While the conversation in the Queen's Chamber was heating up, the heavy doors of the library finally creaked open.
Haruto stepped out, looking significantly less like a "Mastermind" and more like a man who had just survived a buffet-style ambush. He was clutching his stomach, his face still a bit pale from being forced to eat three times his actual capacity.
In his other hand, he gripped the ancient book, the silver key, and that cryptic note with a tightness that turned his knuckles white. He paused in the hallway, his violet eyes scanning the shadows with tactical precision.
(Inner Thoughts): "Radar check... Ivory's mana signature is distant. Lustra and Bellona are with her. Asobi's smoke trail is leading toward the Queen's Chamber. Good. The coast is clear."
He didn't want to risk another "feeding session" or a lecture about his health. Confirming he was alone, he moved toward his private quarters. Every step was a struggle—not because of the "Origin Code" he had just processed, but because his physical stomach was currently experiencing a "storage full" error.
"Those girls... they're going to pay for this 'hospitality' once the Quest is over," he muttered under his breath, wincing as he reached his door.
He slipped inside his room and clicked the lock shut. Finally, in the sanctuary of his own space, he threw the book onto his bed and sat at his desk,
Haruto sat at his desk for a moment, the weight of the ancient book and the silver key pressing against his palm. His stomach was still growling—not from hunger, but from the absolute overkill of the "Goddess-style" dinner. He stood up slowly and walked out onto the balcony to clear his head.
The night view was breathtaking. All three moons were out, hanging in the sky like glowing jewels, and the stars were flickering with a clarity that felt almost artificial. The cool breeze hit his face, finally soothing the "system overload" in his gut.
He let out a massive, jaw-cracking yawn. The hours of deep-diving into the forbidden lore had drained his mental battery more than he cared to admit. He leaned against the railing, a sharp, determined smirk cutting through his tired expression.
(Inner Thoughts): "Aetheris, Sirehtea, the Mirror... it's all connected. But I'm not dragging the girls or Toya into this part of the glitch. This is my mission. I'll solve this puzzle alone, with everything I've got."
The sheer scale of the mystery didn't intimidate him; it gave him a rush he hadn't felt in years. He laughed quietly to himself, a spark of pure passion lighting up his violet eyes.
"Finally," he whispered, stretching his arms. "Something actually exciting is happening in this world."
He turned back into the room, gave one last exhausted yawn, and threw himself onto the bed. He didn't even have the energy to kick off his shoes. As his head hit the pillow, the "Mastermind" of the Academy was out cold, drifting into a sleep where the lines between the game and reality were starting to blur.
As soon as Haruto's eyes drifted shut in the real world, they snapped open in the familiar, endless Void. The white, shimmering space felt colder this time.
The blinding light coalesced into a form—the God of Creation.
"You already know my true name," the entity spoke, its voice vibrating through Haruto's very atoms. "The book showed it to you. Why not use it? Why stay silent?"
Haruto crossed his arms, his boredom clashing with the immense pressure of the Void.
"Why should I?"
"Because you are the only one with the right to speak it with pride," the God replied, a hint of ancient loneliness in his tone.
"The rest of my creations praise my works, but they fear the name Aetheris. They tremble before me. You do not."
"Fine, fine," Haruto waved a hand dismissively.
"Aetheris. Happy now? Now tell me why you're interrupting my sleep. I've had a very long, very filling day."
Aetheris's glowing form flickered.
"I've been watching. You treat everything like a game, Haruto. And because of that, your progress is... slow. You should have crossed Level 5 or 6 by now. You think this is a simulation where you can just 'Respawn' if you fail. But the stakes have just hit a ceiling you cannot see."
Haruto felt the pressure in the Void intensify, the gravity of Aetheris's words crushing the air out of his lungs. God's voice wasn't just booming anymore; it was laced with a sharp, divine irritation that cut through Haruto's usual apathy.
"You love your game logic, don't you?" Aetheris sneered, his silhouette flickering like a dying sun. "But listen closely, Haruto. You didn't make a down payment on this world. This isn't a free-to-play trial where you can just wander around seeking 'entertainment' while my clock is ticking."
The God stepped closer, the white void around them cracking like glass.
"You think you're here to play? You're here to exist. My goal is for you to reach Level 100—which is what you should be—but you're lagging behind because you're treating every life-or-death moment like a side quest. This isn't a game you're playing; it's a life you're supposed to be building from scratch. Stop playing with yourself. Stop wasting my time."
The atmosphere in the Void shifted. The light turned sharp, and an immense pressure slammed into Haruto, forcing him to plant his feet.
