Genius Playground

”Ah!”

Two seconds later, the dizziness vanished. Gravity returned, and everything stabilized.

Jiang Ran gasped for breath and opened his eyes.

’This is...’

’Where am I?’

Staring at the completely unfamiliar scene before him, he understood that the worldline shift had changed his location yet again.

Only, this wasn’t his dorm, the activity room, a hospital, or any other familiar place.

He glanced left and right, surveying his surroundings.

A TV, a coffee table, a wardrobe, a carpet, white bedsheets, a digital clock...

’A hotel room?’

’Seems like it.’

The layout was very much like a hotel room, just much larger.

The lights in the room were off.

The only light came from the faint glow of the digital clock.

Fortunately, only the sheer white curtains were drawn. Moonlight spilled into the room, accompanied by a gentle breeze and the chirping of cicadas, allowing Jiang Ran to not only make out the room’s furnishings but also feel the refreshing summer air.

”Qin Feng.”

He suddenly realized this was no time to be thinking about his surroundings. He had to find Qin Feng, and fast!

It was obvious Qin Feng had planned this for a long time, using a series of tricks and a convincing act to deceive him.

He had thought that as long as he took Qin Feng’s phone and sent the message himself, he could avoid any risks.

But he never would have expected...

Qin Feng had truly been a master strategist, predicting every possibility and hiding another phone in his pocket!

It was an old-fashioned phone with physical keys, small, almost like a senior’s phone.

The advantage was that this type of phone had physical buttons, making it possible to accurately press the send key even without seeing it inside a pocket.

Recalling the meaningful glance Qin Feng had given him when the countdown ended... Jiang Ran felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

’Why?’

’Why did he have to deceive me?’

He had already promised Qin Feng that as long as the Time SMS was sent to a point within the last month, he would agree to it, no matter the content or what it was meant to change.

’With a promise like that, was it still necessary to hide it from me?’

”First, I’ll call him.”

As he said this, Jiang Ran took out his phone.

It was just one Time SMS sent ten days into the past. The resulting Butterfly Effect should be limited, so he wasn’t worried about any large-scale changes to the timeline.

But...

”Huh?”

He scrolled through his contacts and WeChat twice.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Why wasn’t Qin Feng’s phone number there?

It was impossible.

The two of them were inseparable, talking on the phone for hours every day. How could they not have each other’s contact info?!

Forget just ten days ago...

Even back in high school, years ago, they had talked every single day without fail.

”This is too weird.”

A sense of dread washed over him again, as if an invisible black hand had reached through the window screen to squeeze his heart.

’Okay, I’ll contact Cheng Mengxue first.’

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed.

After a worldline shift, he had absolutely no memories of the new timeline.

The urgent priority was to get in touch with Cheng Mengxue and sync up their memories.

However.

Nothing!

She wasn’t there either!

He couldn’t even find Cheng Mengxue’s contact info on his phone!

This was ridiculous.

They were childhood sweethearts who had been together since they were in split pants. He could lose anyone’s number, but never Cheng Mengxue’s.

”You’ve got to be kidding me...”

A chill instantly ran down Jiang Ran’s spine as all sorts of ominous premonitions surfaced in his mind.

’No way.’

’No matter what message Qin Feng sent behind his back, Cheng Mengxue was the one who operated the Positron Cannon, and the message date was locked to ten days ago.’

’So, no matter how the worldline shifted, it could only change the history of the past ten days at most.’

’Just ten days.’

’Could he have really cut ties, blocked, and deleted both Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue in that short time?’

”What in the world is going on?”

Jiang Ran was completely baffled.

’This won’t do.’

’I have to contact an acquaintance right away. Anyone will do.’

He checked his call history.

On the first page, he saw three calls made to Wang Hao.

’Good.’

’Wang Hao will work.’

They had just gotten barbecue together the day before yesterday.

Although in this brand-new worldline, that barbecue might not have happened, at least Wang Hao himself still existed.

Classmates from adjacent classes in middle school, classmates in the same class in high school, and the class president.

Since they called each other often, it meant that relationship still existed.

Without any hesitation, he immediately dialed Wang Hao’s number.

The phone rang for a long time. Jiang Ran unconsciously fidgeted with the bedsheets, hoping Wang Hao would pick up soon.

