Genius Playground

Jiang Ran extended his right hand, made a fist, and bumped fists with Cheng Mengxue.

“It’s a promise,” he said in a low voice.

So far, everything he’d fought and struggled for had been for one purpose: to save Cheng Mengxue using spatio-temporal means. That original purpose… would never change.

“It’s not just you, Xiaoxue.”

Jiang Ran smiled.

“I didn’t just make this promise to you. There’s someone else, who was also one of our best friends.”

“He left, too, for… certain reasons. I can’t find him. He’s been hiding all this time.”

“But like I promised, I’ll find all of you. If we’re the best trio in the world, then there has to be three of us. Not one less!”

“I know it sounds a little strange, because right now you don’t know this friend. But I believe that a friend is always a friend. When the three of us are together again, we’ll still be that same unbreakable trio.”

Cheng Mengxue clicked her tongue.

“I was just unconscious for a while, it’s not like I have amnesia! Are you taking me for an idiot?”

“How could I forget our trio from high school! The other person in your ‘unbreakable trio’ is Wang Hao, right? What happened to him? Where’d he go?”

However, Jiang Ran shook his head.

“It’s not Wang Hao. It’s someone else… who was also a member of our trio once.”

?

Cheng Mengxue’s eyes widened.

“Wait…”

‘Has the math in this Virtual World changed, too?’

She counted on her fingers, one by one.

“No, that’s not right, Jiang Ran! You, me, Wang Hao, plus another one… that’s four people!”

“A trio is called a trio because it has three people. I have no memory of a fourth person. Who taught you math! Spit it out, what’s your real reason for being on Earth!”

Jiang Ran chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.

“In anime from Japan, it’s common knowledge that the Four Heavenly Kings have five members, so why can’t a trio have four people?”

“Okay, okay, you’ll get it when the time comes. The point is, I will absolutely keep my promise… I promised you all, and I’ll risk my life to bring every single one of you back.”

With that, he got off the flying motorcycle and walked into the clock shop next to them.

“I’m here for my free watch~”

He waved at the owner, who stood as expressionless as a wax figure, and took it as a one-sided agreement.

Then he helped himself, grabbing a free digital watch from the counter and putting it on.

He flipped his wrist over to check the time.

It was still 10:31:21.

This time he’d come to 2045, he had lived through the first 39-minute, 11-second loop completely. The second loop had paused at the 31-minute, 21-second mark, bringing the entire world to a standstill.

This was probably why the Virtual World didn’t crash and restart again.

However, that didn’t mean he could stay here forever.

His time in 2045 was measured by the normal passage of time in the real world.

Two hours, from 10:00 to 12:00 sharp, not a second off.

Though he had no way to check precisely…

But according to Jiang Ran’s gut feeling, he had been here for about an hour and forty minutes. In other words, he had about twenty minutes left before the worldline kicked him back to 2025, and he would have to say goodbye to Cheng Mengxue.

“Wow, it’s really free!”

Cheng Mengxue had the same reaction Jiang Ran did when he first arrived in the Virtual World. She was astonished by all the freeloading possible in this Utopian World.

“From that perspective, even though this world is virtual… every part of life here is wonderful.”

“If you can get over not having a physical body, life here would be incredibly happy. There’s no stress, no sickness or pain… and like you said, you can live to be 150.”

“Um… I’ve thought about it, and maybe I still can’t quite accept this kind of existence for myself. But just because I can’t doesn’t mean others feel the same. For people suffering in the real world, this place is truly a Fantasy Utopia!”

Jiang Ran nodded.

He had given this question some serious thought recently, too.

‘If there really were such an incredibly happy and wonderful Virtual World for people to choose from, how many would give up their physical bodies to spend the rest of their lives here?’

Is authenticity more important, or is happiness?

At nineteen, he didn’t know the answer.

But what he did understand was that this seemingly beautiful Virtual World had a fatal flaw—

It only existed for a mere 39 minutes and 11 seconds.

This was a world with no future,

a world where time could never move forward,

it was, as Pompey had said, the end of human civilization.

“But why, though?”

Jiang Ran desperately wanted to find out the answer to that, and… the real reason Pompey had committed suicide.

Walking out of the clock shop, Cheng Mengxue rubbed her stomach.

“I’m so hungry… Jiang Ran, is there anywhere to get free food and drinks here?”

Jiang Ran grinned confidently.

“Heh heh. You’ve asked the right person. Follow me! I know this place like the back of my hand!”

He led Cheng Mengxue around a corner and to the front of the familiar juice shop.

Unfortunately, with time stopped, it was as if the fragrance of bread from across the street had also paused. He sniffed hard a couple of times but couldn’t smell that familiar aroma.

“Let’s get this orange juice first. I can’t recommend it enough. I’ve never had juice this good in my entire life.”