Genius Playground

Chapter 329: Chapter 12: Treasure

‘This feeling of being trapped in a time loop… It’s really hard to describe.’

39 minutes and 11 seconds. It was too short a time; it was almost impossible to get anything substantial done.

He planned to visit the library again to properly research Pompey. He was very curious about how the experts of this world had studied that suicide note.

Besides the note, had Pompey, who committed suicide three years ago, left any other clues?

While he was at it, Jiang Ran also planned to look into the matter of Resident #001. Surely he couldn’t be the only one curious about such an obvious question.

Anyone who saw the number 002 would naturally wonder who 001 was.

‘Right.’

He hopped off his flight-capable motorcycle and went back to the waitress.

‘I might as well just ask a local.’

‘Maybe I can get a direct answer.’

“Uh… I’ll take a glass after all. It looks delicious.”

Jiang Ran licked his lips.

He was already an expert at closing the distance with the juice girl.

“Hee hee! I promise you won’t be disappointed!”

The waitress’s eyes sparkled with joy as she poured Jiang Ran a large glass and handed it to him.

“If you like it, come back for a refill anytime!”

“Delicious!”

Jiang Ran took a quick sip, gave it a thumbs-up, and cut right to the chase.

“By the way, I wanted to ask you something. You see, today is the anniversary of Mr. Pompey’s death. I feel terrible about it, and I’m heading to the memorial plaza to pay my respects soon.”

“But there’s one thing I’m curious about… As the creator of this Virtual Digital World, Mr. Pompey was only Resident #002. So who is Resident #001?”

“Uhm…”

The girl tapped her chin with her index finger and shook her head.

“That… No one knows.”

“Huh?”

Jiang Ran was taken aback.

“So there’s no explanation? There’s clearly a missing number, right? Surely someone must have gotten curious about this over the years?”

“Oh, definitely.”

The waitress smiled faintly.

“I heard someone asked Mr. Pompey about it in public a long time ago, but Mr. Pompey just smiled and didn’t give a direct answer. He only said one thing—”

“‘The number 001, perhaps, is the world itself.’”

“Historians and commentators have a lot of theories. Some think Mr. Pompey was unwilling to use the number 001 because it would have made him seem like a dictator, so he just skipped it.”

“Another theory is that Mr. Pompey had already given the answer—the Virtual World itself is number 001. So, as the first person to undergo the Consciousness Upload procedure and enter the Virtual Digital World, he could naturally only be #002.”

‘Hmm…’

Jiang Ran took a sip of orange juice and said nothing.

‘It seems the residents of this Virtual World don’t know about Cheng Mengxue’s existence.’

‘At least, Cheng Mengxue isn’t publicly known as Resident #001.’

Otherwise, no one would ever forget such a famous name, just like how everyone knows… the tallest mountain in the world is Mount Everest.

‘Looks like I won’t get any useful information from the juice girl. I’m better off checking the library later.’

“This orange juice is amazing!”

Jiang Ran turned and waved to the girl.

“See you! I look forward to your new creations.”

Then, he got back on his flight-capable motorcycle and took off.

「En route.」

He once again passed by that square, classical-style building.

Unsurprisingly, the familiar, portly figure was still lurking suspiciously by the wall.

They say curiosity killed the cat, but as a former accomplice from their prison break at Future Prison, Jiang Ran found it hard not to be curious about what Sang Biao was up to.

However, they knew too little about each other and had no secret code to establish trust, so every one of their encounters had ended on a sour note.

‘Sigh, is there any way to make Sang Biao accept me? I’m so curious about what he’s doing skulking around like that.’

Jiang Ran flew along on his motorcycle, wracking his brain for Sang Biao’s weakness.

‘Big oaf…’

‘Foul-mouthed…’

‘Violent and crude…’

Those were Jiang Ran’s only impressions of Sang Biao.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, he remembered that one time they’d chatted idly in the guards’ dormitory.

Back then, Jiang Ran had asked him why he was so obsessed with breaking out of prison. Sang Biao had said:

“For my mom. I’m breaking out just to see her one more time.”

At the time, Jiang Ran had been quite shocked.

He never would have thought that this crude, violent hulk of a man had such a soft, sensitive side.

Sang Biao had said:

“In this world, my mom is the only family I have. She raised me all by herself. But I ended up being such a disappointment, getting locked up for so long…”

“I just want to get out and see her one last time, give her a proper send-off. Even if I get caught again or die out there, I can accept it.”

