infodatos Chapter 1 This isn't magic, it's a mountain of shit code.
Chapter 1 This isn't magic, it's a mountain of shit code.
So cold.
Luo Mu stared at the faint blue light that flickered before him, knowing full well that if the [Fire Gathering Array] went out, he would surely die tonight.
The faint growls of the Winter Beast could already be heard outside the wooden door.
On a blizzard night in the North, without the protection of magical flames, mortals cannot survive a single night.
Luo Mu grabbed a handful of dry grass and tried to stuff it into the groove of the [Fire Gathering Array] to increase the firepower.
But this ordinary kind of firewood was utterly useless against the collapsing magic array. The dry grass, upon touching the faint blue flame, not only failed to ignite but instantly turned to ash.
The biting wind seeped in through the cracks in the stone house walls, as if trying to extinguish the last flame.
"Cough cough... Stop with that dry firewood, Rom, it's useless."
A weak cough came from the tattered straw bed in the corner.
The speaker was an old man with white hair and beard and a wrinkled face. His name was Hamelin, an old mage who had spent most of his life toiling on the border, and also Rom's teacher.
Hamelin was pale, and blood was still seeping from the chest of his gray robe. He had been scratched by a monster while gathering herbs during the day, and the monster's poison had completely blocked the old mage's magical pathways.
"Teacher, please don't say anything."
Luo Mu frowned, his gaze still fixed on the array plate. "The fire array cannot be extinguished, or those demonic beasts will rush in."
"It's no use, I can no longer use my magic. Only I can control this fire-gathering array..." Hamelin looked at Rom, his eyes somewhat cloudy.
He gritted his teeth and said angrily:
"This damned weather... and those high and mighty nobles in the capital! They monopolize all the demonic veins and resources, leaving these border people... only this barren stuff! Cough cough..."
The old monk was breathing heavily. After he had launched into a tirade, his tone suddenly shifted, and a hint of self-reproach crept into his voice:
"Rom... I'm so sorry. You've followed me for ten years, suffering so much, but I'm useless as your teacher. I couldn't afford the expensive initiation potion, and I still haven't been able to help you awaken your magic..."
Hamelin, his hands trembling, pulled a rusty iron key from his pocket and shoved it forcefully into Rom's hand.
"The fire array is about to go out. There's still some dry food in the cellar. Go down there immediately and lock the door tightly! No matter what happens outside, hold out until dawn, then go to town and ask for help! They'll take you in..."
"teacher…"
"Get out of here! Go hide! Even if you hear my bones being chewed up, you're not allowed to make a sound!"
After uttering those words, Hamelin seemed to have exhausted all his strength. He closed his eyes and passed out completely.
As Hamelin lost consciousness, the fire array he had cast was completely extinguished at that moment.
A bone-chilling cold filled the entire room. Without the warmth of magical flames, Rom could clearly feel the stinging pain in his fingers; the temperature had plummeted by at least twenty degrees.
Outside the stone house, the howls of monsters rose and fell, growing ever closer, seemingly approaching the doorway.
However, Rom did not panic and hide in the cellar as the old mage had ordered.
He was very calm.
Because he had already experienced a life-or-death situation.
Just hours earlier, he was an architect at a game company, working overtime on the final tests before the game's launch, when he suddenly collapsed at his workstation with a sharp pain in his heart.
When I opened my eyes again, I was awake in this body.
As a modern man, Romú disliked sitting idly by and waiting for his fate.
Moreover, the dilapidated wooden door of the cellar was no match for the hungry monsters.
"The fire array must be reignited."
Rom stood up, walked to the old mage's side, covered the old man with his tattered cloak, and then skillfully pulled a sheepskin scroll from under the teacher's linen pillow.
This scroll contains spells and incantations that the teacher has studied for many years. Although the spells recorded on it are not profound, they are still the means by which the teacher makes a living.
With the memories he had memorized over the past ten years in this body, Rom recognized the complex and lengthy ancient incantations on the scroll.
For the past ten years, the original owner has been studying hard every day, but because he lacks talent, he can't even conjure up the most basic spells.
"I refuse to believe this nonsense! Everyone has their own unique talents!"
Luo Mu took a deep breath, stared at the incantation for the [Fire Gathering Array] on the scroll, and began to silently recite the spell, which had more than a hundred syllables, word by word.
The pronunciation was extremely tongue-twisting; his tongue almost cramped up.
One minute later, the incantation was finished.
