Genius Playground

It was so over-the-top that if news suddenly broke one day that Lu Yu had successfully built a Time Travel Machine, Jiang Ran wouldn’t find it strange at all. On the contrary, he’d feel that... only Lu Yu was worthy of such a feat.

But this was good news!

Although he still couldn’t find any direct clues about the Time Travel Machine, he had found the most likely candidate for its inventor.

Jiang Ran glanced at the Assassin, trying to read his expression for any clues.

It was to no avail.

The Assassin’s expression remained as calm as still water, without the slightest ripple. Jiang Ran couldn’t tell if the topic was truly unimportant to him or if he was intentionally masking his reaction.

"Teacher Zhang."

Jiang Ran grabbed both of Zhang Yang’s hands:

"Since Lu Yu was once your student, you must know him well, right? What year was he? What was his major? Do you still remember?"

Zhang Yang closed his eyes, thinking for a moment:

"Hmm... 2026, or maybe 2027. He took my general education course. He was a sophomore or a junior then. Anyway, he was 20 that year."

"Oh, that’s right! I remember now. Lu Yu was studying at East Sea University in 2026. He was from the School of Mathematical Sciences."

Jiang Ran did the math in his head.

’In 2026, Lu Yu was already a student at East Sea University.’

’That means he must have been a freshman in 2025.’

’After all, freshman enrollment in 2025 would have been in September.’

’September 2025... That’s only three months from now.’

’Which means...’

’At the absolute latest, right after summer break ends...’

’...I’ll be able to meet this once-in-a-generation genius, Lu Yu!’

’Could the secret to the Time Travel Machine be with him?’

’Could he be the inventor of the Time Travel Machine?’

"Ahem! Ahem!"

Suddenly, a deliberate cough from Sang Biao shattered Jiang Ran’s train of thought.

"Um, shouldn’t we be getting back to business? Huh? Come on, fellas, this isn’t Sunflower Mother’s Little Classroom. If you want to discuss math problems, can’t we do it after we break out?!"

Jiang Ran glanced around and saw that everyone was indeed getting antsy. They were all staring at him, their faces etched with anxiety.

It was just that he acted so calmly that, while they were frustrated, they didn’t dare say anything.

It was understandable. Jiang Ran was here to verify facts and gather intelligence, but for everyone else, there was only one goal: to break out of prison.

"Alright then."

Of course, Jiang Ran also wanted the prison break to succeed. He wanted to see the outside world, to see the Magician over at the execution grounds. So, he stopped pestering Zhang Yang with questions.

"There’s no time to waste. Let’s move out."

They took the same route as before.

They arrived at the familiar fork in the road.

This time, amid the debate, Jiang Ran argued for the path on the left.

Here’s what he was thinking...

’The fight with the guards and their dogs on the right path sounded easy, but it would be incredibly difficult in practice.’

’The main issue was their team composition. It was basically the Assassin—a Challenger-level player—leading four Bronze-league newbies. They could never pull off the kind of coordination he was picturing.’

’The moment the order was given and they charged, it devolved into a chaotic, disorganized mess, and they were wiped out by the guards and their dogs.’

’In comparison, the route through the abandoned high-rise on the left might offer a better chance of finding a way out.’

"The high-rise on the left... yes, the snipers will see us, but what if we just don’t go onto the roof?"

Jiang Ran proposed:

"We can climb to the second-highest floor and stop there instead of going to the roof. We’ll find an escape route from a window on that floor. That way, the snipers might not spot us."

Sang Biao nodded.

"Yeah."

He gave a grand wave of his hand:

"Move out!"

BANG—

Blood and brains blossomed in the air.

"Sang Biao!!"

BANG—

Another flower of brains bloomed.

"The stupid young man!"

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!

...

HUM!

HUM!

HUM!

After two seconds of dizzying vertigo, Jiang Ran opened his eyes.

"Sigh."

He sighed.

’This is so hard.’

’Just as I thought. Both he and Sang Biao had completely underestimated how hard it would be to escape.’

’This is the execution site for the number one criminal in human history, after all. How could the security not be perfect? How could anyone possibly break out?’

’Whatever, I’ll deal with it later.’

He hung up the phone and jogged back to the Film Club’s activity room.

He pushed open the door to find Chi Xiaoguo taking several thick, old files out of her bookbag.

"What’s this?" Jiang Ran asked.

"These are old archives I found in the school library! They’re about our club, related news reports, and also this one..."

Chi Xiaoguo held up a heavy-looking hardcover book:

"This is a collection of award-winning photography from East Sea University."

"Senior, you’ve been looking for clues about the Positron Cannon, right? Since we couldn’t find anything on the school’s computer systems and we couldn’t get any answers from the previous club presidents, I thought maybe we could start searching through these old paper archives!"

"Especially this book of award-winning photography. It should have a lot of works from previous Film Club members. Maybe we can see the Positron Cannon in one of them, or find the names of the old club presidents!"

Jiang Ran looked down at Chi Xiaoguo’s small bookbag, which was stuffed to the point of bursting, and felt a touch of emotion.

’With her small frame, it must have taken a lot of effort to haul all this over...’

"Thank you."

He said softly:

"Don’t you have class today?"

"Nope! I don’t have any classes this morning, so I can just stay here and go through these old archives."

"Okay."

After agreeing, Jiang Ran walked straight to the lab bench.

He unplugged the Positron Cannon, then stared at the small blackboard and began to organize his thoughts.

There was no doubt.

’He could now be 100% certain that the trip to the year 2045, and the information he’d gathered from it, were all essentially true.’

’Which meant...’

’In September 2025, a super-genius named Lu Yu will enroll as a freshman at East Sea University.’

’At some unknown point after that, someone at East Sea University will successfully invent a Time Travel Machine, allowing people to travel to the past.’

’Later still, Teacher Zhang Yang will be thrown in jail for researching Quantum Tunneling at East Sea University.’

’Then there’s the Assassin. He was likely imprisoned for murder, but his every action suggests that there are other secrets hidden at East Sea University.’

East Sea University...

East Sea University...

East Sea University...

East Sea University...

Jiang Ran closed his eyes. All the inferences were a tangled mess, but a single, crucial node tied all the threads together.

"East Sea University," he muttered to himself.

"Hm?"

Chi Xiaoguo heard the muttering and looked up:

"Senior, what did you say?"

Jiang Ran didn’t move.

His thoughts raced, weaving the clues into a coherent tapestry.

It seemed...

’East Sea University... it’s the key to everything.’

’It not only has the Positron Cannon, a super-genius, and the Time Travel Machine, but also all sorts of secrets from the past and future.’

’He could ignore everything else.’

’But if he wanted to revive Cheng Mengxue, he couldn’t do it without the Positron Cannon and the Time Travel Machine.’

’If he waits until the next semester...’

’...the Film Club, with Chi Xiaoguo as president, will start hosting activities, and everything will get complicated.’

’Not to mention, as a vocational college student from another school, how could he carry out his plans on the East Sea University campus? Even if he found the super-genius Lu Yu, would he even give him the time of day?’

’No.’

’He had to get on the inside.’

’No matter what, I have to move the main stage of my operations to East Sea University!’

"I’ve decided."

Jiang Ran opened his eyes and stood up.

"Huh?"

Chi Xiaoguo was stunned:

"S-Senior? What have you decided?"

Jiang Ran pulled open the curtains, gazing at the familiar campus outside, full of memories:

"I’ve decided."

Two words, cutting as steel.

He turned his head and looked at Chi Xiaoguo:

"I’m going to... enroll at East Sea University!"