The Genius Game - Chapter 23

Jian Tanxi: “I think that’s what it means… Right now, the fire is only on the ground. If we insert the bead into the small hole on the pillar, the fireproof panel will be removed, and the entire room will be engulfed in flames.

The ropes holding you up don’t seem to be fireproof. If they burn through, you’ll all fall into the sea of fire. If the ceiling burns and collapses, it will crush Professor Pan.

At that point, Professor Pan will either be crushed by the ceiling or fall into the fire and burn to death… Only I, with my fireproof veil, can survive.

But I can’t leave the instance alone…

So, the White Rhinoceros Pearl cannot be inserted into the small hole. There must be another way.”

Meng Yuening said: “Yeah, right now we can still survive for a while. But if we insert the bead into the small hole on the pillar, we’ll die even faster… After all this, we haven’t found a clue to survive, instead, we’ve found a clue to a quicker death.”

Du Jiaojiao complained: “What kind of mess is this? Can’t you useless people find some useful clues?”

Jian Tanxi: “…”

Professor Pan patiently explained: “When I saw the small holes on the pillar with writing below them, I thought it was a clue to clear the instance. How could we know without going down to check? And it didn’t take much time. Let’s stay calm.”

Du Jiaojiao fell silent.

Hong Zicheng said to Jian Tanxi: “Jian Tanxi, since you’re already down there, why not carefully examine the floor to see if there are any clues? After all, you won’t get burned, so touching the floor shouldn’t be a problem.”

Jian Tanxi nodded: “Alright.”

Below was a sea of fire, making it impossible to see clearly. Jian Tanxi could only bend down and feel the ground, but she found nothing.

Fortunately, she was wearing the fireproof veil, so she didn’t feel the heat, only the strain of bending over for so long.

She went back and forth three times, then stood up and said: “There don’t seem to be any mechanisms on the floor.”

Du Jiaojiao said: “Impossible. The floor is the only part of this room that’s unclear, so the key clue must be there.”

Jian Tanxi said: “There really isn’t anything.”

Du Jiaojiao said: “Did you search carefully enough?”

Before Jian Tanxi could reply, the female office worker Meng Yuening couldn’t hold back: “She already said there’s nothing. Didn’t you see her searching back and forth just now?”

Du Jiaojiao: “I saw. But I was just worried she might have missed something.”

Jian Tanxi said: “I really didn’t miss anything. Hong Zicheng, please use your prop rope to pull me up.”

Hong Zicheng: “Okay.”

Hong Zicheng lowered the rope, and Jian Tanxi wrapped one end around her arm.

The rope was fireproof, so it was fine even when it touched the sea of fire below.

With a tug from Hong Zicheng, Jian Tanxi returned to the seesaw, and Professor Pan promptly moved to the other side to balance with her.

Hong Zicheng retrieved the rope.

Meng Yuening asked Hong Zicheng: “Hong Zicheng, can your prop rope hold two people? It shouldn’t have a setting that only allows one person to be lifted, right?”

Hong Zicheng said, “My rope is fireproof and very tough; it generally won’t break and can hold several people at once, as long as I have enough strength. You want me to pull Jian Tanxi and Professor Pan up together, right? I can do that, but pulling them up won’t help, we still can’t leave this room. It would just mean all of us hanging from the ceiling together. Besides, I can hold them at first, but over time, I’ll run out of strength.”

Meng Yuening thought for a moment and agreed that Hong Zicheng made a good point. Pulling Jian Tanxi and Professor Pan up wasn’t a long-term solution.

Du Jiaojiao grew anxious and said, “This won’t work, that won’t work, can’t you come up with a plan? If we stay here any longer, we’ll all be roasted dry by the fire!”

Meng Yuening glanced at her. “We’re thinking about it right now. You can think too; there’s no need to keep pushing us.”

Du Jiaojiao retorted, “How can you be so mean to me? Waaah…”

Meng Yuening fell silent.

Jian Tanxi carefully examined the room once more, then stared at the ceiling for a while.

After that, she asked Bat Superman, “Bat Superman, if the three ropes holding Meng Yuening and the others catch fire, will they burn through?”

Bat Superman replied, “Yes. If the roof catches fire, the three ropes on the roof will burn too, and they’ll all fall into the sea of flames. Hee hee hee…”

Du Jiaojiao snapped at Bat Superman, “What are you laughing at? Are you happy if we get burned to death?”

Bat Superman said, “Of course.”

Du Jiaojiao was momentarily speechless and could only puff out her cheeks in anger, turning her head away.

At that moment, Jian Tanxi said, “I’ve thought of a way to clear this level. Du Jiaojiao, give me that white bead.”

Du Jiaojiao became wary. “What for? Are you going to fit the white bead into that small hole below? Doing that will retract the fireproof panels, and the whole room will catch fire! Then we’ll all die!”

“Just give me the white bead first. I promise we won’t die.”

“No, why should I trust you?”

Jian Tanxi thought for a moment and asked, “Do you know about Eco Spheres?”

Du Jiaojiao said, “Yes, I’ve seen them in the previous two games.”

“Have you ever obtained an Eco Sphere?”

“No. The player with the greatest contribution in the game gets to choose whether to take the Eco Sphere first. In the two games I played before, the top contributors took the Eco Spheres, so I never had a chance.”

