Genius Club

(This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation)

“VV?”

The little girl, CC, frowned as she scrutinized the middle-aged man in front of her. His long hair was disheveled, and his bushy beard covered half of his face.

She knew, of course, that the name was fake.

But…

Since this man, clearly suffering from amnesia, didn’t remember his real name, it wasn’t surprising that he would make one up.

“Alright, VV,” CC said, accepting the alias with a shrug.

“But you still haven’t answered my question. How did you even get here? I just passed through, and there was nobody here.”

“From underground,” the man replied, pointing to the ground. He kicked aside a layer of fallen leaves to reveal a simple, gleaming silver elevator.

“There’s an underground space down there. It’s old, broken, and ancient. I climbed up from there. Want to check it out?”

CC shook her head. “No, no, absolutely not.”

She had no intention of venturing into such a dangerous place.

The man seemed guileless and straightforward, answering every question honestly. This eased CC’s wariness slightly.

“So, do you have any plans?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” the man said, shaking his head.

“Where are you heading next?” she pressed.

“I don’t know,” he repeated.

“Ah…” CC rubbed her temples.

It seemed his amnesia was complete. Asking questions was pointless.

“Alright then, VV. Good luck,” she said, waving him off as she prepared to leave. “You should leave this forest as soon as possible. It’s full of wild beasts and dangerous hunters. If they catch you, someone as clueless as you are will definitely be enslaved.”

“Enslaved?” The word triggered a faint echo in the man’s mind.

It was a subtle sensation, like trying to see through foggy glasses—shapes were discernible, but no details. He had some vague impression of the concept of slavery, but couldn’t articulate it.

Amnesia was agonizing like that—everything fragmented and incomplete.

“Yes,” CC said, nodding. “Those people are terrible, and they have guns. You’d better run south. Things might be slightly better there… although, honestly, the whole world’s like this now. Not much difference anywhere.”

“Then why are you still wandering around here?” the man asked, his question cutting straight to the point.

CC was a small girl, barely tall enough to reach his chest. She looked frail and thin. Though she carried a rusty dagger in a reverse grip, her overall appearance lacked any sense of combat readiness.

What’s more, she had just described the forest as teeming with wild beasts and armed villains who enslave anyone they capture. Yet, despite warning him to stay away, she herself was here.

“I don’t have a choice,” CC admitted, her expression darkening as she bit her lower lip and tightened her grip on the dagger.

“I have to save my parents.”

The man blinked.

Although he had lost his memory, his reasoning abilities were intact. From her words, he pieced together the situation.

“I think I get it,” he said after a pause. “Your parents were captured by those bad guys and enslaved, and now you’re trying to rescue them with this little dagger.”

“That’s right,” CC confirmed with a slight nod. “We used to have a village—a small settlement where people from X Country lived. We farmed and lived peacefully together.”

“But a few months ago, those bad people came. They took everything, burned down our homes, and enslaved everyone in the village.”

“My parents hid me in a well to keep me safe. I stayed there, holding my breath, not daring to make a sound. Only after things had been quiet for a long time did I climb out using the rope.”

“When I emerged… the village was completely destroyed. Everything had been burned to the ground. There was nothing left but corpses and ashes on the ground.”

“Oh.”

The man let out a casual sound of understanding. What she described matched what he had pieced together.

“From my perspective, you’re lucky to have survived. You should cherish your life. Going after your parents with just a rusty dagger to fight those bad guys, or trying to rescue them… It’s no different than walking into certain death.”

“They’re adults; you’re just a kid. They have guns; you have a rusty dagger. From what you’ve said, they’ve got numbers, and you’re all alone. What can you possibly do against them? At best, you’d just be throwing your life away. At worst, you’d hand yourself over as another little slave.”

“So my advice? Run. Escape to somewhere safe. Don’t waste your parents’ sacrifice. Honestly… this plan of yours? It’s not going to work.”

Grrrrrroooowl!

The man’s stomach let out a loud, hungry rumble, echoing distinctly in the quiet forest.

“…”

“…”

Both the man and the girl looked down at his stomach.

“Uh, sorry, haha.” The bearded man laughed awkwardly, rubbing his growling belly. “I think I haven’t eaten in a long time. I’m starving. Do you have…”

“No!” CC quickly took two steps back, clutching the small cloth pouch on her back as she shook her head vigorously. “No!”

Her lie was transparent, the sort of clumsy fib only a child would think of.

