Alex sat on his lumpy bed in his small, gray room, staring at the prize he had rescued from the trash.
The [Corrupted Logic Core] sat on his cheap metal desk, looking like nothing more than a black, plastic cube. It wasn't glowing. It wasn't humming.
It looked completely ordinary, which was probably why no one had looked at it twice before throwing it away. But Alex knew what was hidden inside.
He could still see the ghost of that glowing evolution tree in his mind, the incredible path leading all the way to a name that sounded like it belonged to a god: the [World-Engine].
He felt like a kid who had found a treasure map. He had the 'X' that marked the spot. The problem was, he was stuck on the first step.
The evolution path he had seen wasn't just a magical wish. It was a blueprint, a set of instructions. To even begin the first upgrade, to fix the mess of corrupted code and turn the cube into a [Stable Logic Processor], he needed parts.
He needed a special type of crystal conductor to handle the new data flow. He needed a micro-cooling unit to stop the whole thing from melting when he started debugging it. He needed a power source more reliable than his desk lamp.
These were not things you could find lying around in a janitor's closet. These were specialized components, and specialized meant expensive.
Alex pulled out his flimsy data pad and checked his official academy account. After two weeks of mopping floors and taping down cables, his balance was a grand total of thirty credits.
That was enough to buy him about five bowls of the extra-greasy noodles from the basement cafeteria. The parts he needed would cost thousands of credits.
"Well," he said to the empty room. "This is a problem."
His grand plan to stay quiet and invisible was hitting a very common, very boring roadblock: he was broke.
He could spend the next ten years saving up his janitor's salary, but by then, his secret cube would probably be an antique. He needed money. And he needed it now.
Lying back on his bed, he stared at the concrete ceiling. What assets did he have? He had his brain, his secret SSS-Rank ability, and one other thing. His job. His wonderfully boring, low-level job in Custodial & IT Support.
While his security clearance was practically zero, his job did give him one important perk: a physical connection to the academy's internal network.
Every janitor's closet and maintenance hub had a data port. He had a basic, low-privilege login that allowed him to access the system to check work orders and file reports.
It was meant to be a tiny, walled-off garden in the vast digital landscape of the academy. But to Alex, any door, no matter how small, was a way in.
He sat up, a new energy buzzing through him. He plugged his data pad into the port on the wall next to his bed.
The screen lit up with the official Aegis Academy network page. It was clean, professional, and incredibly dull.
There were announcements about upcoming school events, a link to the student handbook, and a photo gallery of the school's champion sports teams. It was the public face of the academy, all smiles and success.
But Alex could see more. He activated [The Debugger], and the neat, tidy webpage dissolved into a flowing river of code.
He could see the strong, thick walls of the main network, the firewalls and security programs that kept most people out. But he could also see the cracks.
He saw the tiny, forgotten backdoors left by lazy programmers. He saw the hidden pathways used by the IT department for maintenance. He saw a million little secret tunnels running just beneath the surface.
He found one particularly interesting thread of data, a faint, flickering line that was clearly not part of the official system.
It was an unauthorized network running parallel to the main one, like a secret conversation being whispered in a crowded room. He followed the thread.
It led him to a strange, hidden login portal. There was no username or password field. Instead, it was a complex coding puzzle, a test to see if you understood the network's hidden language.
To a normal student, it would be an unbreakable wall. For Alex, it was like a secret knock he had known his whole life.
He typed in a short string of commands, a key made of pure logic, and the portal opened.
His screen went black for a second, then new text blinked to life. The font was a simple, glowing green against the dark background.
< Welcome to The Node >
Alex had found the academy's digital underworld. The Node was Aegis Academy's secure but completely unregulated deep web, a hidden marketplace of ideas and items that the school administration definitely did not approve of.
It looked like something from the early days of the internet, a massive, sprawling collection of forums and message boards. Anonymity was king here.
Usernames were flashy and dramatic: ShadowStriker, CrimsonReaper, VoltZ and, his personal favorite, SirPunchesAlot.
He started exploring. The things being bought and sold were amazing. In one forum, a student was selling subtly cheated notes for an upcoming exam.
In another, someone was offering their services to create a loud diversion on campus for anyone needing a distraction. There was a thriving market for gossip, rumors, and blackmail material.
Then he found the marketplace he was looking for: the "Artifact Components & Exchange" board. His eyes widened. It was a digital flea market for Striker gear.
FOR SALE: Slightly dented B-Rank shield generator. Still works! 2000 credits.
WANTED: Focusing lens for a [Pyro Blaster]. Willing to trade my old [Kinetic Gloves].
FOR SALE: Scraps from a high-end stealth suit. Good for patching up your own gear. 500 credits.
It was all here. The parts he needed for his [Corrupted Logic Core] were probably listed somewhere in this chaotic mess. But he still had the same problem: no money.
He watched the threads for a while, a slow smile spreading across his face. He saw the desperation in these posts.
Students were willing to pay hundreds of credits for a tiny, fractional improvement. They were buying used parts that might give them a 2% boost in power or a 3% increase in stability. They were all trying to upgrade their hardware.
Alex looked at the cube on his desk. He didn't need to upgrade the hardware. He could upgrade the software. He could rewrite the very "source code" that made their artifacts work.
While they were trying to put a bigger engine in their car, he could redesign the car to break the laws of physics.
The idea was so simple and so perfect it was almost funny. He wouldn't buy parts on The Node. He would sell a service. A service that no one else in the world could offer.
He navigated to the "Services Offered" forum. He clicked the "Create New Thread" button. He needed a name. An identity. "Alex Vance" was out of the question.
He needed something anonymous, something that sounded powerful and mysterious.
He thought about what he could do. He could see the hidden truths of the world. He could offer guidance that would seem like magic.
He typed his new username: Oracle.
It felt right. It was arrogant, intriguing, and promised a wisdom that others didn't have.
Now for the post itself. He had to make an impression. He couldn't sound like a desperate kid trying to make a quick buck.
He had to sound like an expert, someone who was so confident in their abilities that they didn't need to advertise much. He typed out a few sentences, then deleted them. Too wordy. He tried again.
Finally, he settled on something short, simple, and incredibly bold.
The title of the thread was: "A Solution for Your Inefficiency."
The body of the post was just three short lines:
"Your artifact is inefficient. I can fix it.
Guaranteed results, premium price."
That was it. No explanations. No list of services. No resume. Just a bold claim and a warning that it wouldn't be cheap. It was the kind of post that most people would dismiss as a scam or a joke.
But Alex was betting on the desperation of the students. He was betting that someone out there, someone struggling with a faulty artifact, would be willing to take a chance on a mystery.
He hit the "Post" button. The message appeared on the forum, a single drop in a vast ocean of digital chatter.
Alex logged out of The Node. His data pad screen returned to the normal, boring AegisNet homepage.
His room was just as small and gray as it had been before. But everything felt different now. He had cast a line into the dark water of the academy's hidden network.
He lay back on his bed, a hand behind his head, staring at the ceiling with a grin. He had no idea if anyone would respond.
He might have just wasted his time. But he had created Oracle. He had taken his first real step toward gaining power on his own terms, not as a weapon or a hero, but as a secret kingmaker in the digital shadows. Now, all he could do was wait.