Genius Chapter 1: F-class Physique

The Genius’ Playbook

 By Li Wenzhou

Chinese Information:天才攻略论[holographic]

作者：李温酒

Year: 20222

Genre: BL, gaming, holographic, future, friends, competition

Novel Status in Country of Origin: 214 Chapters (Complete)

Translator: Addis, Karai

Editor: Karai, Addis

~~~~Brought to you by ExR~~~~

Genius Su Mo once dominated numerous honors, surrounded by fame, but because of his F-grade physique, he couldn’t log into the virtual star network, thus derailing from the Star Network Era. It wasn’t until he encountered the holographic online game “Celestial Horizon” that he began a new journey, meeting gamers of various personalities, experiencing the excitement he had never experienced in reality, and gaining precious friendships and love. This story revolves around the holographic online game, telling the story of the protagonist unexpectedly getting the chance to enter the game world.

The Origin of Quests: The Apocalypse

Chapter 1: F-class Physique

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

The plain corridor echoed with footsteps, some heavy, some light. Inside the Third Medical Station of the Capital Planet, two people sat in the waiting area outside the special illness diagnosis room. The child sitting on the right lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the intricate maze displayed on his terminal. Furrowing his brows tightly, he seemed to give up, slapping his thigh in frustration. Suddenly, he was drawn to the person next to him.

The other person was a young teenager wearing a cap, also engrossed in playing a game. The child shifted slightly in his seat, curious eyes landing on the teenager’s terminal. It was a terminal he didn’t recognize, bulkier and more worn-out than his own. Despite its appearance as an old scrap terminal, the virtual screen was remarkably clear.

“V-type 321st generation terminal,” the teenager suddenly said, chuckling, “Curious, huh?”

The child shrugged, whispering, “I’ve never seen that before. What game are you playing?”

The teenager confidently displayed the virtual screen, “Match-3.”

The screen was filled with flashy graphics, exuding a nostalgic vibe that the child couldn’t comprehend. Perplexed, the child asked, “What type of terminal is yours? What does ‘V-type’ mean? Is it a retro model?”

The teenager chuckled at the mention of retro, “Sort of. After all, you have to go to the scrapyard to find this model nowadays.”

The spacious corridor reverberated with the voice of artificial intelligence, broadcasting through the built-in speakers,

—”Patient 005, Su Mo, please proceed to room 402 for examination.”

The child paused upon hearing the announcement, glancing at his own queue number.

Meanwhile, the person next to him stood up. Adjusting his cap, the teenager casually remarked, “Oh, it’s my turn.” He glanced at the child still sitting there, pointing his slender finger at the child’s terminal, “Try turning right at the third fork in the left section. Maybe there’s better luck to the right.”

The child was momentarily stunned, looking down at the location of the third fork in the left section, then looked up to see the figure of the older brother disappearing at the door of room 402.

***

In the all-white examination room, Su Mo’s body data was displayed on the background screen, with green and red values interspersed. Dr. Wu, seated at the center, adjusted the data on the screen, while a nurse assistant brought a glass of water.

Dr. Wu shifted his gaze to the teenager. The teenager wore a black hat, and his exposed skin had a cold, unhealthy pallor. Taking off his hat, his eyes under the brim were soft and clear, his slightly longer eyelashes fluttering like flowing water, giving off a unique yet calm demeanor.

The teenager sat up straight, glancing at the body report on the screen. The cold text on the screen seemed like ordinary data to him. After browsing through it, he asked, “Any other points to note, Doctor?”

Name: Su Mo

Age: 18

Physique: F-

Mental Power: S+

The teenager appeared no different from others, except for his thin appearance and pale skin. Other than that, there was no indication that he was a patient with a special illness. His physique was rated as ‘F-‘, the lowest level in the statistics data with the current average being ‘D’. In the entire alliance, there were only about ten surviving patients with this physique, five of whom were in the intensive care unit.

Patients with this kind of physique couldn’t bear the burden brought by high-intelligence machines. Even slight stimuli could result in pain ten times more intense than normal, meaning they couldn’t keep pace with the rapid development of technology in the Alliance, couldn’t use high-intelligence furniture, let alone log into StarNet. These patients with special physiques were abandoned by the interstellar era.

Dr. Wu had seen many people, but Su Mo was the first person like him he had encountered.

“Other than the physique test, all other physical indicators are close to normal standards,” Dr. Wu flipped through the body report of the individual named ‘Su Mo’, and when he saw the words ‘S+ Mental Power’, his narrow eyes under his glasses paused slightly. He sighed silently, “Have you experienced any decline in physical strength recently?”

Su Mo replied truthfully, “Yes, occasionally I feel chest tightness.”

Dr. Wu asked, “How often do you experience headaches?”

Su Mo replied, “2-3 times a month.”

