The Genius Game - Chapter 24

Professor Pan pulled hard, slowly dragging him up.

Now, Hong Zicheng was standing on Professor Pan’s side.

Meanwhile, Jian Tanxi ran to the other side, striving to maintain the seesaw’s balance.

Once Hong Zicheng steadied himself, Professor Pan immediately untied the rope from his own arm.

Hong Zicheng said to Meng Yuening, “Meng Yuening, I’m going to throw the rope to you. Hold onto Du Jiaojiao’s waist, and I’ll pull both of you onto the seesaw.”

Meng Yuening nodded in agreement.

But Du Jiaojiao disagreed, “Why throw the rope to Meng Yuening? Can’t you throw it directly to me?”

Hong Zicheng asked, “Can you hold onto Meng Yuening and make sure neither of you falls?”

Du Jiaojiao looked at her slender arms and legs and fell silent.

At that moment, the ropes binding Du Jiaojiao and Meng Yuening burned through.

Hong Zicheng timely threw the prop rope up.

Meng Yuening grabbed the prop rope with one hand and held onto Du Jiaojiao with the other, and the two of them jumped toward the seesaw.

They didn’t land in the right position and started to fall, but fortunately, Hong Zicheng pulled the rope, slowly lifting them up.

This added weight to Hong Zicheng’s side of the seesaw.

Professor Pan quickly ran to Jian Tanxi’s side to add weight there and prevent the seesaw from tipping.

Before long, both Meng Yuening and Du Jiaojiao climbed onto the seesaw.

Without time to speak, they quickly adjusted their positions to keep the seesaw balanced.

Du Jiaojiao said to Hong Zicheng, “Zicheng, I was so scared, wuwuwu…”

Hong Zicheng comforted her, “Jiaojiao, don’t be afraid, it’s alright now.”

“Wuwuwu, I never want to play this kind of ghost game again…”

Meng Yuening: “So noisy, can you stop talking?”

Du Jiaojiao retorted, “Can’t I even vent my feelings? I’m just really timid…”

Meng Yuening: “…”

At that moment, the connection between the ceiling and the walls burned through, and the entire ceiling collapsed.

However, since the ceiling was tilted toward the other side, it fell away from the seesaw and didn’t crush it.

Everyone crouched on the seesaw, watching as the walls and roof of the house burned to ashes.

Du Jiaojiao said, “It’s so hot… So when can we get out?”

Jian Tanxi replied, “We’ve already gotten out.”

Du Jiaojiao was surprised, “What?”

Batman floated over and said, “Don’t talk nonsense. You’re clearly still here, how can you say you’ve gotten out?”

Jian Tanxi calmly explained, “You said earlier that everyone leaving the flame room counts as clearing the level. Now, the flame room has been completely burned away. We can be considered to have cleared it. This room only has the floor left; it’s no longer a room.”

Batman was taken aback for a moment and said, “Alright, congratulations, you’ve all cleared the level.”

Although everyone had anticipated this outcome, hearing Batman officially announce their success still filled them with excitement.

Only Du Jiaojiao was pleasantly surprised, as she hadn’t thought of this way to clear the level.

It wasn’t that she was foolish, but rather that she habitually relied on others, so her mind didn’t work as quickly as the others’.

Batman said, “The reward for this level is an item. Depending on your contribution points, you can receive different items. The items will be distributed to you, small items will be given discreetly, while larger items that can’t be hidden will appear directly in your hands.”

At that moment, a mechanical voice echoed in Jian Tanxi’s mind: “Congratulations, player Jian Tanxi, for obtaining the item: Interstellar Triangular Prism. This prism can pierce through extremely hard objects; even diamond cannot withstand it.”

“Why is it so powerful? Because it is forged from interstellar meteorite iron, a material not found on Earth. This item can be stored in your personal space. Detecting that you have a personal space, it has been automatically stored for you. You can take it out to examine when no one is around.”

Jian Tanxi felt a surge of joy.

It seemed she had obtained a very powerful item. Moreover, the item could be hidden in her personal space, so she wouldn’t have to reveal it in front of others.

At the same time, everyone else also received something in their hands.

They all showed pleased expressions and quietly tucked their rewards into their bags, keeping them out of sight.

Since everyone had participated in the game multiple times, they knew it was convenient to carry a bag, it could hold game rewards (provided they weren’t too large) as well as personal necessities. Thus, all players this time had brought a bag, though the styles varied.

Just then, Du Jiaojiao complained with dissatisfaction, “Why did I only get one healing pill? Weren’t we supposed to receive items?”

Batman replied, “If you don’t want it, give it back to me.”

Du Jiaojiao quickly covered her bag. “Don’t even think about taking it back! It’s mine!”

