They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World

Chapter 291: What The Fuck?!

The iron-reinforced gates of the Imperial Academy swung shut behind me with a reverberating clang.

It was still early, the sun was barely peeking over the eastern stone spires, casting long, bruised shadows across the damp cobblestone courtyard.

A thin layer of morning mist clung to the gothic archways and buttresses, carrying the crisp, bitter chill of autumn.

I made my way up the spiral stone staircase to the third-floor dormitories, my boots tapping softly against the cool flagstones. Pushing open the oak door to my private quarters, I slipped inside and threw the iron latch. The room smelled faintly of cedar shavings, dry dust, and cold stone.

It was too early for morning lectures, giving me a rare, undisturbed pocket of time.

I pulled out the high-backed wooden chair, sat down at my desk, and reached into my spatial inventory. With a faint shimmer of mana, the heavy, obsidian-bound tome I had taken from the Raith estate’s lower archives materialized onto the polished wood.

The cover was cold, crafted from a dense, midnight-black hide embossed with the ancient, crest of the Raith house. I carefully turned the creaking leather binding. The yellowed parchment pages were stiff with age, covered in tight, precise script written in a dark, metallic ink that still held a faint, lingering hum of preserved magic.

The Lost Martial Arts of the Ancient Raith Family.

My eyes scanned the intricate runic diagrams tracing human neural pathways and mana nodes. The text detailed a high-tier, forbidden extension of the Lightning Fang style, a technique titled [Void Step: Flash Fang].

Unlike the modern Lightning Fang, which focused on outward physical speed and localized electrical discharges, this ancient variation forced the caster to compress dark-attribute mana directly into their internal nervous system.

By flooding the neural pathways with dark lightning, the caster could temporarily eliminate physical friction, accelerating bodily movement to a state near instantaneous teleportation.

However, the margin for error was non-existent. A red note inked into the margin by an ancient patriarch warned that a single micro-fraction of misdirected mana would instantly rupture the caster’s secondary pathways, causing permanent paralysis or violent internal hemorrhaging.

"A death sentence for an ordinary martial artist," I murmured, my finger tracing the jagged mana circuits on the page. "But a code structure is just a code structure."

I pushed the book back, slid off the chair, and crossed my legs on the wooden floorboards. Closing my eyes, I drew a deep, steady breath, settling into a deep meditative state.

And began doing what I discovered recently.

[System Command: Initiate Internal Mental Sandbox.]

My consciousness plunged into a dark, soundless void. Within my mind, a glowing, blue wireframe model of my own body constructed itself in real-time, mapping every vein, muscle fiber, and mana pathway down to the millimeter.

I began running mental simulations of the technique.

In the virtual space, I channeled a thread of dark lightning from my mana core, forcing it up through my spine and branching it off into the nerve clusters along my thighs.

[Warning: Logic Error Detected in Pathway 14. Neural Resistance too high. Risk of Vascular Rupture: 87\%.]

The wireframe model in my mind flickered red as the simulated mana violently backfired. I didn’t stop. I paused the simulation, isolating the bottleneck. Using my Debugger perspective, I manually altered the flow route, diverting the excess electrical surge into my Mana Reservoir—a secondary passive buffer that the ancient Raith creators never possessed.

I ran the simulation again.

Thread initiated. Neural compress active. Flow rerouted to Reservoir.

This time, the wireframe model moved. It blurred through the darkness, stepping ten paces forward in less than a millisecond without generating a single ripple of air resistance or internal friction.

I ran the loop again. Fifty times. A hundred times. Optimizing the entry angle, fine-tuning the voltage, and burning the corrected mana pathways deep into my muscle memory until the execution became as natural as breathing.

When I finally opened my eyes, three hours had melted away like smoke.

I let out a long exhale. A tiny, residual strand of dark static crackled across my knuckles before harmlessly dissolving into the floorboards. My chest felt slightly tight, but my mana pathways were completely stable. The simulation was a success.

Standing up, I walked over to the corner washing stand. I poured cold water from an earthenware pitcher into a ceramic basin and splashed my face, scrubbing away the lingering fatigue of the mental strain.

Looking into the small silvered mirror hanging above the stand, I paused, reached up and carefully adjusted the collar of my Academy doublet, ensuring it completely concealed the faint red bite mark Tessa had left on the side of my neck the evening before.

Satisfied that it was hidden, I smoothed down my blonde hair and unlocked the dorm door.

I stepped out into the stone corridors, expecting to see students milling about, but the common lounges were surprisingly empty.

"Where is everyone?" I muttered, frowning slightly as I checked the quiet hallways.

I descended the stairwell, heading straight toward the dining hall. As I pushed open the massive double doors, a wave of sensory noise hit me all at once, the clatter of pewter cutlery, the low roar of chatting students, and the rich, savory scents of roasted ham, freshly baked bread, and spiced apple tea.

Scanning the crowded rows of long wooden tables, I immediately spotted them in their usual spot near a towering stained-glass window.

Tobias, Sira, Kyle, and Emma were sitting together, a spread of breakfast plates scattered between them.

I walked over to their table. As I approached, Kyle was in the middle of aggressively shoving a massive bite of sausage and scrambled eggs into his mouth. He caught sight of me over Tobias’s shoulder, his eyes going wide as he waved his fork wildly in the air.

"Uh... hewe uw awe, bwothew!" Kyle mumbled, his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel.

Tobias pinched the bridge of his nose in utter exasperation, lowering his wooden goblet of tea with a heavy sigh. "For the love of the Gods, Kyle, swallow before you speak. You look like a barnyard animal."

I offered a small, amused shake of my head, stepping up to the bench. "Morning, guys—"

Before I could even finish the greeting, Emma suddenly pushed her chair back and stood up.

Without a single word of warning, she closed the distance between us, wrapped her slender arms tightly around my neck, and pulled herself up, pressing a soft, lingering kiss directly onto my cheek.

I went completely, utterly rigid.

My hands hovered awkwardly in mid-air, my internal thought process grinding to a screeching halt. My mind raced, trying to analyze the situation.

What is she doing? In the middle of the dining hall? In front of everyone?

Emma pulled back just an inch, her bright blue eyes sparkling with a soft, radiant warmth. She offered a sweet, effortless smile, smoothly sliding her arm down to link firmly with mine, tugging me gently toward the empty spot on the wooden bench beside her.

"Come on, sit down," Emma said softly, resting her hand against my forearm. "You look like you barely got any rest. Did your family give you a hard time at the manor?"

I sat down mechanically, my movements stiff as I tried to process the physical proximity. I glanced across the table, expecting Tobias or Sira to look just as bewildered by her sudden affection as I was.

Instead, Sira took a casual sip from her porcelain cup, rolling her eyes with a dramatic groan.

"Urgh, you two lovebirds are going to make me lose my appetite. Save the sweet talk for after breakfast, would you?"

I blinked, my brow furrowing as I looked at Sira. "Lovebirds?"

Emma giggled softly, leaning her weight against my shoulder and tightening her hold on my arm. Her smile was completely relaxed, totally unforced, as if this were the most natural routine in the world.

"Hey... don’t act all shy now, Jin," Emma murmured, pressing a little closer to my side. "It’s completely normal for couples to be affectionate. We’ve been dating for a while now, haven’t we?"

A cold shockwave slammed straight through my chest.

Dating? For a while?!

My mind short-circuited.

What the fuck is happening right now?!