Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 57: The Logic Bomb Ability

John motioned with his head toward a dark, isolated booth at the far end of the club. The heart of the party was pulsing in the centre of the place, leaving the shadows of the perimeter empty and neglected.

"What?" Luke exclaimed, his brow furrowing in doubt. He looked at John as if he were speaking a foreign language. But when he saw the dead-serious intensity in John’s eyes—and watched as John simply stood up and began walking toward the shadows—he couldn’t help but let out one more inward sigh and follow.

"What do you want?" Luke asked as he slid into the seat across from John.

John didn’t answer with words. Instead, his eyes flicked toward the space on the seat right next to Luke’s. The disgruntled heir, a boy who felt like a total failure in the eyes of his father and his family, followed the gaze.

There, sitting on the dark emptiness of the seat, was a small vial filled with a swirling, emerald-green liquid that seemed to possess its own internal light.

"Consider it a gift between friends," John casually said.

He watched as Luke’s features froze in mid-breath. The boy’s mouth slowly fell open, his eyes widening until they were dinner-plate large. John had anticipated this reaction.

He didn’t wait for the questions or the stuttered thanks. He calmly stood up, walked around the table, and patted his friend firmly on the shoulder. He leaned down, whispering directly into Luke’s ear.

"Take it. Go back to your father, showcase your new power, and thank me later!"

John didn’t stay behind for even a single second to discuss it. He knew he had picked the absolute zenith of opportunity. Luke was currently a drowning man gasping for air, and John hadn’t just thrown him a life jacket—he had sent him an entire battleship.

Luke didn’t move for an entire minute. He sat like a statue, his expression unchanging as the gravity of what he was holding sank in. Then, with trembling fingers, he snatched the potion, moved it beneath the edge of the table, and examined it in a state of immense, vibrating shock.

"I, Luke Lockheart, will always be indebted to you!"

Out of the blue, the previously dejected Luke stood up and moved to stop in front of John’s table. He didn’t whisper; he shouted these words out loud, his voice carrying a tone of iron-clad resolve that completely defied the broken state he had been in just minutes prior.

The entire Year One class turned to look, the music seeming to fade as Luke delivered a solemn, incredibly deep, and respectful bow directly toward John.

"I won’t betray you, I won’t let you down, and I will always be by your side—even if the sky falls!"

The club went quiet. It was like a cliché scene from an old knightly movie. John, feeling the weight of many gazes, simply waved his hand dismissively. "Fine, I accept your resolve," he said, uttering the first thing that came to mind to break the tension.

He activated his Frame Recognition to see how Luke was handling the item, but he was startled—the potion was gone.

’Don’t tell me he was so desperate he took it right here, right now!’ John thought, a flash of worry crossing his mind. But soon enough, he threw all this behind his back.

As the celebration continued normally after that, he decided to check the notifications regarding the finished quest that he postponed, as he had no room before to check them out uninterrupted.

[Ding! Congratulations! You’ve completed the quest!]

[Ding! Quest 3 of the Serialised Quest is over!]

[Ding! You received: +2% System Synchronisation | +100 Mental Point Cap Increase | +2 to All Stats!]

[Ding! You’ve gained a randomly picked ability between: Port Detection, Logic Bomb, Sandbox, Latency Injection, and Frame Blending!]

[Ding! You acquired: Logic Bomb Ability!]

[Ding! Your System Synchronisation has reached 10%!]

[Ding! You can now evolve your system to V2!]

[Ding! WARNING: You have up to three days to initiate this step manually, or the system will forcibly start the Evolution Trial at the end of this period!]

[Logic Bomb Ability: (Basic – Active)]

[Description: You can touch any target and plant a special code bomb in his code structure. The bomb is remotely controlled with a timer, or you can remotely activate it to detonate!]

[Effect 1: If you set it for a timer detonation, the bomb will explode and give the target 500% of your Strength damage!]

[Effect 2: If you activate it remotely, the bomb will explode and destroy the structure codes in an area of 25-centimetre radius + 200% your Defence damage!]

[Cost: 50 Mental Points per activation.]

[Duration: The bomb will last for a maximum of 30 seconds, then it’ll automatically explode.]

[Requirements: Strength = 55, Defense = 60.]

John stared at his profile, his eyes scanning the details of his new lethal toy. Compared to when he had first arrived in this world—facing an immediate death threat and treated as a bug waiting to be deleted—he was immensely pleased with the progress he had made.

’Evolution Trial... I’d better wait for tonight to do it,’ he thought, pulling his attention back to the reality of the club.

Even though he refused to drink or dance, he couldn’t simply extricate himself from the crowd. He was the undisputed star of the class right now, the gravity well around which the entire celebration orbited.

To leave early would be suspicious and out of character for a hero. He needed to maintain the facade, acting normally and soaking in the celebration held in his honour.

Nikolas then dropped a piece of information that shattered any hope John had of slipping away early.

"The entire week is off from any classes! A special treat from the department to the winners!" the teacher announced, his voice booming over the music.

It was like he had dropped a second bomb, causing the celebrations to flare up with renewed intensity. Even the typically uncaring Cissel showed a genuine smile, and Ricky looked like he had just been handed a kingdom.

’He must be thinking of raiding a dungeon,’ John inwardly sighed, reading the glint in Ricky’s eyes. ’Unluckily for me, I’ll be mostly away to handle this evolution task. That reminds me, I need to come up with a solid excuse.’

He didn’t know how long the evolution mission would take, but the system giving him a three-day window to prepare was a clear warning. This wasn’t a simple quest; it was a major overhaul.

Even considering the potential time dilation he had experienced in the dungeon, he needed to lay the groundwork now so that his absence wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

For the rest of the day and deep into the night, John began to plant the seeds of his plan. Every time a girl approached him to dance, or a classmate tried to drag him to the bar, he gave the same measured response:

"I’m feeling completely exhausted after over-exerting myself in that final match. I need to be careful not to make sudden moves or strain myself, or else..." He would trail off with a wince, letting their imaginations do the rest.

As the star of the class and the hero who had crafted their reputation, no one took his words as a joke. Even Nikolas grew concerned at some point, asking if he wanted to visit the medical infirmary on their way back to the academy.

John calmly refused, leaning into the exhausted warrior trope. He claimed that a few days of total inactivity and deep sleep would solve everything.

Watching everyone look at him with such genuine worry made him inwardly smile. ’Being a star makes life much easier! People hear what they want to hear.’

The party finally wound down, and John walked back to his dorm under the glow of the moon. It was close to ten, and though the campus was quieter, he still met a few students on the path.

Those from his year greeted him with newfound respect, almost reverence. However, he also caught the eyes of several older students. Their gazes were filled with pure, unadulterated hostility.

"They must be from Year Two for sure," he muttered to himself as he entered the safety of his room, recalling the hateful glares. He had humiliated their entire year; he knew they wouldn’t just let that slide.

Once inside, he locked the door and examined his profile one last time. His Mental Points weren’t full, but he couldn’t afford to wait. He couldn’t tell if the trial awaiting him would take days or weeks, so he needed to start immediately.

[The Hacker System: V.0.99]

[System Synchronisation: 10%]

’Now I’m ready.’ He focused his mind on the flickering notifications that had been pulsing in his vision.

[Ding! System synchronisation matches the V2 Evolution!]

[Ding! V2 Evolution is initiated!]

[Ding! You have unlocked access to your Cyborg Body!]