Chapter 3: Infinite loop (3

3 - Infinite loop (3

Lin Xun explained the situation to Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiagou.

Zhao Jiagou was utterly confused. "A Turbo C interface appeared above our heads? How many years ago did that antique go out of style?"

Wang Anquan was even more bewildered. "The problem isn't that it's an antique; the problem is why you're having this kind of hallucination."

With that, he looked up at the space above his own head. "There's nothing there."

Lin Xun stared at the interface. "It’s definitely Turbo C. High definition, too."

He asked, "Lo, which department should I check into?"

The Goddess of the Luo River replied, "I have scheduled an appointment for you in the Psychiatry Department."

Wang Anquan burst out laughing. "A day trip to psychiatry, Lin Suanfa."

Zhao Jiagou’s voice was solemn, like a narrator for a science and education channel. "Lord Xun—a man who is extraordinary even in his illnesses."

The Jetta drove toward the nearest hospital.

In the consultation room sat a middle-aged doctor in a white coat. He asked kindly, "What’s the trouble?"

Lin Xun said, "I’m seeing hallucinations."

Halfway through his explanation, he saw the doctor frown and size him up. "How old are you? Twenty?"

Lin Xun replied, "Twenty-four."

"Still very young. You look young, too," the doctor said, typing information into his keyboard. "What do you do? Still a student?"

"No longer a student. I’m a programmer."

"A programmer, eh..." The doctor’s attitude became more cautious. "Programmers are quite prone to issues. Do the hallucinations have specific content?"

Lin Xun looked at the blank program interface above the doctor’s head. "I see a... something like a projection of a program input interface appearing above everyone’s head."

The doctor’s typing faltered. His expression became serious. "Is it clear?"

"Very clear."

"Any auditory hallucinations?"

"No."

"Any other hallucinations?"

"Never."

"History of mental illness?"

"None."

"How long has this been happening?"

"Since this morning."

"Your logic seems quite clear," the doctor said, turning his gaze toward Wang Anquan, who had accompanied him. "Does he usually exhibit strange behavior?"

Wang Anquan said, "No, he just spends all day programming on his computer."

"How is his mental state?"

"Quite energetic."

"What about his personality? Is he prone to extremes?"

Lin Xun thought, Am I that kind of person?

Then he heard Wang Anquan say, "A little bit."

Lin Xun: "..."

The doctor also let out a curious "Hmm?"

Wang Anquan scratched his head. "He’s a bit... the type who is very competitive. For example, if he can’t write a program, he’ll keep writing until it’s done. If someone else finishes it before him, he gets upset."

The doctor said, "That’s understandable."

He turned back to Lin Xun and asked, "Did anything trigger the sudden onset of these hallucinations?"

Lin Xun said, "I met my... idol today. I might have been a bit excited."

"Tsk." The doctor handed him a form. "Let’s do an assessment first."

Lin Xun filled out over two hundred assessment questions.

The doctor got the results and scanned them. "Your personality is quite positive and proactive. You are a bit obsessive, though—rather like a little lemon."

Lin Xun: "..."

Wasn't it just because he had felt a bit sour toward Lions today?

"Nothing is wrong mentally," the doctor said. "It’s not psychological. I suggest you visit Neurology and get an MRI."

Lin Xun was tossed to the Neurology Department.

Then, like a bouncing ball, he was tossed from Neurology to Ophthalmology.

The final conclusion was that nothing was wrong anywhere. He was told to go home and get a good night's sleep.

By the time they finished all the fuss, the sun had already set.

As soon as they got back, Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiagou collapsed onto the sofa laughing, saying that even the great Lin Suanfa had a day where he became "possessed" by programming.

Lin Xun didn't want to deal with them. He took a glass of ice water from the fridge and took a few gulps.

Wang Anquan rushed over to snatch the glass. "You're already possessed and you're still drinking that!"

He then tossed him a thermos filled with goji berry water.

Lin Xun was forced to finish the goji water under their supervision. He told them, "I really don't like hot and sweet things."

Wang Anquan snapped, "Shut it. You lost thirty million today; you have no right to speak."

Lin Xun: "..."

He was driven off to bed.

Since the doctor said there were no substantive issues, he wasn't too worried anymore. He figured he might really just be overworked and would be fine after a nap.

The general framework for the "Goddess of the Luo River" was already set. He spent some time pondering optimization algorithms, scribbled on a few sheets of draft paper, and then prepared to sleep.

Before sleeping, he remembered his experience at Galaxy today, and his heart still felt a bit stirred.

So, he opened his phone, went to Weibo, and clicked on Dong Jun's homepage in his "Special Follows" list.

Dong Jun’s ID was very simple: Galaxy-Dong Jun.

His profile picture was white with gray text—extremely cold and detached. It featured two strings of irregular numbers, like some kind of code.

Dong Jun didn't seem to use social media. This account had only posted one Weibo ten years ago, before Galaxy was even founded—back then, Dong Jun was only seventeen or eighteen. The post read:

"Lo asked me why I look at the stars.

I think the Galaxy and code are the same thing; that is also an answer."

There were over a hundred thousand comments under the post, stretching endlessly. Some were sightseers: "Greetings, God Dong. Glax is the best language in the world."

Some were howling: "Aaaaaaaah Dong Jun!"

