My Level Is 1, But My Damage Is Infinite

Not A Bug

Chapter 7: Not a Bug

The broken fiber-optic cables hissed as they slapped against the concrete floor, sparks dancing like dying fireflies. Eka stood in the center of the warehouse, his chest heaving, though the air didn’t seem to do anything to settle the volcanic pressure building behind his ribs.

Somchai stared at the snapped restraints, a piece of dried squid halfway to his mouth. He blinked, then slowly looked up at Eka, his holovisors flickering with rapid-fire data.

"Okay, so," Somchai said, his voice cracking slightly. "That was about ten thousand credits' worth of high-tensile fiber. Just thought you should know. It’s rated to hold a charging C-rank Behemoth."

"I’ll put it on my tab," Eka rasped. He looked at his hands, watching the orange light pulse under his skin like liquid iron. "Somchai, tell me again. Why did someone do this to me? Why the lock?"

Somchai kicked off from his desk, his chair spinning twice before he caught himself on a rack of servers. "It’s not just a lock, Eka. I’ve been running the numbers while you were playing 'Strongman.' It’s way worse than I thought. You’re not just a bug in the system. You’re the reason the system is even running."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Eka asked, taking a step forward. The floorboards groaned under his feet, though he wasn't trying to be heavy.

"Whoa, easy! Watch the hardware," Somchai yelled, waving his hands frantically. "Look at the screen. You see these ripples? That’s the global mana average for the lower districts. It stays perfectly level, right? No matter how many monsters people kill, the 'wealth' of power stays the same."

"Yeah? So?"

"So, energy doesn't just come from nowhere, man," Somchai said, his fingers flying across a holographic keyboard. "The System siphons it. It’s like a tax. But usually, the tax is spread out. In your case? DUC redirected the entire siphon for this sector into one single point. You."

Eka frowned, his head thumping in time with the orange glow. "I'm a tax collector?"

"No, you’re the bank!" Somchai jumped out of his chair, pacing back and forth in his grease-stained hoodie. "For six years, every time you took a hit, the System calculated the experience points and the mana growth you should have gotten. But instead of letting you level up, that DUC guy locked your level at one and siphoned all that 'growth energy' into the local network. You’ve been powering the streetlights, the hunter guilds, and the shield generators of this whole district for half a decade."

Eka felt a cold, sharp anger slice through the heat in his gut. "You’re telling me the reason Garrett and those guys can use their flashy fireballs is because I’m getting my teeth kicked in?"

"Basically, yeah," Somchai said, looking almost apologetic. "You’re the world's most efficient, most abused battery. If you had leveled up normally, you’d probably be S-rank by now. But because you’re a 'Level 1 Porter,' the System treats your energy as 'excess' and distributes it to maintain the 'Global Average.' It keeps the weak just strong enough to be useful, and the strong just weak enough to stay dependent on the Authority."

"That’s insane," Eka whispered. "Six years of my life... for what? So some mid-rank hunter can feel good about himself?"

"It’s not just about ego, Eka," Somchai said, his face turning grim. "It’s about control. Do you know why the Authority makes a killing on insurance and 'Protection Fees'? It’s because everyone is terrified of high-level damage. If people could actually level up and defend themselves, the Authority loses their monopoly on safety. They profit from people being weak. And they used you to balance the books."

Eka looked at his palm, the orange glow intensifying until it was almost blinding. "So I’m a gold mine."

"The biggest one on the planet," Somchai muttered. "And the bank wants its money back."

Suddenly, a red light began to strobe across the ceiling. A low, rhythmic thumping started to vibrate through the warehouse walls—the sound of heavy-lift rotors.

"Speak of the devil," Somchai hissed, diving for his main console. "They found us. My shielding is being shredded. Someone just dropped a Level 4 Nullification Zone on the building."

"Is it the Authority?" Eka asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"Worse. These signatures... these aren't government. They're 'Headhunters,'" Somchai said, his eyes widening behind his visors. "Bounty hunters from the S-rank guilds. Probably Crimson Dawn. They must have been tipped off by DUC the moment I started poking the lock."

"How many?"

"I'm counting twelve signatures," Somchai said, his voice trembling. "All B-rank or higher. Eka, we’re dead. We are so dead. My sonic dampeners won't do squat against a B-rank Vanguard."

Eka walked toward the center of the room, right under the massive skylight. He could hear the sound of boots landing on the roof. The air was becoming thick, heavy with the pressure of a dozen high-level mana signatures.

"Stay back, Somchai," Eka said.

