Genius Chapter 16: Good Night.

Chapter 16: Good Night.

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Yu Zhen wasn’t wrong. He even stood by silently gaining experience points.

“This monster gives a lot of experience points,” ScarletFruit couldn’t help but say. “Since we don’t have time for this hidden map, we might as well stay here and level up.”

ClearWind replied, “…Although it sounds a bit wrong, I’m inclined to agree.”

The three of them stood outside the safe line, not going deeper to avoid being attacked. ClearWind was barely scratching the monsters at the edge, while Su Mo had an easier time. His summoned beast could handle two monsters at a time. Overall, the busiest one was still ScarletFruit, who had to heal both teammates and their summoned beasts.

Su Mo called out, “UnchainedWanderer, give us a damage buff.”

Yu Zhen stepped forward and casually closed the private chat with 25000. He set up a damage array and a defense array for ClearWind. “My arrays are mostly for group damage. Pull two over for me to hit.”

ClearWind was pleased. “No problem, I’m going in. ScarletFruit, heal me well.”

ScarletFruit nearly coughed up blood. “Why do I feel like healing you guys is more exhausting than a dungeon run?”

Su Mo operated his summoner almost mechanically, fighting monsters nonchalantly. “We can’t beat the boss anyway, so let’s level up first.”

ClearWind optimistically suggested, “Yeah, maybe it will be easier at a higher level. Charge! Let’s take down these weird creatures.”

The small monsters were blurry and dark, looking quite evil. The group of four gave up on further exploration and farmed monsters for over half an hour, actually leveling up once.

Su Mo leaned against a rock, his gaze sweeping over the summoned beast and the wall. Each change in the fine lines was different—sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes thin, sometimes thick. The speed of change was rapid.

With no tools at hand, his eyes were almost glued to the wall, silently memorizing the details of the changing patterns.

Yu Zhen glanced at the summoner from the corner of his eye. The nimble summoned beast was still weaving through the monster horde, dragging one back as it bit another. There were no casting animations or movements.

The summoner himself made no moves. He wore two pieces of Spirit Sanctuary-specific red and white equipment mixed with newbie gear, yet it didn’t look mismatched on him. Instead, it gave off a quiet, aloof vibe. The lantern staff in his hand glowed faintly, his eyes reflecting the fleeting lines on the cave wall without any ripple of emotion.

Yu Zhen had the illusion that the summoner felt young, but his demeanor and actions often suggested otherwise. Young gamers usually had a certain drive, but the summoner rarely showed it.

Suddenly, the summoner yawned. Yu Zhen noticed the summoner’s hand linger on his forehead for a moment before quickly retracting.

“Level 29 now,” ScarletFruit said. “I suddenly feel this hidden map is really good. I can grind monsters here peacefully without being blocked.”

ClearWind agreed, “The monsters respawn quickly here.”

ScarletFruit asked, “Can I reach level 30 tonight?”

ClearWind encouraged, “Have confidence, young man. Level 35 is not a dream.”

As the two talked, the summoned beast in the distance was suddenly recalled. Su Mo canceled the summon and calmly announced, “You guys keep grinding. I’m logging off.”

The two young men, who had just vowed to level up—

ClearWind: “?”

ScarletFruit: “?”

Yu Zhen looked at the summoner, who was feeding Soul Rabbit some food, seemingly preparing to log off.

After feeding the rabbit, Su Mo met Yu Zhen’s gaze, nodded slightly, and said, “Goodnight, see you tomorrow.”

With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the three others bewildered.

ClearWind looked at the others, confused. “What’s going on?”

ScarletFruit said with difficulty, “Our leader is… very health-conscious.”

—

At midnight, Su Mo removed the loader, feeling the weight of his body return. The loader’s medical alarm was flashing a red warning light. Su Mo turned off the light, supported himself against the wall, and took out a bottle of medicine from a drawer in the living room. He swallowed a few pills dry and exhaled heavily.

