Ren Suo tried again and found that he could control other people besides the NPCs marked with red frames.
However, compared with the red-framed NPC, controlling other NPCs requires much more merit, and there are very few options, most of which are: "Approach the rebel (consume 10 merit points)" and "Stay away from the rebel (consume 10 merit points)".
Among the NPCs that can influence the rebels, the merits required to be consumed are also different. In addition to the 'Reversed Female Demon', there are also NPCs such as the 'White Bishop in Love' and the 'Temperance Female Knight'. They can also influence the rebels, but the merits required to be consumed are extremely low, or even no merits are required, which can be said to be very cheap.
Ren Suo clicked on the female devil and asked her to execute the "Attack the Rebels" command, and then a dialog box popped up above the female devil's head:
"My heart cannot be upright, my intentions cannot be clear, my actions cannot be exposed, my good intentions must be hidden behind my malice, my sincerity must be wrapped in ruthlessness, I will never fight for superficial and vulgar things, I will always be proud, free and cynical... So, rebel, you must enjoy this kindness!"
The female devil walked out of the toilet. Ren Suo chose to let the rebel investigate the toilet door. Sure enough, he moved again and tried to leave quickly.
However, at this moment, the female devil suddenly approached!
The female devil launched an attack on the rebels, "True Evil"!
The rebel cannot move, 9 seconds remaining!
The rebel's determination value has increased!
At this time, an energy bar appeared on the left side of the screen, and the blue energy representing the rebel's determination value increased slightly.
Ren Suo glanced at it and said, "The determination value represents the protagonist's awareness. When the protagonist's determination is high enough, there will be no gap between the player and the protagonist."
What's the meaning?
At this time, Ren Suo heard a prompt from his headset: "If the determination value is high enough, the protagonist will no longer resist the player's instructions."
Ren Suo was startled by the headphones and took them off to look at them carefully. After a moment, he remembered that this "listening headphones" also had the effect of "hearing" more game settings. However, because the listening headphones had only strengthened the ability of "desire detection" before, Ren Suo could not remember it for a while.
Ren Suo thought to himself, “Oh my god, is this rebel so masochistic that he won’t work unless he is whipped?”
However, just as Ren Suo was studying the data of determination value, the time of restraining the rebel had passed, and he also brazenly attacked the female devil!
The rebels launched an attack on the witch: "Verbal Deception"!
The female devil dodged and responded with a teasing smile.
The rebel uses a skill against the female devil: "Kneel down and beg"!
The devil girl was bewitched by the rebel and temporarily listened to his orders.
Rebels' resolve has decreased.
Then Ren Suo saw the female devil being dragged away from the banquet hall by the rebels. During this period, Ren Suo couldn't even control the female devil!
"It seems that the rebels' skills have a higher priority... And we can't give the rebels any chance. We have to suppress them once and for all."
Ren Suo touched his chin. This time, he didn't lose any merit at all - the merit consumption of ordering the female devil to act triggered the -10 merit consumption effect of "Plucking Feathers from Passing Geese" - on the contrary, he finally saw a chance to pass the level, and his mood became a little excited.
Come again!
This time, Ren Suo chose to use the "White Emperor in Love" to influence the rebels. The White Emperor looked like a noble in a white robe, with a circle of paper girls made of pixels standing beside him (probably girls). After clicking on the White Emperor, a dialogue bubble also appeared above his head: (The rebel seemed to have gone to the toilet...)
Why are you all focusing on the fact that the rebel went to the bathroom?
The White Emperor also has three options, but they are slightly different from the options of the female devil:
Chat with the rebels
"Invite the rebels to dine together (consume 1 merit point)"
"Launch an attack on the rebels (consumes 5 merit points)"
Ren Suo would undoubtedly try the third option. After all, he had just finished "Midnight Walking Ghost" and "High Energy Ahead" and didn't spend much. He might be a little tight on buying games, but he could still easily spend money on krypton gold in normal times.
Then he saw the White Emperor leaving the flowers, muttering to himself:
"I am the snow on the peaks that never melts, the ice under the glaciers that no one can touch, and the deepest color in the dark night. But the snow will eventually meet the warm spring, and the ice will also usher in global warming. Fireflies once flickered in the depths of the dark night... So, rebel, feel my cold warmth!"
