The dim light of the hall and the suffocating smell of ancient parchment—this was Arjun's new reality.
"Arjun! If you fail to cast even a basic 'Fireball' spell today, you will be expelled from the Academy immediately!" the Instructor's voice boomed through the stone hall, echoing with impatience.
Arjun looked down at his trembling hands. It had been three months since he woke up in this strange world. Back on Earth, he was a failed software engineer, struggling to pay rent. Here, he was 'Magic Trash.' In a world where Mana count determined your worth, Arjun's count was a perfect, miserable zero.
Standing across from him, his rival Rohan sneered. "Instructor, why waste time on this loser? Someone without mana is just a defect in nature."
Rohan flicked his finger, conjuring a small, concentrated spark of fire and launching it toward Arjun's face. It was a petty move, meant to humiliate him.
Arjun closed his eyes, bracing for the burn. But instead of pain, a cold, metallic chime echoed in his brain:
[SYSTEM BOOTING...]
[Status: Critical Interface Detected]
[Analysis Complete: World Source Code Identified.]
Arjun's eyes snapped open. The world hadn't changed, but his vision had. Floating neons-blue lines of data now covered everything. Over Rohan's incoming fireball, a transparent window hovered:
Object: Fire_Ball.exe
Speed: 5m/s
Target: Arjun_01
Source Code:
Time seemed to slow down. Instinctively, Arjun moved his fingers in the air as if he were swiping on a holographic keyboard. He saw the 'Target' line in the code and mentally swiped it, rewriting it in a split second.
Command: Edit Target
New Target: Original_Caster
In an instant, the fireball stopped an inch away from Arjun's nose. It flickered, turned 180 degrees, and accelerated with three times its original speed back toward Rohan!
BOOM!
The explosion was small but loud. Rohan didn't even have time to scream before his own spell blasted him backward into the wall. The entire hall fell into a deathly silence. Every student stood frozen, staring at the 'Mana-less' boy who had just reflected a spell without saying a single word.
[Command Executed Successfully.]
[Exp Gained: +50]
[Current Level: 1]
Arjun let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He looked at his hands again. He didn't have magic, but he had something much more dangerous. He had the 'Admin' rights to the world.