The robot Lele thoughtfully brought him water, its display screen flickering with anxious gibberish. “Su Mo, you’re two hours late taking your medicine. I need to tell Dr. Wu.”

Su Mo took a sip of water and let Lele measure his blood pressure and other data.

The noise of the game and his teammates’ voices faded away, leaving him with a sense of tinnitus and sharp pain at his temples. He controlled his breathing to ease the contrast between his in-game and real-life bodies, his hand resting on Lele’s emergency button, waiting for the pain to subside.

Finally, the needle-like headache ebbed away. He wiped his forehead, now covered in sweat, while Lele methodically recorded his physical data and administered an injection from the medical kit.

When Su Mo felt drowsy in the game, he had sensed something was wrong. The holographic game blocked internal and external sensations, maximizing in-game senses according to settings. Unless his body data changed, his in-game experience wouldn’t differ. Sure enough, as soon as he exited the loader, the medical alarm went off.

He was used to this sudden pain, which occurred a few times each month. He had hoped it wouldn’t come this month, as it was already halfway through.

“It’s okay.” Su Mo reassured Lele, checking the post-examination data—hormonal changes, blood pressure below normal… He glanced through the data, quietly waiting for his body to calm down. Seeing Lele’s screen filled with gibberish, he chuckled. “Lele, why the sad face?”

Lele’s electronic voice sounded a bit aggrieved, “You didn’t take your medicine.”

“It’s fine,” Su Mo comforted. “This is the first time this month. It’s much better than last month.”

Staying up late occasionally made him feel flustered and tired, increasing the frequency of headaches.

Lele said, “Su Mo.”

Su Mo rubbed Lele’s hard, cold robotic head and earnestly promised, “I’ll make sure to rest early.”

Lele nodded firmly and turned to tidy up the messy medical kit on the table. “You better not lie to me again.”

“Mm-hmm.” Su Mo watched the diligent little robot, thinking how easy it was to deceive, and seeing its busy back, he couldn’t help but say, “Lele, I’ve adopted a rabbit in the game.”

Lele turned around, a question mark flickering on its electronic screen.

Su Mo continued, “It’s not as thoughtful as you and eats a lot, costing me a fortune.”

Lele responded, “Then it must be a bad rabbit. You should stop keeping it.”

Su Mo chuckled and glanced at Lele’s exposed mechanical parts, showing old repair marks.

Lele was an old model robot. Back when his parents were still around, Lele had been the family robot. After Su Mo moved in with his uncle, Lele came along and was modified into a comprehensive robot to take care of his health.

He remembered when Lele broke down once when he was a child. He cried and sought help from many people. Some elders suggested getting a new one, others recommended returning it to the factory for reset. They all said Lele was too old and should be replaced. But he refused. A kind brother helped him find an expert who repaired old models, and Lele returned to his side.

As he grew up, he specialized in machine forging. He became skilled in repairing old models and parts. Lele’s regular maintenance became his personal task, and most of its old parts had been replaced. The intelligent system had been upgraded several times.

“Lele, would you like to have some ultra-cool synthetic skin?” Su Mo asked, “You could even customize your appearance.”

Lele, always thrifty, responded, “Synthetic skin is expensive. You should save your money for a future wife.”

Basic healthcare was free throughout the Star Alliance, and treatment for special conditions was always free. Moreover, he wasn’t short of money. Winning competitions earned him significant prizes, and he had more money in his account than he could spend in a lifetime.

Su Mo laughed, already planning to order custom synthetic skin from a specialized research lab and buy the latest parts for Lele. As he thought about it, his head gradually grew heavy…

When Lele finished tidying up and turned around, its master had already fallen asleep on the sofa. Listening to Su Mo’s steady breathing, Lele fetched a blanket to cover him, adjusted the sofa’s backrest, and set the room temperature to a comfortable level for sleeping.

In the quiet living room, the electronic voice sounded—“Goodnight.”