"Every man has a weakness," Aetheris said, his voice dropping into a serious, terrifying register. "It took even me a long time to find yours. But now, the rules of your 'Game' are changing. Fear is being added to the script."
Haruto gritted his teeth against the pressure. "What are you talking about?"
"If you lose this game—if I decide you are not worthy of my power—I will not kill you," Aetheris stated coldly. "I will send you back. Back to your old world, to the exact moment you left. You will keep every memory of this world, every face, every feeling. But you will never be able to find this place again. You will live out a full life—92 years, Haruto—in that gray, boring reality you hated so much."
Haruto's heart hammered against his ribs. The boredom was gone, replaced by a cold, sharp dread. "Wait... you can't do that. Who else would you find for your reincarnation? You need me."
"I have eternity," Aetheris replied, his form beginning to dissolve into starlight. "I can wait another few hundred years for the next soul to be born. But you? You only have one chance. You are 18 now. Imagine 74 more years of total, absolute boredom, knowing that paradise is just a glitch away—but a glitch you can never reach."
"Wait! Aetheris!" Haruto shouted, reaching out, but the Void was already collapsing.
"The stakes are high, Star-Child. Don't lose."
As the God of Creation vanished, his final words echoed like a system command:
"I am a God; I don't waste my time. Understand this—your power allows you to push your physical vessel to its absolute limit. The results that usually take months of training, the sword skills that take years to master... for you, they will manifest in a single day. You have two days. Don't waste them."
Haruto bolted upright in his bed, the name "Aetheris!" tearing from his throat in a desperate gasp. His heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped animal. He stared at his trembling hands, the cold sweat dripping from his forehead onto the sheets.
(Inner Thoughts): "Was that... just a dream? No. It felt too sharp. Too heavy."
The Flashback: The Life He Hated
As he sat there, his mind was forced back into a loop of memories from his previous life—the "Original File" he had tried to overwrite.
He saw himself at 13, standing alone at a funeral. He remembered the grueling years that followed: buying a tiny, cramped room with the last of his parents' insurance money. A life with no friends, no girls, and no joy. Just 18 hours a day spent in front of a screen, "scrap-finding" in games just to survive.
He had finally reached a world where he was a Star-Child, where he had Goddesses and power... and now Aetheris was threatening to drag him back to that 92-year prison of boredom.
"No way," Haruto hissed, his voice cracking.
"I'm not going back to that gray room. I'm not going back to being a nobody."
He gripped his head, a jagged, panicked laugh escaping his lips.
"Hahaha! Aetheris... you really know how to pull a player's strings, don't you? You emptied my mind just to fill it with dread."
The moment his panic peaked, his HUD flared to life, but the notifications were different. They weren't just text; they felt like physical shocks to his brain.
[NOTIFICATION: NEW EMOTION LOGGED]
[STATUS: EXTREME STRESS & PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE]
[WARNING: NERVOUS SYSTEM CRITICAL ATTACK]
"I've seen warnings before," Haruto muttered, wiping the sweat from his eyes with a shaky hand. "But this... this feels real. This isn't a game I'm playing for fun anymore. This is a game for my soul."
The Midnight Grind
He couldn't stay in bed. He needed proof. He needed to know if God's "gift"—the ability to master months of training in a single day—was a reality or just another glitch in his mind.
He stumbled out of bed and ran toward the mansion's private training room. His steps were unsteady, his [MANA CONTROL] flickering because of his high stress, but he didn't stop. He pushed open the heavy doors to the empty, silent hall.
"If months of results show up in one day..." Haruto whispered, dropping into a push-up position on the cold floor. "Then the game is still on."
He started doing push-ups. 10, 50, 100. Usually, his Level 4 body would start to ache by now. But as he hit 200, something happened. His muscles didn't just tire; they felt like they were being hit by a blacksmith's hammer. He could literally feel the fibers snapping and weaving back together, becoming denser and harder with every single rep.
Just after 1 Hour
Push-up Count: 2,500 (Non-stop)
His chest and shoulders had already visibly broadened, the muscles becoming lean and "compact" like steel cables.What should have taken a 3-month gym routine had just been processed in 60 minutes.
Haruto pushed himself up, his shirt soaked, his hands finally stopping their shake. The fear was still there, but it had turned into something else: All-Out Obsession.
"Aetheris was right," Haruto said, looking at his reflection in the training room mirror. His eyes were glowing with a terrifying intensity. "I have two days to become a monster. And I'm going to use every second of it."
