CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 73: POVERTY SOOTHES THE MIND

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

When the fatty left the shooting range, he already had a level 2 helmet, level 2 armor, a "Rain’s SCAR" with a red dot sight, a "Billion Brilliance 98K Model" with a 4x scope, and a pile of supplies.

"Subpar Shoddy Saint Fighter Helmet (Level 2 Helmet): Poorly crafted materials make this helmet effective at resisting Healing Miracles. Healing reduction 40%, durability 150. After excessive healing, it will evolve into the ’True Saint Fighter Helmet’."

"Colorful Saint Fighter Armor (Level 2 Armor): Poorly crafted materials make this armor effective at resisting Healing Miracles. Healing reduction 40%, durability 220, adds 5 carry pouches. After excessive healing, it will evolve into the ’True Saint Fighter Armor’."

"Rain’s SCAR: A healing firearm modified by the Monarch of Wind, Rain, and Snow, commonly used by the clergy of special forces. Its high precision and low recoil make it a favorite among priests from various dimensions. It uses 5.56mm Holy Healing Bullets, with 5 accessory slots, a 30-round magazine, Healing Mode: Single/Full-Auto, and a Healing Interval: 0.096 seconds."

The names of armor varied from map to map, and even within the same map, they might not be the same. For example, Ren Suo remembered that the last time he was on the White Snow Field map, the armor he found seemed to be from the Marvel series. But the durability and healing reduction rates were the same, with three tiers in total. Hence, Ren Suo directly categorized them as level 1 helmets, level 2 helmets, level 3 helmets, level 1 armor, level 2 armor, and level 3 armor. The Healing Firearms, however, were basically unchanged. Although different maps had unique featured firearms, the most commonly used ones could generally be found across all maps.

Ren Suo felt this haul was quite substantial. He hadn’t expected the shooting range to have so many items. Now, he only lacked a few accessories, and then all his Healing Firearms would be fully equipped.

After leaving the shooting range, Ren Suo saw a sleigh drawn by two reindeer. Although it didn’t have a cabin, it was still a means of transportation, so he happily had the fatty sit on it.

He checked the map. At that moment, the ’Pleasure Zone’ was revealed, not far from the fatty, just below the shooting range, nearly at the very center of the map. The Pleasure Zone was an area within a circle, and beyond it lay the ’Healing Zone’. The biggest difference between the Pleasure Zone and the Healing Zone was that the Healing Zone was constantly covered in Healing Miracles. As long as you stood in the Healing Zone, your Health Points would slowly increase. However, according to the game’s description, it seemed that all supplies only tasted good in the Pleasure Zone. If you consumed supplies that lowered Health Points in the Healing Zone, the taste was almost like chewing wax, difficult to swallow.

Yes, the purpose of the Pleasure Zone is to eat whatever you want, and it all tastes fantastic.

But it’s the fatty who eats the supplies, not Ren Suo himself, so this setting is naturally meaningless to Ren Suo.

The sled’s speed was quite good, and the reindeer only slowed down slightly while running on the snowy mountains. Ren Suo controlled the fatty to search for items while heading towards the Pleasure Zone. Since this was the first round, many Trial Participants didn’t jump until after Ice Dragon Airlines had passed. Since the fatty had jumped earlier, he didn’t encounter anyone along the way. He almost breezed through and gathered all the accessories he needed.

In the middle of this, Ren Suo witnessed an ’Angel Airdrop’. As the Six-Winged Angel flew across the sky dropping Healing Bullets, it would also conveniently drop one or two supply boxes. And when the Angel flew, ’music akin to hymns’ would play so that Trial Participants under its flight path could hear the sound of the Angel flying by. The airdrop Ren Suo encountered had no competition, so he got an Eightfold Scope, a "Billion Brightness AWM," and a white "Pure White Priest Outfit" from the supply box.

It must be clear to the audience watching Ren Suo play by now. The so-called Healing Firearms are simply regular firearms to which healing enchantments have been added, turning all their Holy Bullets into Healing Miracles. And the power of the Healing Miracles is related to the size of the blessed Holy Bullets and the length of time the barrel has been blessed. The longer the barrel, the longer the blessing time, and naturally, the better the healing effect.

