Chapter 657: The Probability Typist

Chapter 657: The Probability Typist

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Pi didn't understand, Zhang Zian didn't either.

Yes, he had already guessed Pi's origin a long time ago, but that was because there were so few thought experiments that involved monkeys, it was easy to guess. The problem was, what did have to do with the untitled book or Archimedes Constant?

Zhang Zian didn't know the answer to the riddle, so he didn't give one. Just like how detectives need conclusive evidence before testifying against a criminal, Zhang Zian needed information before answering the riddle.

There were many monkeys that could type, so why did Pi stand out?

Until today, the answer had always puzzled him.

Now Zhang Zian knew, it had to be Pi.

Zhang Zian saw Pi delete Archimedes Constant, as well as a look of hopelessness on Pi's face. Zhang Zian didn't want Pi to be depressed again, so he stood up. It was time to make Pi understand.

Pi looked at Zian doubtfully, and pointed at the bed, meaning to say, "It's late, why aren't you sleeping? You'll be alone in the store tomorrow, and it'll be busy, right?"

Zhang Zian shook his head and pulled a chair over to sit down. He pulled the left bottom corner of the keyboard towards him, and with his pinky and ring finger, pressed Ctrl+Z.

The undo function made the Archimedes Constant that Pi deleted earlier reappear in the Word file.

"Pi, do you hate the Archimedes Constant?" Zhang Zian asked.

Pi blinked, thinking for a moment before nodding and shaking its head.

At first, Pi didn't hate the Archimedes Constant, it was actually quite fond of the endless string of numbers. So, when did it start to hate the Archimedes Constant?

It was probably from it's time at the Binhai Library.

During it's time at the library, the Archimedes Constant that Pi typed was perceived as a prank, they weren't able to see Pi nor were they able to understand it's plea for help. From the way they typed and their soft mutters, Pi knew that they weren't fond of it, and the Archimedes Constant was to blame.

Then, Zhang Zian appeared. He was the first person to actually communicate with it, but sadly, he wasn't able to understand the meaning of the Archimedes Constant either. Pi really liked Zhang Zian, and it didn't want to lose the only person it could talk to, so it started to hate the Archimedes Constant.

After that, Pi started writing its novel. From time to time, while Pi was typing, it would unconsciously type the Archimedes Constant, leaving a few readers confused. Pi wasn't able to fully control itself. It didn't want to lose readers, so whenever it saw the string of numbers, it'd get annoyed and frustrated, wishing that the numbers would disappear, so that it can be a normal author.

Zhang Zian had been watching Pi ever since it started writing its novel. He couldn't read minds, but he was able to guess how Pi felt from its facial expressions. Whenever Pi unconsciously typed the Archimedes Constant, then deleted it in frustration, he knew that Pi was starting to hate the string of numbers.

However, Pi shouldn't hate the Archimedes Constant because it was the reason why Pi existed. Since Pi used to love typing the Archimedes Constant, it stood out from the other monkeys.

Zhang Zian had to make Pi understand.

He pulled the desk drawer open, and took out a white piece of paper, a pen, a ruler and a compass.

He placed the paper on the desk and drew a circle with the compass.

Pi bewilderedly looked at what Zian was doing.

Zhang Zian placed the compass aside, and held the ruler with his left hand, pen with his right. He drew a straight line across the middle of the circle, from one side to the other.

Zhang Zian looked at his work with satisfaction, it was like looking at the bowl and chopsticks.

Placing the ruler down, Zhang Zian asked in a low voice, "Do you know what Pi is?"

Pi rolled its eyes and shook his head.

Pi had never been to school, all its knowledge was from the untitled book and even then, it was limited to what it could understand. It knew that Pi was the Archimedes Constant, but it wasn't sure what the Archimedes Constant was.

Zhang Zian smiled gently and said, "Okay, then let me tell you a story of Pi."

Pi listened attentively. Just like the other elfins, Pi loved to listen to stories.

Zhang Zian pointed at the circle and the line with the tip of his pen, and said, "Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. You should never hate the string of simple looking numbers because they aren't simple. It's endless."

He looked at the Archimedes Constant that was on the screen before copying the numbers onto the paper, right below the circle.

"Pi consists of every possible combination of numbers, like your birth date, your locker combination, even your social security number."

Zhang Zian's eyes swept across the untitled book that was resting on the desk, as if he could see all the meaningless letter combinations in the book.

A,AA,AAA,AAAA...

AB,ABA,ABAA,ABAAA...

AC,ACA,ACAA,ACAAA...

Z,ZA,ZAA,ZAAA...

ZB,ZBA,ZBAA,ZBAAA...

ZZ,ZZZ,ZZZZ,ZZZZZ...

Zhang Zian now understood that the untitled book actually had a title.