The White Emperor then rushed into the toilet - judging by the name, the White Emperor should be a man, and he certainly didn't need to wait outside the toilet like the female devil.
The White Emperor launches an attack on the rebels: "Love Ice"!
The rebel is completely restrained, 14 seconds remaining!
The rebel's determination value has decreased!
The rebel’s determination value hit the limit down and cannot recover!
"Wait a minute—" Ren Suo rubbed his eyes, "Why is the determination value lower this time? It has even hit the limit down and cannot recover. What kind of stock market is this?"
And there was no need for Ren Suo to continue consuming. The White Emperor continued to attack the rebels. The White Emperor condensed a heart-shaped white ice block and smashed it at the rebels, knocking them dizzy.
After a while, the rebel was completely unable to move, and then the White Emperor actually hugged the rebel (the two character models overlapped), and then they left quietly!
The system pops up a prompt:
"The rebels were captured by the White Emperor, and the mission failed."
"This White Emperor can actually snatch the rebels away directly..." Ren Suo was too tired to complain: "What kind of crazy setting is this game? The option with the highest krypton gold can actually directly lead to mission failure?"
This time, Ren Suo did not restart the game immediately. Instead, he started to think:
There is no doubt that players control other NPC characters to influence the protagonist, and this operation is the real gameplay part.
Among the optional actions of these NPC characters, only a very small number are free options that do not require the consumption of merit. Ren Suo didn't even need to try to know that relying solely on free options would definitely not make the rebels obedient.
As for whether he could complete the game without spending any money, Ren Suo had no way of being sure - if it was the previous game, Ren Suo might have been able to muster up the courage of a hardcore gamer and say "I can play your game for free without spending any money."
Because those games have a task evaluation system, it is entirely possible for players to pass the game in the simplest way, with the lowest task evaluation, without spending any money; or they can equip the protagonist of the game with awesome skills to directly improve the protagonist's strength.
But this time it’s different. This strange game after the fusion has no so-called task evaluation system at all. As long as you pass the level, you can get all the rewards. But on the other hand, it may mean that passing the level represents the highest difficulty.
As for strengthening the protagonist, the prerequisite is that the protagonist must be obedient - now the protagonist is not obedient, and he still strengthens the protagonist. Does he want the rebels to run faster?
Even if Ren Suo wanted to dress the rebel in a pretty little skirt, he had to make him completely obedient first. Otherwise, if he put on the little skirt and became determined to fall to the limit, Ren Suo would have to start all over again.
Therefore, krypton gold is definitely necessary. As long as the total amount of krypton gold in the whole process does not exceed 100 merit points, Ren Suo thinks it is acceptable - at least there is a 100% return, which is worth Ren Suo's hard work.
Returning to the setting of 'influencing the protagonist through NPCs', it is obvious from the actions of the White Emperor that not all 'high-priced' actions will yield high benefits, and the White Emperor further proves that Ren Suo might end up wasting his money.
So why does the White Emperor's attack on the rebels cost him 5 points of merit? This is a one-time consumption, and it will be spent again if the game is restarted. If Ren Suo is not "plucking feathers from a passing goose", he will definitely feel the pain.
Ren Suo thought about it and came up with only three reasons: ① The stronger the interference effect of the player, the more merits are consumed. It is completely free for the White Emperor to chat with the rebels, which may mean that he originally wanted to do so.
As for letting the White Emperor attack the rebels, although this may also be his wish - the White Emperor's self-talk before the attack showed that he was very excited - but perhaps he is not in a hurry to attack, or even just has this idea vaguely, and the player's actions are to invisibly influence the White Emperor's thoughts.
Similarly, the female devil may also have the idea of attacking the rebels, but requiring her to attack at this moment also requires the player to exert influence - the female devil even needs the player to catalyze her willingness to communicate, which can be said to be very cold.
②Ren Suo is used incorrectly. The White Emperor has such a great influence on the rebels that he directly makes the rebels' determination value drop to the limit. If it were the other way around, wouldn't it make the determination value rise to the limit?