There was no reaction whatsoever; not even a spark appeared on the array plate on the ground.
Did I mispronounce it?
Just as Rom was about to check the spell again, a faint blue light suddenly flashed before his eyes.
Immediately afterwards, a semi-transparent virtual panel suddenly floated in mid-air.
Activate the code compilation system (v1.0)
Name: Luo Mu
[Professional Privileges: Root (Administrator)]
Current mental computing power: 8
...
[Target Identification Spell: Fire Gathering Array]
Minimum computing power required to operate this array: 32
...
"Computing power? Root access?... "
Looking at the system panel that appeared out of nowhere, and the professional terms he was most familiar with from his previous life, Luo Mu was first taken aback, then suddenly realized and gave a wry smile.
"Computing power 8, demand 32. I see..."
Luo Mu finally understood why the original owner of this body could never learn magic.
This isn't a matter of talent at all; it's a matter of inadequate physical abilities!
My current mental computing power is like an old processor, while the Fire Array is a AAA game that requires 32 computing power to run.
Forcing it to run will likely only cause a system crash, and might even damage the hardware...
Unwilling to give up, Rom continued to examine the parchment scrolls. "I refuse to believe it, there must be an even simpler incantation..."
Fireball spell, minimum computing power required: 68
[Pyroblast spell, minimum computing power required: 256]
...
Romé once again deeply felt the tragedy of lacking talent.
Just when he thought all hope was lost, the data stream on the system panel suddenly started scrolling.
[A large number of ancient magical elements have been detected. Underlying structure analysis is underway...]
...
[Analysis successful!]
[The current spell has been decompiled into: F + underlying code!]
The next second, the obscure and mysterious sacred incantations on the parchment scroll were automatically entered and reassembled in the Rom system, eventually decomposing into a large chunk of code.
Luo Mu was stunned.
He stared intently at the code, his pupils suddenly contracting.
[Spell Name: Fire Gathering Array]
Call_Server("The Great Lord of Crimson Lotus"); // Forces a cross-region call to the highest-level server, resulting in extremely high network latency.
Set_Identity("I am your humble follower"); // Actively reduce local execution privileges.
Check_Voice("must have a whistling, crying tone");
If (caster's tone == perfect){
Print_Effect(emission); // Ineffective lighting rendering, loops 100 times
Print_Effect(Divine Pressure); // Invalid sound effect rendering, loops 100 times.
For (i=0; i<500; i++){//meaningless 500 loop checks
Generate_Heat(Extract Energy); // Core Heating Command
}
}
Rom looked at the familiar code and couldn't believe his eyes.
"This...this is the secret of magic?!"
"Is the underlying structure of spells also composed of code?"
However, upon looking at the code on the panel again, Luo Mu frowned and almost couldn't help but curse out loud, his professional habits instantly kicking in.
"Redundant! Extremely redundant!"
"Just to light a fire for warmth, they actually wrote a five-hundred-times infinite loop to verify the voice? And they even called the highest-level fire element server from another region? A huge portion of the energy was wasted on these rendering effects?"
Luo Mu finally understood why this broken formation required 32 points of computing power.
This is simply a haphazardly piled-up, inefficient mountain of code.
This garbage code has actually been regarded as a sacred and inviolable truth by the mages of this world, and has been memorized and taught for thousands of years.
Presumably, even the great sorcerers who tried, explored, and summarized these ancient incantations thousands of years ago did not know their specific meanings.
"Bang!"
Just then, a dull thud came from outside the door, and the old wooden door creaked.
Rom's gaze instantly became incredibly focused.
Since it's code, it can be modified.
"Give me root administrator privileges".
A blinking cursor appeared after the code. Rom skillfully reached out, and a virtual keyboard appeared in the air. His fingers flew across the keyboard.
"Too much... It's consuming too much data, I'll delete it first."
"Remove the cumbersome cross-region requests...remove all the rendering code for lighting and visual effects...cut that stupid 500-loop verification!"
"What are all these things... I've deleted them all."
He only retained the most core and cleanest underlying physical logic.
In less than ten seconds, a piece of refactored, minimalist code appeared on the panel:
[Spell Name: Fire Gathering Array]
Target = Core of the formation;
Action = Extract free fire element from the air;
Execute = Pure Combustion;
...
Code optimization complete.
[Do you want to try running it?]
[Estimated computing power consumption: 4 points.]
Luo Mu glanced at his computing power of only 8 points and pressed the Enter key heavily.
"Run (executive)".