Chapter 264: Think Outside the Box

"????" The science fanatic blinked, then finally remembered the mentor had been referring to the earlier "spellcasting master device," and promptly praised:

"Ah, you mean that thing? It's amazing! No wonder you're you—I scratched my head for weeks and couldn't figure it out. Old dogs know best!"

"Don't flatter me like that. Wait, didn't you go into software development after graduation? Why are you suddenly messing with analog circuits again?" Professor Wang asked gently, but the science fanatic suddenly felt something was off.

This mentor was kind, always patient when answering questions, but he was still a professor—why would he conduct some kind of "after-sales investigation" into a circuit design submitted by a student who'd graduated years ago?

Realizing this, he forced his still-dizzy mind to clear: "Professor Wang, just ask straight out—whatever it is..."

"Then I'll ask. If there's any confidentiality rule, just pretend I didn't say it." The moment Professor Wang spoke, the science fanatic's instincts flared—he grew wary—

"Has Professor Wang defected? No, that doesn't make sense—I'm just a coder, not some classified unit... If he's talking about confidentiality rules, doesn't he have way more secrets in his own hands than I do? Could this be an AI scam? Did someone find my messages with the professor and try to extract info from me to feed back to him?"

The science fanatic's gaze sharpened instantly—but then he heard the professor speak:

"What exactly was that analog circuit you came to me for originally?"

"Huh?" The science fanatic hadn't expected the old professor to ask this—he was caught off guard, but answered honestly:

"Actually, it wasn't a circuit board—it was something in a game... " He paused, considering the professor's age, then continued: "You know Diablo, right? Like those Runewords—four total, different arrangements give different effects. I tried building one that could handle all possible combinations..."

"You're serious? You didn't secretly take on some classified project? And you didn't just randomly tinker as a self-taught amateur?" Professor Wang's sudden loud question cut him off, leaving the science fanatic utterly bewildered—

"Why are you suddenly talking about classified stuff and amateurs... Have you been reading too many novels?"

"Forget it. Are you in the province? You know where my lab is? Get over here right now—you have no idea what you've built!"

"Huh?" Professor Wang's tone carried an excitement the science fanatic had never heard before—he was momentarily speechless.

"Stop saying 'huh!' Just come now! You're lucky you ran into me—if you'd met someone without morals, you'd be crying! By the way, where do you live? If it's far, I'll send someone to pick you up!"

"No, no, don't bother—I'm coming right now! It's just a few subway stops!"

The science fanatic finally realized he might truly be in trouble. Holding onto his last shred of suspicion about "telecom fraud," he refused to let anyone come to his home—he changed clothes and headed for the subway station...

"Why did you take so long!"

Back at the school he hadn't visited in years, the science fanatic hadn't even had time to mourn his lost youth before he saw an old man waving at him:

"Why are you so slow? I already offered to send someone! Hurry up!"

Watching Professor Wang grab him without a word and drag him inside, the science fanatic felt a chill—he hurriedly said:

"Wait, Professor, can we at least talk about what's going on? You're freaking me out!"

"I can't explain the details yet—your circuit board's meter ran backward!"

After struggling for a while, Professor Wang finally found a suitable description—but the science fanatic was stunned:

"Professor, when did you start using internet slang?"

"Who said I'm using slang? The meter really ran backward! Your circuit only had an input and output port—looked like some kind of charger. I didn't pay attention at first, but then I kept thinking it was suspicious, worried about safety risks, so I built a real one and ran a power test—and the readings were off..."

Professor Wang himself felt a bit embarrassed—he should've just called to ask, but he didn't understand what his student had built and didn't want to look foolish; if it turned out to be nothing, he'd look even worse, so he decided to build it himself first.

But the science fanatic had no idea what the professor was thinking—he only felt awkward and said:

"It was just a game..."

"So what it was before doesn't matter—what matters is what it is now!" Professor Wang shook his head, dragging him all the way to the innermost room of the lab, where a circuit board over half a meter long sat on the lab bench.

Here, Professor Wang wasted no time—he connected a 3.3V interface to the input port, then hooked up the measuring device to the output port—

"Look—input is 3.3V, but the output is high voltage, and the current decay is far lower than expected for a step-up converter. That means, even if you just hooked up a simple transformer, the output current exceeds the input current. What else could this be but a meter running backward?"

"????" Even without technical knowledge, anyone who understood energy conservation would find this absurd—but why?

"How did you do it?"

Hearing the science fanatic ask this, Professor Wang shrugged:

"I want to know too! You said it's from a game—how do you use it in the game?"

"As a staff! Input mana, then cast a spell..." The science fanatic felt the world had turned surreal. Professor Wang didn't look skeptical as he'd expected—he instead asked seriously:

"Can it cast only one spell? Or multiple? If one, which one? If multiple, how do you control them?"

"It's all about imagination—you feel like each spell has its own circuit, and this is just a base template. You guide the mana through a specific path, then think in your mind of the exact shape you want, and the spell forms." The science fanatic wasn't used to being questioned like this by an old professor, but he endured the awkwardness and described how casting worked in the game.

To his surprise, the old professor nodded thoughtfully after listening:

"So casting requires software—but in the game, the software is driven by consciousness... Then in reality, you'd need external programming to guide energy through specific circuits? Describe a simple spell to me—I'll try writing a simulation program. By the way, there's materials in the cabinet—use any generic parts you need. First, add a programming interface..."

(End of Chapter)