Listening to the narration in his ear—half mocking, half oddly comforting—Childe let go of the mouse and collapsed onto the sofa.
His eyes were completely lifeless, like someone who had just lost all hope.
Nearly four hours of hard work...
Nearly four damn hours!!
And just like that, he got sent sliding all the way back to square one—back to his happy hometown.
"Me…"
"Ugh, hah… ah… ahhh…"
It hurt—seriously hurt. Childe couldn't hold back the pain and let out a muffled, soul-crushing cry, eyes squeezed shut.
Hu Tao, sitting beside him, looked visibly repulsed. "Come on, can you please change your vibe? Don't go copying that embarrassing reaction video again."
Childe didn't want to make those sounds. But the pain in his heart? Too real. He had to scream or explode.
After nearly four hours of climbing, who could stand getting sent back to day one?
The crowd watching chuckled, but their sympathy showed. They'd all been there—more than once. Getting knocked back after sweating through each tiny bit of progress? Brutal.
Childe was fully mentally wrecked. If he could sing "Winter Flowers", he would've belted it right then and there.
Slamming his hand on the table, he stood up and turned to Rui Shen at the counter.
"Boss Rui Shen, are you sure this game is even beatable? Could you beat it?!"
The crowd nodded in agreement. This game—designed to destroy people's patience—could it really be cleared by a human being?
Faced with their doubts, Rui Shen could only shake his head and sigh.
"Man… I didn't wanna flex this early."
"But fine. Let's fire up the big screen, and I'll show you how it's done."
Rui Shen booted up the game on the computer at the counter, linking it to the internet café's main display.
The boss was putting on a show. Everyone paused their own games and turned to watch.
As the game started, Rui Shen's bald man hooked the tree with a single hammer swing.
Effortlessly cleared the tree, latched onto a branch on the rock, launched himself over the stone, nailed the paddle on the cliff wall, and shot straight upward.
Every hammer strike landed perfectly. Not a single wasted move.
And every time he swung, he launched himself using the maximum possible distance.
The crowd was dumbfounded.
How long had it taken them to reach that cursed Wangxiang Rock?
Thirty minutes? An hour?
How long did it take Rui Shen?
Thirty damn seconds.
Yeah. 30 seconds!!
As the crowd stared in disbelief, Rui Shen just kept climbing.
Abandoned rooms, horizontal ladders, stacked-up furniture, castle walls, that nasty iron anvil cliff, hanging rocks, and even the wooden barrel that had sent Childe straight back to start…
He didn't miss a single move. Slippery stones? No problem. Every swing latched on like clockwork.
No need to swing the barrel either. He just flew right up with pinpoint control.
Then came the infamous snow slope—nearly flat, no footholds. Bald man charged it with rapid-fire hammer taps, just enough contact to keep moving without slipping.
Reached the top of the snowy peak. Another challenge: the tall signal tower.
Rui Shen climbed it in a few precise motions. On the peak, he tapped the hammer down—launched bald man into the sky.
Using floating boulders as launch points, he propelled himself up, bounce after bounce.
A star shimmered.
Game cleared.
Clear Time: 2 minutes 06 seconds.
The café fell dead silent. The crowd's jaws hit the floor.
2 minutes and 6 seconds?!
For real? The same game they thought was rigged to be unwinnable?
Face. Slapped. Swollen.
Rui Shen cleared his throat to snap them back to reality, then smiled.
"See? This game isn't actually that hard. Just gotta hang in there, grind it out. Keep climbing no matter how many times you fall. Sooner or later, you'll get there."
"Oh—and finishing it? That's just the beginning."
Then, he updated the big screen's leaderboard.
"Digging for Ascension" just got a new record.
Yep. Now it's about speed.
Clearing the game's cool and all—but doing it fast? That's where the real flex is.
The crowd wanted to cry. Rui Shen made it look easy… but what the hell were they playing then?
Devastating.
Still, not everyone was crushed. Some folks—like Keqing and Childe—were fired up.
Now that they'd seen Rui Shen's ridiculous skills, how could they just give up?
Clear the game? Bet.
Break that 2:06 record? Also bet.
The rest of the day passed in a blur, and the café closed at 9 p.m.
Honestly, Rui Shen thought an internet café should totally stay open all night. Back in his school days, he used to pull all-nighters gaming at cafés all the time.
Well, not too often. Kinda.
Between high school and college, he probably spent more nights gaming than actually sleeping.
But for now, he was the only one running the shop. If they were gonna do night shifts, he'd need to hire someone.
But who?
Passerby A? Nah, tricksters don't count.
Famous folks? Too busy with their own lives.
Could he hire one of the travelers?
Earlier, Rui Shen had asked a merchant from Mondstadt, who mentioned that the region was being terrorized by a wind dragon lately. Also, there were rumors of blonde siblings with flying pets showing up.
So… not even clear if it was Aether or Lumine traveling with Paimon.
Of course, Rui Shen hoped it was the girl.
Let's be real—Aether barely had a presence.
Rui Shen, being a guy himself, naturally leaned toward the playful little sister type.
Let Aether go handle the big boss stuff and take the heat. Someone else can go deal with the dragon mess.
"Tsk tsk tsk… Today's haul was real nice."
Rui Shen checked his emotional points and grinned.
He'd pulled in more than three times yesterday's numbers—over 24,000 emotional points total.
Zhongli may act calm and collected, but even he gave off more emotional clarity than most.
Still, the biggest surge came from Rui Shen flexing that insane game-clear.
With 24,000 emotional points in hand, he was tempted to spend it all right then. Maybe hit the jackpot and pull a wife to help watch the store.
But nah—he held back. He could already protect himself just fine. What he needed was café expansion.
Fifty PCs weren't cutting it anymore. Too many people were left without a seat, just watching others play.
Time to level up.
He spent 15,000 emotional points to expand the interior, boosting the number of computers to 120.
Even added a private room section.
Now the café was starting to look like the one he used to run.
Starting tomorrow, there'd be no more time limits. If you wanted a seat, you'd better be fast enough to grab one.
Next, it was time to load in some new content.
With 9,000 emotional points left, Rui Shen decided to use them all.
One draw for 4,000 points, and another for 5,000.
He started with the 4,000-point draw.
Congratulations! You've obtained the game: Resident Evil.
"Nice! (≧▽≦)~ It's Resident Evil!"
Rui Shen was hyped.
Resident Evil had always been one of his favorite series. What guy doesn't love blasting zombies?
And honestly, Resident Evil was peak zombie gaming. Rui Shen had already played Village before he ended up here.
He also knew the RE4 Remake was about to drop.
The movies though? Meh. First two were okay, the rest were hot garbage.
Especially that web series. Pure trash.
He decided not to launch Resident Evil tomorrow. He'd wait a day.
With no time limits tomorrow, someone was bound to clear Super Mario or Digging for Ascension.
Or at least get close.
Then he rolled the last 5,000 points.
Congratulations! You've unlocked the movie: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
"F**k! Σ(°△°|||) It's actually The Lord of the Rings?!"
Rui Shen stood in awe. This wasn't just any movie—this was sacred.
Tolkien's masterpiece. The gold standard of fantasy epics.
He'd watched it for the first time in elementary school, totally blown away by the magic and effects.
Even today, the visuals still held up strong.
The lore, the plot, the cast—chef's kiss.
Only problem? This was just part one.
No word on when parts two and three would drop.
But hey, that might be a good thing.
Imagine everyone getting super into part one, dying to know what happens next… but the wait burns them up inside.
Emotional points generator, baby.
All points now spent, Rui Shen was ready to kick back and enjoy his nightly ritual—late-night snacks, guaranteed.