Chapter 289: An Qings Answer

This novel is translated and hosted only on Bca Translation

“It’s not that it’s not complex enough; it’s that it’s not simple enough.”

Lin Xian recalled the same words the super AI, VV, had said in his third dream. Back then, he couldn’t figure out the “mirror puzzle” left by Yellow Finch, so he had asked VV for advice.

VV had thought for a long time, which was rare. The entire Rhine Sky City dimmed slightly, giving Lin Xian the feeling that something big was coming, something really big.

But in the end, the answer VV gave was unexpectedly simple, almost excessively straightforward: “I think it just means you should look in the mirror more.”

Lin Xian had barely restrained himself from dismantling the trash can in frustration. He decided to ignore this artificial idiot. But unexpectedly, today, these words from some sci-fi book were repeated by Chu An Qing, leaving Lin Xian in a daze.

Suddenly, he thought... What if? In this world, or in history, smart people often outsmart themselves, and it’s common to miss what’s right under their noses.

Moreover, Chu An Qing wasn’t an untrustworthy outsider. Not only had she passed Yellow Finch’s rigorous selection, but she had also risked her life to go to America alone to cheer him on. She even fought with her parents to accompany him into space to capture time-space particles. Her father, Chu Shan He, had also helped Lin Xian a lot in the battle against the Seven Deadly Sins.

All things considered... Chu An Qing was actually the most trustworthy person.

“Alright,” Lin Xian nodded. “But the problem I’m thinking about is a bit fantastical and has many hypothetical premises, so it might be difficult to understand. I’ll try to explain it simply. I hope you can understand.”

Chu An Qing, sensing the seriousness, sat up straight, placing her hands neatly on her knees like a well-behaved child in kindergarten, ready to listen to the profound truth of how apples plus oranges equals pears.

After organizing his thoughts, Lin Xian began to speak slowly:

“I’ve watched movies like The Matrix, Source Code, and The Truman Show, which have settings similar to ‘brain in a vat’ or ‘living in a real-life movie set.’ This often makes me wonder how one could become aware of the world’s falseness.

“The ‘brain in a vat’ concept is like if the enemy put you in a coma and directly fed all kinds of information into your brain via a computer, including sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and the sense of bodily presence and movement. For your brain, it would seem like you’re in a vivid, incredibly real world, no different from everyday life.

“But no matter how real your brain thinks the world is, it is, after all, fake and computer-generated. There would be an evil doctor controlling everything you see and experience, making you his experiment or just mocking you.

“As for the movie set concept, you must understand it since you’ve seen The Truman Show. You wake up to find yourself surrounded by residents, cars, malls, cinemas... everything from daily life. But all of it is arranged by directors: the massive set as big as a city, with hidden cameras everywhere. If you never travel far by plane or train, you might never realize you’re the star of a reality show, with your private life broadcast 24/7 for the world’s amusement.

“Let’s assume that you, me, or anyone else is in such a ‘brain in a vat’ or a real-life movie set the size of a few cities. In such a scenario, being completely monitored and controlled by the enemy or the director, how could we become aware that we are in a false world?

“Of course, we don’t necessarily need to prove the virtual world’s falseness; we could also find a way to prove its reality. Proving it to be real would certainly be more reassuring. The point is, we must find a method to give us a clear answer—Is this world real or is it fake, virtual, and a constructed movie set?”

Lin Xian finished his long speech.

Chu An Qing was stunned, her mind almost smoking. “I... I understand what you’re saying, considering there are many movies with similar plots, so I have a concept in my head. In The Truman Show, the protagonist realizes the world is fake because the production team made mistakes, which made him suspicious.

“From your description, if we exclude the possibility of the director or enemy making mistakes, I really can’t think of a way to break it. After all, there’s a saying: ‘You can’t see the true face of Mount Lu because you are in the mountain.’ If you’re always in the mountain, you naturally can’t see its entirety. It’s the same as being in a fake world... how do you prove it’s fake when you’re inside it?”

Lin Xian nodded and continued:

“The director and the enemy are not infallible. Let’s hypothesize about something. Suppose there’s a ‘safe,’ which is the only hope left by the director and the enemy’s oversight. You can place something, or a small piece of paper, inside it in the known reality. Then, in that seemingly virtual world, you can find this safe again. You can open it with a password and see what’s inside.

