Kaelen's face twisted into a grotesque mask of predatory joy. He leaned over the obsidian table, his eyes darting between the three Goddesses and Haruto with a sickening hunger. He tapped the floating holographic screen, and his first rule began to manifest in jagged, blood-red characters.
[KAELEN'S RULE 1: THE ETERNAL AGONY PROTOCOL]
"The match shall not conclude until one side explicitly begs for mercy, or is rendered physically and mentally incapable of movement. Forfeiture is disabled."
A collective gasp rippled through the thousands of students in the stands. This wasn't a competition; it was a legalized torture contract.
"Do you hear that, Haruto?" Kaelen whispered, his voice amplified by the mana-conductive air.
"I don't want to just beat you. I want to break you. I want to hear those pretty girls scream in agony until their voices fail, and I want to watch you crawl across the floor, sobbing for me to stop. And the best part? I won't stop until I've beated every bit of dignity you have left."
Haruto sat perfectly still, his chin resting on his interlaced fingers. His dark eyes were fixed on the screen, but he wasn't looking at the rule—he was calculating.
(Inner Thoughts): Kaelen's logic is flawed. He thinks he has the advantage because he has seven high-level players against five. He thinks that by extending the match, he can wear us down through attrition. He's looking at our 'fake' levels—4, 5, and 6—and comparing them to his Level 8 and his guards. He doesn't realize that I'm sitting next to literal Goddesses. Their HP pools are so vast they could swallow a sun.
Haruto felt Ivory's fingers brush against his hand under the table, her mana steady and cool, a silent confirmation of his plan. He looked up, a slow, terrifyingly calm smirk spreading across his face.
"You really enjoy the sound of your own voice, don't you, Kaelen?" Haruto said, his voice echoing with a strange, metallic resonance.
"You want to talk about pain? Let's talk about System Efficiency."
Haruto reached out and tapped his side of the screen. His text didn't appear in red or blue—it appeared in a flickering, glitched Violet-Black.
[HARUTO'S RULE 1: EQUALIZED DATA DISTRIBUTION]
"All damage—be it physical, magical, or mental—sustained by any individual member is instantaneously and equally distributed across the entire team's collective HP and Sanity pools."
The auditorium went deathly silent. Professor Elara stood up, her face turning ashen. "He's... he's insane. He just linked their life forces! If Kaelen focuses all seven of his men on one girl, the damage will bleed into Haruto and Toya as well. He's made them all one single target!"
Kaelen threw his head back and laughed, a shrill, hysterical sound.
"You absolute moron! You've just handed me your heads on a silver platter! I was going to break you one by one, but now? Now, every time I kick your dog, Toya, you'll feel it! Every time I crush one of your 'servants,' you'll bleed! You've just made it seven times easier for me to kill you all!"
Haruto didn't laugh. He just leaned in, his red-tinted HUD casting a devilish shadow over his eyes.
"Is that what you think, Kaelen?" Haruto whispered.
"Look at the math again. You see five weak links. I see a Unified Server. And since my 'family' has... let's just say, a very high 'optimization' for durability... you could hit us with everything you have for a thousand years, and you wouldn't even see the bar move."
Kaelen's laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by a frantic, jagged line of thought. He looked at his six elite guards, then back at Haruto's calm face. Something is wrong, he realized. He's too confident. If their HP is linked, he must have a way to tank the damage.
Kaelen's eyes darted to the screen. He needed to restrict their movement. He needed to turn this chaotic brawl into a structured execution where his higher Rank would dictate the very physics of the world.
"You think you're so smart with your 'Unified Server'?" Kaelen spat, his fingers flying across the holographic interface.
"Let's see how your 'family' handles a game where they aren't even allowed to move freely. I will change the battlefield!"
[KAELEN'S RULE 2: THE GRANDMASTER'S DOMAIN]
"The quest area shall transform into a Living Chessboard. Each team member is assigned a specific Chess Piece role. Movement and attacks are strictly limited to the legal moves of that piece. Furthermore, 'Low-Tier' pieces (Pawns/Bishops) cannot inflict lethal damage or 'Capture' 'High-Tier' pieces (King/Queen/Rook/Knight)."
"Checkmate, you little glitch!" Kaelen barked.
"I've locked you into a logic loop. You have five people—not even enough to fill a front line. You're outnumbered, outranked, and now, you're out-moved!"
Haruto looked down. He felt the restriction—an invisible wall that told him he could only move one step at a time. A soft chuckle vibrated in his chest. For the first time, the boredom in his eyes was replaced by the glint of a pro-gamer who had just spotted a massive exploit in the source code.
"Kaelen... you're playing a 150-year-old version of the game," Haruto said, his voice overlapping with a static echo.
"But I prefer the Remastered Edition."
He reached out toward the holographic screen, his fingers blurring as he typed his second rule.
[HARUTO'S RULE 2: THE DUAL-CORE COMPONENT]
"A true game requires a full set. Each team must consist of 16 'Pieces.' To fill the gap, any player may occupy up to two 'Piece Slots' simultaneously, merging their movement sets and properties into a single entity."
The auditorium erupted in noise. The professors leaned over the railing, whispering frantically.
"If he merges two pieces," Professor Elara gasped.
"He's not just doubling his movement... he's creating Hybrid Classes!"
Haruto's team didn't need instructions. They shared a single mind, a "Unified Server." They immediately saw the math Haruto had laid out.
Inner thought: If you mix a Bishop (diagonal movement) with a Rook (linear movement), you don't just get a stronger piece—you create a Queen, the most powerful unit on the board.
When Haruto established his rule, a heavy, static-filled silence smothered the auditorium. Haruto sat back in his chair, a chilling smirk playing on his lips—the look of a true Mastermind.
Professor Elara gripped the railing, her voice trembling. "He's a genius... Haruto didn't just change the movement; he hijacked the logic of the game. By allowing a player to merge two pieces, he has effectively erased the difference between 'Weak' and 'Strong'."
For the first time, the students didn't see a Level 4 loser; they saw a predator who had rewritten the natural law of the Academy.
Kaelen lurched out of his chair, his face pale and slick with sweat. He realized that if Haruto's team merged their roles, his Level 6 guards would be slaughtered like common mobs.
"Shut up!" Kaelen roared at the whispering crowd. He frantically typed his third rule into the interface.
[KAELEN'S RULE 3: NO RECOVERY PROTOCOL]
"Healing of any kind is strictly prohibited during the match. Any damage sustained is permanent."
Haruto glanced at the screen and let out a dry, mocking laugh. "Such a desperate rule, Kaelen. You're making decisions based on fear."
Haruto immediately countered with his own third command.
[HARUTO'S RULE 3: PERMANENT DELETION]
"Once a piece is 'Captured,' it cannot be summoned again through Pawn Promotion or any other mechanic. To be captured is to be deleted forever."
Kaelen's hands began to shake. He had hoped to revive his guards if they fell, but Haruto had just welded that door shut. In a final attempt to protect his own skin, Kaelen entered his fourth and final rule.
[KAELEN'S RULE 4: ROYAL EXCLUSIVITY]
"The King can only be harmed or captured by the opposing King. No other piece is permitted to touch the Royal unit."
Haruto slowly clapped his hands.
"Well done, Kaelen. You've bought yourself a little time." Then, Haruto entered the final, most terrifying rule of the Wizard Quest.
[HARUTO'S RULE 4: THE ULTIMATE OVERLOAD]
"The Duel of Kings shall only take place once all other pieces have been cleared from the board. Furthermore, the King has the right to 'Absorb' the power plus pain of his remaining pieces through the Mana-Link."
Kaelen felt a brief surge of relief—he thought this benefited him since he had more pieces. He failed to see the trap. Haruto wanted Kaelen to be the last one standing so that every ounce of pain, failure, and humiliation from his guards' defeat would be funneled directly into Kaelen's nervous system.
As Haruto's final rule was etched into the Pact, the digital rule board suddenly flickered and vanished. In its place, the massive screen split into two jagged, glowing sections that pulsed with an ominous light.
[PHASE 4: THE ULTIMATE STAKES]
The screen displayed two headers that made the audience gasp: LOSER'S PUNISHMENT and WINNER'S REWARD.
Kaelen stood up abruptly, his chair screeching against the floor. The fear that had been creeping into his eyes was replaced by a surge of sick, twisted ambition. He pointed a trembling finger at the three Goddesses—Ivory, Lustra, and Bellona—his gaze crawling over them with naked lust.
"If I win," Kaelen shouted, his voice cracking with excitement.
"Haruto and every single member of his group will become my slaves for eternity! Their freedom will be deleted. They will do exactly as I command, whenever I command it, and they will never be allowed to say no!"
The auditorium erupted in a mix of boos and horrified whispers. Kaelen was playing for keeps—he wanted to own the most beautiful and powerful girls in the freshman class.
Haruto didn't even look bothered. He stood up slowly. He looked like he was barely paying attention, as if he were just choosing a side quest in a boring RPG.
"My turn," Haruto said calmly.
"If we win... Kaelen has to attend the Academy every single day for the next year wearing nothing but girls' clothing and he cannot remain absent."
A stunned silence followed, then a few snickers broke out in the back of the auditorium. To Haruto, this was just a minor amusement—a way to pass the time while he focused on his real goal: reaching Level 100.
Kaelen's face turned bright red with fury.
"You think this is a joke?! You're risking slavery for a prank?!"
He slammed his hand on the table, looking at the REWARD section.
"Fine! My Reward: If I win, I take Haruto's Glitched HUD Type, his Title, and his Level. I want the power that causes that black static!"
As Kaelen's greedy demand to steal Haruto's power was typed into the system, the Grand Auditorium didn't just go silent—it felt as if the very air was being sucked out of the room. The massive holographic screen began to spasm, the golden light of the Pact turning a sickly, flickering gray.
Suddenly, a notification box appeared, pulsing with a deep, void-like darkness that seemed to swallow the light around it.
[CRITICAL ERROR: ASSET NOT RECOGNIZED]
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: DATA 'STARCHILD' AND 'BLACK INTERFACE' DO NOT EXIST IN SYSTEM DIRECTORY. CANNOT TRANSFER NON-EXISTENT SOURCE CODE.]
The crowd gasped. Kaelen jumped to his feet, his face twisting in confusion. "What do you mean 'not recognized'?! He's sitting right there! I juat see the black static with my own eyes!"
Haruto tilted his head, a predatory smile stretching across his face.
"Oh? I thought you said my HUD was 'garbage' and 'broken,' Kaelen? Why would a glorious Level 8 want a corrupted HUD a one like me?"
He slammed the table again, trying to force the command.
"Fine! If the system can't read his title, then overwrite it! Change his title to [LOSER] and reset his HUD to standard!"
-- ZAP --
[ERROR: SOURCE FILE PROTECTED]
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: ADMINISTRATIVE PERMISSION REQUIRED. TARGET DATA IS OUTSIDE THE JURISDICTION OF THIS REALM'S LOGIC.]
The auditorium fell into a deathly, terrified hush. Kaelen looked like he had seen a ghost. "Such a pain in my head!" he cursed, sweating profusely. He couldn't understand—the Wizard Quest Pact was supposed to be absolute, a soul-binding contract that could rewrite reality. Yet, it was bouncing off Haruto like a pebble against a mountain.
At the table, Ivory leaned in close to Lustra, Bellona, and Toya. Her expression was the most serious they had ever seen. "Listen to me," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
"Even with my Goddess Magic, I can't even touch the surface of Haruto's HUD. It's not just a 'title'... it's as if his very existence is written in a language that this world hasn't invented yet."
Kaelen, realizing he couldn't steal the mystery power he so desperately craved, let out a frustrated growl. He looked around at the disappointed faces of the crowd, who were expecting a legendary clash of powers.
"Fine!" Kaelen barked, waving his hand dismissively.
"If I can't take your garbage title, then I'll just take your G-Credits. Every single one of them! You'll be a beggar for the rest of your life!"
He typed the command into the Reward field, his eyes gleaming with greed. But instead of the usual golden confirmation, the screen flashed a sharp, piercing yellow.
[ERROR: TRANSACTION DENIED]
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: RECIPIENT 'KAELEN' IS NOT WORTHY OF G-CREDITS. ACCESS REJECTED.]
The auditorium went silent. A "Not Worthy" notification was practically unheard of. It was a slap in the face from the system itself.
Kaelen's face turned a shade of purple that looked physically painful. He jumped out of his seat, screaming at the floating interface.
"What do you mean 'Not Worthy'?! I am a Level 8 Elite! I am the top of this Academy! If this Level 4 loser is 'Worthy' enough to hold G-Credits, then why am I not?!"
He looked at Haruto, expecting to see fear, but he only saw that same, maddening smile. Haruto looked at him like a scientist looking at a bug that couldn't figure out a glass wall.
"The system doesn't care about your level, Kaelen," Haruto said softly.
"It cares about the Source. And your source is... let's just say, outdated."
"Shut up! Shut up!" Kaelen barked, his ego crumbling in real-time. He turned back to the screen, his fingers blurring as he bypassed the standard protocols.
