Genius Playground

The same night market. The same barbecue stall. The same people.

"So, you two are officially over."

Wang Hao pointed a lamb skewer at Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran nodded. "I guess so."

In any case, they hadn’t contacted each other at all since parting at the school wall that night.

"Hmm..." Wang Hao stroked his chin, looking at Jiang Ran thoughtfully. "That’s a little surprising. From what I know of Nan Xiuxiu, I didn’t think she’d agree so readily. I figured she’d at least have to pester and cling to you for a long time."

"You’re a pretty good judge of character," Jiang Ran said, taking a sip of his beer.

"So, did you two actually break up or not!"

Wang Hao slammed the table.

"Don’t tell me you broke up with her unilaterally."

Jiang Ran sighed. "Is there even such a thing as a unilateral breakup? If so, then let me ask you, is there such a thing as a unilateral relationship?"

"That’s just called having a crush!" Wang Hao blurted out.

But then he understood what Jiang Ran meant.

He was right.

A crush definitely didn’t count as being in a relationship. There was no such thing as a one-sided romance, so naturally, there was no such thing as a one-sided breakup.

Which meant...

Looked at that way...

His best friend had really broken up with that perfect, Magician Girl-esque beauty.

"Sigh."

He heaved a long sigh. "What a shame, Jiang Ran. You’re going to regret this one day. Seriously, I have no idea who you even like."

"In high school, I thought you and Xiaoxue were a thing. You’ve known each other since you were kids—childhood sweethearts, the whole deal—yet nothing happened for over a decade."

"Hey, speaking of which."

Wang Hao leaned in closer.

"Tell me, you didn’t break up with Nan Xiuxiu because you could never get over Xiaoxue, did you?"

"Something like that."

Jiang Ran drank his beer, not explaining much.

In a way, Wang Hao had stumbled upon the truth by accident.

While the two matters weren’t indirectly related, they were certainly the immediate cause.

Wang Hao wanted him to date Nan Xiuxiu.

That was because he had calmly accepted Cheng Mengxue’s death.

But Jiang Ran couldn’t accept it.

In his eyes, Cheng Mengxue was still alive.

It was just... at present, she was still in the tomb of this world line, waiting for Jiang Ran to bring her back to life.

"Let’s not talk about that anymore."

Jiang Ran put down his beer glass.

"I’ve finished up everything at our college. I turned down the awards ceremony the principal wanted to hold for me—I’m really not in the mood."

"In the end, I just had a small meeting with the college administration, took some photos for their promotional materials, and finalized all the withdrawal paperwork."

"Next up is your exam week, which I’m skipping. Tomorrow, I’ll pack my things and head to East Sea University."

"I haven’t been assigned a dorm yet, but Teacher Zhang Yang gave me a key. He said I can store my bedding and personal belongings in his faculty dorm for now, which will save me the hassle of moving everything around later."

"So... after tomorrow, I won’t be coming back here. Summer break is starting soon anyway, so I’ll see you in Hang City."

...

Partings are always tinged with sadness.

Even for best friends like Jiang Ran and Wang Hao.

They had been classmates who saw each other every day. While they weren’t exactly moving to opposite ends of the earth, the drive between East Sea University and the East Sea College of International Trade and Economics meant they wouldn’t be able to meet up casually like this anymore.

"It’s no big deal."

Wang Hao said dismissively, "We have internships next year anyway, so it’s not like we’d be on campus much. I don’t even know where I’ll end up."

"Internships... Where should I even go? I don’t want to work in a factory, but if you look for a job elsewhere, it feels like every single industry is just sales."

"Ah, well, sales it is. It’s not so bad. Some people sell cars at a dealership and end up becoming the manager. Maybe I should give car sales a try?"

Jiang Ran smiled.

"Sure. When the time comes, I’ll buy a car from you."

"Don’t you make empty promises now!"

Wang Hao laughed and pointed at him.

"Don’t be like that protagonist from some novel I read! He promises his childhood friend he’ll buy a car at the very beginning but doesn’t actually do it until the epilogue!"

"Then I guess I’ll wait for the epilogue too."

Cheers.

Like the spirited students of their youth, they faced their parting and their futures, talking freely over their drinks.

As they talked...

...the conversation drifted to their high school days and the upcoming class reunion during summer break.

"Alright, after my exams are done, let’s plan the high school reunion together when I get back."

Wang Hao hiccuped from the alcohol and picked up a few peanuts.

"Finding a restaurant, contacting old classmates... it’s a lot of hassle. And you’ll have nothing but free time, anyway."

Mm.

Jiang Ran nodded.

It was a small favor; of course he would help.

"Heh heh."

Wang Hao’s face was flushed as he let out a sly grin. "You’ll see. At the reunion, everyone is going to be blown away when they find out you jumped from a vocational program straight into grad school."

"Hey, don’t tell any of our classmates yet, alright? Let me be the one to announce it. The impact will be incredible!"

"Can we just not?" Jiang Ran had no desire to show off.

"Absolutely not!"

Wang Hao patted his chest.

"How could we not brag about something this awesome! Dude, that’s East Sea University! More importantly, you’re jumping straight from a vocational college to a master’s program. I looked it up, you’re the first person in the entire country to do this! You’re rarer than a giant panda!"

"Just you wait for the reunion. Get ready to be worshipped by everyone! Man, it’s so badass. The rest of us haven’t even finished our undergrad degrees, and you’re already going to grad school. Just thinking about it is a trip!"

