Fan Tao Got Stuck in the Wall

"The text test passed! Let's test multiplayer connectivity next. Who wants to come in and try? Let's see if two users can meet?" Song He wrote.

Fan Tao immediately came in. Considering the delay, Boss, you might have to wait about half an hour in the dream. A moment later, a reply appeared on the blackboard.

"While we wait, I'll test Dream Creation. If you see any changes in the data, tell me immediately," Song He wrote.

After writing that, he casually found a desk and sat down. He took a deep breath and began crossing his eyes!

He stared fixedly at the empty desktop and imagined with all his might!

The air above the desk quivered, and the faint phantom of a sphere appeared. It was not solid, as though it might dissipate like smoke at any moment.

Song He gritted his teeth and crossed his eyes with all his strength. The phantom sphere gradually became more solid, changing from hazy transparent air to red. It had a depression in the middle—it was unmistakably an apple!

The apple slowly took shape. It took a full seven or eight minutes, and Song He was nearly dizzy by the time it finally solidified into a real apple!

He breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the apple, and took a bite.

After he finished eating it, chalk writing appeared on the blackboard.

Boss, the backend data shows that you created an apple and then ate it, right?

Dream Creation was also an important function. As long as users calmed down in the dream and desperately imagined an object, they could successfully create the data. Once the Dream Control Helmet detected it, it would automatically send signals to help stabilize the new object.

It sounded great. You could create something out of nothing just by imagining it.

But after trying it just now, Song He discovered that it was extraordinarily difficult. A mere apple had taken seven or eight minutes to form, and he could not let his attention waver for even a moment during the process. The slightest distraction would cause the forming apple to collapse instantly!

Song He stood up and wrote on the blackboard, "That's right. I made an apple, but it was too difficult! Was the data volume enormous?"

The data volume piled up very high and hit a direct peak. It was probably a third of the data needed to create the entire classroom. If generating an apple is already this difficult, generating other things will be even harder.

I think Dream Creation is a pretty useless feature. Users will get exhausted making small things, and if all users keep creating things in their dreams, the data volume will become unbearable. It will be a heavy burden on both the helmets and the servers.

We might as well cancel Dream Creation entirely and use the saved computing power to strengthen other areas. If users want something in their dreams, they can enter it into the helmet before going to sleep next time. It will be there as soon as they enter the dream. That's more convenient and doesn't take up computing power.

"Lou Jinghui, you're being a little dumb," Song He wrote quickly.

"Just add a Vending Machine function. Put a Vending Machine in every user's dream and attach a Text Communication Module to it."

"If users want something in their dreams, they can type it into the Vending Machine. It can communicate with the server through a tiny data stream, and then the server can directly create the item for the user. That'll be much easier than having users force themselves to create things with their minds!"

"Make the Vending Machine paid. I don't even dare imagine how much money this function will make!"

"It should be easy to implement. The Restaurant Module and Scenic Area Module we're developing already have sales functions. We just need to reskin them."

Boss, that idea is incredible! We'll immediately study how to make the Vending Machine!

Song He smiled. This was called engineering thinking.

There could be many ways to achieve the same function. Change the method a little, and enormous difficulties could be overcome while saving huge amounts of cost and time!

To screw in a lightbulb, some people carried up a ladder, climbed it, and twisted it in with a turn of their wrist. Others stood on the ladder holding the bulb while four people underneath lifted and rotated the ladder.

"Why hasn't Fan Tao arrived yet? Does she have to dawdle this much?" Song He looked around the classroom and couldn't help writing on the blackboard.

"I'm here, Boss! I'm here!" Fan Tao's voice suddenly rang out.

Song He whipped around, his gaze sweeping the entire classroom, but it was empty. There wasn't even a shadow in sight.

He shuddered inwardly. Where was she?

"Above you!" Fan Tao's voice rang out again.

Song He looked up, cried out in fright, and staggered back two steps.

Fan Tao was hanging upside down from the ceiling. Her long hair hung down like Sadako's, her waist embedded in the wall, with only her upper body dangling below like a giant human chandelier.

Her loose white T-shirt kept sliding downward, exposing her pale little waist and black lace bra. She futilely tried to pull her shirt down several times, then gave up. It was only a dream anyway. If she was handing out benefits, then so be it.

"I'm stuck in the wall!" Fan Tao looked helpless as she reached up and pushed hard against the ceiling. "My legs are stuck inside the wall. I can't get them out!"

"How can someone get stuck in a wall?" Song He asked in shock.

"I don't know! I opened my eyes and I was already like this!" Fan Tao grimaced. "I never thought I'd get to experience being used as a living foundation stake in this lifetime. It doesn't hurt, but I can't pull my legs out."

"It might be a minor bug. Nothing serious. The program was just written, so it can only run for now. It isn't perfected yet." Song He smiled. "Don't panic. Being able to enter the dream and see me is already a victory! I'll have Lou Jinghui fix the bug for you!"

He wrote on the blackboard, asking Lou Jinghui to hurry up and fix it.

It is a minor bug. Don't panic, it'll be fixed in no time! Lou Jinghui replied five minutes later.

Fan Tao swayed as she hung upside down from the ceiling, her entire face flushed red from being inverted for so long.

"What's it like being stuck in the ceiling?" Song He asked.

"I'm a little dizzy. It feels like the blood pressure in my head is high." Fan Tao sounded helpless. "Why is Team Leader Lou taking so long to fix one bug? If I hang here any longer, I'll get a nosebleed."

"Don't imagine that your blood pressure is high. Your state is shaped by your imagination. A dream isn't a material world; it's a world of the mind," Song He said. "Imagine that your head isn't congested with blood. Truly believe it, and you'll feel better!"

"I can't do it. I can't fool myself! When I studied dance as a child, I practiced handstands against the wall. I know the feeling of blood rushing to my head too well!" Fan Tao said helplessly. "I can only..."

A terrified scream rang out as Fan Tao suddenly fell!

Song He reacted quickly, darting forward and extending his arms!

With a dull thud, Fan Tao crashed onto the concrete podium headfirst. Her neck snapped instantly, and her body bounced to one side, her limbs splayed out.

Song He was embarrassed. He had reacted too slowly and caught nothing but air.

Fan Tao's head was covered in blood. Her eyes were wide open as she stared at the ceiling, dead with her eyes unclosed.

"Are you still alive?" Song He reached out and patted her face.

There was no response. The corpse lay sprawled on the ground, scarlet blood slowly spreading into a pool beneath her head.

Song He sighed, turned around, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote:

"Good news: the stuck-in-the-wall bug has been fixed. Bad news: Fan Tao suddenly fell from the ceiling and died."

"Dying from the fall should be because of the Pain Protection Function, right? She disconnected as soon as it hurt. But now there's a problem—her corpse is still here."

"So there's more work to do. When multiple users are in the same Dream Space and one user disconnects, their physical body remains where it was. That definitely won't work!"

"We need another program so that a user's body automatically disappears after they disconnect, instead of staying in place like a puppet." Song He kept writing. "This test exposed far too many problems."

Boss, Fan Tao's corpse should be your cache.

Song He froze. Cache?

He suddenly understood, and his expression changed slightly.

In reality, Fan Tao had disappeared after disconnecting from the Dream Space. But he was not directly seeing the Dream Space—he was seeing the cache, which was why the corpse remained.

Song He removed the Dream Control Helmet and woke up.

Numerous White Coats surrounded him, applauding wildly to celebrate the world's first successful Dream Network connection!

But Song He only smiled briefly, then made a stop gesture and said seriously, "That test just now made me think of a fatal problem!"