SCREEECH—

Jiang Ran squeezed the handlebar, bringing the flight-capable motorcycle to a halt, hovering in mid-air.

‘It seems…’

‘This is a breakthrough!’

‘Could I play the sympathy card and get Sang Biao to accept me?’

‘Hmm, it’s worth a shot!’

Anyway, this was the last loop before the reset. In twenty minutes, the worldline would kick him back to 2025.

He might as well go try his luck with Sang Biao.

If the guy really did shoot him dead, then so be it. He’d just be clocking out early for the day.

No sooner said than done.

Jiang Ran immediately turned the bike around and dived downward.

Parking behind the suspicious-looking fat guy, Jiang Ran got off the bike.

“Sang Biao.”

“You’re the fucking Sang Biao! Get lost!”

Sang Biao was as volatile as ever.

But today, Jiang Ran wasn’t afraid of dying. He walked right up to him.

“Your mom…” “Your mom!”

Sang Biao leaped three feet in the air, and with a CLICK, he jammed the muzzle of his gun against Jiang Ran’s forehead, ready to blow his brains out!

‘Not good.’

Jiang Ran realized there was a problem with his opening move.

‘In Chinese, you can’t put the words ‘you’ and ‘mom’ together. Even if you mean it as a friendly greeting, it’ll lead to a very nasty misunderstanding.’

‘Besides… Sang Biao has a berserk button, and I just pushed it!’

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!”

Jiang Ran hurriedly tried to do damage control.

“I meant, your mother, the- uh, ma’am… is she doing okay?”

Instantly, Sang Biao’s rage dissipated, and a flicker of softness appeared in his eyes.

He licked his chapped lips and looked at Jiang Ran in confusion.

“You… how do you know about my mother?”

‘It worked.’

‘The password was correct.’

It seemed Jiang Ran had stumbled upon the key to unlocking Sang Biao’s heart!

“Is she doing well?” Jiang Ran asked sincerely.

“Hmph. What’s there to be ‘well’ about.”

Sang Biao snorted.

“She died in the Great Catastrophe of 2028. Never even had the Consciousness Upload procedure, never made it to this world.”

“Oh, I see.”

Jiang Ran put his hands together in a gesture of mourning.

“My condolences, truly.”

“Condolences my ass!”

Sang Biao flew into a rage again, pressing the muzzle harder into Jiang Ran’s forehead.

“My fucking mom isn’t your fucking mom, so what the fuck does she have to do with you?!”

The sheer density of f-bombs in that sentence almost fried Jiang Ran’s CPU.

But he understood this was his last chance to win Sang Biao’s trust!

“It’s not ‘your mom’ and ‘my mom’.”

Jiang Ran’s eyes were calm, as if he were looking death in the face. He looked at Sang Biao.

“[She’s our mom.]”

“You!”

It was as if a heavy hammer had struck Sang Biao in the chest. He stared wide-eyed at Jiang Ran, speechless for a long moment.

He couldn’t for the life of him figure out when he’d gained this brother from another mother.

But…

…now that the guy had said that, there was no way he could pull the trigger.

“What the hell do you want?”

Sang Biao was completely bewildered. He lowered the gun and tucked it back into his waistband.

“Little bro, I don’t even know you!”

“I’m here to help you.”

“Do you have a fucking clue what I’m doing? And you’re here to ‘help’ me!”

“That’s not important.”

Jiang Ran played Sang Biao like a fiddle, as if he were training a kitten.

“Whatever you’re doing, I’m with you. I’m not afraid to die! If we die, we die together!”

“Boss!”

BANG! The nearby sewer manhole cover flew open, and a man, Skinny, popped his head out.

“I found the way—huh? Boss! Who’s this?”

Sang Biao gritted his teeth, his expression wavering.

His gaze flickered between Jiang Ran and the manhole.

Finally… with a “Tch.”

“Forget it. We need the extra hand anyway. What’s your name?”

“Jiang Ran.”

“Fine. You’re with us!”

Sang Biao slapped Jiang Ran on the back, pushing him down into the sewer.

“Hold on.”

Jiang Ran looked up.

“You have to at least tell me what we’re doing! I need to know what I’m getting into!”

“Pah! We’re fucking here, what else would we be doing?”

Sang Biao spat.

“You don’t know what this place is? Since we’re here, we’re obviously here to steal something!”

“Steal what?” Jiang Ran asked curiously.

“Heh heh, a treasure!”

Sang Biao gave a mysterious smile and shoved Jiang Ran down into the sewer.

“[The treasure… that Pompey left behind!]”