—

The next day, sunlight streamed into the room, and Su Mo opened his eyes, feeling a headache. He followed Lele’s advice, skipping his usual morning exercise to check his body metrics instead.

Some values hadn’t returned to normal, so he stayed offline and played with a jigsaw puzzle in the living room. The puzzle was made of wood, a pricey hobby in the current Star Alliance. His was a custom version, with unmarked pieces scattered in a chaotic manner.

He poured himself a glass of water and quietly picked up each piece, sorting them by color and area, placing them accurately. This was one of his leisure activities, keeping him calm and content.

By noon, Lele retested his metrics, confirming he was back to healthy standards. Satisfied, Lele made him a cup of coffee. Su Mo adjusted the loader’s alarm in front of Lele before logging into the game. When he logged in, the team was there, and they had leveled up twice.

ScarletFruit exclaimed, “Finally, you’re here. We’ve been waiting since nine in the morning.”

“Really?” Su Mo returned to his previous spot, noticing UnchainedWanderer watching him from afar. He nodded in acknowledgment.

Yu Zhen observed Su Mo, noting his natural expression. He set aside his suspicions and asked, “Had a good rest?”

Su Mo, a bit surprised, replied, “Pretty good.”

Yu Zhen didn’t say more and continued fighting monsters.

“Momo, I need to talk to you,” ClearWind quickly said. “About the livestream. You know I’m a streamer, and the platform has requirements for hours and days. I wanted to ask if you guys mind if I stream? I haven’t met my quota this month.”

Su Mo looked at the others.

ScarletFruit raised his hand, “I don’t mind. Whatever the leader says is my opinion.”

Su Mo asked, “Don’t you have your own opinion?”

ScarletFruit decisively said, “Nope.”

Yu Zhen nodded, indicating he didn’t mind.

Su Mo saw no issue with it, “Go ahead.” He then turned to Yu Zhen and asked, “How’s the progress? Any discoveries?”

Yu Zhen replied, “I’ve sorted out three types of pattern changes. The number and area are factors in the wall patterns’ changes.”

He waved his hand, revealing an embedded drawing board with three patterns.

Seeing the drawing board, Su Mo was slightly taken aback. “How did you get this?”

Yu Zhen briefly explained the drawing board’s function.

Su Mo realized, “So that’s how it works. There are many built-in functions.” He opened his drawing board and added two new patterns, “You missed these two.”

ScarletFruit, puzzled, asked, “You knew this already?”

Su Mo replied, “I observed some of it while fighting yesterday.”

ScarletFruit was speechless, “?”

Su Mo finished drawing the patterns and added, “There wasn’t a drawing board yesterday.”

So he didn’t mention it yesterday.

***

StarNet forum’s revelation of the Misty Cave hidden map dropped a bombshell, causing numerous lurking players to emerge and discuss the Apocalypse quest progress. This quest was closely watched by almost all Celestial Horizon players, and the appearance of the Misty map prompted experts to analyze it in new threads.

One such thread was created by Apple, the top spell-based Swordsman from the Mountainless Blade Sect. He posted a newbie map analysis, suggesting the trigger conditions were coincidental. Apple had significantly contributed to the Apocalypse quest progress, being a notable member of the vanguard. The last hidden map with the “Brave” suffix appeared in the high-level area near the main city, Vicinity, which required a top-tier group of 20 players a whole day to clear.

[Damn, if Apple says that, do we stand no chance with just two people?]

[How much can newbies really achieve? At least they gave us clues about the Misty Cave. Now we wait for the pros to figure out the trigger conditions and clear it.]

[Previously, Momo triggered the Soul Rabbit and the only quest in Newbie Village. Some have speculated about his skills. Could he be an alt account of another pro?]

[Not likely. FireworksAndLanterns denied it, saying it wasn’t his alt account.]

[It’s a double dungeon challenge: Spirit Sanctuary’s healer and summoner. This combo looks brutal. In their wild monster farming video, they also had a high-skill array master. Clearing the Brave map with just two people sounds like a dream.]

