Genius Playground

[September 27, 2025. Weather: Sunny.]

[I’m becoming less and less like myself. I’m losing more and more control.

This situation is getting worse.

At first, I just had trouble controlling my thoughts, but now... I can’t even control my actions.

The first time this happened was at a teahouse in Hang City, when I was having afternoon tea with Jiang Ran and Wang Hao.

At the time, Jiang Ran asked me if I remembered the glass bottle time capsule we once buried, and if I remembered what was written in the letter inside.

Of course, I remembered.

I couldn’t recall all of it, but I could still remember bits and pieces.

I wanted to admit it then.

Because, very clearly... it was a test from Jiang Ran to verify my identity.

However, in the end, unexpectedly, I denied it.

That was the first time my mind wavered. Everything happened so inexplicably.

I got shy. A kind of extreme, scalp-tingling shyness that made it impossible for me to say the words.

So, I denied it. I said I didn’t remember what the letter said.

’I can’t understand it. Why did this happen?’

’I wasn’t the one who wrote that letter. No matter how sappy the words were, what does that have to do with me?’

That night, Jiang Ran walked me back to the hotel and asked the same question again.

I knew very well that this was the best chance to clear his suspicions about me.

As long as I repeated the words from the letter, I could win his complete trust.

However... once again, I couldn’t control myself.

An extreme sense of shyness and shame made me deny it again. What’s more, after the door closed, my mind grew hazy, as if I had a fever, and I mumbled things that weren’t my own thoughts.

’But if they weren’t my thoughts, whose were they?’

I immediately contacted Dr. Gana. His advice was the same as before: I should keep writing in my diary.

He said I’ve entered a living environment that is completely foreign to me, and my sense of self will gradually weaken. It’s like an actor who gets too deep into a role and can’t separate themselves from the character they’re playing.

I have been diligently keeping this diary.

Only in this diary can I be my true self, find my true self, and truly understand who I am.

I’m not worried about what I will ultimately become. I’m only worried that I won’t be able to complete the Priest’s mission and that I’ll be unable to atone for my regrets...

Today, I slapped Jiang Ran.

’I don’t understand why I did it at all. I can’t control my thoughts, so does that mean I can’t control my actions either?’

’Please, don’t let me lose myself.’

’I have to complete the mission.’

’I must obey the Priest’s orders and punish Jiang Ran, this sinner who has disrupted history and spacetime.’

I’ve tried my best to uncover his secrets, but I’m getting nowhere. It’s impossible to make a breakthrough.

’The Priest must be very disappointed in me, right?’

’I must remember what I’m here for, what my purpose is.’

’My mission, my perseverance, my sacrifice, my regrets...’

’When will that day come?’

’I hope it’s soon.’

I will bring justice and light, and bestow upon Jiang Ran...

Divine punishment.]

...

...

...

SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH.

Jiang Ran was taking a shower in the hotel bathroom.

After rescuing the child from the river, the group went to the nearest hotel and got two rooms by the hour. Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue went to take showers in their respective rooms.

Fang Ze went to a clinic to get his wounds bandaged, while Chi Xiaoguo went to a nearby store to buy some clothes.

Once everyone was done, Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue changed into dry, new clothes, hailed a premium ride-share van, and headed back to East Sea University.

The four of them were silent the entire way.

The driver was in the front, with the passenger seat empty.

In the second row, Fang Ze and Chi Xiaoguo each took one of the two individual seats.

Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue sat in the back row, each turning their heads to look out the window, not speaking a word to one another.

No one knew what to say.

The air was filled with nothing but awkwardness, awkwardness, and extreme awkwardness.

”I’m sorry.”

In the end, it was Cheng Mengxue who spoke first.

She lowered her head, rubbing the thumb of one hand with the other.

”I’s sorry. I... I shouldn’t have slapped you. I...”

”Oh, it’s nothing.”

Jiang Ran raised a hand to touch his left cheek.

’It stopped hurting a while ago.’

’Okay, actually, it still hurts a little. It’s even a bit swollen.’

The slap had been so forceful that Jiang Ran had to admit he’d seen stars and the world had spun for a moment.

It was so bad he almost thought it was a Worldline Jump.

It was clear Cheng Mengxue hadn’t held back at all with that slap. It was obviously a critical hit delivered in a state of extreme fury.

In that moment, Jiang Ran finally understood why, on World Line 0, Qin Feng had used the term ”mad dog” to describe Cheng Mengxue when she went berserk.

He had originally thought Qin Feng’s assessment was too extreme.

But looking at it now, Qin Feng had been conservative.

That had happened the second time he used a Time SMS, when he was trying to save Xu Yan.

It was a similar situation: jumping into a river to save someone.

It had also triggered Cheng Mengxue’s trauma from when she was six years old and almost drowned.

And then, too, she had started screaming crazily, too strong for everyone to hold back.

The difference was, that time, Qin Feng and Xu Yan had managed to hold Cheng Mengxue down, stopping her from jumping into the river after him.

This time, however, Fang Ze and Chi Xiaoguo were no match for Qin Feng and Xu Yan in terms of physique or strength. They couldn’t hold back the frenzied Cheng Mengxue, who eventually broke free and jumped into the river.

And as a result, he’d earned himself a slap.

Right!

’I forgot something important.’