The Legendary Programming Mage

The red book lay on the desk between us like some cursed relic from a horror movie.

Sylvia and I sat opposite each other, our legs tangling under the small Japanese-style table.

"So?" she finally asked, arms folded tightly. "What's the deal with it?"

I leaned back, exhaling through my nose. "That's what I want to know too."

Her brows furrowed instantly. "Hmm..."

She rested her hand on her chin. "I don't think anything like this showed up in the game, not even once."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. 'So it wasn't in the game either, huh?'

That meant this was new, something exclusive to me.

'But why?'

If this world was indeed from the version of Sylvia's game then she should at least know a little about it.

The book at first glance looked unimpressive.

However, that right there was the problem.

In a shelf of good artifacts, a useless one just happened to find its way there?

Bullshit — even a toddler won't believe that.

I stared at the faint crimson glow pulsing beneath the book's letters.

Was this another trick from the monster?

Did that mean it wasn't dead?

I exhaled; cold air escaped my lips.

"Why can't I live a normal life," I muttered under my breath.

The weather was cold as always, my thoughts hazy, my breathing slow.

'I want to sleep.'

Thinking about all these things won't give me anything.

But I couldn't help but speculate.

It was like that feeling when you start trying to reason how the world works and can't stop.

Was primordial corrosion and the book some trail left behind by someone?

My fingers tapped against the tabletop.

If it was, then what was their endgame?

To make me lose?

To put me on some pedestal as a new protagonist?

Or something more selfish…

My thoughts darkened as the endless possibilities clawed at me.

Sylvia noticed immediately and leaned against my arm.

"Hey, Allen," she whispered. "Don't overthink it, okay? This isn't a battle you have to fight alone."

Her warmth snapped me out of the spiral.

My gaze widened for a moment, then softened.

With a soft chuckle I teased, "Oh? What's this? The cop of the century, worried about me?"

Her fist landed lightly on my stomach. "Of course I would be, idiot. I'm your girlfriend."

I chuckled softly, though my chest tightened at her words.

She pulled back, leveling me with a firm look. "No matter what happens, you have to tell me first. Even if you can't explain it right away, don't do anything rash. You've got people who don't want to lose you."

For a moment, guilt knotted in my throat.

I smiled, nodding like a good student. "Yes yes, ma'am. Don't worry."

Satisfied, she stood, stretching. "Good. Now, I'm raiding your fridge."

I watched her pad off toward the kitchen.

Her figure moved with casual steps and, as soon as she was out of sight, my smile vanished.

I'm sorry, Sylvia. But there's no way I can be calm about this.

One of the few reasons I'd been able to enjoy this new life was because of freedom.

No one chased me down for being a thief.

I wasn't born into some suffocating clan where expectations strangled me.

I wasn't burdened with debts I couldn't pay.

Here, I was… me.

Free.

But now?

Now that freedom was being threatened.

Not just mine but that of those I loved too.

Sylvia, Quincy, Beatrice, Valentina...

And the thing I hated most in the world was being a helpless bird trapped in a cage.

My eyes fell back to the book.

Its glow pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat daring me to open it.

I did.

The first page snapped open.

The large letters scrawled across the parchment burned into my vision:

<Don't trust anyone!>

…

…

That was it.

Nothing else on the entire page — that was until I reached the very bottom.

It was a simple phrase that could mean anything, but it felt different for me.

<Dawn of the Four Calamities.>A spike of pain stabbed my skull.

Argh—!

My hands clutched my head as the world spun.

The sensation was familiar — the same sickening lurch I'd felt after waking up during the Dungeon Survival Classes.

I slammed the book shut, breath ragged.

Nothing good was going to come out of that.

Not now, at least.

But still… there was something about those words.

"Dawn of the Four Calamities."

It felt tied to the academy somehow.

Tied to my existence and this world.

As if whoever had written this book had their hands deep inside the place I was supposed to call safe.

I slumped back, staring at the ceiling.

'Maybe I've been too reliant. Too complacent. Maybe that's why people have been trying to chain me down—because they think I'm easy.'

Should I—

"Allen!"

Sylvia's voice cut through the haze.

She wore a bright smile, stumbling a little as she carried two plates of hot soup.

"This is hot as hell~" she blew on them even though she knew full well it wouldn't affect them.

I blinked at her attempt; an unconscious smile tugged at my lips.

'Perhaps… it's too early to start a fight. No one's openly threatened me yet.'

And if they did?

Well, I had four, well, companions who could beat them into the ground.

A chuckle slipped out of me. 'Yeah, and one is this stubborn girl whose mission is to make sure I don't fall to the wrong side.'

She set the plates down carefully. "Let's eat."

"Will you feed me?" I teased.

"Never."

"You're such a weirdo."

Her fist smacked my arm. "I told you I'm not!"

We laughed, and for a moment, the book, the monster, the cage — they all vanished.

We ate and talked.

It seems I'm quite the softie because an hour of normalcy shifted my whole mentality.

Sylvia left afterward since it was already evening and she had an outing with friends.

After that I showered, the cold water clearing my head.

Now I finally understood why I had become a villain in the future.

Deep down I was still the psychopathic Allen Park, but the people around me were like a rope holding me.

I couldn't even imagine what would happen to me in the future if everyone that I cared about died.

It was already heartbreaking now; that meant it would be worse in a few years' time.

After the long bath I stepped out of the shower, towel draped around my neck, droplets of water running down my back, my gaze locked instantly on the crimson glow across the room.

The book. Still pulsing.

I traced a line on it. "I don't blame future me."

However, I wasn't going to let the people around me die.

I opened the cupboard of my dressing table, and slid the book inside.

Then I sat cross-legged on the bed, pulling out the knight book instead.

The diagrams stared back at me, as barren as before.

"Okay, time for some awesome things."

I smirked, exhaled, then closed my eyes.

Ding.

『 User has entered Subconscious State 』

The system rang in my head somehow clearer than ever.

Subconscious state.

The same state I'd stumbled into when I fixed my body previously.

Back then, I didn't even know what it was. Now I did.

A state where one's spirit connected directly with Omnipresence.

Meaning: not just sensing the world around me, but seeing it.

At higher levels, you could even see inside your own body, through objects, even glimpse truths hidden to the naked eye.

And at the peak?

You could leave your body entirely.

Of course, all of it depended on how large your Omnipresence was.

Each person had a different limit, a ceiling they couldn't push past no matter what.

But I wasn't here to test limits.

I let the mana flow through my two circles, spiraling through veins, nerves, bone.

The world around me shifted.

And then—

I began to see inside myself.

It was time to learn about the mage body.