Genius Playground

Xu Yan slung her handbag over her shoulder, picked up her half-finished milk tea, and was at a loss for what expression to make.

”How could that be fake?”

She was torn between laughter and tears.

”Xiaoxue wouldn’t lie to us about something like this. Her student ID and proof of enrollment are real. East Sea University doesn’t just let anyone become an exchange student.”

”I understand that.”

Jiang Ran explained,

”The paperwork, procedures, documents, emails... all of that could be real. After all, private universities in the United States pull a lot of shady stunts. But even if all that is real, it doesn’t mean Xiaoxue actually spent two years studying there.”

”I want your boyfriend to help me investigate whether Xiaoxue really attended school there for the past two years—if she had classmates, teachers, turned in homework, took exams, that sort of thing.”

”After all, you can’t fake actually attending school. If it’s real, it’s real. If it’s fake, it’s fake.”

...

This was the second thing Jiang Ran wanted Xu Yan’s help verifying.

He had originally planned to use other methods to verify it, but since Xu Yan’s boyfriend was so capable, he figured he might as well ask.

Of course, Jiang Ran had no intention of making someone work for free, nor did he plan to keep freeloading off Xu Yan’s connections.

He planned to offer Xu Yan’s boyfriend some payment when they met during the National Day holiday. If he refused, a tangible gift would work just as well.

A tri-fold phone, a watch, a luxury handbag—any of those would do.

He could afford them all, anyway.

Compared to his current bank balance, these were just a drop in the bucket.

Just as he had said earlier.

It’s very easy to tell whether a person actually attended school or not.

If Cheng Mengxue had really spent two years at the University of Pennsylvania, there would definitely be traces of her all over the school.

Even if things like homework, reports, and transcripts could be faked.

Relationships with teachers, classmates, roommates... those kinds of personal connections couldn’t be faked, right?

You could find out if a student was ever in a class or attended lectures just by asking a few of their classmates.

Jiang Ran believed the two clues Qin Feng had given him were crucial. He had to follow up on them.

”Fine.”

Xu Yan headed downstairs with her milk tea.

Seeing how deeply suspicious Jiang Ran was, she decided not to say any more. Let the facts do the talking.

Jiang Ran followed behind her, and the two returned to East Sea University together.

...

Back at the dorm.

Fang Ze had just changed into his pajamas and was about to get into bed.

”Where were you today?”

Jiang Ran asked casually.

”You weren’t here when I came back this afternoon. I remember you only had the first class this afternoon and were free the rest of the time.”

”I took a walk around campus.”

Fang Ze pulled the covers over himself.

”I’m still worried about my brother, but I’ve realized that just worrying is useless. I can’t find any clues about him on my own.”

”Right now, I don’t know where he is, who his target is, or when he plans to make his move... I’m honestly a bit lost.”

Jiang Ran remained impassive and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Fang Ze was still talking about his brother, Fang Yang—the Assassin from the Future Prison in the year 2045.

Although he and Fang Ze weren’t on the same side, he was also desperate to learn the Assassin’s secrets.

Who was he going to kill?

When would he kill?

Why would he kill?

On this point, his goal happened to align with Fang Ze’s.

Unfortunately...

’I could definitely break through by sacrificing my teammates, but that would be pointless. I have to successfully break out of prison with the Assassin, or he won’t give me the answers to these questions.’

But...

’How can I possibly succeed in breaking out?’

This was too difficult a problem for a university student to handle.

Jiang Ran felt they had already perfected their personnel deployment, positioning, and tactical coordination.

Unfortunately, the automatic alarm on the prison guard was even more perfect. It would trigger no matter what, summoning a swarm of drones and leading to a team wipe.

’Is there any way to avoid triggering the automatic alarm?’

Jiang Ran brushed his teeth with vigorous strokes.

He felt that this was likely the final hurdle. As long as they could prevent the automatic alarm from going off and blend into the excited crowd in the execution yard outside, the prison break plan would be 90% successful.

After washing his face, Jiang Ran walked out of the bathroom.

Fang Ze looked at him.

”By the way, when I was wandering around campus tonight, I saw the lights on in the Film Club, so I went in for a look and chatted with that tiny president of yours.”

”Oh, Chi Xiaoguo.”

Jiang Ran wiped his face.

”She’s a great person, like a little ray of sunshine, and really funny. Plus, she’s always online, so her head is full of internet memes.”

”You came to East Sea University last semester? She said you were the one who helped save the Film Club,” Fang Ze suddenly asked.

”Yeah.”

Jiang Ran didn’t deny it, because it was the truth.

”It’s been my dream to get into East Sea University since I was a kid. I knew I was coming last semester, so I came to check it out in advance.”

”The Film Club is just a personal hobby. I really like old, mechanical things like that, so when I heard it was going to be shut down, I wanted to save it.”

”It wasn’t an easy process... As you saw today, practically no one showed up for the club recruitment. It’s still just the same few of us.”

After hearing this, Fang Ze smiled slightly.

”In that case, you must be a great photographer, right? Could you take a picture of me sometime?”

Jiang Ran returned the smile.

”I wouldn’t say I’m great. After all, I’m just interested in the film cameras themselves. I still have to learn photography skills from President Xiaoguo.”

”I asked Chi Xiaoguo today what you’re doing at the club room so early every morning,” Fang Ze said suddenly.

With his back to Fang Ze and the towel covering his face, Jiang Ran’s eyes slowly grew serious.

”Oh?”

He decided to draw him out and turned around.

