The weight of the [Debugger] crystal had integrated into Kaito's core, but the power it provided was far from stable. Every time Kaito closed his eyes, he saw lines of scrolling code vibrating with a faint, dangerous hum. The library incident with Riya had proven one thing: Kaito was no longer playing a game. He was fighting against the very fabric of reality.
"Kaito, you've been staring at that blank wall for twenty minutes," Kenji said, his voice echoing in the hollow training hall. "Is it... another one of those 'logic' headaches?"
Kaito blinked, his vision snapping back to the physical world. "I'm fine, Kenji. Just thinking about the Royal Duel. My brothers won't just try to win; they'll try to humiliate me."
Kenji walked over, holding a heavy, ancient tome he had smuggled out of the restricted section. "Then we need to move beyond theory. You told me the world follows 'commands.' If that's true, then your body is the 'hardware.' And right now, your hardware is Level 0."
Kaito nodded. He focused his mind, and the invisible blue terminal flickered to life. With the new update, the interface was no longer just a flat screen; it was a 3D tactical HUD surrounding him.
[System Status: Online][Version: 1.2.1 (Patch: Riya_Stable)][CPU Load: 12% | Temperature: 37.5°C] "I need to increase my processing speed," Kaito whispered. His fingers danced in the air, typing commands into the void. "If I can't increase my mana, I'll increase my 'Clock Speed.'"
[Command: sudo_overclock --target: nervous_system --boost: 150%][Warning: Physical damage may occur. Do you wish to proceed? Y/N]
Kaito gritted his teeth and pressed [Y].
Suddenly, the world slowed down. He could see the dust motes floating in the air as if they were frozen in ice. He could hear the individual beats of Kenji's heart. His senses were sharpened to a razor's edge.
"Kaito? Your eyes... they're glowing," Kenji whispered in awe.
[Skill Active: Passive Packet Sniffing][Target: Kenji | Data: Anxiety (High), Curiosity (Extreme)] Kaito turned his gaze toward the training dummy at the end of the hall. In his enhanced vision, the dummy wasn't just wood and straw—it was a collection of wireframes and hitboxes.
"Watch this," Kaito said. His voice sounded distorted to his own ears, like a digital recording.
He moved. To Kenji, Kaito was a blur. He reached the dummy in a fraction of a second, his wooden sword striking the exact center of the 'Core' hitbox.
CRACK!
The dummy didn't just break; it shattered. Kaito stood on the other side, gasping for air. The blue screen in front of him was flashing a frantic yellow.
[Alert: Temperature Critical! 41.2°C][Cooling Protocol Initiated...] Kaito collapsed to one knee, steam literally rising from his shoulders. His muscles felt like they had been dipped in acid.
"Kaito!" Kenji rushed to his side. "You're burning up! Stop this, it's too much!"
"I... I have to," Kaito wheezed, his vision blurring. "The Royal Duel is in three days. My brother Jiro is a Level 25 Fire Mage. If I can't outspeed his fireballs, I'm dead."
Suddenly, a cold, familiar breeze swept through the hall. The training torches flickered and died.
"A clumsy execution," Riya's voice echoed from the rafters. She didn't appear physically this time, but her voice felt like it was being injected directly into Kaito's mind. "You're trying to run a high-end script on a primitive processor. Your heart will burst before you finish the first round."
"Then show me... how to fix it," Kaito managed to say, clutching the stone floor.
"Optimization, little glitch," Riya whispered. "Don't fight the system. Use its own [Memory Leak] against it. There is a bug in the palace's mana fountain. Meet me there at midnight. And don't bring the scholar."
The presence vanished. The heat in Kaito's body began to recede, but the warning on his screen remained.
[New Quest Log Created: The Midnight Patch][Objective: Locate the Mana Fountain Bug][Potential Reward: Root Access (Partial)]
Kaito looked at Kenji, who was looking around the room in confusion. "Did you hear that?" Kenji asked.
"Hear what?" Kaito lied, his heart still racing. He couldn't risk Kenji's safety. Not yet.
Kaito stood up, his legs shaking. He had three days to become something the kingdom of Astheria had never seen: a man who didn't just use magic, but controlled the very laws that allowed magic to exist.
He looked at his terminal one last time before closing it.
[Current Level: 0 (Admin Status: Pending)][Target: Prince Jiro | Status: Vulnerable to 'Water_Bucket' Exploit]
Kaito smiled. If he couldn't beat them with power, he would beat them with logic.