"That's it?"
"System, you can't be so black-hearted."
"I poured my heart and soul into making this event successful; I worked myself sick, and my hair is falling out."
"And in the end, you only reward me with a mini-game."
"Doesn't your conscience hurt?"
...Seeing that the reward was just a mini-game, Ge Liang was naturally unwilling to accept it.
So he decided to try the same old trick: talking nonsense and driving the System crazy.
What if the System changed his reward?
However, this time the System seemed determined not to humor him. Ge Liang talked frantically for an hour straight, wearing out his lips, but the System still didn't respond.
Wait, it did respond.
'Ding~'
'Ding~ Considering the host's extreme dissatisfaction with this reward, we specifically ask: Does the host wish to forfeit this reward?'
'If the reward is forfeited, the game branch: Mini-Games, will cease to appear completely in the future.'
"...You win!" (Flipping the bird emoji)
He had no choice. Facing such a cold-hearted System, Ge Liang could only choose to claim the reward.
A mini-game is still a game, after all.
If he forfeited it, not only would this reward vanish completely, but mini-game rewards would never appear again in the future.
Without the mini-game category, the System might pull out even crappier rewards.
So, a mini-game it is.
"Claim Reward."
With a thought, he selected 'Complete Task,' and immediately a lottery wheel appeared before Ge Liang's eyes.
At a glance, there were over a dozen mini-games on the wheel waiting for him to draw.
"FC Version: Super Mario."
"FC Version: Contra."
"FC Version: Adventure Island."
"FC Version: Billiards."
"Handheld Version: Tetris."
"PC Version: cat mario."
"PC Version: Bubble Bobble."
...Unexpectedly, some treasures were hidden among these dozen or so games.
For example, the FC Version of Adventure Island.
This game was a childhood classic, one Ge Liang often played when he was young.
Some of the mounts in it, speaking in terms of the Ninja World, would be excellent Summoning Beasts.
The game Contra also features firearms and weapons that could supplement the Ninja World.
And Mario, the Super Mushroom and Invincibility Star inside are also quite good.
Of course, where there are treasures, there are also scamming products.
For example, that cat mario.
Ge Liang remembered that the first time he played this crappy game, he thought it was a knock-off version of Mario.
He didn't know until he played it, and when he did, he was shocked.
While it did copy Mario's gameplay, the levels within were absolutely insane.
Have you ever seen the ground collapse while you're walking?
Have you ever seen someone stab themselves to death by eating an Invincibility Star?
Have you ever seen a floating foothold suddenly move while you are jumping?
Endless traps and creative ways to torture players—that was the core of this game.
Anyway, when Ge Liang played it back then, he wanted to smash his computer.
If he really drew cat mario, Ge Liang figured that if Sasuke played it, he might get so angry he'd awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Hmm~ Thinking about it that way, cat mario isn't entirely useless. (Laughs)
...Overall, among the mini-games on the lottery wheel, quality games were few, while mediocre and crappy ones were the majority.
"Start Drawing."
As Ge Liang started the draw, the wheel first spun slowly, allowing him to clearly see the names of the games on it.
But as time passed, the wheel spun faster and faster, like a fan turned up to the third gear; it was practically a blur.
"It's up to fate now."
"Stop!"
"Give me Contra, Mario, or Adventure Island~"
As Ge Liang'shouted' stop, the speed of the wheel slowly began to decrease.
The pointer passed Contra, passed Mario, and also passed Adventure Island.
Seeing that the three quality games were out of reach, Ge Liang could only pray that he wouldn't get a crappy game.
"No way, I don't want cat mario! I was just joking when I said Sasuke could awaken the Three Tomoe."
"Boss System, don't mess with me."
Seriously, if he really drew cat mario, Ge Liang estimated that he would be ambushed by people from all sides whenever he went out.
Although he wasn't afraid, it would be annoying.
Perhaps the System heard Ge Liang's prayer, as the pointer slowly passed cat mario and began pointing toward other games.
"Phew~ As long as it's not cat mario."
Just as Ge Liang breathed a sigh of relief, he saw the pointer on the wheel stop on a game called FlappyBird.
"FlappyBird... pixel bird?"
"Damn it, I still couldn't escape the crappy games."
That's right, the game called pixel bird was also a crappy game.
In Ge Liang's opinion, this game's level of insanity was completely comparable to cat mario.
"Seriously, why is my luck so bad? How did I draw this one?"
"Heh heh, I can already predict the storm of chaos that will hit the Internet café tomorrow."
"MD, am I really not a European Emperor, but an African?"
Shaking his head, Ge Liang resigned himself to fate.
He couldn't deny it; the game he drew couldn't be returned... As the saying goes, since life is like that thing, when you can't resist, you just have to smile and enjoy it.
"Forget it, I won't think about this nonsense anymore."
Ge Liang forced himself to shift his attention, focusing his 'gaze' on the Internet café's turnover.
"Tsk tsk, it won't be long before I can complete the task again. That's great."
During the five-day event, Ge Liang earned 3.6 million Ryō in usage fees every day, totaling 18 million Ryō over the five days.
Additionally, some Ninja, having seen how effective the Medicinal Pill was, purchased some from him in succession, and he even sold a few more beginner magic swords.
Adding the usage fees and the sales revenue, and then subtracting the seven million Ryō spent on the rewards for the top three, Ge Liang netted approximately 25 million Ryō in these five days.
Seeing that the mission progress bar was already halfway, Ge Liang smiled happily.
There were still twenty-five days until the third stage of the Chunin Exams; within this time, he would definitely be able to complete the task.
Ge Liang was highly anticipating the increase in authority he would receive after completing the task.
Of course, he was also looking forward to the 'choose one of three' game reward.
Following the usual pattern, resident evil 1 and the king of fighters 97, which he hadn't chosen before, would definitely be among the three options.
Unless absolutely necessary, Ge Liang wouldn't choose resident evil 1 because the cost-effectiveness was too low.
Therefore, Ge Liang's selection range for this reward was between the king of fighters 97 and one other game.
"I wonder what the new game will be this time."
"I hope it's a game that is both fun and very helpful to everyone."
Ge Liang had high hopes, but among the vast number of games, the quantity of those that were both fun and greatly beneficial to Naruto and the others was simply too small.
"Fortunately, I still have the king of fighters 97 as a guaranteed fallback."