Chapter 364: Waiting for You

The room fell silent at Pompey’s words from the projection.

Sang Biao, in particular, was so shocked he froze on the spot. He had never seen Pompey in such a miserable state in public…

To think that this hero of humanity, this acclaimed savior, had such a fragile and hopeless side to him.

Jiang Ran slowly clenched his fists.

It was just as he’d suspected. The loop that reset every 39 minutes and 11 seconds was indeed a hardware failure.

He just hadn’t considered the possibility of a storage space issue… because in his mind, Pompey wasn’t the type to make such a basic error.

In truth, he hadn’t. Pompey hadn’t made an error; he had reserved an incredibly vast amount of storage space, enough to accommodate 1,200 trillion Digital Lives at once… This should have been an absolutely unreachable population limit.

One trillion is ten thousand hundred-millions. With an average lifespan of only 150 years in the Virtual World, the total population wouldn’t come anywhere close to 1,200 trillion, even after 30,000 years.

However, the unexpected problem came from the “New Lives” that were born within the Digital World.

Like the young waitress at the juice shop—she was a life that had appeared out of thin air within the Digital World.

According to Pompey’s initial projections, these New Lives should have been no different in form from the Digital Lives created through Consciousness Upload. But he never expected… that they would turn out to be the “data bombs” that caused the Virtual World’s eventual collapse.

Humans are not gods. They have no right to create life.

The echo of that sentence… was deafening.

By the time Pompey realized this, it was already too late.

He had probably even considered recruiting volunteers in advance, to run an experiment simulating life in the Virtual World before the great disaster of 2028.

But as Pompey himself had just said, the 2028 super-disaster was also triggered by his “uncontrollable thoughts,” catching him completely off guard.

This was something Jiang Ran couldn’t quite understand.

‘If Pompey gained omnipotent power and the ability to trigger a super-disaster after winning the Genius Playground game, why would he say he couldn’t control it? It seemed contradictory.’

But when Jiang Ran had searched for information on the computer earlier, he hadn’t found anything about the Genius Playground.

‘That made sense, though. Since Pompey won the game, it must have concluded before 2028… so naturally, there wouldn’t be any record of it in the Virtual World.’

‘He continued to analyze the situation.’

‘According to Pompey’s calculations from three years ago, the Virtual World was set to collapse and restart on September 17, 2045.’

‘The exact timing couldn’t be determined, but any “unexpected external shock” could shatter the final, fragile balance and trigger the collapse of the entire system.’

‘There was no doubt about it. The last straw that broke the camel’s back… was definitely him.’

To this day, Jiang Ran still didn’t understand the mechanics behind his journey to 2045, much less how a living, breathing person could enter the Virtual World.

But regardless, he couldn’t escape the blame. It was his to bear.

His arrival at 10 AM had shattered the last vestiges of balance in the Virtual World, causing the entire world to fall into an endless 39-minute, 11-second loop.

In Pompey’s words, this was the destruction of human civilization and the end of everything.

In the Rhine Cat’s projection, the weeping Pompey gradually composed himself, though he also grew visibly weaker, drained of all strength.

It was the look of someone who had completely abandoned hope, of someone ready to embrace death.

‘He must have already decided, at that very moment, to commit suicide upon returning to Switzerland to atone for his sins.’

“I don’t deserve the expectations humanity has for me.”

Pompey said, his voice heavy:

“That student, during my speech at the Zurich Polytechnic Institute in late 2025… what they said was right. I’m only realizing it now, far too late.”

“Too much authority, too much power… it inevitably blinds you, makes you lose your way.”

“I was not a worthy victor… I’ve failed every opponent I defeated…”

He straightened his hunched back, looking like a defeated man offering a humble apology, and uttered his final words:

“I wish it had been me who died in the struggles of the Genius Playground, not the one who luckily survived to reap the benefits…”

“If any of the other geniuses had achieved the final victory, I’m sure they would have done a better job than me, building a truly wonderful future for humanity.”

…

Then, the projected light gradually dimmed as the recording from three years ago came to an end.

Cheng Mengxue finally allowed herself to take a deep breath. She slid off the Rhine Cat’s head and grabbed Jiang Ran’s arm.

“J-Jiang Ran… Is what he said… is it all true? Has human civilization really been destroyed?”

Jiang Ran nodded.

There was no longer any need to hide the truth from Cheng Mengxue.

He glanced at his watch. It read 11:27 AM. Thanks to the sudden drop in server load, the Virtual Digital World was no longer malfunctioning and rebooting.

But this was merely treating the symptom, not the root cause. Not even Pompey had ever considered deleting these new lives to ensure the Virtual World’s stability.

Because…

That, too, would have been meaningless.

For a species, for a civilization, to have no new life to carry it on is its own form of extinction.

Even controlling the total population of these New Lives would be useless.

They were “data bombs.” The space they occupied wasn’t significant at first, but as time went on and their lives grew richer, their consumption of storage space became explosive.

From 2028 to the present, the oldest of these New Lives should only be seventeen, yet they had already caused the servers to overload and crash.

So, this wasn’t a problem that could be solved by controlling their numbers; it was a problem with the underlying system.

The fact that Pompey had spent years searching for a solution without success was proof enough…

This was a dead end.

An inescapable checkmate from which there was no retreat.

Unless.

Unless, just as Pompey had said, he hadn’t been the one to claim final victory at the Genius Playground, and control over the future had been handed to one of the other members.

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

Jiang Ran said, looking at Cheng Mengxue,

“I’ll tell you everything.”

