The Legendary Programming Mage

That was what I said, but how was I going to get close to him?

Because of that bastard Allen, I hadn't spoken to a single boy in two years.

Not only did he make all men go to war, but he also stole my heart.

Aww… I sound so cute now.

Shaking my head, I turned and faced Allen again.

"If I remember correctly, he has a trait that makes all physical attacks useless to him."

Maybe it might not be so bad that I'm a villainess.

If Allen wanted, he could easily wipe out the world.

That brought a thought: why didn't he?

It must be Jake Kim's plot armor.

The tunnel was ringing with noise.

Students were fighting the ghouls, both the real ones and the fake ones.

I didn't know enough about the human plot to predict what might happen.

But what I did know was who was going to be this year's Apex: the man with the biggest fan base back on Earth.

Allen Vanderbilt.

"Show them what you got, Red Cheetah."

As if hearing my thoughts, the gorgeous young man with the aura of the heavens glanced at me, then faced the ghouls.

Beside him was a face I recognized: the second-in-command of Allen's army and his best friend, Edo Ikenna.

I scanned the tunnel quickly again. Only then did I notice three other important female leads, people who could be considered my rivals.

Quincy Blake, helping a group of students at the front.

Valentina Solrath, who was using holy arts against the ghouls.

And then there was the Voice of Valoria.

"I'm really in the game."

I turned back to Allen and took a step forward toward him.

If this was the start of the plot, then it was time to put myself in it.

Not just as the main character, but as the one who would change the world's fate.

---

(Allen's POV)

Spark! Spark!

『Deviant Spell: Distortion Red Chains has been activated』

The moment my chains finished forming, I took a deliberate step forward.

Distorted Red Chains was a spell that gave my red chains the attribute of distortion magic.

That included blinking too.

With that being said, it wasn't exactly a stable spell since I was still too weak.

I knew that if I fought most of the cadets now, I would lose.

That was why I had changed a few things in my body.

During my two-day training, I discovered that the human body, at least in this world, was like a variable container.

This was why it could store so much mana, and why it increased with each rank.

However, if I could turn that variable container into a constant with a conditional statement, then it should be possible to use mana limitlessly.

And my speculation was correct.

The only drawbacks were that, during this time, I couldn't absorb any mana points, and it caused a huge strain on me after the condition's timing was met.

Slowly, I extended my hand to send the chains forward, only for someone to rush in front of me.

Quickly retracting my hand, my eyes widened briefly.

'Sylvia?'

The one standing in front of me was none other than Sylvia Draven.

Beatrice had indeed warned me that she might try to get close to me because of the chairman.

However, since I knew the plot, I thought she wouldn't approach me immediately.

She was a calm bookworm in the original story, with a sharp business sense inherited from her mother, the head of the merchant guild.

Yet now she stood in front of me, breathing heavily.

"Hello~," she muttered in a clearly flushed tone.

Edo gasped. "Wow~ bro, I thought you were gay, but you're a player."

"Shut up, man."

Turning my gaze back to the young woman, I asked, "Hello… but what are you doing?"

She tried to smile warmly, but I could clearly see it twitching. "I just wanted us to be friends."

"In the middle of an examination?"

She suddenly flinched, as if only just realizing what I meant.

For a moment, she didn't speak before shifting to the side. "Let's fight together, mister."

'What the hell is wrong with her?'

She was certainly acting strange, but I had no time to dwell on it.

Quincy's, Valentina's, Daemon's, and other groups were already advancing.

This meant I had to move.

With a sigh, I answered, "Okay."

If she was planning on using me, or if her father sent her to keep an eye on me, then I would just have to use her too.

"Then…" she muttered. "Let's go."

Without another word, I channeled mana through my body and lunged forward.

The chains didn't need a physical command; I simply directed them toward the ghouls.

The sharp edge of a chain grazed one of the monsters, red lightning surging into its body.

The moment it was stunned, a shadow soldier dashed past me and sliced off its leg.

Aghhhhh!

The ghoul screeched loudly.

With a flick of my wrist, I sent the chain around the screaming ghoul, wrapping it tightly.

My eyes darted to the side as I controlled the chain that now choked the ghoul, slamming it into another ghoul.

My gaze flicked again as I used "blink" on two chains, making them blur and appear some distance away, even though the portal was still by my side.

I pierced injuries on them, and just like before, Sylvia, who controlled two shadow soldiers, sent them forward to slice off the legs.

It was strange.

Not only did she know the weak points that even I didn't, but she seemed very skilled at working with me.

I shook off the thought, coiled one of the remaining three chains around my waist, drove the sharp end into the tunnel ceiling, and with a swing, launched myself into the air.

One of the ghouls lunged at me, nearly cleaving through my torso.

Blink.

Using blink on myself, I vanished midair in a flicker and reappeared in the center of the horde.

Now, with steady footing, I could see everything.

The ghouls swarmed me, and for a brief moment, I thought their attacks would land.

Yet at the same time, I knew they wouldn't harm me.

Perhaps it was because of what I felt, that same intoxicating rush that always surged through me whenever I used mana.

My eyes glowed as I sent the chains whirling, piercing and tearing the ghouls' skin.

I hadn't even pushed past my limit yet.

Yes… I had long surpassed F-rank.

I was an E-rank now.

All the students' eyes turned to me as I carved deep injuries into the ghouls.

It wasn't that they were incapable of killing this many of them.

However, to them, the number of ghouls was overwhelming, since they couldn't distinguish reality from illusion.

In the eyes of most, I was probably fighting over a million right now.

Slicing them like meat.

But it didn't matter to me.

The more they feared me, the better.

Not only was my strength frightening to them, but my elemental affinity was something none of them had heard of.

Red Lightning, aka Red Flash.

At that moment, I showed each and every one of them my style of dominance.

It wasn't about defeating or humiliating the weak, but showing absolute strength, control, and composure over the strong.

Within a few seconds of fighting, all the ghouls around me were on the ground, sword-like marks etched into their skin.

Some had their hearts torn through, others their lungs, but they were all dead.

As if by fate, that was also the last real ghoul.

And when it collapsed on the ground, all the fake ghouls began fading away.

I stood at the center of corpses, blood smearing my face.

'This is enough, right?'

Beatrice had told me to come out as the Apex this year no matter what.

Even if she hadn't told me, I was planning to anyway.

Some might ask: what about the plot?

Well…

Fuck the plot.

This feels so much better.

It feels… exhilarating.