Genius Playground

Jiang Ran wiped the last traces clean with a blackboard eraser.

’I can 100% trust the Xiaoxue from World Line 0, but this Xiaoxue in front of me right now... I really can’t bring myself to trust her.’

’So, these secrets involving Time Travel are something only I can know. I have to keep them strictly confidential from absolutely everyone else.’

A dozen or so minutes later, Chi Xiaoguo pushed the door open and walked in.

”Hey, senior, long time no see!”

It really had been a while. Jiang Ran smiled faintly as he looked at Chi Xiaoguo.

”You look like you’ve gotten a bit of a tan.”

”Hey, hey, hey! Senior, what a thing to say!”

Chi Xiaoguo covered her cheeks and sighed.

”There’s nothing to be done about it. Where I’m from, we have to help our families with farm work during the break. The sun is so strong, you’re bound to get a little darker.”

”But my skin is pretty resilient, so it recovers quickly. I’ll be back to normal in a month or two. It was the same during military training our freshman year. Everyone in my class got super tan, but I was the one whose skin went back to its original color the fastest!”

Chi Xiaoguo sounded a little proud as she recounted the story.

”Oh, speaking of military training, once the freshmen are done with theirs this year, we can officially start recruiting for the club!”

”Haha, when that time comes, our Film Club will be booming again! Our goal: the national tournament! GO! GO! GO!”

It was clear that Chi Xiaoguo had been looking forward to this moment for a long time.

As she imagined a future where the Film Club was packed to the rafters, bustling with activity, the cheerful president’s eyes gleamed, betraying both her bright hopes for the future and her concern over the club’s currently cramped activity room.

”Anyway, Senior Jiang Ran, let’s do our best together!”

She imitated a certain red-hat-wearing president from across the ocean, raising her right fist high.

”Make! The Film Club! Great! Again!!”

...

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

It was such a brilliant performance that Jiang Ran couldn’t help but applaud.

’How nice.’

’Getting up this early today was totally worth it.’

’Not only do I get to fire up the Positron Cannon for a trip to the future after so long, but I also get to see a brilliant impression for free.’

’Just as you’d expect from our terminally online little president. She’s got all the famous internet memes at her fingertips.’

”It’s about time. Let’s start the experiment.”

Jiang Ran pulled Chi Xiaoguo out of her fantasy and back to reality.

”The procedure is the same as before the break. You still remember, right? Just do the countdown, press the button, and call me right beforehand.”

”Mhm!”

Chi Xiaoguo nodded reliably.

”Don’t worry, senior, I won’t mess up!”

Jiang Ran smiled.

”Alright, I’m heading out.”

With that, he placed one hand on the windowsill and skillfully vaulted outside—

THUMP!

”Ah!” ”Oof!”

Jiang Ran hadn’t realized there was someone squatting just outside the window!

Because of his angle, by the time he saw them, it was too late. His feet landed squarely on the person’s back, and they both tumbled into the flowerbed.

”Hiss...”

The man he had kicked over sucked in a sharp breath, sat up, and rubbed his head, looking at Jiang Ran with a hint of complaint.

”What do you think you’re doing, sonny! Why are you jumping out the window when there’s a perfectly good door right there?”

In all the times Jiang Ran had jumped out that window, he’d never run into a situation like this.

He scrambled to his feet and looked at the man he had kicked.

’Is this...’

’A campus janitor?’

’Looks like it.’

Jiang Ran looked at the uniform the man was wearing. It was the standard-issue apparel from East Sea University’s logistics department. All support staff—janitors, plumbers, electricians, repairmen, and other service personnel—wore the same orange-and-black interwoven uniform.

”I’m so sorry, really, my apologies.”

Since it was his fault, Jiang Ran quickly apologized.

”Sir, I’m truly sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

”It’s alright, it’s alright.”

The man was good-natured. He stood up without another word, picked up some stray scraps of paper from the ground, then grabbed his broom and walked out of the flowerbed.

Then, he resumed sweeping.

Jiang Ran watched silently as the janitor stood sweeping by the transformer box, feeling completely stuck.

’What am I going to do now?’

’If I want to use the Positron Cannon to travel to 2045, I have to be standing in front of that transformer box to take the call right as Xiaoguo finishes her countdown.’

’With this janitor working here... there’s no way to conduct the experiment!’

Jiang Ran was puzzled.

’No one ever cleaned this area last semester. Why has someone suddenly shown up now?’

He turned and gestured to Chi Xiaoguo, signaling her to wait a minute while he dealt with the janitor.

”Sir.”

Jiang Ran hopped out of the flowerbed and approached the janitor by the transformer box.

”I never saw anyone cleaning here last semester. Is there something special going on today? A supervisor coming for an inspection?”

”Haha, not at all.”

The man explained as he swept.

”The university’s logistics department changed its policy this semester. From now on, campus cleaning is divided into zones. See... from over there... to here... to that spot, this whole section is my responsibility.”

The man gestured with his hand, outlining his assigned area for Jiang Ran.

”Every morning, I have to get this whole area clean. If an inspection finds anything wrong here, it’s on me.”

”So... sonny, no more throwing trash out the window, you hear? The flowerbed is especially hard to clean. I have to step all the way in to pick things up.”

Jiang Ran quickly waved his hands in denial.

”No, no, we’d never do that. We never throw trash out the window.”

Then, he frowned.

’This is bad.’

’This is really bad.’

’From what the janitor was saying, he’s going to be here cleaning every morning from now on.’

’Doesn’t that mean...’

’...that every time I need to activate the Positron Cannon, he’ll be wandering around this area?’

’This is beyond bad.’

’The Positron Cannon and the Time SMS were secrets that he couldn’t let anyone else know about, or even notice.’