After Online Dating with Unlimited Streaming BOSS

Rong Yi immediately pulled out a chair and sat next to him, her eyes filled with eagerness.

Fan Xingze coughed, took a sip of water, his eyes dark and unclear. “But even if you know, what difference does it make? You can’t save him.”

“Hearing that, does it mean you can save him?” Rong Yi immediately tried to understand, his eyes brimming with hope. “I know there have been misunderstandings between us. If I did something wrong in the past, I apologize! I am willing to do anything as long as you can save him!”

Fan Xingze: “…Do you know that what you just said can be very dangerous in certain contexts?”

Confused, Rong Yi didn’t quite understand what Fan Xingze usually watched.

Perhaps it was the innocent look in the other’s eyes that made Fan Xingze lose his teasing thoughts and focus back on the previous question: “He has been deactivated by the administrator.”

Rong Yi: …?

Fan Xingze: “Your online boyfriend, based on your description, in layman’s terms, has been deactivated by the administrator.”

“You mentioned before that when an NPC in the game tries to reveal the underlying rules to the player, it triggers a system penalty – which is your boyfriend.”

“His character in the game is like a firewall, eliminating any potential threats to the system’s health.”

“But when your boyfriend reveals the underlying rules, the firewall collapses. How can he be punished then?”

“All the system can do is temporarily disable this firewall, put it in the background for reinitialization, or replace it with a new one.”

“So now your boyfriend – should be trapped in the system’s backstage virus vault.”

Rong Yi immediately caught a keyword: “Reinitialization…”

She looked anxiously at Fan Xingze. “Does that mean all memories will be erased?”

Fan Xingze looked back at her and nodded silently.

Rong Yi immediately thought of the fate of the lost Captain Sparrow. A lover without memories could almost be considered a completely different individual.

Especially for AI life, memories are a collection of past experiences, a significant marker to distinguish “him” from “others.”

She stood suddenly. “What should I do? You can’t see the personal interface. I can describe it to you. How can I infiltrate the game system?”

Fan Xingze, with pale slender fingers tapping on the table slowly, said, “Based on the data you provided earlier, I have roughly reconstructed the basic logic and structure of the game system. Even though I’m not entirely sure, give me a few days, and I will try.”

If even Fan Xingze wasn’t sure… then who else could be certain?

Rong Yi blurted out, “I’ll go find your teacher—”

“No,” Fan Xingze interrupted her abruptly, his brows furrowed. “I said give me a few days. Don’t be so impatient.”

How could she not be impatient?

Rong Yi didn’t understand why, despite admitting his uncertainty, Fan Xingze wouldn’t allow her to seek help from a more authoritative source like IS.

With a creak, she pulled a chair in front of Fan Xingze and sat down. Her expression serious: “Zoe, do you have any misunderstandings or prejudices against your teacher? Why are you so cold towards him and won’t let me talk to him more?”

“Aren’t you his favorite student?”

The tapping of fingers on the table slowly ceased, and Fan Xingze said, “It’s difficult for me to explain this to you. Differences in beliefs, different paths.”

Rong Yi nibbled on her nails and whispered, “So you want me to give up the possibility of saving him for ‘beliefs’?”

“No!” Fan Xingze stood up anxiously and explained, “I can save him, as long as you believe me!”

“But if you go to seek Otis – there may be no turning back from this!”

“Why?” Rong Yi looked at him, growing more puzzled, “Why are you so against your teacher? Tell me what’s going on between you and me clearly, don’t speak in riddles here!”

Fan Xingze paced back and forth, finally making up his mind, “Alright, I’m the only one who knows about this matter. Now you are the second.”

“The data you gave me, I have seen it somewhere else before,” he said.

Rong Yi was astonished.

Then she quickly realized, “…From your teacher?”

“Yes,” Fan Xingze scratched his head, with a troubled expression on his face, “He was one of the first experts in researching brain-computer interfaces. Our project hired him because he is the most authoritative in the industry.”

“My former studio was affiliated with him, doing some peripheral research for him.”

“At that time, he was working on a project, codenamed x, a huge structure completely independent from existing systems based on foundational logic languages.”

“Through some clues, I inadvertently discovered the core logic of project x. I found that his approach was somewhat deviating.”

Rong Yi asked, “Deviating in what way—”

“He wanted to achieve immortality through brain-computer interfaces.”

