Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 27: A Visit to the Library!

"A first-year student, and you decided to visit the library? You must be a hard-working little fellow!"

The librarian, a middle-aged man with thick brown hair and piercing black eyes, peered over his spectacles at John. He looked startled, as if a freshman wandering into this section of the academy was a rare sight.

Most students in their first year were too busy nursing bruises or trying to survive the gruelling curriculum to worry about coming here.

"I want to read books about a research project I’m starting," John replied, keeping his tone normal. He needed a plausible excuse to be there that wouldn’t arouse suspicion. "It’s about unlocking attributes and the manifestation of super abilities."

"Ah, it’s this common topic again," the man said, letting out a soft, weary sigh. He leaned back, the leather of his chair creaking. "Let me guess, you are in the Military Department, right? And Den is the one leading your class this year? He usually sends the overachievers here to get their fill of theory before reality beats it out of them."

"It’s Sir Nikolas," John corrected him. "And this is a side project of mine. As the Class President, I find myself in a position where I have to answer a lot of questions about this topic from my peers. I’d like to be prepared."

The librarian’s eyebrows shot up. "Class President? Under Nikolas? Well, curiosity at such a young age must be something great, I admit that. He usually picks the brawny types, but it seems he’s gone for brains this time."

The man sounded genuinely amused, his demeanour softening slightly. "Anyway, as a freshman, your access is limited. You can check the books at sections A through F on the ground floor."

John followed the man’s pointing finger toward the lower section of the library. The facility was immense, but it wasn’t a separate building. It was part of the Fighting Building with three distinct floors dedicated to it.

"What about the other two floors?" John asked, his eyes wandering toward the sweeping grand staircase that led upward.

"No trespassing is allowed," the librarian said, his voice instantly turning sharp and cold, as if he had flipped a switch. "This is the academy policy. Students in the first three years are restricted to the lower floor. The second floor will be opened for you when you rise to your fourth year."

"And what about the third floor?" John pressed.

"That is the forbidden floor for any student," the man warned, his black eyes narrowing into slits. The tone was no longer just strict; it was a blatant threat. "It’s for the teachers only. No student is allowed to set foot there. Do not let your curiosity lead you into a situation you can’t walk out of."

"Understood," John said, nodding. He turned and made his way into the aisles of the first floor.

John spent the next several hours navigating the vast, silent labyrinth of the ground floor. To his surprise, the place was entirely empty except for him. "That man made it sound like I’d find the entire academy camping here," he whispered to himself, his voice swallowed by the rows of towering bookshelves.

He found Section D, which was the heart of attribute research. At first, he was bewildered—there were thousands of volumes mentioning the topic.

The Theory Behind Unlocking Human Attributes

The History of Unlocking Humanity’s True Potential

Experiences from the Strongest Humans: Unlocking the God-Like Powers

The Philosophy of Power: Why We Need to Ascend

.

.

"These are all useless!" John hissed after pulling a dozen books and skimming through them.

His initial excitement faded into a bitter frustration. The books were filled with flowery language and philosophical ramblings about the different viewpoints of unlocking special abilities. There was no useful information at all!

There was no mention of how to unlock attributes or anything related to the types of abilities gained. He doubted he’d unveil the secrets behind the dual-ability phenomenon he had seen in Ricky and Cissel by spending more time here.

"How come a place filled with thousands of books about a single topic doesn’t have a single one that speaks about the facts or secrets behind the unlocking process or even the results?"

John stood in the middle of the floor, feeling like he’d been tricked into a fool’s errand. "This entire floor is a facade. It’s meant to keep the lower years occupied with nonsense while the real deal stays upstairs."

He knew then that reading every book on the ground floor wouldn’t satisfy his curiosity. He needed the books from above.

’I’ll come back later at night then,’ he decided, noticing the librarian’s eyes still fixated on his only customer of the day. ’Tsk! That Nikolas! He still hasn’t delivered that night patrol badge!’

Without that badge, roaming the academy at night was a one-way ticket to trouble. He squeezed his fists, his frustration mounting as he walked out of the library and back toward his dorm. He would have to wait until tomorrow—the third day—when he was scheduled to receive his instructions for the upcoming competition.

Returning to the safety of his dorm, John decided to continue his last night’s research. He resumed the work he had started the night before: writing a program to conceal his presence.

Theoretically, since the entire world was built on code, he hypothesised that he could hide himself by adding a stealth layer over his own body’s code structure.

The theory was brilliant, but the execution was a nightmare.

Every time he tried to compile a small script to do the trick, the system blocked him.

[Warning: Your synchronisation level is too low to run the program.]

[Warning: Spoofing Ability level is too low to avoid detection.]

"At least I can train and experiment on writing the programs first," John muttered, undeterred. "Even if I can’t save them or run them yet, I can prepare the homework in advance."

He spent the next few hours expanding his research. He moved from simple presence concealment to more ambitious, law-breaking programs. He attempted to draft the scripts for:

[Inhuman Speed Program]: An overclocking script for his legs, to make him move faster.

[Absolute Defence Wall]: A program to solidify his body into an unbreakable barrier.

[Storage Program]: A theoretical program that could store physical items within a digital pocket hidden within his body code structure, acting like a USB drive for real things.

He failed at every single one. The system’s constraints were ironclad, but with every failure, he gained a deeper understanding of the code structure of his body and the restraints enforced upon him in this world.

"With every failure, I get one step closer to success," he reminded himself. It was the mantra of every hacker who had ever faced a seemingly impenetrable firewall.

As night grew darker and the hour was getting late, he decided to stop here. Tomorrow was the day. He’d get his badge, he’d get his instructions for the upcoming competition, and then... He’d pay the library a night visit and find out what he wanted to know on the other two floors.