Genius Playground

Nan Xiuxiu!

Jiang Ran’s right hand gripped the corner of the table.

’Within just two short hours, he had run into this girl twice, and both times were in equally frightening situations... Is this girl a ghost or something?’

”What are you doing here?”

Jiang Ran asked warily:

”Are you following me?”

”’Following you’? That sounds so ugly!” Nan Xiuxiu protested, planting her hands on her hips.

Jiang Ran didn’t say anything.

He didn’t believe her for a second.

’If she wasn’t following me, how could she have crossed two districts of East Sea to find me so precisely?’

’This is just unbelievable.’

’And she was standing at the door, peeking in without a sound. Utterly suspicious.’

”I came because I was worried about you!” Nan Xiuxiu insisted.

”How did you know I was here?” Jiang Ran pressed on.

He hadn’t answered Nan Xiuxiu’s call, nor had he told anyone he was coming to the East Sea University Film Club. If she didn’t have his precise location, there was no way she could have found him.

”The romance app!”

Nan Xiuxiu said, waving her phone:

”Did you forget? The romance app we’re linked on lets us see each other’s location and movements.”

”...”

This was completely outside Jiang Ran’s realm of knowledge.

’An app like that actually exists?’

So he opened his phone and, sure enough, on the second page of his apps, he saw it. The name was simply ”Love,” and the icon was two hearts pressed together.

He tapped it open.

The home screen displayed in huge characters, [We’ve been dating for 4 days!], flanked by headshots of Jiang Ran and Nan Xiuxiu.

Oh god...

His scalp prickled.

’Is that really me?’

Jiang Ran was filled with profound doubt.

He desperately wanted to look in a mirror right then and there to see if the Worldline Jump had messed up and landed him in someone else’s body.

Below that, there was indeed a list of movements.

He tapped it open and saw his own travel history for the day laid out clearly.

It wasn’t just his current location... it showed every single detailed route, even marking the path he took as he snuck across the East Sea University campus after crawling through the hole.

Likewise, he could also see Nan Xiuxiu’s tracks.

She had taken a taxi from the same villa district as him, then come to East Sea University, following his exact path to the club activities building.

”What kind of psycho software is this?”

Jiang Ran frowned, immediately wanting to delete this cursed app from his phone.

It was too suffocating.

’Is this how people date? There’s absolutely no privacy.’

”What’s so psycho about it?”

Nan Xiuxiu huffed.

”It’s a record of our love~”

CLICK.

Jiang Ran locked his phone and stared at her.

”Why are you here?”

”To apologize to you,” Nan Xiuxiu said, blinking.

?

An unexpected answer.

”Apologize for what?” Jiang Ran asked.

”After you left, I called Wang Hao and found out you have a childhood friend named Cheng Mengxue...”

Nan Xiuxiu said earnestly:

”Sorry, I didn’t mean to make a joke about it.”

She pressed her palms together.

”I didn’t have any bad intentions. It’s just that you guys never mentioned her before, and I didn’t know she had passed away... Anyway, I said the wrong thing. I hope you won’t hold it against me.”

...

Jiang Ran watched her quietly.

’Such a sincere and direct apology... It’s quite a contrast to her flamboyant and domineering appearance.’

’The ”joke” Nan Xiuxiu was referring to must have been when she said, ”Cheng Mengxue, she’s not your ex-girlfriend, is she?”... She’d just come out of the restroom back then and had overheard me say the name on my call with Wang Hao, which is why she asked.’

To be honest, Jiang Ran hadn’t found her words offensive at all.

First, he didn’t believe Cheng Mengxue was truly dead. With the Positron Cannon and Time SMS, her death was only ”temporary.”

Second, he didn’t think of—or accept—Nan Xiuxiu as his girlfriend, so no matter what kind of fuss she made, he couldn’t care less.

”It’s nothing.”

Jiang Ran said casually.

”I didn’t mind.”

”Hehe~”

Nan Xiuxiu’s expression shifted to a playful grin, her quirky nature resurfacing.

”You don’t have to hide things like this from me, you know. Even though I’m your girlfriend, I’m not that petty.”

”Besides, even if... even if you really do have an ex-girlfriend, it doesn’t matter. We only met in college, so I’m not going to hold things from before against you.”

”But next time, don’t just run off because of something like this. I was really worried about you in the middle of the night, and you weren’t answering your phone...”

”Alright, alright.”

Jiang Ran cut her off.

”Let’s get out of here. The patrol is coming.”

He could indeed see the flashlights of the school’s patrol guards in the distance and didn’t want any trouble.

But more importantly, he didn’t want to share these secrets with Nan Xiuxiu.

The Film Club, the Worldline Jump, the Positron Cannon, the Time SMS... all of it. He didn’t want her to know any of it.

’So, I should leave as quickly as possible.’

The two of them left the activity room. Jiang Ran carefully locked the door, placed the spare key back under the flowerpot, and then led Nan Xiuxiu away from the club activities building.

After leaving the building, they saw the patrol guards’ flashlights nearby.

They quickly ducked down and snuck around them, eventually reaching the small grove near the west gate without incident.

”Hey, you still haven’t told me.”

Nan Xiuxiu poked Jiang Ran.

”I get that you ran out in the middle of the night, but why did you come here? What kind of club is that? It’s so run-down.”

”The Film Club.”

Jiang Ran made up an excuse to placate her:

”It’s a club for film camera enthusiasts. I have a friend here, and I came to hang out with him last time. I might have left something, so I came by to look for it.”

The excuse was flimsy, but he couldn’t think of a better one on the spot, so he had to stick to his guns.

”Oh.”

Nan Xiuxiu didn’t think much of it.

”How come I’ve never heard you mention it before?”

”Heh.”

Jiang Ran let out a small laugh.

”Lady, we’ve only been dating for [4 days]. I can’t be expected to recite my entire family tree for you, can I?”

”Well, you don’t have to do that,” Nan Xiuxiu said with a pout.

Jiang Ran glanced at his watch.

”It’s getting late. Let’s go back to the dorm.”

After all this running around, it was already four in the morning. It was better to just go back to the dorm and sleep.

As he spoke, Jiang Ran started walking toward the dorm buildings, but Nan Xiuxiu turned and walked toward the school’s west gate.

?

?

They both turned around at the same time, question marks practically floating above their heads as they stared at each other in confusion.

”Where are you going?”

”Where are *you* going?”

Jiang Ran pointed south.

”The dorms are this way.”

PFFT—

Nan Xiuxiu burst out laughing.

”Dude! Are you still out of it? This is East Sea University!”

”Yeah, so what?”

Jiang Ran was confused.

’He was an East Sea University student. If he wasn’t going to the East Sea University dorms, where else would he go?’

”Alright, alright, stop messing around.”

Nan Xiuxiu grabbed Jiang Ran’s arm, hurried toward the west gate, and pushed him out through the hole in the fence.

”Where are we going?”

Jiang Ran asked, but got no reply.

Apparently, Nan Xiuxiu couldn’t be bothered to talk to him about this topic anymore.

Nan Xiuxiu walked over to a taxi, pulled open the back door, and shoved Jiang Ran inside.

Then she got in herself and closed the door.

”Driver, to the East Sea College of International Trade and Economics.”

???

Jiang Ran’s neck went stiff.

”What are we going there for?”

Nan Xiuxiu looked at him as if he were an idiot.

”To go back to our school.”

’Our school?’

Jiang Ran froze completely.

East Sea College of International Trade and Economics.

’A vocational college?’

He sucked in a sharp breath.

”A technical college!?”