[1] On December 8, 2009, Curse 1.0 was created during the financial crisis as a tool for a programmer to drag the reputation of her ex-boyfriend Sa Bi into the mud.
Liu Cixin and Pan Dajiao happen to find her discarded laptop, delete all of its parameters and replace them with "*", which allows any input, in order to take revenge on their former readers.
"[2] Alexis Ong wrote in the Reactor Magazine, that the short story "barrels out of nowhere to become an instant favorite" since it is "a completely deranged, snort-out-loud funny tale of cybercrimes and personal revenge where Liu inserts a hilariously debauched caricature of himself."
"[3] Jaymee Goh wrote on Strange Horizons, that the short story has a "comedic effect", whose "ridiculousness lies in throwaway lines that parody various pulp fiction tropes and escalating tweaks to the code.
"[4] Liz Comesky wrote on International Examiner, that the short story "seems [....] to be a cautionary tale of the dangers posed as technology increases and more and more is controlled by computers and machines.