The Genius Programmer Turned Wizard - GPW Chapter 10: The Shallow Hollow (3) (Part 2)

Her strength gave out. Her vision blurred.

It was a clear sign of mana exhaustion.

‘How many more rooms are there?’

There was no mistaking it—the mana behind those doors felt even thicker than here.

That’s why she never doubted that something must be waiting behind each one.

But now, she wasn’t so sure. It felt like she was just looping around the same space.

‘Damn it. I don’t have time to waste here.’

She had a reason—no, a need—to grow stronger as quickly as possible.

She’d never stopped running, never hesitated once.

And yet now, even her body was betraying her.

Thud.

One knee hit the floor.

Even crouched down, the dizziness refused to subside.

‘Damn it.’

She pulled a canteen from the belt at her waist.

Inside was a [Mana Potion], but after drinking so many on the way here, it barely made a sound.

‘If I drink this too…’

She could be in danger—either on the way back or if something unexpected happened.

Besides… she still didn’t know how many rooms were left.

She had to hold back.

She had to—but the thirst from mana exhaustion was scorching her throat.

She wanted to down every last drop and rush into the next room.

And then—

Clatter.

A chilling sound echoed.

‘I definitely finished them all…’

Nope.

Somehow, one [Skeleton Soldier] had managed to wedge its leg bone into its shoulder and was crawling toward her with grotesque movements.

‘Damn it.’

She hesitated just as she was about to drink the potion.

Instead, she clipped it back onto her belt and raised her staff.

‘Just one. And a broken one at that.’

No need to waste mana.

She moved to strike the crawling skeleton with her staff—

“Ugh!”

Her supporting leg buckled, her ankle twisting from the strain.

Pain shot up her body, her posture collapsed, and the staff missed its target.

The skeleton lunged straight at her—

Bang—!

A [Magic Bullet] came flying from somewhere, slamming into the skeleton and sending it spinning away.

She didn’t miss her chance—she swung her staff with everything she had.

“Phew…”

As the [Skeleton Soldier] disintegrated into bone dust, she turned to see where the bullet had come from.

‘Of course.’

There he was.

Strangely, she wasn’t surprised to see him.

But the others standing behind him? That was unexpected.

“You guys… didn’t you head back?”

“How many rooms has it been?”

—

The one who replied was Liam Windweaver.

“Huh? What do you mean, how many rooms?”

“I wasn’t asking you, Liam-nim. Adeline, what number room is this for you?”

Adeline Rubylake blinked, seemingly trying to parse my question, then answered concisely:

“Sixth.”

Then she turned away and limped toward the other side of the room.

‘Already the sixth?’

They’d made it much further than expected.

And Adeline looked completely drained.

“Adeline, wait—”

“The hell are you saying? There are more rooms?”
Liam’s voice suddenly boomed through the room, cutting me off.

Adeline stopped at last and turned back.

“What… are you talking about?”
“Hell if I know! That’s what I want to ask!”
“What do you know?”
“Hey, unless you explain yourself properly—!”

Their gazes converged on me.

And then—

Clatter.

‘Damn it, it’s already starting.’

Clatter. Clatter. Clatter.

All around us, Skeleton Soldiers began to rise once more.

“Wh-what the hell?!”

Liam panicked, but Adeline calmly downed a potion and wiped her lips.

“Don’t freak out. It’s nothing.”

A Magic Circle began forming in front of her staff.

No. I grabbed her staff and said,

“Stop.”

“What?”

And then I cast first.

Magic Shotgun

It was a simple and brute-force spell—quick to cast.

Boom!

The skeleton hit by the magical shrapnel flew across the room and smashed into the wall.

No matter how many times I used it, the raw power was undeniable.

…The efficiency? That’s another story.

“What was that?!”

This time, Adeline was the one flustered, while the others snapped to attention.

Ron, Liam, and Ethan all jumped into the fray.

“Don’t get intimidated by their numbers! Just fight!”
“Y-y-y-yessir!”
“Augh! Come on, you mages, do something already!”

It was chaotic, but at least with the others fighting, I had a moment to speak with Adeline.

“You… weren’t you a 1st-circle mage—”
“Do you understand the truth of this room?”

She had reached her sixth, and I was still on my first, yet we had met in the same chamber.

Surely, she’d realized what that meant.

“That it’s repeating endlessly?”
“Exactly.”
“So what?”

Adeline raised her staff toward the skeletons again.

“You have some kind of solution?”

She looked ready to cast at any moment.

Surely, she’d already realized the truth and exhausted every known method.

This room was a perfect sealed space—no visible Magic Circle or mechanical tricks.

No way to interfere magically from inside.

…Or so she thought.

“There is a way.”

Her eyes widened at my firm answer.

—

“What’s that for?”

Back during my military service as a systems operator, I once saw a nasty-looking axe hanging on the wall in the server room and asked the squad leader.

“Oh, that? Formatting tool.”
”Excuse me?”
“You heard me. When the enemy’s already breaking through, you don’t have time to type out commands and wipe everything.”
“Ah.”

If you can’t solve it with software…
Then just blow up the hardware.

“Just blow the whole door off.”