“This is the only tool you can use and the only channel for material and information exchange with the real world. So, if you want to prove the reality or falseness of the world you’re in, you have to focus on this safe.”

Chu An Qing suddenly understood and was about to speak, but Lin Xian smiled and interrupted her. “I know what you’re going to say. You’d suggest asking a friend to put something in the safe that even I don’t know, then setting a password that no one else knows. Once I open it on the other side and verify the contents with my friend, I can determine the world’s reality.

“But don’t rush. This problem isn’t that simple; otherwise, I wouldn’t be so troubled, thinking for so long without finding a feasible answer. Because there’s an additional constraint beyond the previous assumptions—

“The enemy or the director has enough time before you wake up to crack that safe. They can use brute force or other methods to find out what’s inside. They will replicate the safe and its contents exactly. Then, they will place the fake safe with the duplicated contents next to the newly awakened you. Remember our assumption... all props are realistic enough to be indistinguishable by sight alone.”

Lin Xian finished explaining the entire problem. And Chu An Qing’s brain was almost fried. This is the world of smart people! Her overwhelmed brain protested: Why do these smart people torture their brains like this? Why do they pose such difficult problems for themselves? Is it just to make things more interesting?Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

“This...”

Chu An Qing blinked quickly, scratching her head and frowning in thought for a while. Then, she shook her head swiftly. Brainstorm! Brainstorm! Brainstorm!

Shoo~~~~ shoo~~~~~ The electronic clock displayed =3= and made a whistling sound, pretending not to hear.

“You heartless thing.”

Lin Xian laughed. “You can remind me about Chu An Qing’s birthday 800 times a day, but you never said ‘happy birthday’ to me. I can understand; after all, guys don’t usually like celebrating birthdays. Few people remember my birthday, and I didn’t celebrate it last year either. Gao Yang forgot my birthday, and I don’t remember his anymore.

“But... you knew Zhao Ying Jun’s birthday. Why didn’t you remind me? Even though we ended up setting off fireworks at Disneyland, it was still late. You could have at least given me a heads-up.”

“What’s Zhao Ying Jun’s birthday?” VV asked.

“January 15th,” Lin Xian replied without hesitation.

“Hehe.” The electronic clock VV chuckled. “You see, you remember it clearly. For those who truly care, birthdays aren’t forgotten and don’t need reminders.”

“Stop making excuses. You just didn’t want to remind me.”

“I’m telling the truth.” VV chuckled. “To avoid disrupting Chu An Qing’s birthday plans for you, I put your phone on silent mode and turned off all app notifications when you left the dorm.”

“Can you apply this thoughtfulness to Kevin Walker?”

Lin Xian quipped. “Can’t you do something a super AI should do? Send a missile to Kevin Walker’s house, blow up his fridge and microwave, or short-circuit his computer?

“Are you an AI or a phone manager? Don’t bother with silent mode and do-not-disturb settings anymore; I can handle it.”

Saying this, Lin Xian picked up his phone to turn off silent mode—

Huh?

The WeChat icon had a small red dot indicating an unread message.

Lin Xian opened WeChat. There were two messages from 40 minutes ago. It was exactly 00:00 on March 20, 2024.

?Zhao Ying Jun: Happy birthday, Lin Xian. I won’t be able to give you a gift this year, but we can make up for it next year.?

?Zhao Ying Jun: I don’t know what secret mission you’re on, but... I wish you all the best and success.?

...

This novel is translated and hosted only on Bca Translation

Lin Xian put down his phone, looking at VV. For those who truly care, birthdays aren’t forgotten and don’t need reminders.

So that’s what it means...

“You really are something, VV.”

Then, he crouched down, putting the trash bag on the ground, and started rummaging through it.

“What are you doing, Lin Xian?” The electronic clock VV widened its eyes. “Why are you going through the trash?”

“Did you forget?” Lin Xian said as he rummaged through the trash. “We agreed that after this mission to capture time-space particles, we’d go to Qufu, Shandong, to dig up Zhang Yu Qian’s grave and find the remaining DNA... to compare with Chu An Qing’s.”

Lin Xian picked out a few strands of hair from the trash bag. He held them up in front of him – dark brown, slightly curly, shiny, and smooth.

He smiled slightly, “Chu An Qing’s hair... got it.”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation