The Genius Programmer Turned Wizard - GPW Chapter 4: Event Match (1)

I scanned the stands, searching for Crow.

He was seated in the VIP section.

“That bastard…”

He looked down at me with that same analytical expression.

My head throbbed from his inexplicable obsession, but I forced myself to stay calm.

‘He’s not trying to kill me. At least, not yet.’

Crow’s real goal was to make me use the Magic Shotgun again.

Which meant he’d probably send out something manageable—like a Hobgoblin that could be dealt with using the shotgun.

‘Not exactly a bad situation…’

But that didn’t mean I was going to settle for it.

Things were different now than they were back when I hastily fired off the shotgun.

For one, I had the Magic Shield I’d reverse-engineered from Crow.

A Hobgoblin was something I could handle by keeping my distance and alternating between the Magic Shield and Magic Missile.

‘I’m no rookie, after all.’

Still, to be safe, I reviewed the Magic Shield code I had stolen from Crow one more time.

Brrrr… Brrrr…

A low tremor began to echo through the entire stadium.

The source was coming from the far side—near the corridor.

‘This kind of tremor…’

It was far too heavy, too precise, too consistent.

Definitely not a Hobgoblin.

There was one possible culprit that came to mind.

‘No way…’

Just as I tried to shake the thought away, as if mocking me, it appeared from the corridor.

A towering murder machine, its body made entirely of stone.

“Fresh from the dungeon—this is a newly excavated Ancient Golem! In excellent condition, no less. A true treasure!”

The monster had been revealed—an Ancient Golem.

‘That crazy bastard.’

So much for not trying to kill me.

Unless I showed him something “worthy,” he’d really let this thing kill me.

Thud.

The Golem came to a halt.

Its glowing red eyes scanned the surroundings… and locked onto me.

‘Here it comes.’

As expected, it charged straight at me.

The entire stadium trembled with its every step—just standing was hard enough.

Its massive weight, combined with surprisingly fast speed, crushed down on me like a physical force.

But I’d grown used to that kind of pressure.

Without hesitation, I dashed to the side, out of its path.

CRAAASH!

The golem couldn’t stop and slammed into the outer barrier of the arena.

The magical barrier shimmered where it was hit.

It was a breathtaking display—both the magic that could take such a hit, and the charge powerful enough to crack it.

Even my Magic Missile—or no, even the Magic Shotgun—wouldn’t work against something like that.

And the Magic Shield? It’d be shredded like paper.

‘Is he seriously trying to kill me?’

I turned toward Crow’s smug face.

Still unreadable.

Thud. Thud. Thud…!

Even as my head raced with thoughts, the golem turned and began walking toward me again.

‘That walking pattern…’

In the game, after closing the gap with long strides, it would swing its arm in a wide arc.

And just like that, it did.

Its fist narrowly missed me as I pulled back in time.

Same with the next one.

It stomped the ground, but I had already jumped—so I didn’t lose balance.

‘At least that much is good news.’

Unlike the Hobgoblin, who had its own will and moved unpredictably, the Ancient Golem never strayed from the pattern I knew.

Like it had been coded.

‘Wait… coded?’

The pieces began falling into place in my mind.

—

VIP Section.

As Crow focused on the match, a mocking voice interrupted him.

“Didn’t you say you had no interest in this kind of barbaric nonsense?”

He didn’t even bother to turn.

“Come on, don’t ignore me. I’m seriously curious though. Why go this far for a prisoner?”

“He won’t talk.”

“So your solution is to sic a golem on him?”

“It’s the simplest option.”

It was also the most effective.

Torture? Threats?

Those were a hassle—and they didn’t work on someone who knew he wouldn’t be killed.

But the golem? That was different.

That thing didn’t talk. Didn’t reason.

It just destroyed what it saw.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The golem charged forward.

But then—something unexpected.

‘He’s not using magic?’

The prisoner made no move to cast anything against the charging golem.

‘Is he bluffing?’

No… he wasn’t that foolish.

If he truly was, then he could die here for all Crow cared.

It would simply mean he had misjudged him all along.

‘But that’s unlikely.’

As expected.
The prisoner, astonishingly, dodged all of the Golem’s attacks.
Even if the Golem wasn’t particularly agile, its attacks were still far too fast for any ordinary mage to react to in time.

