The Genius Game - Chapter 26

Jian Tanxi said, “Don’t be afraid. This mountain is so close to the commercial street, there can’t possibly be any wild animals. Let’s walk over slowly and take a look.”

“Mm.”

The two of them slowly made their way toward the source of the sound.

Before long, they saw a young man sitting on the ground, a large bump on his head, bleeding from the impact.

It seemed he had just run into a tree, whether intentionally or accidentally, it was hard to say.

Jian Tanxi thought it was probably an accident. Who would deliberately run headfirst into a tree?

But after sitting on the ground for a while, the young man stood up again and quickly dashed toward another large tree, headfirst, once more.

He was trying to do it again!

Jian Tanxi quickly called out to stop him, “Wait! What are you doing?”

The young man hadn’t expected anyone else to be nearby. He stopped in surprise, turning to look at Jian Tanxi and her companion, and asked, “Who are you?”

Jian Tanxi replied, “We’re survivors. I assume you are, too?”

The young man said, “Mm.”

“What are you doing? Why are you hitting your head against a tree?”

“I… I don’t want to live anymore.”

“Why?”

The young man said, “Don’t you think things are just pointless now? We’re like puppets on strings, controlled by aliens. They decide whether we participate in the games or take a break, they decide where we get teleported… We have no autonomy at all. And those games keep getting harder and harder. I don’t want to participate anymore, but I can’t die inside a game instance, that would kill my teammates.”

Jian Tanxi said, “Don’t be so pessimistic. Have you seen the ecological spheres?”

“Yes.”

“Then you should know that the other humans are living inside those spheres, they’re not dead. One day, they can still come back.”

“Whether they come back or not is also up to those aliens. The ecological spheres were built by them, the humans were placed inside by them, no one knows what they really want. Besides, even if Earth returns to normal one day, I still don’t want to live.”

“Why?”

The young man said, “I’m a Ph.D. student, and I’m struggling. I have no idea when I’ll graduate. My academic achievements were handed over by my advisor to his daughter, and to this day, I haven’t published a single paper… Before most of humanity disappeared, I was already planning to kill myself. But then, unexpectedly, this force majeure happened, most of humanity vanished, and I was teleported into the games.”

“To keep my teammates alive, I was forced to play.”

“At first, I didn’t understand the situation. I thought if I cleared the game, I could go live on another planet, a place where I wouldn’t have to pursue a Ph.D… But then, I was teleported back to Earth.”

“Then I thought the game was a one-time thing, that after clearing it, I could live on Earth forever. My advisor was gone, his daughter was gone, all those academic connections and annoying people, everyone I hated was gone… Only a handful of people remained on Earth, and all the planet’s resources were mine for the taking. That would’ve been amazing…”

“But I was wrong again. This damn game has a second round, a third round, it seems like it’ll never end…

“Only then did I realize that survivors like us have no control over our own lives… So, I’ll just kill myself. I quit, is that okay?”

“If Earth returns to normal, I’ll have to continue my Ph.D. and face delayed graduation. If Earth stays like this forever, I’ll have to keep participating in these games. Either path feels utterly hopeless to me.”

“So, please don’t try to stop me.”

Jian Tanxi tried to reason with him, “You don’t have to be so pessimistic. If you’re unhappy with your Ph.D., just drop out and find a job, okay? Believe me, once you start working, your life will quickly get back on track.”

The young man seemed on the verge of breaking down, “You just don’t get it! My sunk costs are too high… I didn’t start my Ph.D. after finishing a master’s, I went straight into the doctoral program. If I drop out now, I’ll only have a bachelor’s degree, and I’ll have wasted all these years… I’ve always been a top student, got into a top-tier university, and because of my excellent grades, I earned the chance to go straight into the Ph.D. program… ”

“If I quit now, I’ll be worse off than my highly educated peers, and I’ll also lag behind those who started working right after their bachelor’s, they’ve already been building their careers for years…”

Jian Tanxi replied, “So what? You’ve never failed before, so you can’t handle the idea of failure. There are people who spent over a decade building a business, became successful, and then went bankrupt. There are plenty who’ve had it worse than you.”

“For now, since Earth hasn’t returned to normal, don’t dwell on these thoughts.”

“Don’t you think it’s fascinating that your body has grown stronger and you’ve gained special abilities? Clearing one game after another is a rare experience in itself.”

“Besides, if we manage to save all of humanity, we’ll be celebrated as heroes of Earth. We’ll have high status, endless wealth, and even your advisor would tremble at the sight of you.”

A glimmer of hope sparked in the young man’s eyes, “Really?”

“Really, trust me. And who knows… maybe our abilities won’t be taken away. We could become like superheroes, tasked with protecting Earth, even serving as interstellar cultural ambassadors. Aliens would need our permission to visit. At that point, what’s a Ph.D. or an advisor compared to you?”

The young man said, “That does sound pretty good.”

Jian Tanxi said, “Now, let me heal you. Stop hitting your head against the tree.”

