Genius Playground

“Shit! This door just pushes right open?”

Behind him, Sang Biao walked in, grumbling:

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have wasted all that money on a fake ID card—”

At that exact moment, the anomaly occurred.

“Lagging… lagging… lagging… lagging… lagging… lagging… lagging.”

Sang Biao, who had just stepped through the door, suddenly flickered back outside. He would take a step forward, only to flicker back again; step forward, flicker back. Just like that old woman who couldn’t get on the bus no matter what, Sang Biao was now stuck repeating a moonwalk, completely unable to step through the door.

Meanwhile, the silver door turned transparent, then pixelated, then black… Outside, the amusement park was completely collapsing. The pendulum ride and roller coaster fused together. The Rhine Cats began to multiply uncontrollably, instantly filling the entire space. Their clothes and skin vanished in a flash, their bodies fusing into a single, gigantic mass of flesh.

Jiang Ran understood. The 39-minute, 11-second time limit was up.

He frantically raised his head, looking toward Cheng Mengxue, who was suspended in the air.

Xiao—

He tried to shout, but no sound would come out. He couldn’t see the hand he’d raised; his upper body must have inexplicably vanished as well.

But this time, he noticed something different!

The entire world was collapsing at the 39:11 mark, yet Cheng Mengxue, suspended in the sky, was completely unaffected…

She was still wearing her clean and tidy Hang City High School uniform. Her body showed no texture glitches, and she left no afterimages.

The billions upon billions of silver streams of light above their heads snapped in an instant, transforming into an avalanche of shimmering filaments that rained down from the sky.

In the final moment of the world’s collapse, the girl’s eyes flew open. She looked down and screamed with all her might:

“Jiang Ran————”

WHOOSH.

The screen went black, and everything vanished.

He could see nothing, hear nothing, and think nothing. It was as if he were a character in a movie that had been paused, frozen in place and utterly helpless.

「A few seconds later.」

His vision returned. The sunlight was dazzling. A little boy ran past holding a lollipop, and the scent of cake filled his nostrils. He saw a waitress promoting orange juice to passersby.

“Xiaoxue!”

Jiang Ran finally let out the shout that had been caught in his throat. He stood frozen to the spot, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

He looked down at his own hands, which had reappeared. He turned them over and over; they were completely normal.

‘I’m back…’

Just as he’d thought, the 39-minute, 11-second time limit had been reached. The Virtual World had collapsed and rebooted, returning to 10:00 AM as scheduled.

He was certain he hadn’t been mistaken.

The girl floating in mid-air behind that silver door as tall as the sky itself was none other than his childhood friend, the one he longed for day and night—Cheng Mengxue!

Jiang Ran had previously suspected that Resident #001 of the Virtual World was likely Cheng Mengxue.

He just never imagined that he would see her on Floor -42, in the most mysterious room with the highest level of clearance—a room that not even Pompey could enter!

Because…

That string of English words had clearly indicated that the room was the [Central Control Zone].

Logically, since it was a control zone, it should have contained some electronic equipment or a console, right? Failing that, even if it held the treasure Sang Biao mentioned—the supreme power that granted the Highest Authority—that would have at least made some sense.

But why…

was the room completely empty…

save for Cheng Mengxue floating in the air, looking as if she had been slumbering for years?

‘My reasoning must be flawed somewhere.’

‘Since this is a Virtual World, I need to think more openly. I can’t be shackled by the logic of the real world.’

Jiang Ran closed his eyes and recalled all the things he had seen and heard—

“Today is the anniversary of the death of Mr. Pompey, Resident #002 of the Digital World. We mourn his passing deeply.”

“In 2023, Cheng Mengxue was severely injured in a car accident. Puppet helped Magician extract her memories.”

“No one knows who Resident #001 is. Mr. Pompey was always vague about it.”

“They say that deep beneath this memorial hall, there’s a room that not even Pompey can enter!”

“He did say in an interview once that the designation ‘001’ might be the world itself.”

“Pompey’s treasure has to be in that secret room! It’s the key to the Highest Authority! I’m going to become the King of the Digital World! The Counting King, for short!”

“I am a sinner against human civilization… 3911… so this is the end of everything.”

“Rhine Meow~ Rhine Meow~ Cute little meow meow meow~ Come on everyone, let’s play! It’s super fun here! Welcome to~~~~ Hang City Paradise!”

“Jiang Ran!”

A little Cheng Mengxue in a white dress stood with her hands on her hips, stomping her foot, gritting her teeth, and glaring at him:

“Year after year, you put it off! Year after year! Just when are you finally going to take me to Hang City Paradise?!”

…

In that moment, countless fragmented words clicked together like puzzle pieces, gradually forming a complete picture.

Jiang Ran had an epiphany. He slowly opened his eyes.

[Cheng Mengxue is both Resident #001 and the Digital World itself!]

He arrived at a conclusion that was now painfully obvious.

Her identity as Resident #001 was a given. Cheng Mengxue had undergone the Consciousness Upload procedure back in June 2023; no one was more deserving of the number 001.

As for why Pompey had always been so vague about the ‘001’ designation, the root cause was that he didn’t want the world to learn of Cheng Mengxue’s existence, nor did he want people to know the truth behind the Virtual Digital World.

Considering his motive.

Pompey had likely concealed this information primarily to maintain the stability of the Virtual Digital World.

After all, this world was full of people like Sang Biao, people with ulterior motives who wanted to seize power and crown themselves king.