Rune Matrix: Programming Magic After Transmigration-Chapter 120: Control

Zephyr couldn’t find any other reasonable explanation. The giant hole in the ground was certainly a gateway into the dungeon.

’That makes sense.’

’I didn’t hear the sound of the earth splitting apart and caving in because it was a dungeon.’

Zephyr sat down on the pillar, dangling his feet toward the ground. The pillar was about ten meters tall. The wind carried the hot air and smoke, caressing his feet.

’Did everyone fall into it?’

Zephyr sat alone on the pillar, gazing at the pit. His heart thumped heavily.

’Did Aurelia and Elenor fall into it?’

There were two kinds of dungeons.

The first is the most common. It develops naturally through the accumulation of mana in an area. It can vary in size, shape, volume, and threat level.

The second type of dungeon is artificially created. These were more dangerous since their very existence is proof that a strong entity is inside, capable of altering land on a grand scale.

’How did a dungeon appear here?’

Zephyr took a deep breath and stood up. He decided to climb down and check what was truly happening. Wasting time, sitting around, and searching for answers he couldn’t possibly know was not really his way of doing things.

’I need to see it for myself,’ he said, hiding the fear rising within him.

After all, dungeons were ground zero for monsters, mana beasts, and all kinds of bizarre creatures and phenomena. He had every reason to fear them. Approaching one alone was nerve-wracking.

Just the thought made him falter.

Not because he was scared. No. It was the fear of the unknown that was holding him back.

There were far too many variables—far too many things that could go wrong. He couldn’t account for them all, and the realization froze his body.

’Aurelia and Elenor were intermediate mages. Ignoring the villagers, just the fact that they were pulled inside, most likely through force or some unknown phenomenon, makes it dangerous. Perhaps they didn’t fall into it. I should wait a few more minutes.’

’No, that’s not right. If they were out there somewhere, they would have come looking for me. They would have met me here by now.’

Zephyr glanced at the burning village with growing apprehension.

’If the intermediate mages failed to escape from the dungeon, why did I survive?’

’Was it because I was alone?’

’And why did the gate appear right there?’

His mind scrambled once again, delving deeper into futile analysis.

A moment later, Zephyr shook his head. He realized his mind was stumbling back into negative thoughts, making him avoid the real problem.

Was he going to climb down from the pillar and search for the missing people?

Or was he going to stand on it forever, waiting for help that might never come?

He had been subconsciously ignoring it for the past few minutes, even though he began his thought by deciding to leave the pillar.

’Why?’

Why did it happen?

He shook his head again. It was as if his negative thoughts were being amplified. It was as if his anxiety and fears were clouding his mind.

That was not normal.

Even when he stood in front of a godspawn, he had no problem shaking off the fear or thinking straight. So, what was the problem right now?

His mind tried to focus. To think.

However, every time he tried to, distracting thoughts came to him.

’I shouldn’t take the risk. I should avoid the pit.’

Zephyr shook his head.

’That’s right.’ Suddenly, he remembered something.

’I have a promise to keep. I promised the real Zephyr that I would go back and meet his family. I promised to buy a watermelon for his niece and nephews. I need to keep that promise.’

’I can’t die today.’

The thought was reasonable. The current soul residing within Zephyr’s body was a responsible person. He wouldn’t actively try to break his promise.

Taking a risk that could kill him and stop him from keeping the promise was unnecessary. Therefore, the thought of not approaching the dungeon was sensible, logical, fair, and clear.

There was no reason to hide it. But why was he feeling a sense of dissonance? What was this feeling of incongruity?

Zephyr held his head.

’Is the smoke getting to me?’ He rubbed his forehead.

Then, he immediately forgot why he was rubbing his forehead, his thoughts veering off in another direction.

Moments later, he was thinking about what spell he should learn. Then he moved on to think about what he should do when he reached the capital. For a few seconds, he even thought about spell optimization, null runes, and primary runes he knew of.

With each passing second, his intention to leave strengthened. He wanted to abandon everyone and leave as soon as he could.

Shortly after that, he realized he couldn’t.

He had no clue as to where he was or why he was here. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

’That’s right! It all began with us staying here. We were going back. We were searching for Tom.’

Suddenly, as if he had an epiphany, Zephyr stood up.

"FUCK!" he shouted.

"TOM IS THE PROBLEM!" He shouted again, this time looking at the cloudy sky.

He concluded that Tom caused his current plight. If he hadn’t searched for him, everything would have been okay.

Tom was the reason everyone was missing.

Tom was the reason he was stuck on a pillar with nowhere to go.

Tom was the reason his cohort went missing.

It all began with him.

Anger slowly bubbled to the top, his face contorting into a deep frown. His emotions were becoming uncontrollable.

He stomped on the pillar.

"TOM," he growled out.

For some unknown reason, all his anger was being directed toward Tom. He wanted to jump down, find Tom, and kick him in the balls.

No. He was angry enough to squeeze his neck.

No. He was angry enough to twist the damn head off.

From his initial thought of going down the pillar to search for everyone, his rising anger twisted his thoughts, motivating him to kill Tom.

A slow, red hue began to cover his eyes as madness clouded his mind.

Zephyr felt the change and shook his head again.

For some reason, he knew something was wrong.

But the red in his eyes kept increasing slowly. Any second now, it would cover his entire eye—the white, the pupil, and all.

Zephyr felt his vision narrow and clasped his head.

Though his mind told him there was nothing wrong, he could see the world around him turn into a tint of gray.

He was not losing the ability to sense color.

No. The world was just losing its appeal.

The feeling that the bloody, scarred landscape with smoke and fire should have invoked inside him was disappearing.

It was not normal.

Zephyr shut down all his thoughts, focusing on what was happening. His eyes scanned the landscape, trying to understand.

He noticed his field of view slowly shrinking.

A second ago, he could see the world in its entirety. Now, it had shrunk to a small circular hole. It was as if he was looking through a keyhole, trying to see the other side of the room.

It was not that his eyes couldn’t see what was around him; they were clearly working. The world was still there. But his brain seemed to have stopped making sense of everything.

Zephyr panicked.

Panicked hard.

What was happening? Why was it happening? Both questions held no value anymore.

He raised his hand.

Swish.

It flew through the air. Its destination: his exposed face.

However, just a few centimeters away from his face, the hand stopped.

"AH!"

He exclaimed loudly, gasping.

He couldn’t move his hand.

It was frozen in the air.

Something was stopping him from slapping himself.

’The fuck...’

The inability to move his own arm scared him. It was his very own arm. He was supposed to be its master.

’I am losing control.’

Suddenly, the realization struck him. The thought he was trying to avoid flooded back to his mind.

’I am not in control.’

His view was still shrinking. He still couldn’t move his hand. He was losing all control.

Zephyr knew that if the condition persisted, his mind would finally disappear entirely, being shoved into the back seat while something else drove his body.

He couldn’t let it happen.

’If the body can’t respond, would my mana core?’

He activated Railgun, the strongest spell he knew. He wanted to know if his mana would respond. At the same time, he wanted to create enough shock to reclaim control over his body.

His right hand, the only hand he had, was floating a few centimeters away from his face, pointed at the sky. Zephyr’s desperate attempt should have created a bolt of light, carrying light and lightning elements into the sky.

He was expecting the buzz of electricity and the warmth of light.

But... nothing...

Nothing happened.

There were no sparks or light.

In his condition, he couldn’t even use his mana.

’Heck. I knew I shouldn’t have relaxed even for a second,’ he silently complained in his mind.