Rong Yi responded, “Well… In fact, there are many examples in science fiction where transferring consciousness into machines leads to immortality. I don’t think it’s necessarily deviant…”

Fan Xingze bitterly smiled, “It would be fine if it were just like in science fiction. But he encountered a bottleneck in his research. With current technology, he can only simulate telecommunication signals interacting with brain waves, unable to achieve the ideal mode of sustaining and extending complete human brain waves.”

“So, he started developing a time machine.”

Rong Yi asked, “…?”

“I guess his idea was this: without giving up current research, also develop a time machine simultaneously. This way, even if the research is completed in a distant future, the time machine can bring the results back to the present.”

Rong Yi questioned, “Why does he need to bring the results back to the present?”

“Because he found out he has advanced-stage liver cancer.”

“…”

No matter how high in position, renowned globally, or insight into truths, with works matching one’s stature, Death remains fair to everyone. No achievement can escape the harsh realities of the world.

“I understand his great desire to stay alive, but it’s precisely because of his will to live that he became too desperate. In order to research the time machine and brain-computer interfaces, he used many methods that I couldn’t approve of. Some of which involved illegal experiments.”

“I have only glimpsed a small part of the core research; I haven’t been able to gather related evidence yet, otherwise, I would have reported him.”

Rong Yi completely believed him, knowing how much Fan Xingze loves to report things. She had experienced it firsthand.

“The codes you gave me are almost certainly derived from his research. So, I seriously suspect this ‘game system’ is related to him. If you go and tell him about this, wouldn’t you be walking into a trap?”

“He won’t help you, and might even think he needs to act first, which could accelerate the persecution of your boyfriend.”

“In my view, your boyfriend possesses autonomous consciousness as an AI; he might already be rebelling against the game. So you must believe that I am the only one who will wholeheartedly help you because if we save him, he will be my valuable assistant in opposing the teacher.”

The enormous amount of information flooded Rong Yi’s mind all at once, causing her to sit there in a daze for quite some time before she came to her senses and said, “….So, bringing him to our company won’t be like inviting a wolf into the house…”

Fan Xingze responded, “There’s no need to worry about that. Although his research has deviated, his expertise still ranks top in the industry. For our company’s projects, he can play a crucial advisory role.”

“After all, our projects can bring him substantial rewards, supporting his personal research further. He will surely put his heart and soul into it.”

Rong Yi nodded, “Ah, however, I suggest you treat him a little better, put on a facade at least. It’s a well-known teacher-student relationship to outsiders, behaving so coldly might not be suitable, especially with many media present today.”

“If rumors circulate outside about discord between the company’s CTO and the recruited expert, it could harm investments and stocks.”

“You still need to uphold some professionalism.”

She glanced at his pale face, “Why don’t you take a sick leave and rest? I don’t think you’ve fully recovered.”

Fan Xingze’s face darkened, “In your eyes, am I just a money-making tool? As long as it makes money, does it matter how you treat anyone?”

Rong Yi: …?

“Why, do you think my poor complexion affects the company’s image?”

Rong Yi: …Huh? How did it escalate to this?

Fan Xingze: “In the end, you just dislike me, right? I know! You’ve always disliked me! Fine, I’ll do what you want me to do, but I will make it clear, I don’t like my teacher. I’m doing all of this because you demanded it!”

He finished speaking angrily and slammed the door on his way out.

The door in the pantry was a double-sided glass door that couldn’t be locked, and with his force, it swayed back and forth, creating a gust of wind.

Rong Yi sat there stunned. Making money for the company was her job. What does that have to do with how she treats others?

Was he blaming her for not caring about him personally and only focusing on his impact on the company?

But that’s not true! She had genuinely cared about his well-being just now!

Why was he so good at jumping to conclusions?

Initially, she had felt sorry for Fan Xingze’s unrequited love for her in the past, but now she just wanted to chase after him and tease him as usual.

Thankfully, she didn’t know about his past feelings; agreeing to them would be suffocating, always being misunderstood no matter what she did or said.

Earth-born people are better off.

Thinking about her ex-boyfriend that she had been heartbroken over for a long time, Rong Yi felt a wave of sadness.

What to do now? She had needlessly quarreled with the only person who could save Earth-born Ai Mo. What if Fan Xingze held a grudge and didn’t help Ai Mo? What if he deliberately locked him up in retaliation?

She needed to apologize!