With nothing better to do, forum players started digging up info on Momo and ScarletFruit14. ScarletFruit was initially elusive until someone linked him to a materials selling post, discovering he was the alt account of the well-known LuckyScarletFruit, a senior weaponsmith and game merchant in the high-level main city, famous for his high-stat weapons. As for Momo, no forum or StarNet account could be linked to this ID, making him a mysterious player with no online footprint.

Then—

[Whoa, check it out! Someone’s live-streaming the Misty Cave!]

Forum users: ??? What?

They followed the link to a live stream showing the cave in real-time. In the pitch-dark cave lit by a single illumination scroll, four players were fighting monsters. Livestreamer ClearWindIsHere was pulling monsters under the protection of the array master’s defensive arrays. The summoner’s beasts were attacking, the array master was casting continuously, and the healer was scrambling.

ClearWind was a physical Swordsman, and the other three players’ IDs were very familiar: summoner Momo, healer ScarletFruit14, and array master UnchainedWanderer. They were the same trio seen farming wild monsters! Players concerned with the global quest progress were relieved; with four players, the chances of clearing increased.

As they started to ask questions in the chat, they heard ClearWind’s excited voice, “Oh yeah, another one down. Should level up to 33 today.”

[Level up? Isn’t this the Apocalypse hidden map?]

[New guy? Check the stream title.]

The stream title read ‘Misty Cave Leveling’. The entire server was anxiously waiting for a clear, yet here they were leveling up!

Su Mo ignored the chat, focusing on testing the patterns on the cave walls with UnchainedWanderer. “Seems like different status buffs,” he noted.

The patterns represented various buffs, some affecting players and some the monsters. Different attack sequences triggered different buffs, creating 15 possible effects from five patterns. Su Mo explained, “Left side buffs us, right side debuffs the monsters. Pay attention to attack order.”

Without hesitation, the array master moved in, killed a monster, and retreated unscathed.

“Right side, third one,” Su Mo directed. The array master followed, accurately killing the indicated monster.

Su Mo observed that attacking varying numbers of monsters changed the wall patterns. Attacking monsters on different sides also altered the patterns, serving as a hint for the correct attack method.

“Buff order is clear, but the landing spots need more analysis,” Su Mo remarked.

Yu Zhen was impressed, “You figured out the sequence?”

“Just the order. Need to confirm the buff application,” Su Mo responded.

Yu Zhen instructed, “You remember, I’ll kill.” He told ClearWind, “Give the leader role to Momo.”

ClearWind, chatting with viewers, responded, “Oh, sure.”

Yu Zhen reminded him, “Mark the targets.”

With the marking function, Su Mo found it much easier, “Got it.”

[Why are you two resting? Will you seriously Level up?]

[Is this leveling? Looks like a summoner and array master show.]

“They told us to rest. We’ll fight the next wave. It’s labor distribution,” ClearWind explained cheerfully. “Now let me show you our team’s pros.”

[Array master’s skill looks like a solo assassin’s.]

[How is UnchainedWanderer so fast?]

“He’s not that fast, just good at using speed arrays,” ClearWind explained. “Mostly focused on spell attack.”

[ClearWind’s calling them pros?]

“He’s a pro,” ClearWind confirmed. “We call him ‘big brother’.”

Viewers: … Are you slacking off?

ClearWind watched the two working seamlessly, then asked, “ScarletFruit, what are they doing?”

“Lost twenty gold today… hold on, let me finish my accounts,” ScarletFruit replied.

[Why’s he doing accounts now?]

[Can’t rely on these four.]

[Why am I watching this?]

ClearWind refocused on the duo’s smooth coordination.

Suddenly, ScarletFruit looked up, “Big brother, what’s up?”

Su Mo finished marking, “Want to level up twice in half an hour?”

ScarletFruit was excited, “Really?”

Viewers: Could you be more ambitious!?