Reality Programming Association

Chapter 135: Chapter 56: Free Lunch and a Single Spark

Tuesday morning. The alarm went off right on time at six thirty.

Yu Xian and Shi Zuozhou shot up from their beds at almost the exact same time, their movements perfectly synchronized as they reached to turn off their phones.

The world returned to silence, save for the endless sound of rain outside the window.

As Yu Xian got dressed, he glanced over at Zhang Yang and Li Boxue’s bunks. Both blackout curtains remained dead still. There was no sign whatsoever that either of them was waking up.

”Should we wake them for class?” Yu Xian frowned, looking at Shi Zuozhou.

”If I wake them up, they’ll just curse me out again,” Shi Zuozhou said, holding his washbasin. He looked like a man who had already learned his lesson the hard way.

Yu Xian grabbed his own toothbrush cup, wondering how those two managed to end their dreams. The alarm clearly had no effect on them. Weren’t they afraid of being late? Or failing their classes? Or did that ”bus” audio track have some kind of customizable ”arrival time”?

”Just ignore them, Old Yu. They’re both slumber immortals,” Shi Zuozhou muttered, dragging Yu Xian off to the washroom.

***

Their morning class was Situation and Policy. The main building’s largest lecture hall was packed to the brim.

A massive class of two or three hundred people was the perfect place to slack off and catch up on sleep. The students in the audience were nodding off in droves. Over in a corner by the wall, however, Shi Zuozhou was practically bouncing off the walls with energy.

He had opened a satellite map of JCU on his laptop and circled several spots in red digital ink.

”Old Yu, look,” he said, nudging Yu Xian with his elbow and tilting the screen toward him. ”These are the spots I’ve scouted over the past two days. Aside from the library, the equipment in these locations is prime real estate.”

Yu Xian stared at the dense cluster of red circles on the map. In addition to the security booth and the dorm manager’s office they had discussed earlier, there was the cafeteria top-up counter, the self-service printers in the second main building, the campus coffee shop, and the 24-hour study hall. There were even high-traffic areas like the teachers’ offices, the student union office, and the campus broadcasting station.

”All of these places have computers, and they see a lot of foot traffic. As long as we can lay down nodes in these locations, Rabbit Hole will be able to cover more than half the campus.”

Yu Xian nodded. ”I don’t have any classes this afternoon. I’ll go with you.”

”You’re coming too?” Shi Zuozhou asked, a bit surprised. Then, he let out a sly chuckle. ”Alright! Then the two of us will be the Black and White Twin... No, wait, the Male and Female... Gah, never mind! I mean, we’ll be an unstoppable duo uniting our twin swords!”

Yu Xian ignored him. Truthfully, he still harbored some concerns about security. Even though the recent storm had blown over, and even though this ”You’re Naughty” tool was incredibly powerful, the school had clearly beefed up its security. Patrolling security guards could be seen everywhere. If they were caught, they would be in massive trouble.

***

When class ended at noon, the students swarmed out of the lecture hall in a noisy clamor, like birds released from a cage.

Caught in the crowd, Yu Xian and Shi Zuozhou followed the stream of people down the stairs to the first-floor lobby of the main building. The normally spacious lobby was completely jam-packed. A dense sea of people was crowded together, layered three-deep in every direction.

Not even the rain outside could dampen the students’ enthusiasm; many shoved their way inside before they had even closed their umbrellas, leaving the lobby floor covered in muddy footprints.

”Could it be Mr. Su coming to promote his *Life of Subtraction* again?” Yu Xian joked.

Shi Zuozhou’s penchant for joining in on the fun was instantly triggered. He grabbed Yu Xian and shoved his way into the crowd. ”Come on, come on! Let’s go take a look!”

Yu Xian let himself be dragged along, struggling to squeeze through the throng of students. Excited chatter and gasps of amazement filled the air around them. After finally pushing his way to the front, Yu Xian saw what everyone was gathered around.

It was a series of long tables pushed together, draped in Deep Blue velvet. Roll-up banners and display boards stood nearby. Several staff members in matching uniforms were busily handing out flyers and... gifts?

”Come on over! Scan the QR code, follow our page, fill out a short questionnaire, and agree to upload anonymous health monitoring data to receive one of our newest smart health-monitoring wristbands! Spots are limited, so it’s first come, first served!” a staff member shouted, holding up a QR code sign.

”What is it?” Shi Zuozhou stood on his tiptoes, trying hard to make out what was on the display stand. ”A smart wristband?”

Yu Xian looked over as well. It wasn’t an ordinary wristband. It looked more like a smart watch with a minimalist design.

Devoid of any complicated dials or buttons, the entire watch body consisted of a seamless, flexible curved screen. Perhaps this design was what led Shi Zuozhou to mistake it for a wristband. The students around them who had already received one were eagerly tearing open the packaging to put it on. The device looked like a pool of clear black water, or a piece of premium dark jade.

Through the rotating display case, one could see a coin-sized, finely textured metal patch embedded inside the liquid silicone strap.

The roll-up banner next to the tables highlighted the product’s core selling points in bold, eye-catching text:

”A Next-Generation Biosensing Technology: Microneedle Array Patch.”

”Painless, Non-invasive, Imperceptible. Wear It and Test.”

”Real-Time Monitoring of Multiple Physiological Indicators: Blood Glucose, Cortisol, Neurotransmitter Levels... Health is at Your Fingertips.”

At the top of the adjacent display board was the name of the company:

”Yinuo Biotechnology (Enoch Bioscience)”

Below the name was a dazzling list of titles and endorsements:

”Founded in 1920,” ”Advisory Board of Nobel Prize Laureates,” ”Global Leader in the Field of Vital Sign Monitoring,” ”Strategic Partner of the WHO”...

Followed by rows of shining golden award icons:

”Red Dot Design Award,” ”International Medical Device Innovation Gold Award,” ”FDA Certification,” ”European Union CE Certification,” ”100ATM Diving-Grade Waterproofing”...

It certainly looked like a prestigious international tech giant with profound expertise and top-tier technology.