“Well, alright.” The man didn’t press her and simply turned away, waving a hand dismissively. “Thanks, CC. Thanks for telling me so much. Don’t worry; I’m not going to take your food.”

“This place looks like a ruined forest. Theoretically, I should be able to find some wild fruit. I’ll go search for food. Good luck.”

CC stood where she was, blinking her big eyes as she watched the man walk further and further away.

Strange…

What a strange man.

In a world like this, how could someone so kind exist?

Even though he was starving, he didn’t take her food.

A person like that…

Maybe…

CC clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and took off after him in large strides.

“VV! Wait!”

The man turned back to look at her.

CC furrowed her brows and took a few deep breaths. It was as if she had made a huge decision. She held out her wrinkled little cloth pouch.

“This is all the food I have.”

The man didn’t take it. “If I eat your food, what will you eat?”

“Can you help me?” CC raised her head, looking into his weathered but sincere eyes.

“Even though this is a forest, it’s not as easy as you think to find food. A lot of the plants here are poisonous,” she explained. “I’ve been hunting since I was little, and I know how to tell which fruits are safe to eat. This pouch has smoked rabbit meat in it—I made it myself.”

“So… can we make a deal? I know I’m too weak to save my parents on my own. But with your help, there’s a chance! You’re an adult. You’re tall and strong. You can definitely fight them! I promise to find food for you every day. In return, will you help me rescue my parents?”

But the man shook his head.

“Sorry, I don’t think I can be of much help.”

He spoke plainly. “Even with me, we’re just two people. Two fists can’t beat four hands. And don’t forget—they have guns. We don’t. Even if we somehow got a gun, do you know how to use one?”

CC shook her head. “No.”

The man spread his hands. “There you go. I don’t know how to use a gun either. How are we supposed to fight them?”

“If you’d just listen to me, we could head south together and focus on staying safe. Someday, when you’ve grown up and gathered allies, there’s no reason you couldn’t take them down later.”

“Heh.”

CC scoffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Wait until then? Do you even know what it means to be a slave? You think they’re pampered with good food and drink every day?”

“By the time I’ve grown up, my parents will have been tortured to death. I’ll never see them again.”

“Forget it.”

Without another word, she stuffed the pouch containing the smoked rabbit meat into the man’s hands and turned to leave.

“Hey, hey, hey!” The man juggled the small pouch in his hands as if it were burning hot. “You can’t just force this on me! I never agreed to your deal.”

“I don’t need your agreement.” CC didn’t look back. “It’s a gift.”

“Huh?”

The man stood dumbfounded.

How did this deal suddenly turn into a handout?

“My parents taught me from a young age: when you see someone in trouble, you lend a hand. You can’t just ignore someone in need,” CC said as she walked farther away.

“I wasn’t exaggerating earlier. If you randomly eat fruit in this forest, you’ll definitely poison yourself.”

“So… eat the rabbit meat to fill your stomach, then head south by following the sun. My parents are my responsibility. I’ll rescue them myself.”

Lifting a vine hanging between two tree trunks, she disappeared into the deeper part of the forest.

The man stayed where he was, opening the carefully wrapped cloth pouch.

Inside was a palm-sized piece of smoked rabbit meat. Its distinctive aroma was tantalizing and hard to resist. Besides the meat, there were four small green fruits of an unknown type. They had a sweet and sour scent.

The man, clearly famished, devoured the food ravenously.

…

Meanwhile, CC wandered aimlessly through the forest, using her dagger to clear the undergrowth.

Deep down, she knew the middle-aged man named VV was right. His words, though harsh, were true.

A little girl armed with a dagger was no match for grown men who were likely heavily armed. Bandits like that could subdue her with ease.

But what choice did she have?

She couldn’t just sit back and watch her parents and villagers be tortured to death without doing anything.

Doing something might not guarantee success, but doing nothing guaranteed failure.

“I’ll find their base first and scout it out,” she muttered to herself, laying out a plan as she pushed forward.

Suddenly!

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

The sound of leaves crunching approached rapidly from behind her!

“Who’s there?” she shouted, brandishing her dagger as she spun around.

What she saw, however, was the long-haired, bearded middle-aged man who had just left. His face was obscured by the wild hair and beard, but the chest-length bushy beard was unmistakably unique.

The man chuckled, his beard trembling as he grinned. “You win.”

“What did I win?” CC snapped, her tone impatient. “I didn’t force you to do anything! Don’t accuse me unfairly!”

