Countdown: Humanity's struggle to survive against yesterday

Chapter 52 Talisman Notes

"Mr. Chang Niankong, welcome to live stream room number 1766. Please read the following instructions. The match will begin in three minutes."

Three minutes later, the match began.

Chang Niankong stared intently at the screen with his calm, still eyes. According to the competition rules, he could not look away, otherwise it would be considered cheating.

The first question is a basic memory question.

A long tongue twister, memorization time 45 seconds.

grape skins

Eat grapes without spitting out the skins, don't eat grapes but spit out the skins anyway, don't eat grapes but don't spit out the skins, eat grapes but don't spit out the skins either, whether you eat grapes or not, don't spit out the skins randomly.

As soon as the question was posed, the group of internet cafe gamers in the lounge burst into laughter.

"That's hilarious! If I had known it was this question, I could have done it too."

"Isn't this a tongue twister? How can this be used as a memory contest question!"

However, the 45-second reading time on the screen quickly passed, the image flashed, and it turned into a blue answer box, with a 100-second countdown in the corner.

"Come on, whoever just said he could do it too, now recite a poem."

Yang Hongliang said with a smile, looking around at everyone, "If anyone can recite it from memory, I'll give them a bottle of beer."

"Hahaha..." Laughter immediately erupted from the scene.

The young man who had just said he could do it himself opened his mouth, but he got stuck after reciting only half of it, which made everyone laugh again.

A middle-aged man suddenly raised his phone, and the screen showed the tongue twister he had just heard.

He said, "Everyone can try it. Don't try to memorize it in 100 seconds. Try to see if you can read it fluently in one go."

Chang Niankong was unaware of what had happened in the lounge. Without pausing, he placed his hands on the keyboard and quickly answered.

Submit your answer after 82 seconds.

"Congratulations, you have advanced to the next level."

Please wait patiently for the other participants. Once the allotted time is up, the next round will begin immediately.

The 100 seconds passed quickly. This time, it wasn't a basic memory test, but a rapid number memorization test.

A series of numbers immediately appeared on the screen: "3.1415926535..."

"This is pi!"

Players in the lounge immediately recognized him.

"Quickly count, how many digits is it?" another spectator shouted.

"Wow, this is ridiculous! How can this be used as a question bank? Everyone knows pi!" The young man who had just said "I can do it" stood up again to question it.

"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands..."

"Don't count like that, oh dear, time's up..."

"Has anyone counted how many people there are?"

"It's 30 people!" The same middle-aged man held up his phone. "I just took a picture."

After finishing his explanation, the middle-aged man remarked, "This question looks familiar, based on pi, but it's actually a trap. Thirty digits, with only one minute to memorize—just thinking about it makes ordinary people's scalps tingle."

After this explanation, one of the female players looked thoughtful and curiously glanced at the middle-aged man.

"Hey buddy, what do you do? You look pretty cool. Why don't you be our commentator?"

Internet cafe owner Yang Hongliang laughed along: "Him? Principal Han, I told you you guys are a bunch of academic failures, you don't even know the principal of our town's middle school. And Wei Xiaoshuai, can you stop showing off? If you're really that good, you can still sign up now."

Wei Xiaoshuai was the young man who had been questioning things. He wasn't angry when Yang Hongliang mocked him, but instead looked at Principal Han.

"Hey, even the high school principal comes to an internet cafe? Is he here to arrest students again...?"

"Hahahaha..." Loud laughter erupted in the lounge.

On the other side, Chang Niankong sat alone in front of computer A31, completely unaware that before the time for reading the questions was over, he slowly closed his eyes.

He certainly knew pi, and could easily recite 100 digits.

As is often said online, nowadays, without a university degree, you can't even become a monk or Taoist priest.

that's the truth.

Chang Niankong not only attended university, but also entered a prestigious domestic university as the top scorer in his province that year.

He had an extraordinary memory from a young age, and this ability allowed him to thrive in the first half of his life, achieving great success in his studies, career, and love. However, after the age of 30, he was tormented by this photographic memory.

The brain seems to be constantly working; difficulty falling asleep is a minor problem, but unforgettable negative experiences become a major torment.

He became acquainted with Taoism at the age of 35 during a chance trip to Longhu Mountain.

