Genius Playground

Lu Yu wasn’t on the freshman admission list...

Jiang Ran frowned.

The intel was wrong.

’What on earth was going on?’

He remembered with perfect clarity that Teacher Zhang Yang from Cell 4 had explicitly stated:

”By 2026, Lu Yu was already a student at East Sea University.”

”Lu Yu was even one of my students. He took my gen ed course.”

These two statements were enough to prove that Lu Yu was indeed a student at East Sea University.

But...

’Then why isn’t Lu Yu’s name on this freshman admission list?’

The professor was very helpful.

He pulled up the admission lists for every school in the university for the year and checked them one by one, but there still wasn’t a single student named Lu Yu.

”Are you sure you remembered the name correctly?”

The professor turned back and looked at Jiang Ran:

”I’ve checked all of this year’s new students, and there’s definitely no one named Lu Yu. Why don’t you... go back and confirm it?”

Left with no other choice, Jiang Ran could only nod and leave the School of Mathematical Sciences.

”Strange,”

he muttered to himself.

’Even if the situation in the Future Prison changed and Lu Yu took Zhang Yang’s place in Cell 4... the historical fact that Lu Yu was an East Sea University student shouldn’t have been altered, right?’

’Could it be that something that happened over the past two months of summer break has once again triggered the butterfly effect, altering the future and changing the course of Lu Yu’s life?’

’That... shouldn’t be possible, right?’

He couldn’t figure out the logic behind it.

’I’d better hurry to the Future Prison in 2045 and see if Lu Yu is still there.’

Jiang Ran sighed and walked toward the dormitory.

’Things are getting more and more confusing.’

’When will this ever end?’

...

「The next morning.」

His mind heavy with worry, Jiang Ran got out of bed before six o’clock and left the room.

Fang Ze was still lying in bed. He saw Jiang Ran get up and rubbed his eyes.

”Up so early?”

”Yeah.”

Jiang Ran put on his shoes.

”I’m used to getting up early. I’m just going out for a walk. You go back to sleep.”

Then, he walked out of the dormitory building and headed straight for East Sea University’s club activities building.

The seals on the doors of the various club rooms had been torn off, and the power had been restored.

As was his routine, Jiang Ran retrieved the spare key from under a flowerpot in the hallway, unlocked the Film Club’s door, and stepped into the activity room that had been sealed for two months...

Stirred-up dust motes danced in the shafts of sunlight, and a faint, damp smell hung in the air.

He pulled a cardboard box from behind a shelf, moved the Positron Cannon from inside it onto the lab bench, and waited for Chi Xiaoguo to arrive.

’I should have scheduled this for earlier.’

Jiang Ran glanced at his watch. It was just past 6:00, and there was still an hour until their appointed time.

But on second thought, he couldn’t be too selfish.

Chi Xiaoguo was helping him for free, after all. He couldn’t take advantage of the cheerful girl. Making her wake up after 5:00 AM every day to come here and run experiments would be asking too much.

He had only gotten up so early today because his mind was heavy with worry.

’I’ll just wait for her.’

Jiang Ran pulled over a small chalkboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and decided to use the time to organize his thoughts.

Speaking of which, he’d been using this Positron Cannon 2.0 (Battle-Damaged Ver.) for a long time now, but he had never summarized its functions.

Previously, on World Line 0, Cheng Mengxue had already updated the Positron Cannon’s user manual to V4.0...

This kind of summarization was actually a very good habit.

Jiang Ran decided to follow her example.

’While I’m waiting for Chi Xiaoguo, I’ll follow Xiaoxue’s example and try to summarize a user manual for the battle-damaged Positron Cannon.’

He got right to it, writing on the chalkboard—

[Positron Cannon 2.0 (Battle-Damaged Ver.) User Manual]

1. If a phone call is answered within 0.7 seconds of the Positron Cannon’s activation, one can travel to a future prison in the year 2045.

2. Regardless of when the Positron Cannon is used to travel, the arrival time at the Future Prison is fixed at 10:00 AM on September 17, 2045 (time is an estimate).

3. The principle behind the travel is unknown. It’s unclear whether it’s a mental or physical transference. However, based on the Assassin’s observation, I suddenly materialize in Cell 3 out of thin air, as if by magic.

4. Regardless of the manner of death, I will return to the moment of departure in 2025 amidst a dizzying, buzzing sensation of temporal fluctuation. The time streams are not synchronized; from an observer’s perspective in 2025, I only appear to be in a daze for an instant.

5. Even if I don’t die, I will be forcibly returned to the moment of departure in 2025, at 12:00 PM on September 17, 2045, at the latest (time is an estimate).

6. The 2045 timeline is continuous with the present 2025 timeline, existing on the same world line. Therefore, actions or changes in the present can trigger the butterfly effect and influence the trajectory of the future.

7. The Positron Cannon requires a 20-hour cooldown period before it can be used again.

...

CLACK.

Jiang Ran tossed aside the piece of chalk.

That was the gist of the user manual for the battle-damaged Positron Cannon. He had written down points as they occurred to him, and this was all he could come up with for now.

’I’ll update it later if I think of anything else or encounter new situations.’

Then, he committed the summarized manual to memory, picked up the eraser, and wiped the board clean.

Right now, the series of bizarre events happening around him left him with a strong sense of unease.

Whether it was the film company buying his script rights for an exorbitant price;

Or the sudden appearance of a mysterious Cheng Mengxue, whose true intentions were unknown;

Or Qin Feng secretly spying on him and stealing the Setting Collection;

Or Zhou Xiong using his phone to communicate with the omnipotent Lilith;

And so on and so forth... All these things, jumbled together, forced Jiang Ran to be exceedingly careful.

’Especially the secrets of the Positron Cannon, the Time SMS, and the Time Travel Machine. I have to guard them well.’