“I have two Eco Spheres. You should know what that means about my abilities.”

As she spoke, Jian Tanxi took both Eco Spheres out of her personal space.

Du Jiaojiao exclaimed in surprise, “How do you have two?”

“Because I’ve played two games before, and both times, I came up with the strategy to clear the level, so I had the highest contribution. Each time, I was given priority to choose the Eco Sphere. With these two Eco Spheres as proof, you should trust me now, right?”

Although Du Jiaojiao was a bit spoiled and selfish, she was intelligent. Jian Tanxi had played two games and had the highest contribution in both, so it was indeed possible she could figure out how to clear this game.

Thus, Du Jiaojiao said, “I can give you the white bead, but I’m not sure if you’ll be able to catch it if I throw it down.”

Jian Tanxi asked, “How’s your aim?”

“It’s acceptable, but I can’t guarantee with 100% certainty that the bead will land in your hand. If it falls into the sea of fire and gets burned, it’s all over.”

At this moment, Meng Yuening, standing beside Du Jiaojiao, spoke up: “Give the bead to me. I’ll throw it. My accuracy is 100%, I have a special ability in this regard.”

Du Jiaojiao: “How can you prove it?”

Meng Yuening was somewhat exasperated: “Why would I lie? We’re all in the same boat now.”

“No, you have to demonstrate. I have a hair tie, use it to test whether you can throw it into Jian Tanxi’s hand.”

Meng Yuening said, “My ability ensures 100% accuracy on the first throw, but from the second throw onward, the accuracy drops by 10% each time. Are you sure you want me to test it?”

Du Jiaojiao hesitated: “Forget it, let’s not test it. I’ll just give the bead to you directly.”

Du Jiaojiao handed the white bead to Meng Yuening.

Meng Yuening said to Jian Tanxi, “Jian Tanxi, are you ready? I’m going to throw the white bead into your hand.”

Jian Tanxi replied, “Wait, don’t throw it to me. Throw it directly into the small hole below. The position of the hole is a bit awkward, I can’t reach it when I jump down, and I can’t reach it when I’m standing on the seesaw either. It’s safer if you throw it directly.”

Meng Yuening nodded: “Alright.”

Hong Zicheng interjected, “Wait! If this bead is inserted into the hole, this room will immediately catch fire!”

Meng Yuening said, “We must face death to survive, only this way can we clear the level. Think about it carefully.”

Hong Zicheng was clever too. After a moment’s thought, he understood. However, he still had one concern: “The ceiling will collapse and crush us.”

Meng Yuening said, “Haven’t you noticed? The ceiling is slanted.”

Hong Zicheng suddenly realized: “Then there’s no problem.”

Du Jiaojiao asked, “What kind of riddle are you two talking about? I don’t understand.”

Meng Yuening replied, “You’ll understand in a moment.”

Jian Tanxi looked up and said to the three people on the ceiling, “Once the bead is inserted into the hole, all three of you jump back onto the seesaw.”

Meng Yuening and Hong Zicheng both said, “Alright.”

Du Jiaojiao was worried: “How do we jump back? What if we miss?”

Hong Zicheng reassured her, “Jiaojiao, don’t worry. We have a way to jump back safely. We won’t let you fall.”

“Oh.”

Then, Meng Yuening threw the white bead toward the small hole below.

In truth, her aim was off, but the white bead changed direction mid-air and accurately embedded itself into the small hole at the base of the pillar.

Immediately after, a rumbling sound echoed around them, as if steel plates or something similar were moving.

Once the loud rumbling ceased, flames instantly shot up the walls. The fireproof panels retracted, and the wooden structure of the walls ignited.

Soon, the ceiling caught fire as well.

At that moment, Hong Zicheng said to Jian Tanxi, “Jian Tanxi, I’ll throw my prop rope to you. Pull me later.”

Jian Tanxi nodded: “Alright.”

Du Jiaojiao suddenly exclaimed, “What? You want Jian Tanxi to pull you? Why not ask Professor Pan to pull you instead!”

Hong Zicheng: “Alright, then I’ll trouble Professor Pan.”

Everyone was somewhat speechless, but no one paid any attention to Du Jiaojiao. Professor Pan said to Hong Zicheng, “Throw the rope over.”

Hong Zicheng tossed his prop rope toward Professor Pan. This time, he controlled the force, so the rope landed gently in front of Professor Pan without causing any harm.

Professor Pan wrapped one end of the rope around his arm and said, “Hong Zicheng, come down now. Jian Tanxi, adjust your position in a moment to keep the seesaw balanced.”

Jian Tanxi nodded. “Understood.”

Hong Zicheng said, “I didn’t bring a knife, and I can’t bite through the rope binding me with my teeth. I can only come down once the rope burns through in the fire.”

Professor Pan nodded. “Alright then. Once the fire reaches you, you’ll only have a very short amount of time. Make sure nothing goes wrong!”

Hong Zicheng replied, “Don’t worry, nothing will go wrong!”

Soon, flames spread across the ceiling and burned through Hong Zicheng’s rope first.

Hong Zicheng seized the chance to jump onto the seesaw, but he was a bit too far away and missed his mark. He began to fall downward.