Jian Tanxi had a healing ability she hadn’t used yet.

She placed her hand on the young man’s forehead, and a white light emanated from her palm.

Soon, the wound on his forehead healed completely, leaving his skin smooth.

Her healing ability could be used five times a month, with no rollover, use it or lose it.

Feeling less pessimistic now, the young man thanked her, “Thank you. My name is Ge Zhiwen, and I’m a student at Binhai University of Science and Technology. You saved me and healed me, let me give you an item as thanks.”

He pulled out something that looked like a facial mask from his bag and handed it to Jian Tanxi, “This is an oxygen mask, a special item I obtained. Just apply it to your face, and it allows you to breathe for three hours in extreme conditions, like low-oxygen environments or areas filled with toxic smoke. It can be used three times in total.”

Jian Tanxi hesitated to accept it, “Thank you, but items like this are precious to every survivor. You should keep it.”

“No, you must take it.”

Ge Zhiwen insisted, and Jian Tanxi finally accepted the oxygen mask.

She found the oxygen mask to be incredibly soft and foldable, quite different from the ones made by people on Earth.

She tried placing the oxygen mask into her personal storage space, and to her surprise, it actually worked.

She was overjoyed.

Li Chuxia said to Ge Zhiwen, “Alright, now that you don’t want to die anymore, how about teaming up with us? I’ve noticed that survivors who stick together during breaks often end up in the same team for the next game.”

Ge Zhiwen nodded repeatedly. “That’s great! We already know each other a bit. If we enter the next game together, we can watch out for one another.”

Just as Jian Tanxi and the others were about to take Ge Zhiwen back to the library, the three of them suddenly felt a dizzying darkness and were teleported once again.

Jian Tanxi knew in her heart, a new round of the game was about to begin.

She wondered what it would be this time…

When they arrived in the game instance, Jian Tanxi was utterly panicked.

She wasn’t standing on solid ground but was instead falling continuously downward.

The speed of the descent wasn’t fast even if she landed, it wouldn’t be life-threatening.

But the feeling of not being able to stand firmly on the ground was deeply unsettling.

Jian Tanxi observed her surroundings and realized she seemed to be suspended far above the ground.

All around her were skyscrapers, so tall she couldn’t even count how many floors they had.

These buildings were constructed from some special material, semi-transparent and reflecting sunlight, giving them an almost dreamlike appearance.

But Jian Tanxi had no mind to appreciate the view.

She glanced to the side and saw Li Chuxia and Ge Zhiwen nearby, which eased her anxiety a little.

No matter what situation they faced, having companions to go through it with made everything feel a little less terrifying.

Li Chuxia also spotted Jian Tanxi and asked in a trembling voice, “Tanxi, what’s going on? Are we dreaming? I often dream about falling like this.”

Jian Tanxi calmly analyzed, “No, we’re not dreaming. We’ve entered a game instance.”

“Will we keep falling until we crash to our deaths?”

“Judging by our current falling speed, it’s like we’re wearing parachutes, we’re safe. Even if we land, nothing will happen. The only thing to worry about is when we’ll actually land.”

Ge Zhiwen’s face was pale, clearly frightened. But as a guy, he didn’t want to show it, so he just pursed his lips tightly and stayed silent.

Just then, a somewhat familiar female voice came from the other side: “Zicheng, what do we do? I’m so scared…”

A familiar male voice replied, “Don’t be afraid, Jiaojiao. No matter what’s below, we’ll face it together.”

A bad feeling crept into Jian Tanxi’s heart.

She looked toward the other side.

Sure enough, she recognized the two people there.

Du Jiaojiao and Hong Zicheng, that eccentric couple.

Why were they teamed up with them again this time?

Just as Jian Tanxi was feeling exasperated, Du Jiaojiao spotted her and greeted, “Hey, Jian Tanxi, what a coincidence! You’re falling too?”

Jian Tanxi: “…”

Jian Tanxi took a few deep breaths to steady herself and replied, “Yeah, no idea what’s going on with this instance.”

But Du Jiaojiao didn’t continue the conversation. Instead, she turned back to her boyfriend and said, “Zicheng, when are we going to land? I’m so nervous…”

Hong Zicheng didn’t know either, so he could only hold Du Jiaojiao’s hand and said, “I think we’ll be landing soon. After all, this mission can’t be completed in mid-air, right?”

At that moment, Du Jiaojiao turned to Li Chuxia with some annoyance: “Hey, who are you? Why are you staring at my boyfriend?”

Li Chuxia was both surprised and a little hurt, retorting, “No, I wasn’t specifically looking at your boyfriend. It’s just that you two are strangers, so I glanced a few more times. From what I heard you saying earlier, you seem to know Sister Tanxi? In that case, we’re not complete strangers either, this guy next to me, Ge Zhiwen, and I also know Sister Tanxi.”

Du Jiaojiao snapped, “Don’t try to act familiar with us. It won’t work anyway, my boyfriend won’t give you a second glance.”