This time, Wang Hao drank a lot and was completely wasted.

He was mumbling incoherently, slurring his words and spouting nonsense.

Through the haze of his drunken ramblings,

Jiang Ran thought he heard Cheng Mengxue’s name a few times.

’Looks like... I’m not the only one who can’t forget Cheng Mengxue.’

’Wang Hao always acts so carefree and nonchalant, but maybe that’s just to help me forget Cheng Mengxue and move on from the grief.’

He recalled how when he first arrived in this World Line #1, Wang Hao had told him that after Cheng Mengxue died in a car crash, he’d had a complete mental breakdown. He was so devastated that everyone was afraid he’d take his own life.

It was because of this that his parents hadn’t dared to let him repeat the year to retake his exams, terrified that he wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure and would do something drastic.

When his parents were choosing a college for him, they specifically picked the same vocational school as Wang Hao, the School of International Trade and Economics, and begged Wang Hao to keep a close eye on him, to make sure he didn’t do anything foolish.

Thinking it through, it all made sense now.

"The three of us really were an iron triangle... What a good friend..."

Jiang Ran helped Wang Hao into a taxi. Looking at his friend snoring like thunder in the back seat, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion.

In this world line,

because of Qin Feng’s absence,

the "iron triangle" had become Jiang Ran, Wang Hao, and Cheng Mengxue.

The three of them were inseparable, together day in and day out.

So...

As another member of that iron triangle, how could Wang Hao have possibly gotten over Cheng Mengxue’s death so easily?

He had only buried his own grief and deliberately downplayed the tragedy to help his shattered, depressed friend recover sooner.

...

「The next day.」

After packing his belongings into bags of all sizes, Jiang Ran’s roommates walked with him to the school gate to see him off.

He was a campus celebrity now, with his photos and achievements plastered all over the school, so a crowd had gathered at the gate to watch.

"Jiang Ran!"

Roommate #1’s eyes were actually welling up. "I’m really gonna miss you, man."

"It’s okay, it’s okay."

Jiang Ran patted his shoulder. "East Sea University is still in East Sea, so we can meet up for food whenever. You, on the other hand, need to be more careful. Go download an anti-fraud app on your phone."

Roommate #2 sighed. "If I hadn’t lost all my money doubling down on soccer bets—and borrowed all of their money too—I’d be treating you to a proper farewell dinner."

"Don’t worry about it."

Jiang Ran patted his shoulder. "That was an expected outcome. How about I treat you guys to a meal later instead?"

He turned to Roommate #3. "And you, stop ’managing your finances’ at the internet cafe all day."

"Yeah, you’re right. Internet cafes really aren’t a good deal."

Roommate #3 nodded. "I’ve recently discovered that you actually get way more bonus credit when you top up at a KTV!"

’A lost cause.’

Jiang Ran looked at Roommate #4. "Your math skills really are something else. To be honest, managing to pass high school math every single time is already a god-tier concept."

"But I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and still can’t figure it out. If one person has a 25% chance of guessing a multiple-choice question correctly, how come five people guessing together have a 75% chance?"

"I seriously don’t get it. I could even understand if you told me the final probability was 125%."

Roommate #4 patted Jiang Ran on the back and said earnestly, "You still have much to learn. Go and study hard at East Sea University."

Finally, there was the mysterious Roommate #5.

He was the only roommate whose particular brand of shenanigans Jiang Ran hadn’t figured out yet.

But from what he’d seen, he was a pretty decent guy.

Roommate #5 helped Jiang Ran load a large bag into the taxi’s trunk, then walked back and took Jiang Ran’s hand. "Jiang Ran, you’re off to East Sea University now. Your future is boundless. When you make it big, don’t you forget our names..."

"Of course I won’t!"

He looked at each of his roommates, one by one, from left to right.

Roommate #1, Roommate #2, Roommate #3, Roommate #4, Roommate #5...

"Don’t worry."

Jiang Ran promised, "I’ll never forget your names."

HONK—HONK—

The taxi driver honked, urging him to hurry.

He had been parked here for a long time and was anxious to get going.

"Well, I’m off."

Jiang Ran waved. "Good luck on your exams this year, and I hope you all find good jobs next year!"

With that, he turned, picked up his suitcase, and went to put it in the back seat of the taxi—

WHOOSH—THWACK!!

The sound of something tearing through the air!

By the time anyone could react...

They saw it!

A carbon fiber arrow was sticking out of the suitcase he held in midair!

The arrow, shot with incredible force, had whistled past Jiang Ran’s ear and pierced straight through the suitcase! The fletching on the outside quivered violently!

"Assassin!!!" Wang Hao screamed.

The dozens of onlookers at the gate all whipped their heads around to look in the direction the arrow had come from—

There, on the roof of the three-story building by the school gate, a young woman stood proudly.

Her dazzling pink hair caught the sunlight, whipping wildly in the wind like a blooming spider lily—defiant and beautiful.

She was a girl dressed in an archery uniform.

She wore a chest guard slung across her body, held a Recurve Bow in her left hand, and had a glove on her right.

The white hem of her uniform fluttered in the gale as she slowly lowered the longbow, as if in slow motion.

The crowd at the gate instantly exploded into a commotion!

It was that strange girl, the one everyone at school knew of!

Her eyes were clear, yet they burned like fire, fixed on them with an air of absolute dominance.

Jiang Ran looked up.

He looked at the spider lily blooming high on the rooftop...

SLAM.

He slammed the car door behind him shut and turned around.

"Goodbye."