Chapter Three: The Price of Genius

Join me and at least this life will think you're a genius.” Chen noticed J-04 printed beneath his cup. Seven chairs, seven differently numbered cups. Zhou had already assigned the players seats. “I'll answer tonight.” “You don't have tonight.” Day Three appeared on Chen's phone: [Improve waiting conditions for food-pickup participants on South Food Street.] On Zhou's wall, workers were already installing Jiming's Hive pickup lockers. “The task arrived at six. How are you building already?” “Because today isn't my first time.” Chen understood: another player's failure could reset shared reality, while memory permissions differed. Zhou had watched solutions in discarded timelines and carried them here.