Some were a bit perverted: "Teenage Dong Jun, heeheeheehee."

The remaining small portion were "lemon spirits": "Who is Lo? I'm dying."

This kind of envious post was understandable. After all, their male god had only one Weibo post, and even in this significant, lone post, he had mentioned another person's name. Thus, some guessed it was Dong Jun’s best friend, while others guessed it was his first love. Opinions were varied.

Lin Xun had no desire to pry into his idol's personal life; he simply liked to come and praise him after managing to understand a segment of his idol's code.

What should he praise this time? Everything that could be praised had already been praised.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him. He posted a comment: "My god is so handsome!"

The comment was instantly buried in the ocean of other replies, but Lin Xun was satisfied.

He turned off his phone and closed his eyes.

The next moment, his eyes snapped open!

He seemed startled, gasping for breath before slowly closing his eyes again.

His consciousness seemed to sink into another world. After closing his eyes, a massive blue screen appeared before him—the C language input interface.

He was sitting in a swivel chair. He reached out to try and touch the blue screen.

The moment his finger touched the light screen, mechanical voices suddenly echoed from all directions.

"System loading."

"Cards loading."

"Turbo C platform activated."

"Tree diagram activated."

"Task activated."

"Beginner guidance task started."

"Task objective: Qi Induction."

"Task reward: Sect Territory expansion, Spiritual Power increased by 10."

"Task progress: 0."

Lin Xun: "..."

His head was full of question marks.

Just then, he felt a glow to his right. Looking over, he saw a golden floating scroll displaying the task objective, reward, and progress that the mechanical voice had just read.

Qi Induction? Sect Territory? He could understand these terms, but how did they get linked to the C language?

After cautiously observing the scroll, he began to scan his surroundings.

This was a black space, but silver specks of light floated in the air, rising from the ground to illuminate the area. He looked closely at the light specks and found that some were the Arabic numeral 1, while others were 0.

In front was the C interface, to the right was the task, to the left was nothing, and behind—there was a tree.

He walked to the tree—it was a 2D image of a tree. The roots were bright silver, and as it went up, the light gradually dimmed. At the transition between the roots and the trunk, there was the letter "C." Further up, the entire tree was just a dim outline.

An ordinary letter C didn't mean much on its own, but once linked to that C interface, it was very meaningful.

C is a language—a specific programming language.

Programming languages are divided into high-level and low-level languages. Low-level languages are the languages of computers—such as machine language, composed entirely of binary sequences, or assembly language, composed of mnemonics. They act directly on the machine.

High-level languages are the languages of humans. People use high-level languages to write code, which is then converted by the language's compiler into machine language to act upon the machine.

However, C is different.

It is a high-level language with its own syntax. But at the same time, it has the ability to operate the machine to a certain extent, such as controlling memory. Therefore, it is sometimes jokingly called a "middle-level language" between low-level and high-level languages.

"The roots are machine language, or represent the machine, while the trunk and branches likely represent the user. So C is between the roots and the trunk," Lin Xun thought. "Now this space has a C compilation interface, and this tree is lit up to the 'C' part—if I continue lighting it up, I might obtain the ability to control many languages like C#, C++, Python, and maybe even Assembly."

But what was this for?

He couldn't help but look at the task scroll, which clearly didn't match the aesthetic, and then looked back at the program input interface.

Since there was a compiler, he might as well... program. For a programmer, this was as simple as drinking water.

As for C, he still knew it.

But how to input?

Lin Xun raised both hands, hovering them in the air.

Silver light flowed, and in the next moment, a snow-white keyboard actually appeared beneath his hands!

With a keyboard, Lin Xun felt much more at ease. A programmer with a keyboard felt like a mathematician with a warehouse full of draft paper—comfortable and secure.

He fluently typed out the code.

This string of code was the first demonstration program used by all famous programming language textbooks. Later programmers also developed this habit: when faced with an unfamiliar programming environment and needing to debug, they would subconsciously input this program.

First, issue the preprocessing directive so the compiler recognizes the subsequent statements: #include

Then call the main function: int main()

Next is a curly brace {, and the function body is written below it.

The purpose of this program is to output a sentence, so the statement printf is used.

Finally, write: return 0; to indicate the main function has ended normally, and close it with a curly brace }.

The program was finished.

Run. The screen switched, and a pure black execution interface appeared with two words on it:

Hello world.

—The first sentence a computer speaks to humanity.

A flash of light appeared to his right.

Lin Xun turned his head and saw the task progress instantly reach 100%.

The mechanical voice sounded again: "Beginner guidance task completed. Entering Qi Refining Stage. Sect Territory expanding. Spiritual Power +10."

That was it?

While Lin Xun was still thinking, the mechanical voice spoke once more.

"Main quest activated."

"Task objective: Unblock Qi Channels, complete Foundation Establishment."

"Task reward: Sect Funds 50, Spiritual Power 30."

"Task progress: 0."

Facing the compilation interface, Lin Xun mentally reviewed the basic operations of C, feeling eager to try.

—If it was played like this, then he wasn't sleepy anymore.

Never mind Foundation Establishment—even if it were Tribulation Transcendence, what difficulty would there be?

He wanted to see exactly what this so-called Sect Territory and Sect Funds were.