”Did she tell you?”

”She did.”

Fang Ze chuckled lightly.

”She said that for today’s recruitment drive, you two have been working from dawn till dusk, going to the club room to make promotional standees and draw posters whenever you had a free moment.”

”That’s right.”

Jiang Ran, his expression unchanged, hung the towel on the rack.

’Chi Xiaoguo really is reliable. And she’s tight-lipped, too. When she says she’ll keep a secret, she keeps it. Her lips are sealed.’

’Even though she was admitted to East Sea University with the lowest entrance score, being last at East Sea University is still being at East Sea University. The difference between her and a straight-shooter like Wang Hao, who has no filter and speaks his mind, is night and day.’

”Next time there’s an event like this, you two will have to help out as well.”

Jiang Ran joked.

”After all, starting today, you’re both members of the Film Club. No slacking off in the future, you hear?”

”Haha, of course not.”

Fang Ze waved his hand dismissively.

”But you won’t have to wake up early anymore, right?”

He turned to his side, his eyes locking onto Jiang Ran.

”Now that the Film Club’s recruitment drive is over, there’s no need to get up so early to work in the club room anymore.”

...

Jiang Ran picked up his water cup and took a tactical sip, buying himself some time.

’Right.’

’How should I answer this question?’

’A grad student waking up at 6 a.m. every day—not to go for a run, not to work out, not to go to the library... but to consistently clock in at the Film Club room. It’s definitely strange behavior.’

’Until now, I could use preparing for the recruitment drive as an excuse.’

’But what about from now on?’

’This is the inconvenience of living in a dorm; your roommates see your every move. And since the beginning of this semester, East Sea University has tightened dorm management, forbidding students from renting off-campus for any reason.’

’Come to think of it, the timing is strange.’

’In previous years, East Sea University’s dorm management had never been this strict.’

’Now, not only are there nightly room checks, but you also have to scan your face to get in and out.’

’Why did it suddenly get so strict?’

Jiang Ran admitted it to himself.

Lately, he had indeed been on edge, almost paranoid. He couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was part of some conspiracy, as if it was all intentionally aimed at him.

On World Line 0, Qin Feng had ribbed him about it many times, and even Xiaoxue had said it... that he was too cautious, too careful, that he overthought things.

But he never saw it as a ”flaw.”

You can’t be too careful.

Better safe than sorry.

Especially now, faced with such a confusing and perilous situation, of course he had to be extra thoughtful.

In any case...

’I need to be more guarded around the people close to me.’

Especially now, caught in the vortex that was East Sea University, he couldn’t bring himself to trust anyone easily—except for Xu Yan and Chi Xiaoguo.

”Well, that’ll be up to our president.”

Jiang Ran put down his water cup, giving a perfunctory answer.

”Don’t be fooled by how small our president is. Her head is full of ideas.”

Fang Ze didn’t say anything more. He burrowed into his blankets, ready to sleep.

”If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask.”

”Okay.”

Jiang Ran got into his own bed, his finger hovering over the main light switch.

”I’m turning off the lights then?”

”Mhm.”

His index finger pressed down hard on the switch—

CLICK.

The dim, luxurious conference room was instantly flooded with light.

The middle-aged man’s finger rested on the light switch as he looked toward the old man who sat pondering at the far end of the conference table.

”Why were the lights off?”

”I prefer the dark.”

The old man in the Tang suit toyed with a gold coin in his hand, his voice low and spectral.

”The dark and the quiet help me focus my thoughts.”

The middle-aged man chuckled and walked over.

”Everything is proceeding smoothly. What’s there to worry and think about? At your age, the only things you should really be concerned with are your health and getting to bed early.”

”By the way, I heard the date for ’God’s Punishment’ has been set. Is it the same day as your meeting?”

”That’s right.”

The old man in the Tang suit flicked the gold coin, watching it spin on the tabletop until it landed heads-up. The embossed King wore a crown, held a scepter, and looked down from on high.

Under the incandescent light, the four English letters on the face of the coin, K-I-N-G, reflected a brilliant glow.

The middle-aged man looked at the coin and smiled faintly.

”It’s great having this ’King Coin.’ No one dares to defy you or oppose you.”

”Hehehe...”

The old man picked up the coin again and flicked it with his fingertip.

”If we’re lucky, we might have a second one soon.”

”Actually, things like this are like nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence. They are most powerful when they are not used.”

”And... there’s another condition. They’re most effective when only one party possesses them.”

”So, whether we get a second one isn’t what’s important. The most important thing is... no matter what, we can’t let anyone else get their first.”

The middle-aged man pulled out a mahogany chair and sat down beside the old man.

”Then you’d better keep a close eye on yours. You love flipping coins so much, don’t go and flip yours away one day.”

The old man in the Tang suit shook his head.

”I never flip my own coin. And I never gamble on my own luck.”

He reached his right hand into his jacket, pulled another gold coin from an inner breast pocket, and stacked it on top of the King coin.

”Because my choices... are always correct.”

CLINK.

The two gold coins touched, making a grating sound that didn’t seem to come from metal.

The embossed King was pressed beneath the other coin, plunged into darkness.

The light shone on the face of the new coin, tracing its exquisitely carved design in a layer of gold.

It was... a devout Priest, his head raised toward the Holy Light. He was dressed in clean robes, holding an open Bible in his left hand and a sharp Cross in his right.

As if he were preaching a sermon, or performing a baptism.

In the area below the embossed design, a series of raised English letters also reflected the bright Holy Light—

PRIEST