Genius Playground

The rain stopped.

It was as if the weather itself had been infected by Chi Xiaoguo’s smile, turning bright and brilliant.

The gloom that had hung in the air since morning quickly faded away.

The sun rose in the east, its rays breaking through. Everything came to life with the chirping of birds and the scent of flowers.

Jiang Ran gazed at the rainbow refracted in the raindrops on the glass, saying nothing.

He had just asked Chi Xiaoguo what her second-choice university was.

He was just thinking that if he had the chance, he could visit her university after the worldline shifted.

He wanted to see if she had found like-minded friends as she’d hoped, to see if she was still as lively, adorable, innocent, and carefree.

But who would have thought...

...that Chi Xiaoguo’s words would add a touch of reluctance and sorrow to this inevitable farewell.

"Hehe, it would be great if you could come to East Sea University too, Jiang Ran."

Chi Xiaoguo’s smile was sweet as she said,

"Then you could officially join the Film Club! I’m sure it would be lively and fun here every day!"

Jiang Ran looked down.

He reached out and patted the casing of the Positron Cannon.

"You might have the wrong idea about that. Just because this thing looks like a camera, don’t assume I’m also interested in film photography."

"To be honest... I’ve never even touched a film camera, and I’m not interested in photography. Sorry, I probably disappointed you."

Jiang Ran knew full well that this confession would most likely upset Chi Xiaoguo.

But.

These were the last few minutes they would have together.

In these final moments, he couldn’t bear to lie and deceive such an innocent girl.

"It’s okay~"

However, the little ray of sunshine seemed completely unfazed.

"If you’re willing to learn, you can slowly grow to like a lot of things you didn’t like before."

She formed a rectangle with the thumbs and index fingers of both hands, holding it up in front of her eyes.

Then, she squinted one eye, as if taking a picture, and aimed the "lens" formed by her fingers at Jiang Ran.

"How will you know you don’t like it if you don’t try?"

Time seemed to stand still in that moment.

The sunlight fell upon Chi Xiaoguo, making her seem especially pure and sacred.

Jiang Ran smiled.

He was moved by Chi Xiaoguo’s sincere passion.

If there really was a timeline where he was studying at East Sea and Chi Xiaoguo was the president of the Film Club...

Perhaps.

...he really would be willing to give it a try—to feel what it’s like to pick up a film camera, load a roll of film, and press the shutter on a scene of intersecting light and shadow.

"What’s real is real, and what’s fake is fake."

"What a film camera records is the truest history of this world."

"Every sliver of light, every speck of color, even every grain of noise... all of it is the world as it truly was in the instant the shutter was pressed."

Chi Xiaoguo’s past words echoed in his ears.

"Want to take a picture?" Jiang Ran suggested.

"Huh?"

Chi Xiaoguo froze for a second.

"R-right now?"

"Yeah."

Jiang Ran nodded.

"Like you said, how will I know I don’t like it if I don’t try?"

"I’ve never taken a photo with a film camera before, not even once. I might as well take this chance to try it out."

After all...

Jiang Ran looked at the girl bathed in the gentle sunlight.

After all, if he missed this chance, he would never see her again.

The most remote point in the ocean, Point Nemo, is 2,600 kilometers from land.

The Earth and the Moon are separated by a distance of 380,000 kilometers.

Light travels 9.46 trillion kilometers in a year.

The Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter.

To cross from one end of the universe to the other, even light, the fastest thing there is, would take 96 billion years.

In truth.

None of those distances were truly far.

The truly vast distance was the one between two parallel worldlines—the distance between knowing and not knowing, between seeing and never seeing again.

Like Jiang Ran and Chi Xiaoguo today.

So...

’I should take a picture, as a memento.’

Even if everything would be erased into a history that never existed after the Worldline Jump.

But at least, Jiang Ran would remember.

At least, this real history, this real light, these real colors, had once been recorded.

"Trying it out is no problem... We have equipment in the clubroom."

Chi Xiaoguo scratched her head.

"But, Jiang Ran, do you know how to use a film camera?"

"I get the gist of it."

Jiang Ran chuckled.

"You just point it at someone and press the shutter, right? Anyway, I’m just trying it out to see what it feels like to take a picture with a film camera. No need to have such high standards."

"Um... okay."

Chi Xiaoguo went to the equipment shelf and took down a Kodak camera.

"This camera is old, but it was a high-end model back in the day. It has autofocus, so it’s more suitable for a beginner like you."

Then, she skillfully opened the film box, pulled out the film, clipped it into the camera, closed the back cover, made a few minor adjustments, and handed it to Jiang Ran.

"There! Now, just like you said, you just need to aim and press the shutter! So... for your first-ever film photo, what are you going to take a picture of?"

"I’ll take a picture of you," Jiang Ran said, taking the camera.

"Huh!"

Chi Xiaoguo’s eyes widened.

"Y-you’re really something else! Taking on a difficult portrait right from the start!"

"But... I’m not a professional model, and I was in a hurry this morning, so I didn’t even dress up..."

"It’s fine."

Jiang Ran raised the camera, pressed his eye to the viewfinder, and aimed it at the girl bathed in the warm sunlight.

"That’s what makes it more meaningful—the fact that it’s real. Are you ready?"

"N-no!"

Chi Xiaoguo was a little flustered.

She waved her hands in a panic, turned to the glass of the bookshelf to fix the small bun on her head, and smoothed her bangs. Only then did she turn back and clear her throat twice.

"Ahem, okay. I’m ready now."

She looked a little stiff, unsure of how to pose, and just stood there with her hands in front of her, clutching the hem of her shirt.

"Okay, I’m taking the picture."

A hazy room, a hazy lens, a hazy orange light.

A hazy view, a hazy smile, a hazy girl.

Through the viewfinder of the old film camera, everything looked hazy.

But as Jiang Ran’s index finger rested on the springy shutter button, he felt that in this one instant... all the haziness was just right.

CLICK!

With the crisp sound of the shutter, his first-ever film photograph was taken.

He had to admit, the mechanical feedback of the shutter was completely different from taking a photo on a phone. It had a unique sense of ceremony, a unique preciousness.

"That’s it, right?"

"Yep."

Chi Xiaoguo took the camera back, her smile revealing two cute canine teeth.

"It’s a shame this isn’t a digital camera. You can’t see a preview until the photo is developed... It’s like opening a blind box."

"I’ll develop this photo later and give it to you! This is the very first picture you’ve ever taken with a film camera; it’s incredibly meaningful!"

"Sure," Jiang Ran replied casually.

’But...’

’I’ll never get to see it.’

It was a photograph that would never be seen, a blind box that would never be opened.

After the worldline shifted, this piece of history would cease to exist, and the photograph he had just taken would vanish along with it.

No one would ever know if the photo was clear, or how it turned out.

Everything would be buried in the unknown.

Jiang Ran glanced at his watch.

"It’s about time."

’It was time to say goodbye.’

He walked over to the lab bench and patted the Positron Cannon.

"Let’s... begin."