Haruto stood tall, steam rising from his overheated skin. He wiped the sweat from his eyes, staring at his reflection. His body was tightening, adapting at a rate that defied every law of biology he knew.
"This is it," he whispered, his voice cold and steady. "This isn't just some simulation anymore. It's a game, sure, but the stakes are my literal existence. If I'm going to be 1,000 times faster and better than every 'NPC' in this world, then I have to stop acting like a player and start acting like the owner."
He gripped the edge of a training rack, his new strength nearly denting the metal.
(Inner Thoughts): "Aetheris is pushing me. He's acting like he's in a hurry... like there's a deadline he's not telling me about. Why now? Why the 92-year threat? There's something hiding in the source code of this mission, but I can't find it if I'm weak."
He realized that his "boredom" had been a luxury. Now, with the threat of being sent back to that gray, lonely apartment, every second felt like a ticking bomb.
"I have to win," he said, his violet eyes flashing with a predatory light. "No excuses. No 'boring' complaints. I'll master this vessel, I'll crush Kaelen, and I'll prove to God that I'm not just a piece in his game—I'm the one who's going to break it."
He looked at his HUD. The warnings were still there, but he ignored them, pushing the notifications into the corner of his vision. He didn't need a system to tell him he was under pressure. He could feel it in his bones.
"Next phase," Haruto muttered. "Body's conditioning is at 3,000%. Now it's time to see how fast I can make my mind move."
Haruto walked over to a workbench in the corner of the training room, his movements now terrifyingly fluid. He didn't just have a plan; he was building a War Map.
He laid out a large sheet of parchment and began scribbling at a speed that would have looked like a blur to a normal human. Using his memory of every interaction at the Academy, he mapped out every single one of Kaelen's lackeys—their levels, their combat styles, and their specific mana signatures.
"Kaelen isn't just an opponent," Haruto whispered, his pen scratching violently against the paper. "He's a bug in the system. And bugs always use exploits."
Haruto's pen moved like a glitching cursor, tearing across the parchment as he mapped out the "Rules of the Game"—or rather, the lack thereof. He wasn't just planning a fight; he was searching for the cracks in the world's physics.
"Kaelen isn't just going to fight," Haruto whispered, his violet eyes scanning the data points.
"He's going to exploit every single broken mechanic in the book. And since he has the Royal Family's backing, he's basically playing with an Infinite Gold cheat."
Haruto circled three major loopholes he found in the Wizard Quest's ancient structure:
The "High-Level Mercenary" Loophole: The rules state Haruto and Kaelen are the principals, but there is no restriction on bringing "support units." Kaelen could literally hire a Level 70 Royal Guard to stand in his corner. "If the rules don't say a player can't be replaced or assisted by a giant," Haruto grumbled, "Kaelen will bring a mountain to a fistfight."The "Level-Spike" Artifacts: While the players' base levels are fixed for the duel, there is no rule against Level Modification via external items. Kaelen likely has access to "Crown Jewels" that can artificially boost his stats to Level 20 for the duration of the match.The "Area-of-Effect" Trap: The Academy rules don't restrict the "spectators." Kaelen could easily place 100 mages in the stands to secretly cast debuffs on Haruto.
Haruto looked at the 100+ strategies he had scribbled down. He didn't look worried; he looked like a hacker who had just found a backdoor into a secure server.
"You think Royal Support makes you invincible?" Haruto smirked, his eyes glowing with a predatory intensity. "But in a game with no rules, the one who understands the Source Code is the one who wins."
Strategy #14: If Kaelen brings a Level 70 guard, Haruto will useLustra's mind manipulation, making the guard accidentally attack Kaelen.Strategy #55: If Kaelen uses a Level-Spike artifact, Haruto will use Ivory's reality magic, turning it into a useless piece of jewelry mid-swing.Strategy #89: If the crowd tries to debuff him, he'll use Bellona to distract the crowd.
"He's going to cheat," Haruto said, standing up and stretching his now-dense muscles.
"He's going to bring the worst, most unfair tricks he can find. And I'm going to let him. Because the higher he stacks his cheats, the more satisfying it will be when I Delete his entire existence from the world"
Haruto didn't stop at 100. He kept going, simulating every possible "cheat" Kaelen could pull. His brain was working at 10,000% speed, fueled by the fear of Aetheris's threat.
"Kaelen is just a Level 8 bug," Haruto muttered, grabbing a training sword.
"But I'm the Admin who's tired of seeing bugs in his world. Two days... I'll be ready for every dirty trick in the Royal book."