The Genius Programmer Turned Wizard - GPW Chapter 15: The Shallow Hollow (8) (Part 1)

Boom! Boom! Boom!
A golem approached with thunderous steps.

‘Why is there a golem here?’

It was clear I had triggered some kind of special condition.
Something no one had ever touched in the game.

‘But something like that…’

Ah. I figured out the cause right away.

‘Ancient magic!’

I had used the ancient magic from the stone tablet.

> Master, have you returned?

That’s why it recognized me as its master—or rather, it must have perceived that the dungeon’s original owner had returned.

> Beep. Mana signature mismatch. Intruder elimination sequence initiated.

It identified me as an intruder through my Mana Power signature.

‘Damn it.’

Talk about bad luck. This was some next-level misfortune.
Then Liam shouted,

“Hey, apprentice! Didn’t you say you controlled a golem once?”

I had.
But that was only possible because the golem back then had an internal core.
This one didn’t.
Instead—how should I put it?—there were countless threads of mana attached to it, guiding its movements…
Right. Countless.

‘A small-scale spatial magic won’t block that.’

And even if I blocked it momentarily, what good would it do?
I couldn’t restrain it either.

Boom! Boom!
The golem got closer and closer.

Countless simulations ran through my head.

‘What if I detonate Adeline’s magic like an EMP?’

Everyone here would get caught in the blast.

‘Damn it, if only I could change the type of stocked spell…’

Hmm? Wait. Isn’t that actually possible?

I brought up the code of the magic stored in my staff.

> [Explosion]
> A magic purely focused on “detonation”—the high firepower you’d expect from the Red Magic Tower.
> Naturally, it consumed a ridiculous amount of mana.
> The only reason I could use this spell even once was because Adeline had pre-assigned the Mana Power for it.

But what if I could tweak the stored spell’s code and turn it into something entirely different?

‘If I could maintain the same power and range, but just reduce its lethality!’

I tried editing the code, like I always do.

But—

‘Damn it.’

It didn’t work.
The code wouldn’t change at all.

‘So once a spell is stocked, the code can’t be altered?’

That tiny sliver of hope… began to crumble.

“Inux-nim!”

It was Ron’s urgent voice.

‘Huh?’

Only then did I notice the shadow looming over me—and threw myself to the side.

CRASH!!!
The ground shook from the golem’s strike landing just behind me.

“Guh!”

My staff flew out of my hand.

Clatter.
It hit the ground and rolled away.
In the process, a spark of mana crackled from the impact.

‘Damn it, don’t tell me it broke?’

I hurried toward the staff to pick it up—but then felt a sense of dissonance.

‘Broke?’

Sure, the staff is a type of hardware, so it could break.
Just like the golem in the coliseum.

Which meant one thing:

‘I can hack it!’

Even if I can’t hack that golem,
I can hack this staff!

If I hack it, I might be able to lift the restriction that prevents modifying stocked spells!

“Ron! Liam!”

I called out to the two who could still act right now.

“There’s a way?”
“There is!”
“Then hurry…!”
“Just buy me a moment of aggro!”
“What?”

Liam hesitated, glancing at the massive golem.
Ron, on the other hand, bolted forward the moment he heard my plea.

Clang!
He banged his shield against the golem’s leg, and the golem turned toward him.

Just as I thought—this golem’s algorithm wasn’t all that different.
Maybe just a bit more sophisticated.

‘It prioritizes the one who attacked it.’

Thanks to that, the aggro shifted to Ron.
But he was too slow to hold out on his own.

“Sir Liam!”

I called out to Liam, who couldn’t bring himself to move.

“Let me go! I’ll do it!”

It was Ethan.
No—more precisely, the mage controlling him.
Obviously, I couldn’t trust him.

“Liam! It’s a trap! That guy doesn’t care if Ethan’s body lives or dies!”
“Tch, I’m just curious what madness you’ll pull this time! Pure goodwill, I swear!”

Then—

“Shut it! If it weren’t for this damn stabbed shoulder, I wouldn’t be hesitating!”

Liam snapped at Ethan and then turned to me.

“Are you sure?”

Even I didn’t know yet.
I couldn’t guarantee a 100% success.

“I have to tear apart the staff’s code first…”
“I don’t care—just do it! You better make it work!”

Liam charged at the golem.

“Damn it! If you fail, I’ll kill you myself!”

He and Ron took positions at the front and back of the golem, drawing its aggro in proper rotation.

It was stable.
They wouldn’t be able to defeat the golem,
but they could probably buy enough time until their stamina ran out.

‘Then now…’

It was all up to me.

‘I have to hack the staff—fast!’

—

Meanwhile, Liam was thinking:

‘Damn it. How did things end up like this?’

When he first received this mission, he thought it would be easy.
Even when the tank kept making ominous remarks, it was just annoying.
Even when the apprentice mage suddenly joined the team,
he just figured he’d complain to the guild about the extra baggage when he got back.

But then… a Shadow Lizard showed up in a D-grade dungeon.
The Red Saint went berserk out of nowhere.
And everything spiraled out of control from there.

Now here he was, drawing aggro from a golem while putting his life in the hands of an apprentice mage.

‘Worst day of my life.’

When he got back, he was going to drink himself stupid and party with women.

‘But… why does my body feel so heavy?’

There’s no way my stamina should be dropping this fast.
For some reason, his body was starting to feel unbearably heavy.
On top of that, the shoulder stabbed by Ethan’s dagger had a strange burning sensation.

‘Wait a second.’

Translatin_Otaku