Chapter 265 56: Key

[September 24, 2025. Weather: Light Rain]

[Dr. Gana has told me several times to keep writing in a diary, so that I can maintain my sense of self and not get lost.

Before, I didn't take it too seriously.

But now, I deeply understand Dr. Gana's advice.

Lately, this situation has been getting worse and worse.

I think it's because I've truly entered their lives.

There's a saying that many dedicated actors get so deep into their roles that even after filming wraps, they can't break character and lose track of who they are.

Cheng Dieyi in *Farewell My Concubine*.

The Clown in *Batman: The Dark Knight*.

They were all more or less like that.

It seems acting is a high-risk profession. The deeper you go into a role, the more you invest; the more you invest, the more you lose yourself.

But for the mission I have to carry out now, this might not be a bad thing.

Who I am, or who I'm supposed to become, isn't important.

What's important is how I complete the mission the Priest gave me, and let it make up for my regrets.

The Priest said I am a key he has been preparing for a long time, but he never knew what lock it was meant to open.

I don't understand what that means. I just follow his orders.

I don't know when that lock will appear. I can only wait, and wait, and wait for the day I can finally be of use.

No matter what the Priest means by "that lock," I will do everything I can to open it.

Fortunately, that day has finally come.

I've waited for this moment for so, so long.

From the moment you disappeared after that one glance back, until now, I haven't lived a single day for myself...

I've let everyone down.

I don't deserve to grow up. My life should have stopped on that day, and stayed that way until I find you.

Little brother, your big sister will find you. I promise.

Even if I'm no longer your sister, even if you don't recognize my face.

It's okay.

Mom and Dad are still waiting for you. So many people are waiting for you.

As for me, your sister... I just need to see you one more time, to hold you one more time...

That's all I need.]

...

...

...

Outside the private room of the internet cafe, it gradually grew noisy.

Customers came and went.

Jiang Ran wasn't wearing headphones, so he heard the commotion clearly. It sounded like a light rain had suddenly started outside, and many people were rushing to their electric scooters to grab things or cover them with raincoats.

He turned his attention back to his earlier train of thought.

'That should be impossible.'

He shook his head.

If the Priest's mission for this Cheng Mengxue was simply to kill him, he could have easily sent someone more capable.

Both Old Tian and Fang Yang were clearly more suited to killing him one-on-one than Cheng Mengxue was.

So...

'The Priest's mission for this Cheng Mengxue, in all likelihood, is to extract some kind of intelligence from me.'

Jiang Ran nodded. This line of reasoning seemed more plausible.

'If that really is the goal, then sending Cheng Mengxue would be the perfect choice. A little investigation would reveal our childhood sweetheart relationship, making her the natural choice to get close to me and earn my trust.'

'But after all this, there's still one major contradiction that I can't explain—'

He pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

'How on earth did they manage to create such a convincing fake Cheng Mengxue?'

'It's not just her appearance, habits, and mannerisms... How did they handle the most important part: her memories?'

This was what had troubled Jiang Ran time and again.

Whenever he began to doubt whether this Cheng Mengxue was real, her memories were always the unavoidable sticking point that prevented him from making a final judgment.

He had always believed that memory and emotion were the true proof of a person's existence.

This Cheng Mengxue remembered every trivial detail from the past. She had lived a life identical to the real Cheng Mengxue, making it impossible to tell fake from real.

'No, that's not right.'

Suddenly.

Jiang Ran's eyes snapped open.

He had just remembered the one discrepancy in this Cheng Mengxue's memories—

The letter in the glass bottle.

Even though the letter was written ten years ago, as the person who buried the time capsule with her own hands, surely she'd remember at least a single line from it, right?

Although Jiang Ran didn't really have the right to talk, considering he'd mostly forgotten the cringey Setting Collection he wrote back then.

But!

There's a big difference between forgetting *most* of it and forgetting *all* of it.

He at least remembered the game settings from that Setting Collection, some details about the supernatural abilities, and plot points involving characters like Lilith.

In comparison...

Cheng Mengxue had absolutely no recollection of the time capsule she buried or the letter she wrote with her own hands.

'Does she truly not remember, or is she just too shy to talk about it?'

Jiang Ran had a feeling.

The truth behind this was crucial!

At the same time, he realized that his enemies were far too powerful for him to face alone.

So, he had to call for backup.

Right now, the only power he could trust was the government. And the highest-ranking person he had access to was the dean of the Longke Institute—Gao Yan.

He would have to rely on him.

He hoped that the face that had proven Goldbach's Conjecture still carried some weight with the old dean.

There was no time to waste. He had to act immediately.

After leaving the internet cafe, he immediately booked the earliest flight to the Imperial Capital and took a taxi to Hongqiao International Airport.

After landing, he went straight to the Longke Institute. Dean Gao Yan greeted him personally and with great enthusiasm.

Jiang Ran could tell that the dean truly saw him as a treasured protégé and had high hopes for him.