Genius Playground

”And you know the rest of the story.”

The old man in the Tang suit rolled a gold coin between his fingertips and turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling window:

”A girl who could make the Magician go to such lengths must be very special, very important, and perhaps connected to some extraordinary secret.”

”So, I made a private deal with the Puppet... I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Heh. In the face of enough temptation and profit, all principles are meaningless.”

”The Puppet, of course, agreed to my deal, which is how we were able to begin our Key Plan.”

”We never knew what this key was for, but since the Magician was willing to pay such a high price for this girl... there was no need for us to overthink it. We just had to sharpen this Key and quietly wait for the Lock to appear.”

The middle-aged man leaned back in his chair, his hands crossed over his abdomen:

”And so, young Jiang Ran, with that microfilm *Genius Playground*, made his plain and simple appearance.”

”When you showed me Jiang Ran’s file, I flipped to the last page and saw what you’d circled in red—that Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue were childhood friends who grew up together. And that when the car accident happened two years ago, Jiang Ran was there as well.”

”That’s why I said back then... ’This is just too interesting. A Chapter of such coincidences, it’s as if the goddess of fate herself is writing the script.’”

”So, without a doubt, our key has found the right lock. No one is better suited than she is to get close to Jiang Ran and become his inseparable friend.”

”But, Old Wu, looking at it now, this key is also a double-edged sword. If the Magician could make such an irrational decision for her two years ago... then now, two years later, I’m afraid he could still turn against us for that girl.”

At this, the middle-aged man spread his hands:

”What I find rather surprising is that the Magician has been in hiding all these years, barely able to fend for himself. And yet, he somehow found out about the key so quickly.”

Hmph.

The old man in the Tang suit snorted lightly:

”What else did you expect?”

He blinked his wrinkled eyes:

”Why else would I have always suspected that the mastermind behind Jiang Ran might very well be the Magician himself?”

”Normally, the Magician shouldn’t have discovered that girl so early, unless—”

”He has some special relationship, a secret connection with Jiang Ran. Or perhaps, he too has been watching Jiang Ran from the shadows.”

...

For a moment, both men were silent.

All the signs now indicated that there was definitely something seriously wrong with Jiang Ran.

Besides, the truth will always come out. Even though they had quickly suppressed that microfilm and deleted all related materials, some perceptive people had still noticed something.

”If I were the Magician, I’d be angry too.”

The middle-aged man said leisurely:

”Before this, the Magician certainly didn’t know about your secret deal with the Puppet. But now that the situation with the girl has been exposed, he’s smart. How could he not guess that you two were behind it?”

”The Puppet can’t clear his name; the Magician will definitely not let him off. As for you... with the Magician’s intellect, it wouldn’t be hard for him to guess that only you, the one who calls all the shots in the Genius Playground, could have made the Puppet an offer he couldn’t refuse, thus sealing the deal.”

”So, it goes without saying, you and the Puppet are both undoubtedly the Magician’s targets now. However, I don’t think he can cause much trouble. That mistake he made two years ago was too fatal. He completely dug his own grave, backing himself into a corner with no escape.”

”That’s right.”

The old man in the Tang suit nodded:

”The Magician has had dealings with the Clown for ten years now... We could tell back then. In 2015, the Magician changed. It was no longer the same person.”

”A seat in the Genius Playground can indeed be inherited, but that rarely happens. No one is foolish enough to create more trouble and another vulnerability for themselves.”

”The Magician’s situation is a bit special. We don’t know what happened ten years ago. But the Clown clearly has an overwhelming information advantage over the Magician, which is why the Magician has been in hiding all this time.”

”We thought a ten-year reprieve would allow the Magician to mature and have a fighting chance against the Clown. But that foolish act two years ago not only wiped out all the points he’d accumulated over the years, but also exposed his silhouette, leaving him stretched thin.”

Tsk tsk tsk.

The middle-aged man clicked his tongue.

The more he analyzed it, the more he felt that the Magician’s actions two years ago were incredibly foolish, hardly the work of a genius.

”Looking at it now, the Magician’s situation is just terrible. For him, this game has already become ’hell mode’.”

”Let me count. Just look at how many people are lined up against him—”

He counted them off on his fingers, one by one:

”First, there’s the Clown. He should know everything about the Magician and has been hunting him from a superior vantage point.”

”Second, the Puppet. The moment the Puppet made that secret deal with you, he was already standing against the Magician. This betrayal is a fatal blow to the Magician, and it also makes the Puppet his most dangerous enemy.”

”Then, there’s the Witch. The fact that the Witch sent Zhou Xiong to the class reunion with a Princess Coin obviously means she knows about our Key Plan and wants to muddy the waters. That’s just who she is—a classic shit-stirrer who sticks her nose in everywhere. Why would she ever pass up on a glaring weakness like the Magician’s?”