not only are you severely underpowered for an A rank minigame, you are also being actively hunted by the Nazis.
"Entering a multiplayer game would mean giving them the space to attack you."
A digital beep interrupted Chen Mo's focus. He turned toward the sound and saw the earlier B rank woman, Jennifer, disappearing into fragments of digits that were being drawn into the screen.
[Werewolf By Vermillion, 1/6 Players. Waiting...]
"Mm. She's dead," Sean commented.
"So dead," Eleanor added.
"Eventually," Chen Mo justified himself to Theodon, "I'll still need to enter a multiplayer game as the system requests."
"It makes a difference whether it's now or 364 days later," Theodon argued, "You should use the year to grind singleplayer games, so that when the system forces you into a multiplayer game, you would have more protection."
"True," Chen Mo admitted without hesitation, "But A rank minigames grant me more rewards. I like high risk, high reward."
"..." Theodon didn't know how to argue against a clear gambling addict.
"Besides," Chen Mo added one final reason, "I know the slave that I would receive if I complete that level. I want to save her."
She's the friend of my friend.