Therefore, it may be at a certain special moment, or some changes may occur in the rebels, allowing the rebels to perfectly withstand or even absorb the attacks of the White Emperor, and then let the White Emperor attack the rebels, in order to reverse the "limit down" effect into a "limit up" effect.
③This option is the same as the option in "High Energy Ahead" that allows explorers to wear women's clothing. It is purely used to fool players and gain achievements.
After writing down his questions and sorting out his thoughts, Ren Suo was almost able to figure out the correct strategy.
It was already getting light outside, but Ren Suo was still energetic, so he opened the game again and continued his strategy.
The rebel still stayed in the bathroom with the toilet. Ren Suo thought that the bathroom might have a fragrance, otherwise how could a self-aware rebel be willing to stay in it?
This time, Ren Suo set his sights on the "Moderate Female Knight". She was standing at the edge of the banquet hall just like the female devil, but the difference was that the female devil was standing near the Girl of Light and other characters. There were also a few people wearing similar clothes to the female devil, and they seemed to be from the same organization; while the female knight was wearing armor, standing alone at one side of the banquet hall away from the crowd.
Click on the female knight, and a dialogue bubble will appear above her head: (The rebels haven't come out yet...)
It's true that everyone knows that the rebels are shitting.
However, the female knight has four options:
"Wait for the rebel to come out and leave with him"
"Wait for the rebel to come out and chat with him (consume 1 merit point)"
"Attack the rebels (consume 2 merit points)"
"Kill the rebels (consumes 10 merit points)"
The first three options of the female knight are no different from those of other NPCs, except for the first option which is particularly strange - she has to leave with the rebels, and if she leaves, she will lose the mission!
However, the female knight has an option to "kill the rebel", which makes Ren Suo a little itchy.
Perhaps this option can directly increase the rebel's 'determination value' to the upper limit?
In fact, Ren Suo was too lazy to find reasons for his desire to consume: he just wanted to see how the female knight would kill the rebel, a coward who wanted to go home as soon as he went out.
After choosing the option to "Kill the Rebels", as expected, the female knight also spoke to herself:
"Life is a journey of moderation, a journey of subtraction. Cut off desires, cut off weaknesses, cut off fears, cut off the mind and the evil spirits, and leave only the purest self. If you encounter something that cannot be cut off and is still a mess, choose to accept it, and let everything that cannot be cut off become a part of your self... Rebel, are you ready?"
Seeing the female knight coming to the toilet door, Ren Suo quickly asked the rebel to open the toilet door.
This time, the rebel saw the female knight as soon as he went out. She seemed to sense something was wrong and wanted to escape. However, the female knight took a step forward, and her whole body turned into light, and she rushed towards the rebel with great momentum!
Of course, the above picture is just something I imagined. The actual effect is that the color value of 25 pixels changes to #ffffff (white) at the same time.
The female knight launches an attack on the rebels: "Final Judgment"!
The rebels were deterred!
The rebels cannot move!
Rebel, rebel...the rebel is gone.
Ren Suo only saw the pixels representing the rebels, which had completely overlapped with the pixels representing the female knight.
At this time, the other NPCs in the banquet hall seemed to notice something and walked towards the rebels, including the female devil and the White Emperor.
At this time, the mixed elements of the female knight and the rebel began to move!
He's walking out of the banquet hall again!
And this time it was even worse. Although the rebel was walking fast before, Ren Suo could at least use the handle to influence him. But after the rebel merged with the female knight, Ren Suo lost all control over the rebel!
Protagonist! Protagonist, what happened to you! Protagonist, please don’t die! Protagonist, why don’t you even have any pixels left!
Does this final judgment mean that you were eaten by the female knight?!
————————
Dong Chengling, who lived in another dormitory building about 57 meters away from Ren Suo's bedroom, slowly straightened her back and sat up from bed. When she opened her eyes, she skipped the "sleepy" stage and started a new day with full energy.
Dong Chengling no longer needs to follow up on the subsequent process of the [Stealing the Secrets Project], and as for the communication with parents, it has nothing to do with her.
