The sunlight of the Aethelgard continent was not warm; instead, it carried the weight of "Providence Radiation," making the air feel thick and oppressive. The surroundings were a landscape of desolation and ruins.
Lin Wu knelt on one knee inside a deep crater, his chest heaving. His expensive black suit was now reduced to tattered rags, yet his eyes burned with intensity.
"System," Lin Wu called out internally, his voice maintaining the characteristic composure of a professional hacker. "Before I kick the bucket in this godforsaken place, tell me what you are. What is your function in this 'Farm'?"
[Data retrieval request accepted.]
[Subject: Lin Wu. Title: Malware.]
[System: The Archive of Providence.]
A virtual dashboard materialized, hovering in mid-air, visible only to Lin Wu. Lines of code cascaded down like a waterfall:
Divine Eye: Analyzes the source code of all things. Sees through "Bugs" (weaknesses) and the energy structures of opponents.
Causality Simulation: Calculates and predicts the near future based on realistic probabilities.
Decryption & Rewriting: Directly interferes with the world's physical laws to create paradoxes (Hacks).
The Archive: Absorbs energy and knowledge from defeated Gods.
[Note: The system does not provide 'Physical Muscle.' The system provides 'Access Rights.' The better you understand the world, the more powerful you become.]
"Access rights, huh?" Lin Wu curled his lip into a smirk. "I get it. I don't need to be stronger than my enemies; I just need to know how to delete them from the system."
"So, understanding the rules of the game and finding a way to break it—that is my true strength." Lin Wu quickly memorized the information and began exploring the system's capabilities.
[Warning: Threatening biological entities detected. Target: One-Eyed Wolves (Rank 1). Quantity: 03.]
Hearing the system notification, Lin Wu immediately braced himself and looked toward the arrow marked in the air by the interface.
From the purple thorn bushes, three giant wolves emerged. Their appearance differed from Earth's wolves; though lupine in shape, they were massive, with pale gray fur that stood upright like hedgehog quills. They moved with incredible speed. The alpha was the largest, leading the pack with a long scar running across its single red eye. Its claws scraped the earth, sending off small sparks.
Lin Wu quickly activated the power he had just studied.
"Divine Eye, initiate!"
Zip! The world transformed. The alpha wolf was no longer a creature of flesh and bone; it appeared as a glowing red wireframe model.
Bug detected: Third cervical vertebra misaligned by 0.2mm.
Logic flaw: When jumping, the center of gravity shifts 15 degrees to the left due to the scar on the hind leg.
The alpha wolf roared, lunged, and closed the distance in an instant. To a normal person, it was as fast as a lightning bolt, but in Lin Wu's eyes, a green line traced its jumping trajectory.
"Evasion rate: 100%."
Lin Wu didn't retreat; instead, he took a step forward, tilting his body exactly 5 degrees to the left. This was the system's power—it was miraculous. The opponent before him was like programmed code; he could "see" its actions before they happened.
The wolf streaked past, the wind from its fur ruffling his hair. At the exact moment the wolf's belly was exposed, Lin Wu didn't use a fist. He used his fingertips, thrusting them directly into an energy convergence point marked by the system.
Thump! A small explosion echoed inside the wolf's body. Its energy flow short-circuited. The beast, weighing over a hundred kilograms, slammed into the ground, twitching violently before shattering into dark flecks of light.
Seeing their leader fall in a single move, the remaining two wolves stopped growling and began to howl in terror. Despite their fear of this small human, their predatory instinct and the rage over their leader's death drove them forward. They attacked simultaneously from both sides—one leaping high, the other lunging low.
"Causality Simulation: Multi-target Mode," Lin Wu said calmly. Now grasping how to use his abilities, he quickly applied the appropriate technique to eliminate the wolves.
His brain vibrated. In a millionth of a second, he saw thousands of possible outcomes of the skirmish. He focused his high-speed cognition to filter the results and executed the solution provided by the system.
He spun around, his left foot kicking off a nearby rock for momentum, performing a mid-air flip. In mid-motion, he snatched up a sharp bone shard from the previous wolf.
Pluck! Pluck!
Two precise stabs hit the "Bug" points between the foreheads of the remaining wolves. They collapsed like logs, their souls seemingly unplugged.
[Elimination successful. Absorbing data...]
After slaying the three wolves, Lin Wu had mastered the first two skills. His physical attributes and speed also improved as the system absorbed the data from the carcasses. However, the potential risks of the system and these four powerful skills weighed heavily on his mind.
[Synchronization: 5%. Warning: Memory of 'The taste of morning coffee' has been deleted to create storage space.]
Lin Wu froze. The system's power was god-like, but it came with a price. When using Divine Eye or Causality Simulation, the volume of data his brain had to process was too vast for a human mind. He was forced to delete portions of his memory to accommodate the new data.
He tried to recall the rich aroma of a morning espresso at the office, but he found only a soulless white void. Perhaps the scent of coffee gave life flavor, but in the face of survival and power, it was trivial.
"Delete it," he replied coldly, his eyes turning toward the West, where the Ruins of Wisdom awaited. "To survive here, the taste of coffee is the cheapest thing I own."
"And so, the new rules have begun. I, the malware, have finally crawled into this divine world."