"If I can't 'hold' them, then just destroy them! I want Haruto's G-Credit balance to be set to ZERO. Transform his entire wealth into standard Credits and transfer them to me!"
The screen flickered, processing the complex conversion.
[REWARD UPDATED: TARGET 'HARUTO' TOTAL BALANCE RESET TO 0]
[CONVERSION IN PROGRESS: G-CREDITS -> STANDARD CREDITS... TRANSFERRING TO KAELEN.]
Kaelen let out a sigh of relief, though he still felt the sting of the "Not Worthy" tag. He looked at Haruto with a sneer.
"There. Now you will not just be a loser, you will be a broke loser. You won't even be able to buy a healing potion for the massacre I have planned."
Haruto didn't even flinch. To him, G-Credits were just numbers in a game he had already mastered. He stood up, the black static of his HUD pulsing rhythmically.
"You're so happy about stealing pennies, Kaelen," Haruto said, walking toward the exit as his team followed in perfect formation.
"But you forgot one thing. In a game, the richest player isn't the one with the most coins... it's the one who knows how to duplicate the currency."
Ivory whispered to Haruto, "Are you really okay with losing your balance?"
"Who said I am losing?" Haruto said confidently.
"If we win," Haruto announced, his voice echoing with a metallic authority,
"Kaelen's Level 8 power will be stripped from his soul and distributed to my team mate Toya. And as for his Title... the system shall overwrite it. From that moment on, Kaelen's Title will be permanently changed to,[GIRLY CLOTHES]."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: STAKES SEALED]
The holographic screen flared white. The Pact was complete. The air in the auditorium became heavy with the weight of a soul-binding contract. There was no going back now.
The moment the text [TITLE: GIRLY CLOTHES] flickered onto the massive screen, the oppressive tension in the auditorium snapped like a dry twig.
A wave of snickering started in the back rows, quickly escalating into full-blown laughter. Even some of the faculty members had to cover their mouths with their hands, their shoulders shaking as they tried to maintain professional decorum. Professor Elara let out a muffled giggle, looking at the prestigious Level 8 senior who was now gambling his entire reputation on the possibility of becoming the school's most humiliated mascot.
Professor Vane stood as stiff as a corpse, his eyes fixed on the seat where Haruto had just been. He wasn't just annoyed anymore; he was genuinely rattled.
Who is this boy? Vane's thoughts were spiraling behind his sharp glasses. He has no fear of power. He doesn't beg for favors. He talks about a "System Overhaul" like he's the one who programmed the world. He isn't just dangerous... he's an anomaly.
Vane remembered what Kaelen had whispered to him before the ritual. Kaelen had mentioned that even during their very first confrontation, he felt a "heavy presence" radiating from Haruto—something deep, dark, and immovable that didn't match a Level 1 or even a Level 4 status.
If Kaelen felt a heavy presence even when the boy's aura was masked, Vane realized, his grip tightening on the railing, then what we saw on that screen was only the tip of the iceberg. I have to be careful. If Kaelen loses this, the ripple effect will destroy my reputation too.
Kaelen's face went from pale to a deep, pulsating purple. He looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. He was shaking, his eyes wide with a mixture of fury and total confusion.
"Why... Why are you laughing?!" Kaelen screamed, slamming his fists onto the obsidian table.
"I am talking about eternal slavery! I am talking about taking your soul! And you... you're making a joke out of a 150-year-old ritual?!"
He turned his glare toward Haruto, who was casually leaning back, looking as bored as if he were waiting for a bus.
"Haruto! Do you even realize what's happening? If you lose, your life is over! Why aren't you trembling? Why aren't you taking this SERIOUSLY?!"
Haruto let out a slow, heavy sigh. He didn't look at Kaelen; he looked at his own fingernails.
"Kaelen," Haruto said, his voice cutting through the laughter like a cold wind.
"You're obsessed with the 'stakes' because you think they define the outcome. You think that by making the punishment scary, it makes you more likely to win. But to me... you're just a small part in a very long game. Why would I be serious about it?
The laughter in the auditorium was suddenly cut short, not by Kaelen's rage, but by the deep, resonant chime of the Academy's clock tower—a sound that vibrated through the obsidian table itself.
