HJ_Crimson

In a world where magic is coded, weaponized, and monopolized by powerful aristocratic families, Harvey was once a rising star—a commoner-born genius who rewrote the very laws of sorcery. But his brilliance made him a threat. Betrayed, falsely accused of heresy, and erased from history, Harvey’s story should’ve ended at the gallows.

But fate has a backdoor.

Waking up three years in the past, armed with forbidden knowledge and a cold, burning resolve, Harvey activates the Cipher Protocol, a mysterious system that lets him hijack, evolve, and corrupt existing magic codes. This time, he won’t play by the rules. He’ll bend them until they break.

Enrolling in Zenith Academy—the nexus of power, privilege, and secrets—Harvey hides behind a new identity, hunting those who wronged him while uncovering the hidden rot beneath the aristocracy. As magic evolves into data and bloodlines clash with intellect, Harvey prepares to rewrite the world’s fate line by line.

He won’t just survive.
He’ll overwrite destiny itself.


---

The Last Spellbreaker

Sirens screamed across the Academy. Professors scrambled, activating runes embedded in their coats. Students were locked down in reinforced sanctuaries, unaware of the gravity of what was unfolding.

He stood at the center of the training field, his eyes lifted to the tower where the System Hunter had made his entrance.

Each step the Hunter took disassembled reality.

The runes on the Academy grounds flickered, their enchantments unraveling.

Magic weakened in the air. Skills shut down. Even Harvey's Regression System pulsed with alarms.

> [Danger. The Anti-System Zone is expanding.]

> [All passive skills reduced by 80%. Active skills disabled.]

His thoughts went back to his past life—years ago, a memory not even this world was supposed to remember.

A failed assassination attempt against a celestial general… The one time he was hunted afterward.

The Hunter was not a person. It was a codebase—a synthetic manifestation created to enforce universal balance. It hunted anomalies. It erased those who bent rules.

And Harvey was the biggest anomaly of all.

The wind shrieked as the Hunter landed on the field.

Students watched through security windows.

It was humanoid in shape, but unnatural in every movement. Its face—covered by a mask with five vertical eye-like glyphs—was blank, yet filled with unspoken judgment.

> "Harvey Azrael," it spoke. Its voice was flat, mechanical, yet ancient. "You have violated cosmic law. Accessed forbidden systems. Escaped predetermined death. Prepare for deletion."

> "Override protocol: Shadow Bloom."

The ground exploded beneath him, shattering mana crystals he'd buried over the last two weeks.

Smoke and shadows swallowed the field.

But the Hunter walked through, unharmed.

> [System Error: Combat Environment Controlled by External Entity.]

> [Initiating Emergency Adaptation.]

Faster than Harvey's eye could follow.

Harvey raised his arms—and still didn't fully block the blow.

He flew across the training ground, crashing into a stone pillar. Blood dripped from his mouth.

> "Analyze it," Harvey muttered, wiping his lip.

> [Analyzing movement… kinetic magic... forbidden frequency.]

The moment the Hunter appeared again, Harvey shifted an inch—and dodged the lethal strike.

The more the Hunter attacked, the more Harvey's system adapted.

> "Final Warning," it said, standing over him, sword drawn.

Harvey spat blood and smiled. "You're just code."

> [Hidden Skill: Archon's Loop – Triggered.]

Strength, speed, perception—everything multiplied.

It wasn't an enhancement. It was a recorded state of himself in the future, layered temporarily over his present self.

Ten seconds of future Harvey unleashed into the present.

He was no longer learning the Hunter's movements.

And for the first time—it stepped back.

> "System…" it whispered. "Error."

Harvey fell to his knees, gasping.

> "Looking forward to it," Harvey said hoarsely.

But the world would never forget what had just happened.

Chapter 15 – Kill Code