Reality Programming Association

Chapter 124: Chapter 51: Super Node and Sleeping Rabbit

It had to be said that although Wen Xiao had been a bit emotional earlier, her efficiency and professionalism were absolutely impeccable. The code she wrote was clear and tightly logical. She had even thoughtfully attached a batch script to help Yu Xian save time on operations.

Sitting up straight, he began an entire afternoon of tedious ”cleanup” and data-moving work.

...

The whole afternoon passed just like that, accompanied by the sound of rain outside his window and the steady clicking of his mouse and keyboard. He was like a scavenger roaming through the digital world, picking up those audio files scattered across group chats, forums, and cloud drives one by one, and wiping them clean. For cloud drives alone, he had purchased premium memberships across three different platforms.

As the downloaded resources piled up, Yu Xian looked at the dazzling array of wildly varied script names in the folder. He couldn’t help but be utterly in awe of the imagination and wild creativity of this generation of college students.

The DLCs for *Midnight Bus* had already spawned over a dozen versions:

*Midnight Bus: Fast and Furious DLC*

*Midnight Bus: Final Destination DLC*

*Midnight Bus: Lost on Journey DLC*

*Midnight Bus: Reset Loop DLC*

There was nothing they couldn’t make, only things you couldn’t imagine. Besides those, there were all sorts of outrageous versions:

*Hogwartz Opening Ceremony: I am an Eastern Daoist Transfer Student*

*Tifa and Aerith: Please, Stop Fighting Over Me*

*The Domineering CEO Falls for Me: Immersive Voice Coaxing to Sleep in a Dream within a Dream*

*Harem: Doraemon, Shizuka, Nobita, Suneo, and Gian Taking Turns*

There was even:

The *Advanced Mathematics: Scoring Perfect Marks in a Dream* series.

Yu Xian clicked into the comment section. Many people had left reviews like, ”As expected, closing my eyes while studying is incredibly comfortable,” and, ”Tested and confirmed effective: I woke up even more tired.”

”Desire truly is the ultimate driving force...” Yu Xian muttered to himself while operating the unpacking software.

These scripts were like mirrors, reflecting the deepest desires and most repressed urges of the students trapped within their ivory towers. Violence, lust, power, and escapism. The extended audio tracks derived from *Midnight Bus* merely gave them the keys to open the cage. The ones who truly let the beasts out were the students themselves.

Yu Xian’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Unpacking, extracting, injecting, repackaging, and signing—he did it all in one fell swoop. One by one, the ”wild” versions that potentially hid fatal dangers went through this assembly line. They were transformed into ”safe” dreams that, while still addictive, were at least no longer lethal.

Watching the file count in the ”Originals” folder steadily decrease as the count in the ”Finished” folder grew, Yu Xian surprisingly felt a sense of accomplishment, akin to defusing a bomb.

Just then, the phone on the desk suddenly vibrated, breaking Yu Xian’s flow state. Caller ID: Shi Zuozhou.

”Hello, Old Shi? How’s the situation?” Yu Xian rubbed his slightly aching neck.

”Old Yu! You can always count on me!” Shi Zuozhou kept his voice very low. ”I just took a lap around the campus and scoped out a few spots. I found several candidate devices for super nodes! It’s practically paved with gold out here!”

”Where are they?”

”The best one is the electronic reading room in the library. I’m right there now,” Shi Zuozhou said stealthily. ”There are several rows of computers here specifically meant for research. Although the specs are average, their advantage is that they’re on twenty-four hours a day with a stable network connection. As long as we leave the program running in the background...”

He chuckled. ”Then it’ll become a never-disconnecting signal tower for this area! Plus, it’s located in a corner, so the security cameras probably won’t catch it!”

”Not bad. Any others?” Yu Xian said approvingly.

”There’s also the security office’s monitoring room, which is never turned off either... I just chatted with the security guard for ten minutes. They have a shift change soon. As long as we do it when he’s not paying attention... hehe.”

”That’s too easy to expose, isn’t it? The security room has its own cameras,” Yu Xian said worriedly.

”Then how about the duty rooms of the dorm managers in every dormitory building! Those computers are basically just for show. They’re never turned off all year round, and they’re located right at the entrance of every building! They’re practically natural relay stations!”

On Shi Zuozhou’s end, it sounded as if he was actively being kicked out of the library.

”That could work!” Yu Xian’s eyes lit up. Shi Zuozhou usually looked like a careless guy, but unexpectedly, he was actually quite adept at this kind of ”espionage work.”