Submachine guns, with their weaker single-shot healing effect, can provide concentrated healing to close-range targets. Assault rifles, with moderate single-shot healing effects, are suitable for most engagement distances, from close to long range. Sniper rifles, which have the strongest single-shot healing effects, also have the most limitations and are generally only used for long-range healing.

Looking at it this way, the healing system seems perfect: the "Assault Priest," standing at the most dangerous frontline, has the most concentrated small-caliber Healing Bullets to quickly get the wounded back on their feet. Standing behind, the versatile "Special Operations Priest" can take care of wounded comrades at all ranges—near, medium, and far—reviving them with a single, entrancing shot. Hidden on the battlefield, the "Sniper Priest," who only aids critically injured comrades, aims through the scope, deciding the outcome from beyond visual range; a single shot can fully restore a critically injured patient! Not to mention other auxiliary items like the Holy Grenade and Healing Smoke...

Trial Participants usually can carry two main pieces of equipment, plus a small healing handgun and Holy Grenade. It’s also possible to carry a physical healing implement, the "Ascension Wolf Fang Club."

Of course, Ren Suo’s first reaction upon seeing the specifics of this game was: How can such a setting be justified?

However, though the game setting was a bit odd, the gameplay was still good; otherwise, Ren Suo wouldn’t have played until he fell asleep on the couch. It was actually a special shooting game where you compete against ninety-nine other players. So, just like the real-world AWM, the AWM in this game was also incredibly powerful, delivering a One Shot Entrancing effect. Since it was an airdrop weapon, Ren Suo naturally switched to the AWM.

"Billion Brightness AWM: A long-range healing implement modified by the Lord of Billion Brilliance, with astonishingly effective healing, allowing the priest to heal patients from beyond visual range while ensuring their own safety. Uses .300 Magnum (7.62×67 mm) Holy Healing Bullets, 4 accessory slots, 5-round magazine, Healing Mode: Single Shot, Healing Interval: 1.850 seconds."

The "Pure White Priest Outfit" offered no attribute bonuses. It looked light and floaty, came with a hood that completely concealed the Trial Participant, and was excellent camouflage in the snowy terrain.

Proceeding to the third Pleasure Zone, the zone had become quite small with only 50 participants remaining, and Ren Suo finally encountered his first opponent in this match. While the fatty was riding the sled to the third zone, Ren Suo heard a rumbling, rushing sound nearby. Turning his view, he saw a middle-aged man in a Saint Fighter Suit riding on a white bear, sprinting fast! Ren Suo then immediately made the fatty get off, and he opened fire on the white bear and the middle-aged man with the "Rain’s SCAR"!

In this map, there were white bears, reindeer sleighs, pumpkin carriages, and other animal-drawn vehicles, with speeds comparable to real-world cars. However, unlike Trial Participants, animals that received excessive healing would fall asleep on the spot and couldn’t be woken up, no matter how much one called out to them. This effectively disabled the enemy’s mode of transportation.

Ren Suo didn’t even get a clear look at the middle-aged man’s skin color before he swept him off the bear. The white bear, which had been hit by several Healing Bullets, lazily sat down, its body glimmering with a white light. It touched its face with a paw, looked curiously at the middle-aged man now ’ascended to heaven,’ then turned to the fatty, arms open as if asking for a hug. The fatty didn’t react, but Ren Suo, outside the screen, found it incredibly endearing.

When Ren Suo was about to loot the middle-aged man’s bag, a strand of white light suddenly appeared by the fatty’s feet. However, Ren Suo only then heard the sound of a 98K coming from behind.

Someone’s there!

Ren Suo didn’t bother interacting with the white bear or looting the bag; instead, he quickly got back onto his sled and sped away.

...

The fifth circle. The circle had become very small by now, with only 18 people left. Dressed in the Pure White Priest Outfit, the fatty was lying in the snow, almost undetectable at a glance. In fact, a Trial Participant had just passed by and was shot to heaven by Ren Suo. The fallen Trial Participant also yielded a sniper rifle silencer and a rifle silencer for him.

