The Legendary Programming Mage

You have picked difficulty: Hell.

... Transporting dual users to swampy cave.

A bright light filled my vision, and in an instant...

Ding!

As my vision returned, my eyes adjusted to the surroundings when,

Boom!

A sharp pain surged through my body as Sylvia's figure fell on me.

"Oww! Your freaking heav—"

My words caught in my throat.

'She didn't hear me, right?'

However, she did.

She had heard me loud and clear.

Sylvia didn't say a word and stood from me.

'She's mad, isn't she?'

I stretched out my hand to grab her shoulder, only for her to swat it away. "Don't you dare, you perverted, body-shaming creep."

She turned to me with blazing eyes. "I might eat a lot, but I'm not fat."

"It was a joke, Sylvia. You definitely aren't fat. Though, you do have a bit of muscle mass."

"Uhh..." She gasped. "So you're calling me a large mass of muscle now?"

"I definitely didn't say that."

"So you want to gaslight me, Allen?"

Damn, she's the same as before.

She looked away, folding her arms across her chest. "I think I made a mistake coming here."

I facepalmed. "Seriously."

She glanced at me briefly from the corner of her eyes. "You're not mad, right?"

"You're the one screaming, you know that, right?"

She nudged me lightly with her elbow. "If you apologize, I'll let it go. Though, never call me chubby again."

"Yes ma'am, I'm sorry for talking about your weight."

A small smile curved her lips before we both turned to scan the cave.

The VR cave stretched before us, a tangled labyrinth of swampy water and draping green vines.

The air hung heavy with a musky, stale scent, and the low, persistent chirping of crickets echoed off the damp stone walls.

Patches of mist clung to the ground, and the faint dripping of water somewhere deep inside added an eerie rhythm to the stillness.

"Feels like we're in a horror movie," Sylvia commented.

I lingered, taking in the sight. "Yeah… tell me about it."

"So..." She glanced at me, gripping her wooden staff tightly.

Her ears were red as she puffed her cheeks so much that I wanted to squeeze them.

"What are we going to do now that we're alone?"

However, those kinds of charms won't work on me.

'You'll have to try harder than that, Jin-ah.'

I looked back to the cave's entrance. "We'll be entering."

Sylvia let out a long breath. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

I nodded.

During the load before the pod activated, I had seen the general layout of the dungeon.

The cave was divided into six segments: F, E, D, C, B, and A.

The deeper you went, the harder it became, and it was said that it was impossible for a first-year to enter segment A.

"Let's enter first and think later."

In Apex, the VR headsets were set in a way where the user would feel every pain.

So even though death wasn't possible, there was a real chance that you might go mad from the intensity.

Both Sylvia and I took cautious steps into the cave.

The pungent smell in the air grew even stronger as we moved forward.

"If the smell keeps increasing, I doubt we can get past D," Sylvia muttered, coating her skin with mana.

She was right.

Even without considering the monsters, the smell itself could be deadly.

I couldn't even imagine eating here.

Bleuh...

I nearly vomited at only the thought.

Grrr!

A loud growl echoed through the cave as both Sylvia and I shifted into combat stances.

"This kind of reminds me of the entrance exam," she commented as I stepped in front of her.

Yeah, it did, and it also reminded me of how foolish I was for ignoring the signs.

Such a stain on my name.

Grr! Grrr!

The growls grew closer as a monster emerged.

White fur, red eyes, two glowing red horns, and the cute face of a rabbit.

A Horned Rabbit.

Sylvia's grip on her staff tightened so hard I could hear it in the sudden silence.

Horned Rabbits were F-rank mana beasts, but they were sometimes considered B-rank threats because of their skill.

Like every monster, the rabbit had a single skill: "Pack."

This meant they always moved in groups.

Not one or two, but hundreds.

Grrrr!

This time, the sounds were deafening as over fifty monsters rushed from an opening toward us.

"Allen, duck."

I lowered my posture as icy mana flared in the air.

Four shards of ice flew past me, crashing into the rabbits.

"Now."

I muttered, springing forward and activating Flashstep.

In an instant, I was behind the rabbits, hovering in the air.

『User has activated Tier 9 spell: Red Chains』

Five red portals formed around me, crackling with chains.

I stuck out two fingers and, with a flick, controlled three of the chains to strike the mana beasts.

The chains pierced through some monsters and electrocuted others.

Ding!

『You have slain…』

『You have earned…』

The remaining monsters lunged at me, ignoring Sylvia.

『User has activated Tier 9 spell: Distortion』

I blinked behind the monsters, who had formed a makeshift wall.

I folded my palms together, mimicking a clap.

All my chains flew toward the wall of monsters, circling them until a complete circle trapped the monsters inside.

The moment I pressed my hands closer together,

Boom!

The monsters trapped within exploded in blood and flesh.

Breathing out, I turned back to Sylvia, who was done on her end as well, two shadow soldiers standing by her side.

I moved closer while dodging the corpses and asked,

"You have two affinities?"

I had seen her use shadows before but didn't know she had ice as well.

She nodded. "Impressed."

"Yes, actually."

She smiled. "Enough of that, let's keep the momentum."

I turned to the area where the horned rabbits had come from. "Don't forget why we're here."

She stepped toward me. "Yeah, to learn about the three terms of magic."

It was time to move to the next area.

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A/N:

Guys, there will be another extra chapter tomorrow since we've reached our first golden ticket milestone of 50.

Peace.