Reality Programming Association

Chapter 118: Chapter 49: ”Rabbit Hole” Strategy Seminar

The night had grown late. After chatting a bit more and saying his goodbyes to Senior Sister Yiyi, Yu Xian opened his umbrella and stepped out of the apartment building.

He caught the last subway train and made his way back to his cousin’s place.

When he pushed the door open, the apartment was pitch black.

Yu Xian paused in surprise. By the faint moonlight filtering through the window, he saw a police jacket tossed onto the sofa, yet to be hung up. The bedroom door was slightly ajar, and soft, rhythmic snoring drifted from within.

He wondered if his cousin was actually already asleep.

Yu Xian thought back. Ever since he had moved in, his cousin—a pillar of the criminal investigation detachment—had either stayed out all night or returned only to review case files in the living room until dawn. He quietly walked over to the master bedroom door and peeked inside. His cousin was sprawled across the bed, the blanket only covering a corner of his body.

He must have been exhausted.

It started with the bizarre ”smiling suicide case,” followed by Professor Gao’s strange suicide. Right after that came the once-in-a-century rainstorm, the subsequent floods, and the grueling disaster relief efforts. On top of it all, the police had to deal with displaced residents using the chaos to cause trouble.

Even a man made of iron couldn’t withstand such a grueling grind.

Yu Xian didn’t turn on the lights; he simply pulled the bedroom door shut with a gentle click. After a quick wash, he slipped under the covers in the guest bedroom. Out of habit, he tuned in to a radio station and drifted off to sleep to the sound of the rain.

Sunday morning.

Outside the window, the rain went PIT-PAT against the glass. While it was no longer the suffocating torrential downpour of the past few days, a dense drizzle still shrouded the entire city. ℴ

BUZZ! Yu Xian was jolted awake by the vibration of his phone on the pillow. Groggy, he reached out from under the covers and grabbed the device, squinting at the glaring light of the screen.

The message count in the ”Crazy Thursday (4)” group chat had already hit ”99+.”

He wondered if these people ever slept on the weekends. Rubbing his sleep-crusted eyes, Yu Xian tapped into the chat and was instantly flooded by a screen full of stickers and memes.

Scrolling to the very top, he finally figured out what had started it all. Wen Xiao had sent the unnamed ”multi-hop relay communication software” to Shao Yiyi and Shi Zuozhou, asking them to help beta test it and offer some feedback.

But just two minutes later, Shao Yiyi had replied with an angry child sticker.

”@Uncertainty Robot, Xiaoxiao! You better explain this! Who is this person!”

Right below the message was a screenshot of the app’s node list. The map only showed four nodes. Shockingly, the one ranked first in node connection duration was the exact string of the public key ID Yu Xian had sent over the previous day.

AAA Divine Calculation Immortal (Turned Evil) sent an angry tirade:

”Why is Brother Cos the second user while I’m only the third!

”My feelings have been betrayed! All these years of being besties, and I still lose out to that computer repair guy!

”Did you secretly give it to him way earlier? Just when did Brother Cos install this thing?!”

Following that was a rapid-fire string of ”loudly crying,” ”broken heart,” and ”clown” emojis.

Gala Mu Gaoshou couldn’t resist fanning the flames, sending a voice note where he sang completely off-key: ”Do you love me or him? I’d rather hear a cruel answer than be played for a fool!”

Never one to let a good drama go to waste, he followed it up with a few mocking messages about ”favoring the new flame while abandoning the old.”

The two goofballs were acting like absolute drama queens; they could have easily starred in an imperial harem soap opera.

Yu Xian stared at his screen, unable to suppress a smirk. His lingering drowsiness all but vanished.

Uncertainty Robot hadn’t replied at all. It was highly likely that the two girls—both sporting twin buns—were currently duking it out in real life. Yu Xian could easily picture the scene: Over in the North Campus girls’ dormitory, Shao Yiyi would be wearing a look of sheer, melodramatic betrayal, while Wen Xiao was undoubtedly scrambling to coax her theatrical bestie.

Sure enough, about ten minutes later, Shao Yiyi’s attitude took a sudden 180-degree turn, even before Wen Xiao sent a single message.

”Brother Cos, Xiaoxiao said you only got the beta version! I’m the official first user of the final release! This Empress shall forgive you this time, Concubine Xiaoxiao!”

Uncertainty Robot instantly replied with a ”Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty” sticker.

The lively banter among the group made Yu Xian feel significantly more relaxed. He typed a quick reply: ”Morning.”

”Yo, Beta Tester Number Two is finally awake? Morning, Old Yu,” Gala Mu Gaoshou replied instantly.

Wen Xiao finally chimed in. ”Yiyi and I just tested it across the dorm hallway, but the Bluetooth signal kept cutting in and out. If we want this to work as a proper communication tool, we simply don’t have enough nodes right now.”

Shi Zuozhou sent an excited message. ”Don’t worry, you can leave that to me... and Old Yu! But first things first, we need to give this app a killer name!”

Yu Xian replied with an ”Agreed” sticker. It was true—a name like ’Multi-Hop Relay Communication Software Test_v0.1’ was definitely terrible for marketing.

”As the ancients said, ’If the name is not right, the words will not ring true. And if the words don’t ring true...’ then no one will download it! Let’s brainstorm, everyone!” Shi Zuozhou rallied the chat.

Yu Xian thought for a moment before typing out the name he had come up with the previous night.

”How about ’Beacon Tower’? The meaning behind it is that this point-to-point signal transmission acts like the ancient beacon fires—relaying critical information during a crisis and connecting isolated islands.”

Shi Zuozhou replied with a sweat-drop emoji. ”...Old Yu, aren’t you sounding a bit too much like a boomer? That sounds like some boring educational app, right up there with ’Xuexitong’. What college student in their right mind would download an app called ’Beacon Tower’?”

Yu Xian’s mouth twitched. He quickly recalled the message.

”If you ask me, we should call it ’D-Mail’! This is the choice of Steins Gate! El Psy Congroo!”

The chat went silent for two seconds. Yu Xian had to look it up before realizing it was a reference to a highly-rated anime. He was beginning to suspect that out of the four so-called ”JCU Otaku Enthusiasts,” there was only one actual otaku.