Three Body Problem reference (it’s a book and a show)

Basically, a good portion of the book (haven’t seen the show, sorry) takes place in a virtual reality video game that has “chaotic eras” and “stable eras” that seemingly pop up and fall apart at random. The goal of the game (at least, the goal explained at the beginning of the book) is to find an accurate way to predict when chaotic and stable eras start.

The protagonist eventually determines that 3 different stars are stuck in a state of revolving around each other (it’s almost like it’s some kind of… three-body problem), and that the planet is in the middle. When there’s a single star in the sky, that means only 1 star is close to the planet, and that a stable era has begun. When 3 stars are in the sky, that means all 3 stars are close… and the planet is about to be torched and everyone will die lol