Meng Yuening said calmly, “Rewards are distributed based on individual contributions. Your contribution wasn’t significant enough, so it might only be enough for one healing pill.”

Du Jiaojiao retorted, “How is that possible? I bet everyone else’s rewards aren’t much better than my healing pill.”

No one else said anything; there was no need to expose what they had received just to argue with her.

Hong Zicheng chimed in, “Jiaojiao, don’t be upset. I got a pretty good item, I’ll show it to you once we’re out.”

Du Jiaojiao beamed, “Great, great! You’re amazing. Compared to you, I’m so weak, hehe.”

Everyone else: “…”

Meng Yuening asked, “Is it really impossible to kill someone in this game?”

Du Jiaojiao snapped, “What do you mean? Are you trying to kill me?”

Meng Yuening replied, “I was just making a casual remark.”

Du Jiaojiao huffed, “Hmph, even if you wanted to kill me, you couldn’t. I have Zicheng to protect me.”

Meng Yuening said, “If I ever run into another ‘trophy wife’ like you again, all the sins I’ve committed in this lifetime will be absolved.”

Du Jiaojiao: “…”

Jian Tanxi chuckled quietly to herself.

She couldn’t stand Du Jiaojiao either, but she wouldn’t openly criticize her like Meng Yuening did.

Just then, Batman announced, “Additionally, clearing this level also grants a 150,000-person ecosphere. Those who want it can take it. Based on contribution ranking, Pan Xian will decide first.”

Professor Pan Xian said, “I’ll take the ecosphere, please give it to me.”

So, Batman handed the ecosphere to Professor Pan.

Now, Professor Pan also had two ecospheres.

He had a total of 300,000 Earthlings, and Jian Tanxi also had 300,000, adding up to 600,000. It was unclear how many the other players had.

In the future, they might need to collaborate with other players who possessed ecospheres.

Professor Pan stored the ecosphere in his personal space and was about to say something to Jian Tanxi when Bat Superman abruptly announced, “The ‘Fun Seesaw’ game has been cleared. All players, activate the teleportation channel.”

In the final seconds before teleportation, Professor Pan quickly said to Jian Tanxi, “Post office, library, police station, bank, school, convenience store…”

It seemed Professor Pan was still speaking, but Jian Tanxi could no longer hear him.

Her vision turned pitch black as she felt herself being teleported away.

A few minutes later, she was transported to a train station.

Recalling Professor Pan’s words, she pondered briefly and understood his meaning.

No matter where you are, you can always find some or all of these locations: post office, library, police station, bank, school, convenience store.

If everyone temporarily stayed at these places after being teleported out, they might encounter other survivors.

Of course, with just her and Professor Pan knowing this, the probability of meeting was quite low.

Professor Pan likely meant that in future games, they should tell reliable teammates to rest at the nearest post office, library, police station, bank, school, or convenience store after returning to Earth.

As long as enough survivors knew about this method, after dozens of game rounds, no matter where they were teleported, it would be easier to find other survivors to keep each other company and discuss strategies.

This way, individuals scattered across the world could temporarily form teams with others.

Jian Tanxi thought Professor Pan’s method was excellent.

With Earth’s networks gone and no means of communication, this approach made it easier to find teammates rather than fighting alone indefinitely.

After three games, Jian Tanxi noticed a pattern: people who stayed together were more likely to be assigned to the same team when entering a game.

Previously, she had encountered Qin Man and her son by chance, and later the three of them entered the “Looking for the Groom” game together.

Then, she met Professor Pan and participated in the “Fun Seesaw” game with him.

If she could find a reliable teammate every time she rested, it would bring her much more peace of mind.

However, luck wasn’t always on her side.

Moreover, encountering acquaintances wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Take Huo Zimu from the first game, selfish and only wanting others to sacrifice. Then there was the overconfident Sun Lianhu she met at the mall, who was particularly annoying, and worse, she ended up teaming with him for the second game.

As for the bizarre couple in the recent game, they were beyond description.

Jian Tanxi hoped she would never run into that couple again.

She had no idea what the date was. Since Earth’s drastic changes, her sense of time had become blurred.

She also didn’t know how time flowed in the games compared to Earth.

With the sun blazing overhead, she could tell it was roughly noon.

Observing her surroundings, she noticed the station was called “Luluxi Library Station.” It seemed there was a library nearby, hence the station’s name.

She was delighted, she wouldn’t have to travel far to find a suitable place to rest.

She glanced around and indeed spotted a large library not far away, with a sign that read “Luluxi Library.”

So, she headed toward the library.

Once inside, she found the library to be very quiet. There were countless bookshelves, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Jian Tanxi couldn’t tell if there was anyone else inside, so she refrained from making any sudden moves or noise.

Remembering the new item she had acquired, she decided to take it out and have a look.