Genius Playground

”What was your relationship with the killer?”

East Sea City Public Security Bureau, interview room. Jiang Ran was giving his statement.

”I guess you could say we were friends.”

Jiang Ran looked out the window.

”Old Tian was a janitor at the school. He just started this year and was responsible for cleaning the area outside my club’s window.”

”We first met by chance when I jumped out a window to take a shortcut and kicked him. After that... I started keeping him company every morning while he swept. We got to know each other over time, and we’d chat whenever we had the chance.”

The police officer nodded.

”The deceased, Yan Chonghan, was your teacher. We already know that. But there’s one thing... you were the one who introduced Old Tian to Yan Chonghan, correct?”

”It’s okay, you can speak freely. Just tell us the truth. We’re mainly trying to get a grasp of the situation and analyze the motive for the crime, not interrogate you. So please don’t be nervous or scared.”

”I did introduce them.”

Jiang Ran sighed and truthfully explained about Teacher Yan’s research and the matter of Old Tian’s daughter.

There was nothing to hide; those were the facts.

”That’s about it. Oh, one last question.”

The officer leaned back.

”Last night, the killer called the deceased and asked to meet at the laboratory building to discuss a treatment plan for his daughter.”

”It was close to 11 p.m. At that hour, students should all be asleep, and teachers too.”

”Under normal circumstances, no one would call to disturb someone at that time unless it was something urgent or important.”

The officer steepled his fingers over his stomach and looked at Jiang Ran.

”So, Student Jiang Ran, can you tell us…”

”...*why did you... at that particular time... call Teacher Yan Chonghan?*”

...

Last night, on the roof of the laboratory building.

In the pouring rain, Teacher Yan Chonghan was shot by Old Tian and fell from the building to his death. Afterward, Old Tian pressed the gun to his own temple and killed himself.

Jiang Ran immediately called the police. A dozen or so police cars drove into East Sea University one after another, carrying officials of increasingly higher ranks. The entire leadership of East Sea University also arrived, not one of them missing.

A university campus, a shooting, two deaths—one a teacher, the other an employee of a third-party labor company.

No matter how you looked at it, this was a major case of an extremely heinous nature with severe repercussions.

Not to mention, this shooting occurred on the campus of East Sea University, one of the top universities in the Dragon Country... There was no telling how many people would be held responsible and face consequences for this incident.

The only silver lining was that the students were all in their dorms washing up or sleeping when it happened, so the shooting did not involve any of them.

By morning, the area around the laboratory building was cordoned off with police tape and filled with police cars. The scene was strictly sealed off.

Not only that, but special police forces entered East Sea University with specialized equipment to conduct a thorough search of every building, every room, and every corner. The campus was put on complete lockdown. No one was allowed to enter or leave, and all classes were suspended... until the security check was complete and the lockdown was lifted.

In any institution in the Dragon Country, especially a school, safety is always the top priority, placed far above academics.

Jiang Ran was a special case.

As the sole witness and one of the parties involved, he was taken in a police car to the East Sea City Public Security Bureau to give his statement.

Although Jiang Ran wasn’t injured...

...in what way was he not a victim?

The police officers were reasonable people and knew very well that Jiang Ran had little to do with the incident. So, the first thing they did after arriving at the Public Security Bureau was call in a professional psychologist to counsel Jiang Ran and check for any psychological trauma.

”Usually, there would be severe psychological trauma, a lasting shadow.”

At the time, the psychologist was very worried about Jiang Ran and said earnestly:

”Witnessing a murder scene, especially the murder of your own teacher, and with a gunshot to the head—it was so gory... And the killer who committed suicide, his head basically exploded right in front of you... Experiencing nausea, disgust, and vomiting are all normal reactions.”

But the psychologist discovered something unexpected.

Jiang Ran was surprisingly calm! Completely composed! He didn’t seem to have much of a reaction to such a bloody and violent scene.

The truth was...

Jiang Ran really didn’t have much of a reaction.

He had long been desensitized to this level of gore.

In the Future Prison of 2045, his head had been stylishly blown to bits countless times, and those three police dogs had even torn his intestines out.

At first, he had of course felt fear, nausea, and horror. But when you get the ”headshot and dismemberment combo” every single morning... it eventually became no different from having tofu pudding and a cruller for breakfast.

The reason Jiang Ran was now silent and listless...

...was simply because he was a mess of conflicting emotions inside, a chaotic mix of anger, sadness, regret, and helplessness.

He felt heartbroken over what happened to Teacher Yan. It was a case of ’no good deed goes unpunished.’ Teacher Yan had no ill intentions at all, yet in the end, he was used by Old Tian as a sacrifice for the Regrets Mutual Aid Association, an offering to the Priest.

As for Old Tian, Jiang Ran sympathized with his past but could not, under any circumstances, condone his actions.

Teacher Yan had once said that as scientific researchers, they would never accept illegal or non-consensual human experimentation.

”If saving people requires you to first harm or kill other lives, isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?”

That’s what Teacher Yan had said at the time.

But look at Old Tian. Weren’t his actions exactly that—putting the cart before the horse? To save his daughter who was in a vegetative state, he not only blindly believed the nonsense from the Regrets Mutual Aid Association but also murdered the innocent Teacher Yan.

Even though Old Tian was consumed by regret and took his own life in the end.

But could the harm done to Teacher Yan and his family ever be undone?