The person who led him into the temple was Master Qinghe, who is also the abbot of the nameless Taoist temple where he now lives.

Taoism advocates following the natural way, governing by non-action, and pursuing a clear mind and a tranquil state of mind. This doctrine made him feel like he had found a kindred spirit, and he chose to stay in Longhu Mountain to cultivate, where he has been cultivating for seven years.

During this time, his parents, wife, and children came looking for him many times, but all of them returned empty-handed.

If things had gone according to plan, Chang Niankong estimated that he would spend his entire life at Longhu Mountain.

But the world's regression caught him completely off guard.

His mind was in turmoil...

"When the mind is in turmoil, everything is in turmoil; when the mind is at peace, everything is at peace."

Chang Niankong opened his eyes again, and the countdown timer in the upper right corner of the computer screen had just started counting down.

Without being impatient or flustered, Chang Niankong simply typed 30 numbers into the answer box as naturally as if he were reading Taoist classics.

"correct"

"Congratulations, you have advanced to the next level. Please wait patiently for the other participants. Once the time is up, the next round will begin immediately."

The third question was a random vocabulary memorization exercise.

Ten unrelated idioms and sentence breaks appeared on the screen.

Chang Niankong did not rely on associative memory techniques or use memorization methods; he simply scanned the text quickly and casually until the one-minute countdown ended.

Without pausing, he began answering the questions.

"correct."

The fourth question is about memorizing the sequence of images.

Ten images appear on the screen in sequence. After the countdown ends, the contestant needs to mark the order in which the images first appeared from the shuffled image library, using the numbers 1, 2, and 3.

This question was very simple for Chang Niankong. He played it like a "spot the difference" game, directly recalling the original image in his mind. All that was left was to compare and fill in the numbers.

"correct"

The fifth question was also simple, similar to the fourth, it was about remembering faces and names.

A 3x3 grid appears on the screen, with an image in each square and a corresponding name below each image.

Perhaps it was just a grassroots preliminary competition. The pictures released by the organizers in this round were very simple, all of them were people of Asian descent, and the names were also common Chinese names.

Chang Niankong followed the same method and completed it quickly.

The sixth challenge is memorizing simple number codes...

……

The lounge of the Moyu Internet Cafe was already packed. As Chang Niankong solved five questions in a row, everyone held their breath and dared not speak loudly. Only a few people whispered among themselves.

"Master Chang is amazing! He's answered six questions correctly in a row..."

"Boss Yang, where did you find this contestant? Is he really a Taoist priest? Shouldn't Taoist priests chant scriptures?" Wei Xiaoshuai asked softly.

"You bumpkin, the one chanting scriptures is a monk..." Yang Hongliang said speechlessly.

"No, I have to start recording a video. If Master Chang advances later, I'll definitely bring my whole family to support him tomorrow."

"I want to record this too. This is too surreal. I just checked the entire internet, and it seems there's only one Taoist priest participating."

"Is this for real? This is definitely going to be recorded. If Master Chang really advances, I think our Longhu Mountain will become famous."

……

The tenth question is about to begin.

Chang Niankong has answered nine questions correctly in a row, and this is his last chance to answer questions in the preliminary round of the amateur competition.

Whether you answered correctly or incorrectly, the first round of today's memory competition is over. The rankings in the live broadcast room and the monitoring data will be reviewed afterwards.

The final 100 will join other contestants from the live stream to participate in the city qualifying rounds seven days later.

The last question was a quick number memorization question.

You have 30 seconds to memorize 30 random numbers.

If some people could have an advantage when memorizing pi at the beginning, then this reappearing number memorization problem is going to be a real test for the contestants.

Moreover, the time limit has been cut in half, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty.

At the same time, many netizens who were watching saw this question, but instead of being surprised, they felt that this was normal.

Since it's the final question, if it's not difficult, it will actually reduce the appeal of this memory competition.

"Will it pass? Will it pass?"

Inside the lounge, some people couldn't help but hold their breath; their hearts were pounding, as if they were the ones competing.

Chang Niankong had just achieved a nine-game winning streak, which had already won over this group of young people.

Since Chang Niankong was a Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain, these game enthusiasts from the foot of Longhu Mountain suddenly felt a sense of pride.

"Time to start answering questions..."

Someone clenched their fist, staring intently at the projected screen, and couldn't help but shout.