Finally.

”Hello...?”

A sleepy voice came from the other end of the line.

”What’s up, man... Calling so late... Are you guys not done partying yet?”

’Partying?’

’What partying?’

”Do you have Qin Feng’s number? Send it to me.” Jiang Ran ignored the meaningless information and got straight to the point.

”Qin Feng?”

Wang Hao sounded confused.

”Who’s that?”

Jiang Ran was taken aback.

”Qin Feng from our high school class! The guy who was number one in our grade, the provincial top scorer on the college entrance exams, an Olympiad champion... that genius everyone in school knew.”

”Never heard of him.”

Wang Hao’s tone was flat.

”I’ve never heard of that person at all. He definitely wasn’t in our class, at least... We didn’t have any demigod like that in our high school.”

”How is that possible!”

Jiang Ran scratched his head.

”In high school, it was me, Qin Feng, and Xiaoxue. The three of us hung out together every day—”

”FUCK! YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

Wang Hao squealed like a pig.

”The one who hung out with you two every day was me! The three of us were the ones who hung out together, okay? The unbreakable iron triangle, you asshole!”

”Also, my fucking name isn’t Qin Feng! Jiang Ran, did you call me in the middle of the night just to piss me off?”

”Oh, oh, oh, I get it. You guys are playing Truth or Dare, right? You’re so shameless! You don’t invite me to the party, and now you’re roping me into your game to mess with me!”

...

Jiang Ran’s palms began to sweat.

Confusion, shock, a completely unknown situation.

While it was true they had been good friends with Wang Hao in high school, but... how could he just completely ignore Qin Feng’s existence like this?

’Why does it seem like Qin Feng’s existence has been erased from this worldline? Without a single trace?’

’Not only is he not in my contacts,’

’He’s not in the iron triangle,’

’He’s not in Wang Hao’s memory,’

’He doesn’t even exist among our high school classmates!’

’Qin Feng... where in the world did he go?’

”Wang Hao, I need to find Qin Feng for something really urgent and important right now. It’s an emergency, so please don’t joke around with me.”

Jiang Ran’s tone was extremely serious.

”If this is some kind of prank or game, stop it right now and send me Qin Feng’s number immediately!”

He emphasized it again.

”Hey, holy shit, you’re being so annoying tonight!”

On the other end, Wang Hao was clearly getting impatient.

”Why the fuck would I lie to you! It’s the middle of the night, and I was in my dorm having a nice dream! I don’t have time to play games with you!”

”I’ll tell you loud and clear: NO! NO! THERE IS NO QIN FENG’S NUMBER! AND THERE IS NO SUCH PERSON AS QIN FENG!”

”I was the class president in high school. You think I wouldn’t know who was in our class? I could recite our class roster backward! There was absolutely no one named Qin Feng!”

”Even if you dug out my brain, I couldn’t find anyone fucking named Qin Feng for you!”

...

Faced with Wang Hao’s shouting, Jiang Ran gradually calmed down.

Wang Hao wasn’t the type to be so tactless; even when he joked, he knew his limits.

Besides, he had been pushed so far that he’d started cursing. Based on Jiang Ran’s understanding of him... it meant he really wasn’t lying or trying to deceive him.

This was going to be difficult.

Jiang Ran’s heart began to race.

’What on earth was written in that message sent ten days ago?’

’Why would a perfectly fine person like Qin Feng just vanish from the world, from their lives?’

No matter how he thought about it, Jiang Ran couldn’t make sense of the temporal logic.

But since Wang Hao swore up and down that he didn’t know Qin Feng, there was no point in continuing to talk to him about it.

He had to contact Cheng Mengxue.

After all, they were innocent childhood sweethearts and were also the only two who shared the secret of the Time SMS. Communicating with her would be easier.

Wang Hao had just said that the iron triangle in high school was him, Jiang Ran, and Cheng Mengxue.

He didn’t know why Wang Hao had taken Qin Feng’s place.

’But at least this shows that Cheng Mengxue’s life path hasn’t changed.’

”I’m not going to argue with you anymore.”

Jiang Ran cut off Wang Hao’s cursing.

”Just drop the stuff about Qin Feng. You have Xiaoxue’s contact info, right?”

”Send me Xiaoxue’s phone number. Now.”