On the way to the station in the police car, Jiang Ran had been reflecting, wondering if he had done something wrong; if his accidental matchmaking had led to Teacher Yan’s death.

’To be honest, I am partly to blame.’

Even if he hadn’t made the introduction, Old Tian would have still found a way to kill Teacher Yan on September 16th. But, ’responsibility is responsibility.’ Jiang Ran didn’t want to run from it.

Old Tian was wrong.

The Regrets Mutual Aid Association was wrong.

The Priest was also wrong!

As the true mastermind behind the deaths of Zhou Xiong, Teacher Yan, and Old Tian, that charlatan known as the Priest was the most despicable culprit!

However...

...when facing the police’s questions, Jiang Ran didn’t mention the Regrets Mutual Aid Association, the Assassin, or the Priest.

He concealed all related information.

Because he had a very strong intuition—

’This matter is far from over; I’m still caught in the middle of this vortex.’

Jiang Ran didn’t think he was safe.

Whether it was the film company’s exorbitant hush money or the return of a Cheng Mengxue he could no longer tell was real or fake, these were all dangerous signs of a lurking conspiracy.

Therefore, under these circumstances, he had to protect himself.

Otherwise.

The next to die...

...might be him.

”Teacher Yan was a professor at Dartmouth College with deep expertise in artificial intelligence.”

Facing the officer’s final question, Jiang Ran fabricated a reason:

”I had gone to him a few days ago to ask about some professional matters. After my club activity ended, I happened to have a new idea, a breakthrough idea.”

”So, I couldn’t contain my excitement and called Teacher Yan, but I never expected to walk into a situation like this... He said he was with Old Tian at the lab, and then the call was suddenly disconnected. I couldn’t get through again, so I...”

The officer nodded, didn’t say much more, and concluded the statement.

Communication between a student and teacher was perfectly reasonable, especially in something like a small graduate seminar, where student-teacher contact is very frequent.

Besides, the police’s assessment of Jiang Ran was clear: he was purely a witness, not a suspect.

So, after getting the full picture and recording his statement, they let Jiang Ran leave, only asking him to remain contactable.

Afterward, Jiang Ran went to another office, where Officer Liu of the special task force asked him a few more questions and told him to go home and get some rest.

”If you experience any stress reactions or psychological issues later on, you must contact us immediately. We’ll arrange for a psychologist to provide counseling.”

”This kind of thing... how should I put it? As police officers, we’re certainly used to it. But you’re only 19, so you were bound to be affected. Anyway, after you go back—”

BANG.

The door was suddenly thrown open, and an officer ran in, flustered.

”We just got a call from the hospital. The killer’s daughter... Tian Xiaoli.”

The officer swallowed hard and said in a trembling voice:

”The little girl who’s been in a vegetative state for over a decade—she’s awake.”

”What?!” ”What?!”

Jiang Ran and Officer Liu shot to their feet at the same time, dumbfounded.

Officer Liu was clearly stunned by the incredible medical miracle and the coincidental timing of this life-and-death parting.

He probably thought that Old Tian’s main motive for the crime... was related to his tragic past and his comatose daughter.

In other words, what people call psychological issues—brooding, lashing out at society, that sort of thing.

In situations like these, it’s easy for irrational behavior to occur, where gratitude turns to resentment, leading to senseless acts like patients murdering their doctors.

”Sigh.”

Officer Liu sighed.

”If that little girl had woken up sooner, maybe this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.”

”Now... she’s awake, but her last living relative is gone, and he left with such a stained reputation. What kind of future is that for a child? How is she supposed to face all this!”

Officer Liu trailed off, holding something back.

The subtext of what he wanted to say was that it might have been better if Tian Xiaoli hadn’t woken up at all. He wasn’t sure if she could handle the mess Old Tian had left for her.

But Jiang Ran...

...was shocked for a completely different reason than Officer Liu.

He couldn’t believe this was real.

Tian Xiaoli... was awake.

She had actually woken up!

His heart raced, and it was as if a ringing in his ears drowned out all sound in the room. He stood there, frozen like a statue.

If Tian Xiaoli had woken up at any other time, he wouldn’t have found it particularly strange.

Even if every doctor in the world had declared it impossible for her to wake up... who could predict a medical miracle? No matter the reason for her awakening, Jiang Ran would have gladly accepted it and marveled at the beauty of life.

And yet.

Tian Xiaoli had woken up *now*.

And it was just as Old Tian had said, just as the Priest had promised—

*After the mission is complete, Old Tian’s regret will be immediately remedied, and his daughter will awaken from her vegetative state to live like a normal person.*

But.

Can the process of waking someone from a vegetative state really be controlled by human intervention?

’If the Priest is truly so powerful, why does he need to keep so many loyal pawns... telling Fang Yang to kill Zhou Xiong, and Old Tian to kill Teacher Yan?’

This was the contradiction that Jiang Ran found so puzzling.

If the Priest was powerful enough to wake a person from a coma at will, wouldn’t killing two people from a distance be as easy as lifting a finger?

It always felt like...

’This Priest... sometimes he’s omnipotent, and other times he’s severely limited.’

’He must have many secrets; he’s not truly omnipotent in the real sense of the word.’

Jiang Ran frowned, still unable to figure out the logic behind it all.

’Making a person in a vegetative state for ten years, whose brain has already atrophied, wake up on command...’

’How on earth did he do it?’