He continued, "If we change the number to letters, we'd be able to make every word in the world. Your first word as a baby, your lover's name, everything we've ever said and all the possibilities of the universe is within this simple circle.

Zian finished copying the first 100 numbers of the Archimedes Constant, placed the pen down and looked directly in Pi's eyes.

"What to do with the messages, is up to you."

This is Pi's story, the story of life, universe and everything.

Pi stared at the paper, finally understanding why it stood out from all the other monkeys. While the other monkeys were thrilled when they accidentally typed one or two meaningful words, the Archimedes Constant that Pi typed was a book that contained everything in the universe.

Pi stretched out its hands to grab the pen, and continued writing after the numbers:

82148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128

This was Pi's first time holding a pen, so it used an excessive amount of force, but its endless energy allowed it to keep writing.

It was very quiet in the house, the only sounds seemed to be the electric fan and pen touching paper.

Soon, the front of the paper was covered in numbers. Pi flipped the paper over and continued writing until the back filled up as well.

Pi no longer hated the Archimedes Constant because they were one and the same. Pi only existed in the world because of the Archimedes Constant.

Suddenly, the untitled book shot out a captivating gold light. Initially, the light came from the center of the book, but then spread towards the sides. Once it grew to the length of a pinky, the light spread towards the top and bottom of the book, forming a golden circle. The circle was flawless. Zhang Zian had never seen a circle so round before, even with a compass, no one was able to draw such a perfect circle.

A gold light of diameter intersected with the center of the circle.

Pi stretched out its hand and carefully caressed the surface of the book. The cover didn't feel any different from before.

Pi flipped to the first page of the book, and saw that the never-ending letters had disappeared. Now, in its place was:

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679

No matter what page Pi flipped to, it was filled with numbers.

Pi understood why it couldn't continue to exist in the world without the untitled book, because Pi typed out the Archimedes Constant—and consequently typed out the untitled book—beating the other monkeys and became molecular.

Pi hugged the untitled book to its chest. It was as much a part of him as his arm.

From that moment on, the untitled book was no longer untitled, it was known as The Book of Pi.

Pi picked up a pen and circled a few numbers on the paper, then gestured for Zhang Zian to look.

11610497110107121111117

Zhang Zian didn't completely understand, but he guessed that if the numbers were changed into ASCII codes, it'd translate to "thank you."

"You're welcome," Zhang Zian replied, smiling. "There's no need for you to be so polite, we're friends."

Before he could finish his sentence, his phone rang. Strangely, he had silenced his phone when the elfins went to bed earlier.

Zhang Zian took out his phone and saw that Pet Hunter had opened on its own.

[Navigation Elfin]: Congratulations! Your molecular monkey's likability has increased, unlocking its true name!

[Game Notification]: Pet's Status

[Known as]: Molecular Monkey

[Rarity]: Elite/Premier

[Feature]: My life is finite, but the book is infinite.

[Unlocked History]: In 1909, French mathematician Borel wanted to explain the probability of alphabetical order, so he proposed a very interesting thought experiment that included a monkey typing on a typewriter.

The experiment then became known as the Infinite Monkey Theorem, and stated that if one gave an infinite amount of monkeys an infinite amount of time, there will be a monkey that could type the complete works of Shakespeare.

Pi was that monkey. Pi didn't use the letter keys like the other monkeys, it used the numerical keys. Pi didn't type all of Shakespeare's work, it typed the Archimedes Constant.

With the arrival of the information age, the Infinite Monkey Theorem became widely known. With that strength of faith, Pi became an elfin and arrived to this world.

[Unlocked True Name]: Borel's Typing Monkey!

Zhang Zian was neither surprised nor amazed as he had already guessed Pi's true name and history. The untitled book Pi had typed contained unlimited content.

Pi was able to accomplish so much because it was smart and lucky.

Zhang Zian was about to put his phone away, but another notification popped up.

[Game Notification]: Congratulations! Since you guessed the elfin's origins and true name, it's likability has greatly increased!

[Game Notification]: Congratulations! The likability of the Molecular Monkey has increased to Trusting, it now has the ability to move around freely!

The ability to move around freely? Zhang Zian smiled. That ability might not be of much use to Pi.

Zhang Zian looked at the time on his phone and realized it was midnight. It was already New Years Eve.

"Pi, it's about to go premium. Refresh the page and see if the editor activated the premium controls," Zhang Zian said.

Pi nodded and went to hit the refresh button when it saw that the novel just reached 50,000 adds.

Zhang Zian's phone rang again. He could feel Fina glaring at him from the bed.

[Game Notification]: Congratulations! Your molecular monkey has gathered enough strength of faith, it can now level up!

[Game Notification]: Your molecular monkey is currently on the Elite/Premier level. Once it levels up, it will be on the Premier level.

[Game Notification]: Do you want to proceed with the level up? If you select "No," you can still level up later.

[Yes/No, Remind me later]