Genius Playground

After 10 PM, the lights in the student club building began to go out, and students started leaving in twos and threes.

By the time it was nearly 11 PM, the lights in the entire building were almost all out, with only two or three rooms still faintly glowing.

”It’s about time.”

Jiang Ran braced his hands on the windowsill and leaped out.

It was 10:45 PM. All the students were in their dorms, washing up and getting ready for lights-out.

Looking out the window, the vast campus grounds were completely empty—the perfect time to activate the Positron Cannon.

”Hee hee, this feels so sneaky and thrilling, just like a thief~”

Chi Xiaoguo rubbed her hands together, looking just like an evil villain from a movie.

She calibrated the Positron Cannon’s aim and raised her hand high.

”Senior! I’m ready!”

Outside, by the power distribution box, Jiang Ran was also ready. He gave her an OK sign in return.

”Let’s begin.”

He took a deep breath, steeling himself for what felt like his most promising escape attempt yet.

”5! 4! 3! 2! 1! 0!”

The Positron Cannon roared to life, and Jiang Ran slammed the answer button on his phone—

WHUM!

WHUM!

WHUM!

His head swam and the world spun. Once again, he was back in the all-too-familiar Future Prison.

”Quick, quick, quick! Hurry it up!”

Practically kicking Sang Biao’s ass the whole way, the four-man squad changed their clothes and arrived, fully armed, at the execution grounds.

”Let’s go find the car.”

The four of them moved together, making their way through the bustling crowd to the northwest parking lot, where they located the exact prison transport vehicle they were looking for.

”Good.”

Jiang Ran looked at the digital watch in his hand.

’This escape attempt is going perfectly so far. All those previous failures, all those deaths... none of them were in vain.’

”The two of us should sit up front, too,”

Jiang Ran proposed,

”Sang Biao and I aren’t wearing prison uniforms. If we’re locked in the transport cell in the back, it’ll probably be harder to explain during an inspection.”

”There’s a lot of traffic coming and going today, and their main focus is on the Magician, Qin Feng, so the inspections are already pretty lax.”

The Assassin nodded.

”Then you two get up here. The stupid young man and I will sit in the front since we’re in guard uniforms. Let’s go!”

Once again, they reached the prison entrance, and once again, they queued in the line of traffic.

Inside the vehicle, Jiang Ran felt like he could hear the THUMP-THUMP-THUMP of four hearts beating out of sync. ’No matter how many times I go through this, my heart always starts pounding.’

Finally!

It was their vehicle’s turn at the checkpoint!

It went far more smoothly than they had imagined. When the guard saw the two fully-armed officers in the front seats, he simply saluted and waved them through.

The Assassin kept a steady foot on the gas as the barrier gate lifted like a guillotine blade, and the vehicle slowly rolled out... of the cage that had imprisoned them for over a decade.

No one dared to breathe as they felt the transport vehicle slowly accelerate, then race down the wilderness highway! They were hundreds of meters away from the prison!

”WAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

”We did it! We actually broke out!”

”Abububububamalamadingdong!”

His fellow inmates whooped and hollered uncontrollably, hugging each other and screaming.

They’d done it!

They had successfully broken out of prison!

They couldn’t believe they had actually succeeded!

Sitting in the back seat, Jiang Ran watched them with a small, gratified smile.

’This was a hard-won victory.’

’It made all his painstaking efforts, and all the different ways he’d died inside, worthwhile.’

Now, it was finally time to reap the rewards!

”Stupid young man, get in the back.”

The vehicle’s interior was spacious, so Jiang Ran just pulled the stupid young man into a back seat, then took the front passenger seat himself and looked at the Assassin.

”I hope you’re a man of principle, someone who can keep one’s word, just as you claimed.”

The Assassin smiled faintly and looked at Jiang Ran.

”You’re a... Time Traveler, aren’t you?”

Jiang Ran waved a dismissive hand.

”Time is short, so let’s skip the pointless chatter.”

THUMP!

He slapped the digital watch from his hand onto the dashboard.

The time on it read 11:55 AM.

Even with a perfect speedrun, after going through so many long procedures, he didn’t have much time left to get his answers.

”Fang Yang.”

Jiang Ran said the Assassin’s real name, his tone serious.

”We both know what’s going on here, our cards are on the table. No need for extra explanations. In short, you’ll answer what I ask, and you won’t hide anything.”

The Assassin nodded.

”Don’t worry, I was mentally prepared for someone like you to show up. The fact that you successfully led our escape just proves my suspicions were correct.”

”Ask me whatever you want. I promise I’ll tell you everything I know.”

”First question.”

Jiang Ran looked the Assassin in the eye.

”What’s the deal with the rumored Time Travel Machine at East Sea University?”

”It’s not a rumor.”

The Assassin gripped the steering wheel.

”There is definitely a Time Travel Machine at East Sea University! One that can send people back to the past!”

His eyes were fixed on the road ahead as he spoke with utter conviction.

”I’m part of a Mutual Aid Association. There’s a Priest in it who can help his followers fix their life’s regrets. He assigns us missions to carry out.”

”I wasn’t in charge of the mission related to the Time Travel Machine, so I don’t know the specifics. And I wasn’t one hundred percent convinced that such a sci-fi device actually existed.”

”But... your appearance has convinced me. The Time Travel Machine must exist! And its origin has to be East Sea University!”

Jiang Ran listened in silence, his brow furrowed.

’Honestly, that answer is very unsatisfying.’

He’d already managed to extract the intel about the Regrets Mutual Aid Association, the Priest, and the missions in a previous loop.

Other than confirming with one hundred percent certainty that a Time Travel Machine was at East Sea University, the Assassin’s story offered no new, substantial details.

Then again, the Assassin had also said it wasn’t his mission, so it made sense that he wouldn’t know the specifics.

He glanced at the digital watch. 11:58 AM.

Only two minutes left. He was about to be forcibly ”kicked” back to the year 2025 by the timeline. He had to hurry and ask the next question.

”You’re in prison for murder, right?”

Jiang Ran asked another question.

”In the year 2025, who exactly did you kill?”

...

Hearing this question, the Assassin chuckled.

”The year 2025... that feels like a lifetime ago. Before I knew it, twenty years had passed.”

”But I never forget the names of the people I’ve killed. The details of their deaths, too. Even after twenty years, I can see it all as if it were yesterday.”

The Assassin took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

”It was at a class reunion. We staged a fender-bender to lure the boy over... and then we used a truck to run him down and kill him. We took the phone and the gold coin from his body.”

”I had no grudge against the boy, but it was my job, a mission I had to complete. I heard from the Priest later that the boy was just a decoy, a piece of bait. The gold coin didn’t belong to him... After I gave the coin to the Priest, he destroyed it on the spot.”

”I still remember it to this day. The back of the gold coin had a bizarrely shaped Ferris wheel on it. The front had an embossed relief of a girl wearing a crown-like hair ornament and holding a poofy princess dress. Below her was the engraved English word, PRINCESS.”

”Oh, sorry. I’ve been talking so much, I don’t think I’ve answered your question yet.”

The Assassin turned his head to look at Jiang Ran.

”The name of the boy I killed with that truck was—”

”Zhou Xiong!”