‘He’s memorized the entire attack pattern, hasn’t he?’

There was no other explanation for his movements.

‘If he’s experienced in fighting Golems, that means he’s familiar with dungeons… That’s unexpected.’

It also explained why he wasn’t using any magic.

‘He must know that ordinary spells won’t help him win.’

Impressive. But that wasn’t what truly mattered.
What mattered was his attitude despite being in such a situation.
He didn’t collapse or recklessly fire off spells in despair.
He simply kept dodging the Golem’s attacks… with a sharp gleam in his eyes.

‘Yes, that look in his eyes…’

The same look he had when facing the Hobgoblin, and again when he intentionally failed his spell earlier right in front of me.
There was no doubt—it was the same gaze.
Cold, calculated… and brimming with endless, unfathomable potential.

‘Just what are you trying to show me…?’

It had been a long time since he felt his heart beating this fast, his eyes following every one of the boy’s movements.
And then, suddenly, the prisoner looked up at the audience.
His gaze swept over the VIP seats—and stopped directly on him.
A chill ran down his spine.

—

‘Like someone programmed it…? Really?’

A sudden hypothesis flashed through his mind.
If the Golem moved through magic, then wasn’t it essentially being controlled by a kind of code?

‘But something’s off.’

Even as he desperately evaded the Golem’s attacks, he kept thinking.
Where was the inconsistency coming from?
What was bothering him so much?
He couldn’t figure it out.
Then—

‘…Let’s rebuild the algorithm from scratch.’

Golem. Arena. Magic Barrier. Walls. Audience seating.
He widened his perception and began analyzing every environmental variable, converting them into functions.
As he rebuilt the Golem’s algorithm step by step…

‘It’s a priority-based algorithm.’

It was easier to find than expected.

‘The Golem prioritizes targets based on proximity.’

That was the strange part.

‘Then why doesn’t it react to the audience?’

There were plenty of moments when the spectators were closer to the Golem than he was.
Especially when it first entered through the hallway—it ignored everyone around and targeted him, who was farther away.
Was it because they were NPCs?
No, this wasn’t a game.
The people beyond the wall were just as real as he was.

…The wall.

‘That’s it. The wall is the variable!’

When he added that new variable, the entire picture changed.
He still didn’t know how to defeat the Golem,
but he now knew how to end the match.

He turned his gaze toward the VIP seats.
More precisely—toward Crow, the Mage of Origin.

‘You can finish this, can’t you?’

The Golem was just starting to slowly turn around.
He used the last of his stamina to sprint toward the VIP section,
putting as much distance as possible between himself and the Golem,
before stopping near the wall that backed onto the VIP stands.

‘Perfect.’

Everything was ready.
Now all he had to do… was wait.

‘Come on. Let’s do this.’

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The distance was far enough to trigger the Golem’s charge pattern.
At the same time, he made himself look as frightened as possible, stumbling backward toward the wall.
But what his back touched wasn’t the wall—it was the Magic Barrier.

From this point on, his target wasn’t the Golem.
It was the barrier.

Of course, he didn’t know the barrier’s full code.
To read a spell’s code, he needed to see the Magic Circle used during casting.
But this barrier—despite its massive size—undoubtedly shared functional code with Magic Shield.

And if it shared functional code…
Even Crow’s spellwork had vulnerabilities.

‘This one can’t be much different.’

He timed his leap with the Golem’s charge, narrowly avoiding the impact.
At the same time, he fired a modified Magic Missile.

A clever angle—just enough to keep it out of Crow’s line of sight, blocked by the wall.
And that Magic Missile…
It was crafted as a battering ram to exploit the weakness in the Magic Shield.
Or more precisely, as a piece of Malware.

The moment it struck the barrier—

Crackkk.

Like a spiderweb forming, fractures spread across its surface.
But it would be hard for the audience to notice—
Because right after that, the Golem slammed into it.

Crash!
The barrier shattered like glass, scattering into fragments.
Unable to stop, the Golem crashed into the wall behind it.

BOOOOM!
The wall collapsed.

“Kyaaaah!”
“Didn’t they say it was unbreakable?”
“W-Wait, it’s looking at us!”

VIPs screamed, scrambling out of their seats in panic.
Only Crow remained sitting calmly in place.
…But why was he still staring at him?

‘Just end it already, you bastard.’

Translatin_Otaku

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