From now on, she only needs to concentrate on preparing lessons, so in the past two days she has returned to her normal life rhythm: practicing, cooking, studying, and working.
When she finished washing and was having breakfast, the doorbell rang. It was a courier.
There is naturally a courier station in Tianlian College, and faculty and staff can arrange the delivery time through the APP. After all, most faculty and staff live alone and are most likely not at home. Leaving the courier at the door is a bit dangerous - even though the faculty and staff are basically of extremely high quality and are trusted by the government and the college, one must still be on guard against others and there is no need to test people's hearts.
Dong Chengling doesn't have much free time in the day, and she needs to concentrate on her practice, so she schedules the express delivery time between 7 and 9 in the morning. During this time, she will prepare the lesson plans after breakfast, which is a rest time that can be interrupted.
It was a express delivery from his parents in his hometown. They contained some agricultural products and condiments that Dong Chengling liked to eat. Dong Chengling had received them before, so he was not too surprised.
However, there was also a photo album in the express delivery this time.
Dong Chengling flipped through the pages and saw that they were mostly photos of her grandfather. Her never-slacking heart warmed up instantly, and she sat on the sofa, flipping through her dusty memories page by page.
There are a lot of photos of grandpa, and there are also a lot of photos of Dong Chengling from childhood to adulthood - her father was a young man who loved photography when he was in school. Although he later married his mother who ran a hotel, he never gave up his hobby. In her father's words, the money he spent on lenses was enough to buy several cars.
Therefore, the photos are not only numerous, but also of high quality and well preserved. Dong Chengling watched himself grow up with each photo, while his grandfather, father, and mother aged with each photo, wrinkles appeared, waists bent, no longer beautiful, no longer handsome...
Time is extremely cruel to living things - after you have blossomed to the peak of your life, you will be forced to watch your beauty fade away and your youth is gone...
When Dong Chengling closed the photo album, her expression had returned to calm, with only calmness and determination in her eyes.
Finally, Dong Chengling found another letter in the express delivery.
Now express delivery is faster than postal service, so Dong Chengling was not surprised. When he opened the letter, he saw that it was his mother's handwriting.
The mother didn't write much, just that she was on the highway and everything was fine in her hometown, nothing had happened. They went back to grandpa's rental house to clean it two days ago, and found some old photos and sent them to her daughter to see...
Dong Chengling was immediately relieved - she didn't say too much about the content of "High Energy Ahead", just reminded her parents to watch the news, and then her parents didn't call, just vaguely reminded them that they understood and nothing unexpected had happened.
Turning the letter over, Dong Chengling saw his mother talking about the neighborhood gossip:
"Do you still remember your junior high school classmate Xiao Wei? She is planning to hold a wedding banquet on the Mid-Autumn Festival and has sent the invitation to our house. However, we know that you are not very familiar with her, so we did not agree on your behalf. If you want to attend her wedding banquet, please call me and tell me.
This is your thirteenth classmate who got married. Do you still remember that your father-in-law always said that he wanted to see you get married in person... Your father was the same. When he was fiddling with the camera, he would always nag that he still needed your wedding photos..."
Dong Chengling chuckled when she read it. She felt that this paragraph must have been written by her father to teach her mother. No, the whole letter should be her father's idea - in her memory, her mother was a straightforward person and would not be so roundabout.
However, wearing a wedding dress...
Dong Chengling thought about it and couldn't help laughing: "I have made up my mind a long time ago, how could I settle down so quickly..."
Of course, Dong Chengling also knew that getting married did not mean settling down and giving up one's ideals. As long as the partner was someone who was completely compatible with him or her, as long as the partner was someone he or she liked, then all problems would be solved...
However, marriage is a major event in life, and even Dong Chengling can't make a decision lightly. Besides, marriage is not just her business, and I don't know that guy...
Although her parents began to urge her, Dong Chengling was not in a hurry: she was still young. Moreover, she had already prepared herself to seek the truth alone for her whole life, and her current mood would disrupt her life rhythm.
"It depends on my mood." Dong Chengling leisurely turned on the computer and continued to practice the lesson plan: "Maybe I will go crazy in the next second?"