“No, no,” the man said, waving his hands. “I followed you of my own free will.”

Standing tall, he crossed his arms and looked at the little girl.

“Let’s just say… sincerity is the ultimate weapon.”

“Honestly, I don’t want to get involved in messy affairs. I’m in a strange place, with no memories, and no clue about anything. But you said it yourself—when you see someone in trouble, you help them. After all, I can’t just take your rabbit meat and not return the favor, right? That would be heartless.”

“But I’ve got to say, the rabbit meat was delicious. The fruit was sweet, too.”

The man licked his lips and let out a soft laugh. “If I join your revenge squad, does that mean there’ll be unlimited rabbit meat and fruit in the future?”

“Pfft!”

CC couldn’t help but laugh, her mood lightened.

“Eat as much as you want,” she said with a grin. “If you really save my parents and the other villagers… you can live with us. My mom and dad will cook delicious food for you every day.”

“Sounds good,” the man replied with a nod. He stepped forward and extended his hand to her. “Deal.”

CC placed her small hand in his much larger one, looking up at the man towering a full half-body taller than her.

“Deal!”

Wait a moment…

She turned his hand over and inspected it closely. The skin was smooth, pale, and without any calluses.

“Your hand… it’s so soft and young. It doesn’t look like a middle-aged man’s hand at all.”

“Is it?” The man examined his own hand, surprised at how youthful and tender it appeared.

“Do you even remember how old you are?” CC asked, her curiosity piqued. “Your voice sounds young, but you look old—like forty or fifty.”

“Uh…” The man scratched his messy hair awkwardly. “I really don’t know. Maybe I slept for too long? Honestly, don’t ask me about things like that. I’d love to know my own identity, name, and age more than anyone, but all I remember is waking up choking and confused.”

“It doesn’t matter,” CC said with a smile, hands on her hips. “We’ll just call you VV, isn’t that fine?”

“You’re VV, I’m CC—together, we’re the perfect team!”

The man raised an eyebrow in amusement. “What about you? How old are you?”

“I’m eleven,” CC replied. “But in a month, I’ll turn twelve.”

“What year is it now?” the man asked.

“2616. July… or maybe August?” CC guessed uncertainly. “I’ve lost track of time since the village was destroyed. I can only roughly estimate the months.”

“My birthday’s at the end of August. Just a few months ago, I was so excited for it. But now… everything’s changed so fast.”

“Last night, I even had a dream,” she continued, her voice softening. “In it, my mom and dad had made all sorts of delicious food to celebrate my twelfth birthday. But when I woke up… all I saw were rocks and trees. Nothing else.”

“That’s pretty sad,” the man said gently. “That feeling of waking from a dream only to find that everything has changed.”

CC studied the bearded VV carefully. “Do you feel the same way? That emptiness after waking from a dream?”

“I…” The man paused, his brow furrowing as he tried to recall.

“I don’t seem to have any memory of dreaming. I can’t remember dreaming at all.”

“What?” CC tilted her head, puzzled. “Doesn’t everyone dream? Didn’t you have a dream last night?”

“No… I don’t think so,” the man replied, though he sounded unsure. “Maybe it’s because of my amnesia. If I stop being forgetful and dream tonight, I’ll definitely remember it.”

“Weird guy,” CC muttered under her breath.

The man stood up, scanning the vast, directionless forest around them.

“So, what do we do next? Head straight to the enemy base to scout it out?”

CC hesitated, lowering her head in thought. Her expression flickered between uncertainty and determination before she finally looked up, her gaze firm.

“Originally, that was my plan—to find their base and observe. But now, I’ve changed my mind.”

“VV, with your help, I think we can try heading southeast first. There’s a mountain ruin there that my dad discovered while hunting. He said it’s eerie and overgrown with moss and plants, but the buildings are mostly intact. It looks like it used to be a hidden research facility from before the catastrophe.”

“I’m thinking… if it really is a pre-catastrophe research facility, there might be weapons or supplies hidden inside. I wouldn’t dare go alone, but with you here, maybe we can try our luck.”

“Sure,” the man replied casually. “I don’t know anything about this place, so wherever you say to go, I’ll follow.”

“It’s this way,” CC said, pointing in a direction.

“VV, let’s move!”

With the girl’s command, the peculiar duo of CC and VV set off, making their way toward the heart of the forest.

The dazzling sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees, casting patterns of light and shadow on the ground.

It illuminated two sets of footprints—one big, one small—and the intertwining threads of two different times.

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation