Qin Feng

"Ah!"

Two seconds later, the dizziness faded, gravity returned, and everything stabilized.

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Jiang Ran gasped and opened his eyes.

Where...

was he?

Looking at the completely unfamiliar scene before him, he understood that the shift in the Worldline had changed his location again.

But this wasn't a dormitory, a clubroom, a hospital, or anywhere familiar.

He looked left and right, taking in his surroundings.

A TV, a tea table, a wardrobe, a carpet, white bedsheets, an electronic clock...

Was this a hotel room?

It seemed so.

The furnishings looked a lot like a hotel room's, except the room was much larger.

The lights were off.

Only the electronic clock cast a faint glow.

Luckily, only the sheer curtains had been drawn. Moonlight spilled in, accompanied by a gentle breeze and the chirping of cicadas. It let Jiang Ran see the room's furnishings while also giving him a taste of summer's coolness.

"Qin Feng."

He suddenly realized that he didn't have time to worry about his surroundings. He had to find Qin Feng as soon as possible!

Clearly, Qin Feng had planned this for a long time, tricking him with a series of performances and schemes.

He'd thought that as long as he took Qin Feng's phone and sent the message himself, he could avoid any risks.

But he never imagined...

Qin Feng had really thought everything through, anticipating every possibility and hiding another phone in his pocket!

It was an old-fashioned button phone, about the size of a basic phone for seniors.

But the good thing about this kind of phone was that it had physical buttons. Even if he couldn't see it inside his pocket, he could still accurately press the send button.

Thinking back to the meaningful look Qin Feng had given him just as the countdown ended... Jiang Ran felt awful.

Why?

Why had he lied to him?

He'd already promised Qin Feng that as long as the Spacetime Bulletin was sent to a date within a month, he'd agree to anything—whatever the message said, whatever it was meant to change.

With that promise, was there any need to hide it from him?

"I'll call him first."

As he spoke, Jiang Ran took out his phone.

A Spacetime Bulletin sent just ten days into the past could only cause a limited Spacetime Butterfly Effect. He wasn't worried that the course of history would change on a large scale.

But...

"Huh?"

He scrolled through his contacts and WeChat twice.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Why wasn't Qin Feng's number there?

That was impossible.

They were inseparable and talked on the phone constantly every day. How could he not have Qin Feng's contact information?

Not just ten days ago...

Even back in high school, years ago, the two of them had chatted every day without fail.

"That's strange."

The eerie feeling came over him again, as if an invisible hand had reached through the window screen and clamped around his heart.

At any rate, he should contact Cheng Mengxue first.

Jiang Ran furrowed his brows.

After the Worldline had changed, he had no memories of this new Worldline at all.

His top priority was to contact Cheng Mengxue and sync their memories.

However...

Nothing!

There was nothing there either!

His phone didn't even have Cheng Mengxue's contact information!

This was ridiculous.

They were childhood friends who'd been playing together since they were in diapers. Anyone could have lost Cheng Mengxue's number—anyone but him.

"What kind of joke is this..."

A chill ran down Jiang Ran's spine, and all sorts of ominous forebodings crept into his mind.

No.

No matter what message Qin Feng had secretly sent, the Positron Cannon had ultimately been operated by Cheng Mengxue, and the message's send date was locked ten days in the past.

So no matter how the Worldline changed, at most it could alter the history of those ten days.

Just ten short days.

Had he and Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue really fallen out, blocked each other, and deleted one another as friends?

"What on earth is going on?"

Jiang Ran was completely at a loss.

No.

He had to get in touch with someone he knew as soon as possible. Anyone would do.

He checked his call history.

On the first page, he found three calls to Wang Hao.

Good.

Wang Hao would do too.

They'd had barbecue together just two days ago.

Though that barbecue might not have happened on this entirely new Worldline, at least Wang Hao himself existed.

They'd been classmates in neighboring classes in middle school, then classmates in high school, where Wang Hao had been their class monitor.

Since they'd talked on the phone often, that meant their relationship was still there.

Without a moment's hesitation, he called Wang Hao.

The phone rang for a long time. Jiang Ran unconsciously rubbed the bedsheet, hoping Wang Hao would answer soon.

Finally.

"Hello..."

Wang Hao sounded half-asleep on the other end.

"What is it, bro...? Why're you calling so late...? You guys still not done playing?"

Playing?

Playing what?

"Do you have Qin Feng's number? Send it to me." Jiang Ran ignored the irrelevant questions and got straight to the point.

"Qin Feng?"

Wang Hao sounded confused.

"Who?"

Jiang Ran froze.

"Qin Feng from our high school class! The top student in our year, the provincial top scorer on the college entrance exam, the Olympiad champion—the genius everyone at school knew about."

"Never heard of him."

Wang Hao's tone was calm.

"I've never heard of that person. He definitely wasn't in our class... We never had anyone like that in high school."

"How could we not!"

Jiang Ran scratched his head.

"In high school, Qin Feng, Little Xue, and I hung out together every day—"

"Fuck! You little shit!"

Wang Hao let out a pig-like squeal.

"The one who hung out with you two every day was me! The three of us hung out together every day, remember? The unbreakable trio, you bastard!"

"And another thing, I'm not fucking called Qin Feng! Jiang Ran, did you call me in the middle of the night just to piss me off?"

"Oh, oh, I get it. You're playing Truth or Dare, right? That's so unfair! You don't invite me to the party, then you pick on me during the game!"

Jiang Ran's palms were sweating.

He was confused, taken aback, and completely in the dark.

It was true that he and Wang Hao had gotten along well in high school, but... that didn't mean he could simply ignore Qin Feng's existence!

Why does it seem like Qin Feng's existence has been erased on this Worldline? Not a trace left behind?

He wasn't in Jiang Ran's contacts.

He wasn't part of the trio.

He wasn't in Wang Hao's memories.

He wasn't even among their high school classmates!

Where had Qin Feng gone...?

"Wang Hao, I need to find Qin Feng about something extremely urgent. It's very serious, so don't joke around with me."

Jiang Ran's tone was grave.

"If this is some kind of prank or practical joke, stop it right now and send me Qin Feng's number immediately!"

He emphasized it again.

"Aw, fuck, why are you being so annoying tonight!"

Wang Hao sounded clearly impatient on the other end.

"Why the hell would I lie to you! I'm asleep in the dorm, having a nice dream in the middle of the night. Why would I have time to play around with you?"

"I'm telling you loud and clear: no! No! There is no phone number for any Qin Feng! And there is no person called Qin Feng!"

"I was our class monitor in high school. You think I don't know who was in our class? I could recite the class list backward! There was absolutely no one called Qin Feng!"

"You could dig my brain out and I still couldn't find anyone the hell called Qin Feng!"

Faced with Wang Hao's shouting, Jiang Ran gradually calmed down too.

Wang Hao wasn't the kind of person who'd push a joke too far. Even when he was joking, he knew where to draw the line.

And now he'd been badgered into swearing. Knowing Wang Hao, that meant he really wasn't lying or trying to deceive him.

This was a problem.

Jiang Ran's heart began to race.

What had that message sent ten days into the past said?

Why had someone as real as Qin Feng vanished from the world, and from their lives?

No matter how he tried, Jiang Ran couldn't make sense of the spacetime logic behind it.

But if Wang Hao insisted he didn't know Qin Feng, there was no point in talking to him any longer.

He should contact Cheng Mengxue instead.

After all, they were childhood friends who'd grown up together, and they were both in on the secret of the Spacetime Bulletin. It would be easier to talk things through with her.

Wang Hao had just said that in high school, the trio had been him, Jiang Ran, and Cheng Mengxue.

Though Jiang Ran didn't know why Wang Hao had taken Qin Feng's place.

At least that meant Cheng Mengxue's life hadn't changed.

"I'm not going to argue with you about this anymore."

Jiang Ran cut off Wang Hao's grumbling.

"Forget about Qin Feng. You still have Little Xue's contact information, right?"

"Send me Little Xue's number right now."