The massive holographic screen flickered, the golden text of the Pact glowing with a final, binding intensity before stabilizing. A new notification scrolled across the center in cold, white letters:
[WIZARD QUEST: PREPARATION PHASE INITIATED]
[TIME REMAINING UNTIL COMMENCEMENT: 72 HOURS (3 DAYS)]
The synthesized voice of the Academy system echoed through the hall: "The terms are sealed. The rules are etched. The ritual requires three days for the Mana-Link to fully synchronize with the souls of all participants. On the third day, at sunset, the board will manifest in the Grand Arena. Prepare your spirits... ."
Kaelen froze, his fists still planted on the table. He had expected to start the slaughter right now, to use his adrenaline to crush Haruto before the boy could even think. The three-day wait felt like a death sentence hanging over his head, especially with the image of [TITLE: GIRLY CLOTHES] still burned into the retinas of every student in the room.
"Three days..." Kaelen hissed, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at Haruto.
"Enjoy your final seventy-two hours of freedom, glitch. I'm going to spend every second of that time training my guards to dismantle you piece by piece. You think the 'Girly Clothes' rule is funny? I'll make sure you're too broken to even put them on me."
Haruto stood up slowly, his chair making no sound. He didn't look at Kaelen. He didn't look at the screen. He looked at the exit.
"Three days of preparation for you," Haruto said, his voice flat and unimpressed."Three days of boredom for me."
He turned to his group—Toya, Ivory, Lustra, and Bellona. They all stood in unison, a wall of hidden power that made the nearby teachers instinctively take a step back.
"Let's go," Haruto commanded.
"I need to find a way to make seventy-two hours pass faster. This game is already starting to lag."
As Haruto's group walked out of the auditorium, the silence they left behind was even more intense than the laughter. Kaelen stood alone at the table, the shadow of his own "King" icon looming over him, while the students began to whisper. They weren't talking about Kaelen's Level 8 power anymore. They were talking about the "Starchild" who looked at a life-or-death ritual and saw nothing but a boring wait time.
The footsteps of Haruto's group were the only sound in the hallway until a voice, clear and cold as shattering ice, sliced through the air from the back of the auditorium.
"Wait. I also have a declaration to make."
The group stopped. Haruto turned slowly, his eyes narrowing. At the far entrance of the auditorium, a woman stood shrouded in mystery. She wore an intricate, silk mask that covered her face, but it was her escort that made the entire room stop breathing. Over 100 royal guards, clad in gleaming silver plate armor, flooded the aisles in a disciplined wave, their mana signatures alone making the air vibrate.
The crowd erupted in frantic whispers.
"Is that...?""The Royal Seal... those are the Platinum Enforcers!""It's Princess Lilith!"
Kaelen's eyes widened, his anger instantly replaced by a look of desperate devotion. "Lilith? My love... what are you doing here?"
Lilith ignored Kaelen entirely. She stepped onto the stage, her presence so commanding that even Professor Vane bowed his head. "The Wizard Quest is a ritual of the soul," she began, her voice echoing with a divine resonance. "And a soul this powerful deserves a worthy prize. I have spoken with the Royal Council. By the blood in my veins, I declare this: I shall marry the victor of this Quest."
The auditorium went from silence to a riot of noise.
"The Reincarnation of the Goddess of Beauty?!"
"The most beautiful woman in the seven realms is the prize?!"
Haruto felt a sudden, sharp pressure in his chest. He looked at her, and for the first time, his "boredom" flickered. Lilith reached up and slowly unfastened the silk mask. As the fabric fell, it felt like the world's frame rate stuttered. Her beauty wasn't just physical; it was a psychological attack. Her skin glowed with a celestial pallor, and her eyes held the depth of an infinite galaxy. She was, quite literally, beyond the level of the three Goddesses behind Haruto.
Haruto swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. He blinked, his [FLASH] passive trying to process a face that shouldn't exist in a low-level zone.
"What...?" Haruto muttered, shaking his head to clear the fog. "Wait a minute. I didn't agree to this. There's no need for this kind of 'reward.' I'm just here to enjoy not marriage."
Kaelen let out a manic, booming laugh, his confidence returning in a flood of adrenaline. "Don't act like you've already won, you little rat! Princess Lilith is my fiancé! This isn't a reward for you—it's her way of watching me execute you from the front row! You think you're worthy of that beauty? You aren't even worthy of her shadow!"
Lilith didn't look at Kaelen. She kept her gaze locked on Haruto, a small, mysterious smile playing on her lips—a smile that looked like it knew exactly what the [STARCHILD] title meant.