The morning sun hit the Academy's spires, but for Caelum, the world looked entirely different. With his newly gained 'Admin Read-Only' permissions, every person he saw had a floating string of code above their heads. He could see their mana levels, their weaknesses, and even their hidden cooldowns.
[NOTICE: SCANNING ACADEMY GROUNDS...]
[TARGETS DETECTED: 1,500 STUDENTS. 50 INSTRUCTORS.]
[ALERT: A UNIFIED SURVEILLANCE FIELD HAS BEEN ACTIVATED BY THE ELDERS.]
Caelum ignored the invisible pressure of the surveillance field. He walked toward the Main Training Hall, where the weekly ranking battles were held. Usually, an F-Rank like him would be hiding in the shadows, but today, Caelum walked right into the center of the arena.
The hall was packed. Thousands of students were watching as the Academy's elite practiced. Among them was Instructor Draven, a man known for his cruelty toward low-rank students.
"Thorne!" Draven's voice boomed, echoing against the high stone ceilings. "I heard about what you did to Renard. A lucky strike. But in a real battle, a glitch doesn't save you from a master's blade."
Draven drew a heavy claymore, the steel glowing with a violent purple aura. He was a Level 55 Warrior, a rank that most students couldn't reach in a decade.
"A master's blade?" Caelum repeated, a cold smile forming. "All I see is a poorly optimized set of data."
The crowd gasped. No one had ever dared to insult Instructor Draven so openly.
"You arrogant brat!" Draven roared. He swung his massive sword, sending a wave of compressed air that could slice through solid rock.
In his past life, Caelum would have died instantly. But now, he didn't even flinch. He looked at the incoming attack and saw the logic behind it: [SKILL: AIR_SLASH | SPEED: 120 | DAMAGE: 2500].
Caelum didn't dodge. Instead, he raised a single finger and whispered a command that no mage had ever used.
[COMMAND: OVERRIDE_PHYSICS_LAW]
[SET: AIR_DENSITY = SOLID_WALL]
The air in front of Caelum suddenly solidified. Draven's powerful slash hit the air and shattered like glass. The shockwave blew backward, knocking Draven off his feet.
"W-What was that?" Draven stammered, his face turning pale. "You didn't use a shield! There was no mana circle!"
"I told you, Instructor," Caelum walked toward him, each footstep sounding like a drumbeat in the silent hall. "The laws of this world are just suggestions to me. You rely on the System to give you power. I... I am the System now."
Caelum reached out and touched the edge of Draven's claymore.
[ACTION: DELETE_PROPERTY: SHARPNESS]
[ACTION: DELETE_PROPERTY: DURABILITY]
In an instant, the legendary steel sword turned into a pile of grey dust, slipping through Draven's fingers. The instructor stared at his empty hands, his mind breaking from the impossibility of what he was seeing.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: FAME INCREASED BY 5,000!]
[NEW TITLE EARNED: THE UNTOUCHABLE]
Caelum looked up at the VIP balcony, where the Grandmaster and the Academy Elders were watching in stunned silence. He pointed toward them. "Seven days. That's all the time I gave the Grandmaster. After that, this Academy—and the System controlling it—will belong to me."
He turned and walked out of the hall, leaving behind thousands of terrified students and a broken instructor. The age of the Glitch King had truly begun.