…

「The observation deck of the drop tower, the highest point in the amusement park.」

Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue leaned against the railing, gazing down at the rainbow-colored neon lights of “Hang City Paradise,” remaining silent for a long while.

“A future like this… it’s wrong.”

Cheng Mengxue said, her brows tightly knit,

“Jiang Ran, you’re from the past! From twenty years ago! You have to stop him! You have to stop Pompey from doing this!”

The thought of the real world shrouded in darkness while the Virtual World was trapped in an infinite loop made Cheng Mengxue frantic. She grabbed Jiang Ran’s arm and shook it.

“This world is fun, but I still prefer the real world to a fake one. I think… everyone else here must feel the same way.”

“Besides, everyone only underwent the Consciousness Upload procedure out of desperation. In order to survive, they had no other choice.”

“If this world only lasts for 39 minutes and 11 seconds, if time can never move forward, how is that any different from a prison? It’s too cruel to the people who believed in and trusted Pompey!”

Jiang Ran nodded.

“Actually, stopping Pompey wouldn’t be difficult. His original intentions weren’t evil, and he doesn’t truly want to destroy human civilization.”

“We don’t know Pompey’s true identity yet, but he said in the recording that he gave a speech at the Zurich Polytechnic Institute in late 2025. With a little digging, it should be easy to find out who he is.”

“Once I explain the drawbacks of the Virtual World and tell him that the New Lives are data bombs… he’s a smart guy. I’m sure he’ll find a way to verify it, and then he’ll definitely abandon the project.”

“It’s just…”

Jiang Ran lowered his head, hesitating.

“It’s just… Xiaoxue, this is the only place you can exist. You’ve already passed away in the real world. If the Butterfly Effect happens and the Virtual World vanishes, you won’t be here talking to me face-to-face anymore.”

“One person! How can I be more important than the entire world!”

Cheng Mengxue stood before Jiang Ran.

“Jiang Ran! How can you sacrifice the whole world for one person?”

“Even though we’re talking face-to-face right now… I’m still just a fake, right? Just a string of data, a collection of memories.”

“Besides, even if you clear out all the other zones for my sake, you still have to return to 2025 in two hours at most.”

“And then… this world will still collapse, it will still reboot, and sooner or later it will still fall into that 39-minute, 11-second infinite loop.”

“It’s all meaningless! You saw Pompey’s despair. This is a world with no hope and no future… Since you have the power to change things, you have to go back and save humanity’s future!”

“Besides…”

Cheng Mengxue took a step forward and took Jiang Ran’s hand.

“Besides, didn’t you say you were going to use that… what was it, a Positron Cannon, or a Time Travel Machine to bring me back to life?”

“It sounds just as far-fetched, I know, but I believe in you! I believe you can do it!”

“So, this is just a brief goodbye. For me, it’ll be like I just took a long nap and had a very long dream.”

She smiled faintly at Jiang Ran.

“Ever since the year you saved me from the river, I’ve always thought of you as a hero… You’re not the kind of person who would ever stand by and let someone die without helping.”

“Promise me we’ll meet in the real world, okay? I don’t want to only have 39 minutes and 11 seconds with you, and I don’t want to only see you for two hours. If I can have my wish—”

“I hope we can be friends for a lifetime!”

“A lifetime. Not one minute less, not one second less. Otherwise, it’s not a lifetime!”

…

Looking into Cheng Mengxue’s resolute eyes, Jiang Ran nodded.

“Okay.”

He promised solemnly,

“I promise you.”

In the normal course of the future, Puppet Pompey would be the one to reap the rewards of others’ conflict, snatching the final victory in the Genius Playground.

And this victory would be achieved sometime before 2028, though the exact date was unknown.

So…

There really was no time to waste.

He had to go to Switzerland immediately, to the Zurich Polytechnic Institute, to confront Pompey and warn him about the flaws of the Virtual Digital World.

“I will bring you back.”

Jiang Ran promised again.

He turned his wrist over to look at the time.

The digital display read 11:58.

He only had two minutes left. His journey in 2045 was about to end, and he would soon return to 2025.

He lifted his head, looking down at the colorful amusement park below and the troupe of singing and dancing Rhine Cats.

“On a somewhat less cheerful note,”

He said with a light chuckle,

“The real Hang City Paradise isn’t like this. It’s much older and more run-down. Hardly anyone goes there anymore, except on holidays.”

“And whose fault is that!”

Cheng Mengxue playfully punched his arm.

“It’s because you never went with me when we were little! That’s why I still don’t even know what the real Hang City Paradise looks like.”

“Hey, you can’t stand me up this time! After you really bring me back in the real world, you have to take me to Hang City Paradise!”

Heh heh.

Remembering his last trip to Hang City Paradise with the fake Cheng Mengxue, Jiang Ran couldn’t help but smile.

“Of course, no problem. But there’s really not much to do there. There are lots of better amusement parks now, like Universal, Disney, Chimelong… We can go to those more exciting places.”

However,

Cheng Mengxue gently shook her head.

“It’s not the same.”

She tilted her head with a smile and hooked her pinky around Jiang Ran’s.

“Even if those other places are more fun… they’re not Hang City Paradise. They’re not the place we dreamed of going to when we were kids.”

“So, it’s a promise!”

Cheng Mengxue hooked her pinky with Jiang Ran’s, raising their joined hands between them to seal the promise.

“You go save the world! And I… I’ll be waiting for you at Hang City Paradise. No matter how long it takes!”