Chapter 323: Young Girl

Chapter 323: Chapter 10: Young Girl

He mulled it over.

Jiang Ran believed there was only one possibility for the identity of the Virtual World’s Resident #001—

Cheng Mengxue.

Just thinking of his childhood sweetheart’s name made Jiang Ran’s heart race.

The logic, after all, was crystal clear.

It was now basically confirmed that Mr. Pompey was the member from Genius Playground known as Puppet.

And from Li Yini’s diary, they knew that as early as 2023, Puppet had extracted Cheng Mengxue’s memories through the Consciousness Upload procedure.

Their teacher, Yan Chonghan, had also told them that the Consciousness Upload procedure was fatal. Once the surgery was complete and a person’s memories and consciousness were digitized, their physical body would die instantly.

In other words, it was a choice between becoming a Digital Life or remaining physically alive. The two states could not exist simultaneously.

Since Pompey was still very much alive in 2028, orchestrating the collective digitization of all humankind… and he had even led the charge, undergoing the Consciousness Upload procedure himself under the watchful eyes of the entire world.

It stood to reason, then, that the only person who could precede his Resident #002 designation was Cheng Mengxue.

“Virtual World Resident #001, Cheng Mengxue.”

Jiang Ran murmured the name.

‘If my reasoning is correct…’

‘Doesn’t that mean…’

‘The Digital Life created from Cheng Mengxue’s memories and consciousness is also alive in this Virtual World!’

‘Just like all the pedestrians coming and going on the streets, could Cheng Mengxue be out there somewhere, living her own life in some corner of this world?’

“Could… could that be real?”

Jiang Ran blinked.

“Can I… Can I still see Xiaoxue here?”

It felt unbelievable.

‘How many versions of Cheng Mengxue even exist in the world?’

‘There’s the real one, the fake one, and now a digital one here, too!’

Well.

Regardless.

If a Digital Life version of Cheng Mengxue did exist, she would at least be the real her—the true her, completely identical to the one in his impressions and memories.

But…

In almost an instant, Jiang Ran’s surging hope crashed.

‘Even if Cheng Mengxue is really alive somewhere in this Virtual World, how am I supposed to find her?’

This world only exists for 39 minutes and 11 seconds.

Once that time is up, the world will reset to 10:00 a.m., like a lagging computer restarting itself.

In a mere 39 minutes, he couldn’t even leave the confines of East Sea City, let alone find someone whose location was a complete mystery.

“Sigh.”

Jiang Ran let out a sigh.

Pompey had clearly stated that according to his plan, this Virtual World was supposed to run normally for 30,000 years.

So why had the program become unstable after less than twenty years?

Something was definitely wrong.

“Sir? Are you all right?”

The waitress in the maid outfit tilted her head, her eyes filled with puzzlement.

“You look very troubled. Would you like to try our new orange juice? It might help you relax.”

Jiang Ran looked up.

Seeing the pretty young woman still standing patiently before him, he chuckled softly.

“All right. Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble at all~”

The young woman was delighted. She poured a large glass of orange juice and handed it to Jiang Ran.

“Here you go! If you like it, just let me know and I’ll get you a refill!”

For what felt like the umpteenth time, Jiang Ran took the glass of orange juice and thanked the young woman.

“Oh, wait a second.”

He called out to the young woman, smiling warmly.

“Excuse me, could I take a moment of your time? I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

Back at the library, Jiang Ran had wanted to find out what the Digital Life residents thought about the Virtual World and Puppet Pompey.

The young woman before him seemed kind, gentle, and patient. Jiang Ran decided to try talking with her.

“Of course you can!”

The young woman flashed a sweet smile, turned back to him, her eyes full of anticipation.

“Is it about the juice? You can ask me anything! I know everything there is to know about it!”

Huh?

Jiang Ran froze.

He hadn’t expected this kind of reaction at all.

‘What is there to even ask about juice? What on earth is she so excited about?’

“Ah, no, no.”

Jiang Ran waved his hands dismissively.

“I wanted to ask you… are you all aware that this is a Virtual World? I mean, that it’s not the real world, but a computer simulation.”

The young woman blinked.

“Of course. Isn’t that common knowledge?”

“So what do you all think about it?”

Jiang Ran pressed on.

“Are you all able to just accept this change? After all, you used to live in the real world, with real, physical bodies… but now you’re all just data trapped on a server. Can you really be at peace with that?”

“Um…”

The young woman scratched her head.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can really answer that for you.”

She gave an embarrassed smile.

“Because I was born here, in the Digital World. I don’t really understand what you’re talking about… this ‘life in the real world outside.'”

“To me, I was born here and I grew up here. This place feels real. When you talk to me about the world outside… it feels like you’re talking about another planet.”

“What?”

Jiang Ran’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe his ears.

‘This girl said…’

‘She was born here?’

‘This is the Virtual Digital World!’

‘Can new life actually be born here?’

Dazedly, Jiang Ran turned his head and looked at the little boy who had just run past holding a lollipop…

He had noticed the little boy before. He’d even seen many young children while cruising above the city on his flying motorcycle.

He just hadn’t thought anything of it at the time.

In the back of his mind, he had simply assumed that the Digital Lives in the Virtual World were all immortal and unchanging.