Genius Playground

He felt as if his heart was being squeezed. He couldn’t breathe, nearly suffocating.

Ten days in a row.

He hadn’t made a single mistake in the procedure. He’d tried every possibility.

But the Time SMS had failed to send every single time!

The world line hadn’t changed one bit!

There was no doubt.

Even though he had spent all these days desperately trying to avoid the truth.

The evidence was overwhelming...

’The Positron Cannon... it really seems to be broken.’

This wasn’t a malfunction that could be repaired. The problem was with the Positron Cannon itself—its very core component was broken. That was why the Time SMS couldn’t be sent.

’Was it... that dent in the casing?’

Most likely.

The accidental impact in the university warehouse must have damaged one of the Positron Cannon’s core components.

While the damage didn’t stop the Positron Cannon from running, it prevented it from sending messages to the past, unlike on World Line 0.

’What do I do?’

’What do I do?’

Jiang Ran was frantic, terrified.

’If I can’t send a Time SMS to the past... then there’s no way to save Cheng Mengxue!’

Changing the past, changing history—it was the only way to bring Cheng Mengxue back from the dead.

And now, that path was cut off at the source.

He couldn’t save Cheng Mengxue.

He couldn’t save Cheng Mengxue.

’Just like that... is Cheng Mengxue truly, forever... dead?’

"Senior!!"

Chi Xiaoguo shouted, running from around the corner of the club activities building.

She looked frantic, running so fast that the two little Nezha buns in her hair had come undone. Her shoulder-length hair fell loose, fluttering around her ears.

"Senior!"

She panted as she ran up to the transformer box.

Her face was flushed as she bent over, hands on her knees. She struggled to lift her head and look at Jiang Ran, who was slumped on the ground.

"Senior, it... failed again? Don’t... don’t be so upset."

Chi Xiaoguo reached out to comfort Jiang Ran, but she quickly pulled her hand back as if she’d received an electric shock, feeling it was inappropriate.

Pursing her lips, she squatted in front of Jiang Ran.

’She didn’t understand. It was just one failed experiment. Why was her senior so devastated?’

’It was as if what had failed wasn’t the experiment, but his entire life.’

Chi Xiaoguo couldn’t understand.

’She didn’t even know what experiment her senior was so obsessed with.’

’She knew nothing about it, and she had never asked.’

’She could clearly sense it was her senior’s secret. And if it was a secret, he obviously wouldn’t want anyone else to know too much about it.’

’Otherwise...’

’Why else would her senior, someone who wasn’t even a student, be so invested in the East Sea University Film Club?’

’She might not understand the experiment, but she wasn’t clueless about people.’

At this moment, watching Jiang Ran slumped on the ground in such sorrow and despair, her heart ached with empathy.

But she wasn’t some all-powerful being. All she could do was watch him suffer, completely unable to help.

This powerlessness made her feel even more guilty.

"Senior..."

Her voice was soft, devoid of energy or strength.

’No.’

’I have to do something!’

’My senior is collapsed on the ground like he’s dead. I have to get him to pull himself together!’

Suddenly, Chi Xiaoguo thought of the fluffy little doll she had just attached to her keychain.

Immediately, she plunged her left hand into her pocket. From her keychain, she pulled out a fluffy, brilliant blue Rhine Cat doll whose fur stood on end as if it had been electrocuted, and held it out in front of Jiang Ran.

"Senior... have you heard the story of the Rhine Cat?"

As if a switch had been flipped, Jiang Ran slowly lifted his head...

’Rhine... Cat?’

He opened his eyes and stared at the doll in Chi Xiaoguo’s hand. It was so familiar it made him feel dazed.

It was a dopey-looking cat head.

It was the head of a Rhine Cat—just a head, cute and comical.

It was a round, plump, blue plush head, its fur appearing to crackle with electricity.

He had seen this Rhine Cat before.

’Obviously.’

’This is...’

"The Time Particle Rhine Cat."

Chi Xiaoguo’s eyes widened.

She was stunned. She would never have guessed that her senior, Jiang Ran, was such an expert!

"Yes, yes, yes!"

She nodded hastily.

"That’s right, Senior, this is the Time Particle Rhine Cat! You’re so knowledgeable!"

"Ah, what I meant to say was... see, in the Rhine Cat’s backstory, the cats worked so hard to get this time particle. They sacrificed many of their companions and failed time and time again..."

"Senior Jiang Ran, I don’t know what kind of experiment you’re doing, but I think the lesson on facing failure is the same."

"The Rhine Cats have a famous saying for their companions—"

"’There are some things where it doesn’t matter if you fail a thousand, ten thousand, or even a hundred million times. All that matters is being right just once, at the most critical moment. That’s enough.’"

Chi Xiaoguo said firmly, imitating the Rhine Cat’s voice:

"’For some things, you only need to succeed once... to save the whole world!’"

...

The sun had fully risen, shining over the whole world.

In the brilliant light, Chi Xiaoguo held the sacred Time Particle Rhine Cat in her palm.

"Senior, maybe the experiment you haven’t succeeded at yet is the same."

"Maybe the time for it to succeed hasn’t come yet, but you just have to wait for that time. You only need to succeed once... and that will be enough."

Jiang Ran lifted his head.

Backlit by the sun, Chi Xiaoguo’s hair, now free of its two buns, seemed to overlap with the memory of Cheng Mengxue’s short hair.

The Time Particle Rhine Cat in her hand seemed to truly travel through time, pulling that other gentle, cheerful girl from her world-line grave... It transformed into light, draping over Chi Xiaoguo and reflecting in Jiang Ran’s eyes.

They were smiling.

They held out the Time Particle Rhine Cat.

"So, let’s try one more time. Can we?"

"So, let’s try one more time. Can we?"