”The locations are good, and they’re stealthy enough...” Yu Xian mused. ”But there’s a problem.”

”What problem?”

”How are you going to install the node software on them?” Yu Xian asked. ”Whether it’s the library, the security room, or the dorm managers’ duty rooms, the management might be lax, but they’re still public places. You can’t exactly blatantly walk over, sit down, plug in a USB drive, open the installation package, configure the environment, and set it to run in the background... That whole process would take at least ten minutes.”

Yu Xian pictured the scene in his mind. ”During those ten minutes, if someone walks by and glances at the screen, or if the person on duty comes back... you’ll be exposed.”

The other end of the line fell silent for a few seconds.

”Hiss... Now that you mention it, Old Yu, that is indeed a hassle,” Shi Zuozhou smacked his lips. ”If I really had to operate it like I was fixing a computer, I’d probably get tossed out by the admin as a suspicious person before I even finished installing. So what do we do?”

”We’re completely out of our depth here. We need to ask an expert.”

”Ask Wen Xiao?”

Yu Xian let out a bitter smile. It was easy to say, but the problem was... Wen Xiao was still furious with them.

”I’ll talk to her,” Yu Xian agreed, biting the bullet. ”Keep scouting. Even if we secure these few spots, it probably still won’t be enough.”

Hanging up with Shi Zuozhou, Yu Xian stared at the pixel art kitten avatar on his screen, his heart pounding with apprehension. He scratched his head and braced himself before sending a message: ”Wen Xiao, are you there?”

Five minutes passed. No reply.

”It’s like this, I have a technical issue that needs your support. Is it convenient to call?”

Ten minutes passed. No reply.

”Old Shi found a few candidate machines for super nodes, but they’re all public computers. There’s no way to operate on them for a long time to install everything. Do you have any good ideas?”

Thirty minutes passed. No reply.

The messages he sent had seemingly dropped into a bottomless pit. Yu Xian sighed and checked the time. It was seven in the evening. Outside his window, the sky was gloomy, and a light drizzle fell with a soft PITTER-PATTER.

”Is she still mad...” Yu Xian muttered softly.

He massaged his temples. True enough. If it were him, and his best friend was distrusted by someone else, he would definitely feel uncomfortable too. Being caught in the middle like that really didn’t feel good.

”Should I... go explain it in person?” he wondered.

Yu Xian thought it over. It was exactly dinner time, so he might as well buy some good food, head over to JCU, treat her to a meal, and clear the air while he was at it. After all, the launch of the *Rabbit Hole* was imminent. Bringing this awkward emotional baggage into their work would inevitably become a hidden danger sooner or later.

At this thought, he picked up his phone and dialed Wen Xiao’s number.

BEEP—BEEP—BEEP—

No answer.

He called again, but still, there was no answer. Yu Xian’s heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t answering the phone?

This was getting a bit serious. Even if she was throwing a little temper tantrum, she shouldn’t be playing a disappearing act at a critical juncture like this. After a moment’s hesitation, he dialed Shao Yiyi’s number instead.

”Hello? Brother Cos? Why are you calling me?” On the other end of the line, Shao Yiyi kept her voice incredibly low, sneaking around as if she were a thief.

”Yiyi, is Wen Xiao next to you? I’ve been calling and texting her, but she hasn’t replied. It’s urgent,” Yu Xian said anxiously.

”Oh, Xiaoxiao? Let me check.” Shao Yiyi’s voice grew distant from the receiver. ”She’s sleeping.”

”Sleeping?” Yu Xian was taken aback, instinctively glancing at the time in the top right corner of his screen. What time was it? Seven in the evening?

Right now was obviously the most critical moment before the launch of *Rabbit Hole*. Everyone was gearing up for action—Shi Zuozhou was out scouting locations, and he himself was frantically moving resources. Yet Wen Xiao, the core developer... why was she fast asleep at a crucial time like this?

”She’s probably just exhausted from staying up late these past few days... but it is a bit weird. She went to bed way too early today,” Shao Yiyi murmured.

Yu Xian sighed. Wen Xiao’s all-nighters were inextricably linked to him. Everyone’s nerves had been strung far too tight lately. ”Alright, then let her sleep a bit more. If she wakes up, tell her to message me back as soon as possible.”

”Will do! Roger that, I guarantee I’ll complete the mission!”

Hanging up the phone, Yu Xian looked out at the hazy, rainy night, an ominous premonition gradually brewing in his heart.