Dr. Wu recorded the data on the screen and looked up to see Su Mo’s clear gaze. He smiled and said, “Based on the current data, your physical condition is gradually returning to the average value, better than the data of the several patients with E-class physiques I have on hand. Of course, you still need to be careful. Don’t overexert yourself just because your mental power is superior.” As he spoke, his tone became slightly serious, “Last week, I received a report from your medical robot. Did you stay up late on April 16th?” 

Su Mo hesitated for a moment before replying, “Yes, I had something to deal with and couldn’t sleep early.”

Dr. Wu sighed, “I won’t dwell on this point too much, but don’t stay up late. You’re not like other teenagers who can stay lively even after staying up for three or four days. A weakened immune system is not a good thing.” He forwarded a piece of data information to Su Mo’s terminal, “Go get your medicine. Come back for a follow-up in six months.”

***

Outside the examination room in the corridor, two medical ai’s passed by, the corridor appearing deserted.

“Hey, big brother!”

Su Mo had just walked out of the examination room when he was stopped by the kid who had been playing games earlier. Su Mo calmly put on his hat and smiled, “Did you clear the level?”

The kid nodded and then took out a delicately packaged candy from his pocket, stuffing it into Su Mo’s hand, “This is for you, thank you, big brother. My mom’s urging me, bye, big brother.” 

After handing over the candy, the kid didn’t look back as he ran to the other end of the corridor. Su Mo watched as the child, led by his parent, moved further away. He paused slightly, looking down at the candy in his palm.

At that moment, footsteps approached from the other end of the corridor. A man in a suit walked with a stern expression, his sharp brows furrowed, and he was conversing with a white-coated doctor as they walked. Passing by the special illness area, when they arrived at their destination and saw a young man standing in front of room 402, the man’s sharp gaze swept over him, finally stopping on the item in his palm.

A candy?

The doctor reminded, “Mr. Yu, we’ve arrived at room 402.”

Su Mo snapped out of his thoughts, slightly apologetic as he made way, stuffing the candy into his pocket, and without lifting his head, walked in the opposite direction. The man withdrew his gaze and pushed open the door to the room.

***

Exiting the hospital, Su Mo boarded a hovercar heading to District C. Su Mo lived in District C of the Capital Planet, which belonged to the mid-level old city area. His residence was in a lush green community in District C, which appeared quite old-fashioned. Despite this, there were several vigilant military robots stationed outside.

Shortly after entering the community, Su Mo was intercepted by the enthusiastic Uncle Zhang to play chess. Most of the residents in the community were elderly retirees who enjoyed bringing their grandchildren to the small park to play chess or dance in the square when they had time.

Uncle Zhang lived downstairs from Su Mo. He was a retired professor from the Research Institute and usually liked to talk about academic issues. Occasionally, he enjoyed catching Su Mo for a game of chess. Being open-minded and childlike, Su Mo enjoyed conversing with him.

“I heard that your university is renovating the laboratory during the summer vacation. Why not stay here during the vacation?” Uncle Zhang asked.

“Stay here? I plan to go to the library.” Su Mo put down his backpack and naturally sat on the cool chair, glancing at the chessboard unexpectedly, “Is it my move?” He observed the situation with his head down.

Su Mo had just sat down, and a few elderly people nearby also gathered around.

“Old Li left for something.” Uncle Zhang looked expectantly at Su Mo and continued, “Why go to the library again? It’s vacation time, you should play. Your brother Qi sent a package for you recently. He said it’s for you, the virtual loader for the game that’s been popular recently.”

Su Mo replied casually, “Celestial Horizon? That new holographic game? I’ve heard of it.”

Uncle Zhang nodded, “Yes, that’s the one.”

As soon as the game was mentioned, the people around chimed in.

“My grandson plays it every day at home.”

“The young people in our institute are also playing it, talking about terms I don’t understand every day.”

“The scenery is really nice. My husband and I even went to the bridge to take pictures.”

Su Mo’s gaze lifted slightly as he selected a chess piece to place on the board, “That’s a holographic game. I can’t play it.”

He had heard about this game before, and many of his peers were playing it. He had also come across numerous related news articles while browsing. Because of its immense popularity, whether it was the technological reserves it built upon or the gaming modes renowned in other fields, there were plenty of audiences across a wide range of demographics.

In the period of rapid technological advancement in the Alliance, the virtual era had arrived four hundred years ago. The virtual reality network brought unprecedented breakthroughs to the era, and for a time, the virtual era integrated into various industries, solving many historical problems. The virtual gaming industry was one of the most rapidly developing industries among them, and among numerous virtual games, “Celestial Horizon” was the largest and most anticipated project in nearly fifty years.

Controlled by ApexMind of StarNet, it automatically deduced historical records from the Earth era, adopting new carriers and modes to construct a special and magnificent fantasy world. It could be said that it heralded the era of new virtual online games.

“Celestial Horizon” was an exploratory online game that covered multiple fields of knowledge in addition to the systems typical of online games. Therefore, it had audiences across all age groups. The virtual loader was akin to a virtual warehouse, a necessary medium for entering holographic games.