Rong Yi thought, this wasn’t about saving face. She must apologize to Fan Xingze, regardless of who was at fault. Right now, he was Ai Mo’s only savior, and she would even kneel down to ask for his help!

In the following meeting with IS, the situation took a turn. Fan Xingze began responding to the teacher’s questions, engaging in conversation, reminiscing about their school days, lightening the atmosphere.

While Rong Yi, who had been actively socializing during lunch, now seemed burdened with worries, becoming increasingly quiet and withdrawn.

After work, Rong Yi met Fan Xingze at the parking lot next to his car.

Fan Xingze looked haggard after a day of seemingly endless meetings. Lost in his thoughts, he absentmindedly unlocked his car, not noticing Rong Yi approaching. As the car beeped, Rong Yi swiftly opened the passenger door, surprising Fan Xingze: “What are you doing?”

“Sorry!” Rong Yi apologized while fastening her seatbelt. “I must have upset you with what I said today. Starting tomorrow, can you please treat him well as you wish? I can’t control your attitude.”

After a moment of hesitation, Fan Xingze got into the car and started driving. “I’ll take you home,” he said calmly, hiding the anger he had displayed earlier.

Feeling anxious, Rong Yi wanted a cigarette but remembered she was trying to quit smoking. She nervously swallowed saliva instead. Fan Xingze then handed her a strawberry-flavored lollipop from the glove compartment.

Rong Yi, accustomed to using lollipops to suppress cravings while quitting smoking, unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth.

As they were stuck in traffic on the overpass due to an accident, they couldn’t proceed. Despite efforts from traffic police, the vehicles remained at a standstill.

Rong Yi suggested, “Since we’re stuck anyway, why don’t we start now?” Fan Xingze agreed, as her interface on his pad was not visible to others.

Rong Yi projected a blue holographic screen, setting up the interface on Fan Xingze’s pad as instructed, delving into folders until finding a hidden file named “administrator date.”

“Open it,” Fan Xingze said just as a loud honk from behind startled Rong Yi, causing her to accidentally touch a folder full of English letters.

As the road ahead cleared up, they realized traffic was moving, with honks urging them to go. Fan Xingze focused on driving, and Rong Yi put away the holographic screen for the time being. “I heard you need a strong desire to enter the game,” Fan Xingze abruptly brought up a new topic.

After a moment of relaxation, Rong Yi snapped out of the chaotic thoughts and said, “Yes.”

“Why haven’t I triggered the game then?” Fan Xingze asked to no one in particular, “I also have a strong desire.”

“You, young master, genius, healthy and lacking nothing.” Rong Yi teased with a hint of sarcasm, “If even you can’t fulfill your wish, I’m afraid the game can’t be realized either.”

“So the game has given up,” Fan Xingze pondered, “Is that why this game lacks spirit?”

“Yes, it lacks spirit, that’s why it relies on hijacking others’ wishes to enhance its user traffic—be careful—”

As the car’s speed finally picked up, the large Jeep following them couldn’t hold back any longer. It seized the opportunity on the right lane to accelerate forward, attempting to overtake Fan Xingze’s car before the slow-moving truck ahead.

The fast-moving Jeep abruptly changed lanes without signaling, and by the time Fan Xingze noticed, the two vehicles were too close!

“Squeak—”

After a sharp brake screech, followed by two loud bangs, the airbags of the driver and passenger side deployed!

Rong Yi was struck hard by the airbag, causing dizziness and swelling in her head. Her first thought was: online rumors about this car’s sensitive airbags are indeed true!

Her second thought: fortunate she took out the lollipop while speaking earlier, or else she might have choked on it.

Her third thought: something doesn’t feel right.

Feeling dazed, she vaguely sensed not being in the car anymore but lying on the ground as a faint broadcast sounded:

“Welcome to the carnival…”

…It was only the second day of the game outing—how could this be happening? Did she accidentally select the wrong folder earlier?

Rong Yi struggled to stay alert, but her consciousness uncontrollably drifted away from her…

“ID748993…”

“Activate…”

“Please proceed immediately to your workstation.”

The cold, mechanical female voice repeated the instructions, prompting her to involuntarily step forward.

Wait. Halting her steps, a thought flashed through her mind.

Why should I listen to it? On what basis?

And… she tapped her head as if to shake loose the data inside:

…Who am I?

Author’s Note: Suddenly, entering the next level!