The fatty was crawling slowly through the grass towards the hills. The fifth circle was located in the hilly terrain at the center of the map, an area featuring natural obstacles and high ground, easily accommodating a dozen people. Hearing the intermittent gunfire through his headset, Ren Suo knew this was the toughest moment of the first round. At first, the Trial Participants were not used to this Priest Trial, but after half an hour of chasing and guidance from Divine Memory, those who could last until the final twenty had either fully adapted to the trial, ready to shoot anyone to heaven with a firearm at any time, or they were like Ren Suo—wily old campers lying low on the ground in concealment. After all, the trial’s goal was to stay in the field and become number one, not to win by "saving" the most Trial Participants.

Hm?

Ren Suo spotted a shadow flickering behind the dead tree ahead. So he pulled out the AWM, opened the Eightfold Scope, and aimed there.

Ah, it was a little chubby girl in a Saint Fighter Suit, with uneven teeth and wearing glasses that made her eyes look small...

"Let me help you with a beauty makeover and slim down!"

PFFT.

The sound of the AWM, suppressed by the silencer, was muffled. Then the little chubby girl in the scope instantly shed her excess weight, her chubby face slimmed down, and she transformed into a pretty girl as she ascended to heaven.

Ren Suo hummed contentedly and proceeded to change the magazine. At this moment, a green glow suddenly burst from the fatty’s waist, and the Health Points display on the left soared by several dozen points!

Shot by a sniper rifle!

Ren Suo quickly made the fatty run forward. Along the way, he endured machine gun fire, and his Health Points were almost full by the time he reached the tree where the little chubby girl had ascended. There, he hastily ate a "Fried Chicken Combo," drank a bottle of "Nuclear Cola," and munched on a piece of "Kinder Chocolate."

"Nuclear Cola: Consumes 4 seconds to increase Happiness Value by 40 points. A common carbonated drink, nicknamed Fatty’s Divine Water."

"Kinder Chocolate: Consumes 7.5 seconds to increase Happiness Value by 75 points. Milk hazelnut wafer chocolate, sweet but not cloying."

The Fried Chicken Combo could only lower Health Points to 25. The remaining Health Points above this threshold had to be slowly reduced using Happiness Value. Moreover, the higher the Happiness Value, the faster Health Points would decrease, and it could even increase the Trial Participant’s running speed.

The fatty turned his head and kept a close watch on the distant hills through the Eightfold Scope AWM, holding his breath. When he saw a Trial Participant show up, he immediately shot them in the head, sending them to heaven instantly. Like Ren Woxing, the fatty could also equip the abilities and props owned by Ren Suo. After equipping "Unlimited Energy," the fatty had one effect—unlimited breath-holding time while aiming!

As the sixth circle was about to close in, meaning he’d soon be in the top ten, Ren Suo couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But at that moment, gunshots suddenly sounded from behind, and the fatty’s Health Points started to rise rapidly! Ren Suo pulled the right joystick all the way to the right, moving to the other side of the tree. However, before he could even see the Trial Participant attacking him, his Health Points maxed out, and he ascended to heaven!

The very tree he was hiding behind, having received too much healing, sprouted fresh buds and green leaves amid the cold winter...

"Ah!—"

With a kick of his legs, Ren Suo, out of anger from being sneakily killed and thus failing, subconsciously raised his controller—

"Forget it, no need to get angry." Ren Suo calmed down quickly and put the controller down.

After all, a Hell 4 controller costs several hundred bucks. It’s too expensive to smash.

Poverty promotes peace of mind.

However, this wasn’t a solution. The controller’s joystick had a speed limit, and he had already been eliminated several times because he couldn’t turn the screen around fast enough when attacked from behind.

Ren Suo sighed, went to the dining table to eat takeout, and started playing on his phone. That’s when he noticed that You Jilong had actually sent him a message.

’You Jilong: By next Friday, all team members must watch "Over My Dead Body" up to the latest episode, list all the types of Demons and Ghosts that appear, and describe in detail their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.’

Huh?

Ren Suo silently opened the video app and indeed saw that Ren Naiser had posted a new video. Although he had anticipated this, seeing it still gave Ren Suo a start. Soon after, however, intense curiosity welled up within him.

Was this just a video?

Or something that happened in the past?

Most importantly... could the Ren Family he had created truly be related to him in the present?