While people around continued their discussion, Su Mo made his move and smiled, “It’s your turn, Grandpa Zhang.”

“Why aren’t you interested?” Uncle Zhang suddenly became enthusiastic, playing and speaking, “Hey, are you worried about the limitations of your physique? That problem must have been solved. Isn’t the game introducing a new loader? It’s a new-style loader developed by the Firmament Group, expanding the limits of physique.”

Naturally, Su Mo had heard about this, “It has been expanded, and the minimum limit is E-class.”

E-class was already a very low limit, but even so, it wasn’t compatible with his F-class physique.

Uncle Zhang laughed loudly, “I knew you were worried about this. The head of the Firmament Group is a good friend of Zhang Qi. His friend knows a little about your situation, so he sent a F-class loader to Brother Qi for you. It’s said to be something new their project team developed.”

Su Mo hesitated slightly at the words, “F-class loader? If they really developed an F-class loader, there would have been rumors about it.”

If the Firmament Group could really develop a loader suitable for F-class, it would have spread throughout the industry, but the external news was still only about E-class loaders. It was impossible for him not to have noticed.

Unless… Su Mo hesitated slightly, “Is it a loader specifically for the game?”

Uncle Zhang smiled, “That’s right, it’s a loader that can only connect to ‘Celestial Horizon’.” He said somewhat mysteriously, “It has passed the inspection of the loader organization and meets the loading standards for F-class physiques. How about that? Interesting, isn’t it?”

Not long after the chess game ended, Su Mo received the F-class loader sent by Zhang Qi when he returned home. There were several packages placed at the door, all of them from the suburban processing station, sent within the city. He struggled a bit to pick up a few packages.

The house was very cozy, with traces of life everywhere. Su Mo set down the packages, and a small robot emerged from the room. It was Su Mo’s domestic comprehensive robot, nicknamed Lele. As it moved, Lele asked, “Su Mo, you have three voice messages. Do you want to listen to them?”

Su Mo unpacked the packages, scattering parts all over the table. He leaned back on the sofa, relieved his tiredness, and lazily replied, “No, don’t listen.”

“Understood,” Lele’s voice remained steady, yet it carried an indescribable sense of relief. After a while, it added, “Body temperature normal, Su Mo, today is a healthy day.”

Su Mo chuckled and sorted the parts into an empty box before heading into the adjacent laboratory.

The harsh white light from the laboratory ceiling illuminated the approximately twenty-square-meter space. Glass cabinets on the left were filled with various trophies and medals, while adjacent were special storage cabinets, with neatly stacked white transparent boxes, their labels clear under the light. Su Mo placed the new parts and a few other components on the workbench.

The small robot followed Su Mo, maintaining a certain distance. “Su Mo, you need to eat in 15 minutes. Is today a strawberry or milk flavored nutrient? Also, do you want a cup of coffee?”

Su Mo replied, “Milk flavor, and yes, I want a cup of coffee.”

Lele responded, “Alright, you can only drink four cups of coffee this week. This is your first cup.”

The house was quiet, with only the sound of Lele’s voice and the low hum of experimental equipment in the living room. The packaging from the living room had been cleaned up by Lele, leaving only a square box on the table with the Firmament Group’s logo emblazoned on it. Su Mo opened the box to reveal metallic components emitting a cold light. A specially designed bracket inside perfectly preserved a headset-style loader.

Su Mo chuckled softly, “So, there are people willing to spend so much energy and money to build a route that might not even be logged into.”

The Firmament Group, holographic virtual online game. The F-class loader, even though it was just a game loader, was the first F-class loader ever developed.

The loader was styled as the most straightforward headset model, suitable for users with average physique and mental strength. Its immersion wasn’t as strong as the virtual warehouse-style loader, but its safety factor was higher. There were various accessories included, among which was a medical component Su Mo was most familiar with, as well as a half-nail-thick instruction manual and a game chip.

Su Mo picked up the chip, studying it silently for a while. Lele brought the coffee and nutrient over, placing them in front of Su Mo promptly. It immediately noticed the unfamiliar item that appeared in the house, scanned it, and said, “Su Mo, this is a virtual game loader, unknown serial number, belonging to the Firmament Group’s ‘Celestial Horizon’ game development team’s main server.”

Su Mo finished the nutrient drink in one gulp, his gaze still fixed on the instruction manual. Lele reminded, “The danger coefficient of the virtual loader is three stars.”

“I know,” Su Mo said, holding the manual in one hand as he raised the other to open Lele’s system screen, allowing the loader to synchronize with Lele’s system. 

“Let me see, medical components, safety components…” After a while, the system screen prompted that the connection was established. Putting on the headset, the F-class loader successfully started, and the body lit up with a blue halo.

“Game chip confirmed. Do you want to connect to ‘Celestial Horizon’? Yes/No?”

Sipping his coffee, Su Mo looked at the virtual screen in front of him, facing a choice he had never imagined before.