Genius Playground

"Oh, this."

The custodian said, picking his nose:

"Some workers were moving things a few days ago. Must’ve hit it by accident."

’How could they be so careless...’

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed. He resisted the urge to complain.

But on second thought, what had happened had happened. What good would complaining do?

In his eyes, the Positron Cannon was a divine weapon capable of reversing history and changing the world line.

But to everyone else, it was just a burnt-out, high-powered, contraband appliance—no different from trash. How could they possibly be expected to handle it with care?

Come to think of it, this accident was also a result of the Butterfly Effect across time and space.

In the original world line, Jiang Ran had taken the Positron Cannon back just a few days after it was confiscated.

But after the world line changed, the Positron Cannon had been sitting in this cluttered storeroom for a whole month. With various items being moved in and out, bumps and collisions were inevitable.

"Hiss... that looks pretty bad..."

Chi Xiaoguo tiptoed closer.

"Senior, this... this won’t affect its use, will it?"

’I don’t know.’

Jiang Ran didn’t answer. He had no idea either.

He bent down to inspect it again. Thankfully, there was no other external damage, and it still had that familiar burnt smell.

Qin Feng had explained early on that it was the smell of a blown capacitor—nothing serious.

"So this is the Positron Cannon you were talking about..."

Chi Xiaoguo craned her neck, looking at it from every angle.

"I thought it would actually be a ’cannon,’ but it’s just a boxy thing. It looks... kind of like one of those old CRT monitors from the last century, just with a small cylinder sticking out."

"You’ve got a good eye."

Jiang Ran sighed.

"This thing was modified from one of those old CRT monitors, using the cathode-ray tube inside."

"Then why call it a Positron Cannon?"

Chi Xiaoguo asked.

"Was the creator a huge fan of *EVA*? I remember in that anime, during Operation Yashima, EVA Unit-01 used a positron cannon to shoot that cubic Apostle."

Jiang Ran looked at her, a little surprised.

’She guessed right again.’

’This girl... she seems so bubbly and cute, but her knowledge is surprisingly broad.’

"Anyway, let’s get it back to the club room first."

Jiang Ran bent down, picked up the Positron Cannon, and left the storeroom with Chi Xiaoguo.

...

After a ten-minute walk, they were back at the student club building.

Pushing open the door to the Film Club room, they were greeted once again by a sight of old junk and clutter.

’I’ve really spent this entire day dealing with old things.’

"Senior, should we clean the room up first?"

Chi Xiaoguo suggested.

"Look, it’s so cluttered and dusty in here. There isn’t even any space for you to put down the Positron Cannon."

"You’re right."

Jiang Ran nodded.

Clearing out some space would also make it easier for him to work on it later.

He first placed the Positron Cannon carefully back in its cardboard box, then put on a mask and gloves and started cleaning the room and organizing the clutter with Chi Xiaoguo.

...

Chi Xiaoguo was, as expected, full of passion for everything related to film photography.

She hopped around, wiping this and moving that like a busy little bee, humming a tune from time to time, clearly enjoying herself.

They finally finished cleaning just as the sun was setting.

Dusting off their hands, they looked at the spacious, tidy club room, filled with a sense of accomplishment.

"Hehe, now we can start club activities next semester!"

Chi Xiaoguo rubbed her hands together, imagining a vibrant and passionate future for the club in this room.

"Senior, I know I’ve said it many times, but thank you... If it weren’t for you, the Film Club would have definitely been shut down."

"You don’t have to thank me so much. I had my own reasons, after all."

Jiang Ran pointed to the cardboard box on the floor holding the Positron Cannon.

"To be honest, I went through all this trouble just to get this thing back. If you don’t mind... I hope you’ll let me stay here for a while."

"Of course I don’t mind!"

Chi Xiaoguo quickly waved her hands.

"You’re the Film Club’s great benefactor! Even though you’re not a student at East Sea University, this club room is your territory from now on! You can stay here for as long as you want!"

Jiang Ran smiled faintly.

’This girl... she’s pretty loyal.’

It was almost May Day, and summer vacation was only two months away. If the Film Club was going to start recruiting members and holding activities, it wouldn’t be until next semester.

Therefore, for the next two months, no one would come to the club room to disturb him.

Jiang Ran planned to use this time to study and repair the Positron Cannon, and in doing so, complete his plan to save Cheng Mengxue.

Chi Xiaoguo took out her phone to check the time.

"Senior, it’s getting late. Do you want to go to the cafeteria to eat? My treat!"

"No, it’s fine."

Jiang Ran shook his head.

"I want to stay here a little longer. I mainly want to take a look at the Positron Cannon."

Seeing that every other word out of Jiang Ran’s mouth was about the Positron Cannon, Chi Xiaoguo couldn’t help but feel curious.

She crouched down, opened the box, and looked at the boxy, unremarkable old device.

"Is this thing... very important to you?"

"Very important."

"Oh, okay. So what does this thing actually do? What’s it for?"

"It’s hard to explain in just a few words."

Jiang Ran spread his hands.

"Once I see if I can fix it, I’ll call you to help me test it."

For now, Jiang Ran didn’t want to reveal the secret of the Positron Cannon.

"Okay, okay! I’m so looking forward to it!"

Chi Xiaoguo stood up and waved to Jiang Ran.

"Well, I’m off then, Senior~ I have classes tonight, so I can’t stay and keep you company."

"That’s fine."

Jiang Ran waved back.

"I’ll put the club key under the flowerpot when I leave."

"You should just keep it!"

"We should still follow the rules. I’m not an official member, after all."

...

After Chi Xiaoguo left and closed the door, Jiang Ran was the only one left in the room.

History had turned, the world line had shifted, and he was once again standing in the Film Club’s room.

But the place was the same and the people were gone; so much had changed that it no longer resembled its old self.

He had never realized how spacious the club room was before.

There was no invading Rhine Cat Legion.

There was no trio of them having to turn sideways to get past each other.

The place wasn’t crowded at all.

"Can we ever go back to how it was?"

He looked down.

He gazed at the small, blank blackboard, completely devoid of writing.

He remembered how this blackboard used to be their main battleground for discussing problems, always filled with questions that were constantly being written and erased.

Over the past two days, he had wondered countless times, ’Should I go find Qin Feng?’

Although Qin Feng’s life trajectory had changed after the world line shifted, and he had disappeared from their lives, Jiang Ran knew where he grew up. It shouldn’t be too hard to contact him through certain means.

’But... what then?’

’What would I do after I found him? What would I say?’

Unlike him, Qin Feng didn’t have the special constitution of "Full Space-Time Memory." The Qin Feng of this world line had absolutely no connection to him; he was a complete stranger.

’Would a Qin Feng like that believe what I say?’

’And would a Qin Feng like that... be trustworthy?’

With Qin Feng around, both repairing the Positron Cannon and sending a Time SMS would become much easier.

But the Qin Feng of this world line, whose whereabouts were unknown... Jiang Ran truly didn’t dare to trust him.

"To be absolutely sure, I can’t trust anyone until I’ve saved Cheng Mengxue. The secret of the Positron Cannon and the Time SMS must remain mine alone."

He shook his head,

forcing away thoughts of the past.

He took the dented Positron Cannon out and placed it on a lab bench.

"As for what comes next..."

"It’s all up to me."