Genius Playground

CREAK...

The old wooden door groaned on its hinges, releasing a musty smell.

Moonlight spilled through the glass window.

This was the Film Club’s activity room, once their secret base, but now, there wasn’t a single familiar trace of it.

There was no Rhine Cat Legion occupying the entire room,

no screwdrivers of all sizes on the lab bench,

no neatly organized, fragrant bookshelf,

no small blackboard filled with erased and rewritten plans and questions.

Here, there was nothing. Not a single trace of the trio remained.

Just chaotically stacked cardboard boxes of old things, a dust-covered coffee table and sofa, a few old photos clipped to a clothesline, and tattered papers scattered on the floor...

This was how the Film Club had looked at the very beginning, just as it had when the three of them first walked in here in the original worldline. Nothing had changed.

”This is normal.”

Jiang Ran reminded himself.

In this new worldline, Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue never came to East Sea University. The trio never existed, so naturally, they never would have joined the Film Club. It made sense that there were no traces of them here.

’Yan Rui must have graduated and left by now, right?’

He walked slowly into the room, his feet stepping on the dust and grit on the floor. ’The Film Club... it must have been disbanded already.’

Without their trio to keep it alive, the once-glorious club had ultimately become a relic of a bygone era.

In a daze, under the hazy moonlight...

he seemed to see Cheng Mengxue on the sofa, hugging a Rhine Cat as she embroidered;

he seemed to see Qin Feng hunched over the lab bench, tinkering with something;

he seemed to see himself sitting on the windowsill, counting down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1;

as if all the laughter and arguments from that time were still vivid in his memory.

’I should find the Positron Cannon first.’

The Positron Cannon was the key to everything, and the only hope of saving it all.

Jiang Ran pushed his feelings aside and began his search.

Afraid of attracting the attention of campus security and causing unnecessary trouble, Jiang Ran didn’t turn on the lights, using the faint glow of his phone screen to explore.

This was the second time he had gone through the old items in this room, so he remembered most of them.

After searching the room, he didn’t find the Positron Cannon, but he did find two notices on a bookshelf.

One was a ”Club Disbandment Notice,” and the other was a ”Personal Disciplinary Action Notice” for Yan Rui.

The disciplinary notice was very clear. Just like what happened in the previous worldline, Yan Rui had received a formal warning from the university for using a high-power electrical device on the evening of March 17th, which had burned out the activity building’s wiring.

It seemed this part of history was consistent with the original one; nothing had changed.

’In other words, the Positron Cannon isn’t here.’

Jiang Ran put down the notice and looked out the window. ’In this worldline, Yan Rui was still disciplined for activating the Positron Cannon.’

’So now... the Positron Cannon should have been confiscated by the student union and placed in the school warehouse.’

Alright. Although he hadn’t found the Positron Cannon directly, he at least had a lead. He could figure out a way to get it back from the warehouse.

The trip wasn’t a complete waste, at least.

Jiang Ran felt a sense of relief, and his tense nerves finally relaxed.

Ignoring the surrounding dust, he plopped down on a thick cardboard box, buried his face in his hands, and let out a long sigh.

The sound of his breath lingered, swirling and echoing around the room... just like his own chaotic thoughts.

How he wished he could take out his phone and call Cheng Mengxue. If not her, even calling Qin Feng would be fine.

Sitting alone in this desolate activity room, he realized that he didn’t actually hate Qin Feng that much.

He knew Qin Feng hadn’t meant to get Cheng Mengxue killed. It was the chaotic work of the temporal Butterfly Effect, an accident no one could have predicted.

The Butterfly Effect is a chaotic system; everything is unknown and unpredictable.

So...

’Qin Feng, where are you now?’

’Was your father saved?’

’Do you know that Cheng Mengxue is dead?’

’The 70-character Time SMS had enough space to write a lot more than just the cause of your father’s death.’

’You’re a genius. You wouldn’t waste a single character. You must have packed that Time SMS with hidden information.’

’So why... on the very day of the Worldline Jump... didn’t you come to see me?’

Jiang Ran lifted his head.

He opened his eyes.

’If Qin Feng were here right now, everything would be so much easier.’

’All I’d have to do is find the Positron Cannon and have Qin Feng fix it. Then we could send a Time SMS to the day Cheng Mengxue died two years ago. We could easily help her avoid the car crash and save her life.’

That way, in the new worldline, Qin Feng’s father would be alive, Cheng Mengxue would be alive, and it would be a happy ending for everyone.

’Could it be that the time isn’t right yet?’

Jiang Ran shook his head.

Whatever Qin Feng’s reasons were, whatever the Qin Feng of this worldline was planning, he didn’t have time to wait for him.

The longer he waited, the more could go wrong.

Saving Cheng Mengxue with a Time SMS had to be done decisively. There was no room for delay.

He began to formulate a plan in his mind.

Okay, so the Positron Cannon was in the school warehouse, the Film Club was once again facing disbandment, and the course of history was identical to the previous worldline.

In that case, the solution could follow the same script:

1. Tomorrow, during the day, find Xu Yan first. Use her connections to keep the Film Club alive and make myself the new club president.

2. As the president, I can submit an application and a letter of guarantee to retrieve the ”prohibited electrical appliance” from the school warehouse and bring the Positron Cannon back.

3. The most difficult part will be repairing the Positron Cannon and installing the control panel, which isn’t my specialty. Fortunately, after watching Qin Feng modify it for so long, I’ve already memorized the principles. With a little extra study of mechanics, the repairs shouldn’t be too hard to complete.

4. Once all the preparations are complete, I can restart the Positron Cannon, send a Time SMS to the past, trigger a worldline shift... and rewrite history!

...

That was the plan.

It didn’t seem too difficult to execute.

Even though Cheng Mengxue had died two years ago, his bond with Xu Yan as a ”childhood playmate” still existed. That wouldn’t have changed.

So, Xu Yan would definitely help him.

Huh?

A sudden jolt went through Jiang Ran’s heart.

’In this worldline... Xu Yan should still be alive, right?’

He wasn’t at all sure about this. He could only hope that Xu Yan was lucky enough to have survived.

Having settled on a plan, Jiang Ran pushed himself up by his knees.

Suddenly—

THUD.

He stumbled backward, bumping into the edge of a table.

’Someone’s here!’

He held his breath, staring at the half-open door of the activity room...

A dark figure was leaning silently against the doorframe, arms crossed, staring at him without moving!

’Who is it?’

’When did they get here?’

”Jiang Ran, what are you looking for?”

A familiar, pleasant voice rang out.

The rustling of the leaves outside the window sounded like a fuse about to explode, leaving Jiang Ran with nowhere to run.

Curly, fluffy hair bounced like springs with each step.

The girl took delicate steps, walking from the darkness into the moonlight. Her long pink hair seemed to sparkle with starlight.

She clasped her hands behind her back and narrowed her sparkling eyes.

”Are you... hiding something from me?”