"What are you doing? You’re still Level 1! Even with that battery, you can't take twelve B-rankers at once! They’ll turn you into a puddle!"

"They’ve been turning me into a puddle for six years," Eka said, his eyes beginning to burn with a steady, volcanic fire. "I’m used to it. But I’m done being a battery."

"Wait, Eka! If you discharge all at once while the lock is still active, you’ll burn out your circuits!" Somchai screamed over the rising roar of the helicopters.

"Then tell me how to use it!" Eka shouted back.

"You have to be a lightning rod! Don't move! If you try to punch them, you’ll only release a fraction of it. You need to let them hit you. All of them. At the same time. Use the 'Static' logic—if you don't move, the kinetic energy has nowhere to go but back out through the network connection!"

"So I just stand here and take it? That’s literally what I’ve done my whole life!"

"This time is different!" Somchai yelled, sliding under his desk for cover. "The Nullification Zone they dropped is trying to siphon you. If you hit the 'Redline' while they're connected to you, you won't just hit them—you’ll blow the whole local network! You’ll break the siphon!"

The skylight shattered.

Four figures in heavy, matte-gray armor crashed through the glass, landing in a perfect circle around Eka. They carried electrified halberds and heavy suppression shields. More figures appeared at the windows, their weapons aimed squarely at Eka’s chest.

"Target identified," a voice boomed from the leader’s helmet. "Eka Pradana. You are property of the Crimson Dawn through the Authority’s Asset Reclamation Act. Surrender now, and we’ll make sure the extraction is painless."

"Property?" Eka said, a small, jagged laugh escaping his throat. "I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I’m just a porter."

"Don't play games, kid," the leader said, stepping forward. His halberd hummed with enough voltage to fry an elephant. "We know what you’re carrying. You’re a walking paycheck, and we’re here to cash in. Boys, take his legs first. We only need the torso intact for the extraction."

The four Vanguards moved in unison, their weapons glowing with blue mana.

"Eka, stay static!" Somchai’s voice muffled from under the desk. "Let the pressure build! Don't move a muscle!"

Eka planted his feet. He felt the first halberd strike his thigh, the electricity surging through his nerves. Then came the second, a heavy shield bash to his kidneys. Then a third, a mana-charged punch to his jaw.

[Damage Received: 8,000 Units.]

[Damage Received: 12,500 Units.]

[Stored Kinetic Charge: 45.2% ... 68.9% ... 82.1%]

"Why isn't he falling?" one of the hunters shouted, his voice tinged with panic. "I just hit him with a Tier-5 Paralysis Strike! He should be a vegetable!"

"Hit him harder!" the leader roared, raising his own weapon. "He’s just a Level 1! Break his bones!"

Eka stood perfectly still. His skin was no longer just glowing; it was radiating a heat that made the air in the warehouse shimmer. The orange light had turned into a blinding white-gold. He could feel the connection Somchai talked about—the invisible threads of mana that linked him to the city, to these hunters, and to the 'DUC' lock.

It felt like a dam about to burst.

"My turn to talk," Eka said, his voice sounding like two grinding tectonic plates.

"Finish him!" the leader screamed, bringing his halberd down in a massive, two-handed overhead strike.

The blade hit Eka’s shoulder. But it didn't cut. It didn't even bruise. The moment of impact was the final drop in a bucket that had been filling for six years.

[Kinetic Charge: 100.0%]

[CRITICAL ALERT: REDLINE REACHED.]

[INITIATING NETWORK DISCHARGE.]

"Hey, Somchai?" Eka whispered, even as the hunters' eyes widened in realization of what was coming.

"Yeah?" the hacker squeaked.

"Tell the bank I'm closing my account."

The world turned white.

It wasn't an explosion of fire or sound. It was a silent, absolute erasure of light. A shockwave of pure kinetic force erupted from Eka’s body, traveling upward through the hunters' weapons, through their armor, and into the very air.

The Vanguards weren't just knocked back; they were disintegrated into light. The helicopters outside suddenly stalled as their engines were overwhelmed by a surge of raw energy. The streetlights for ten blocks flickered, turned a brilliant violet, and then exploded in unison.

High above the city, the massive holographic displays that showed the guild rankings and advertisements stuttered and died. The 'DUC' lock in Eka’s system shrieked in digital agony before it was vaporized by the sheer volume of the discharge.

Silence returned to the warehouse.

The roof was gone. The hunters were gone. Only charred circles on the concrete remained where they had been standing. Eka stood in the center of the ruin, his clothes nothing but ash, his skin smooth and unmarred. The orange glow had faded, replaced by a calm, steady warmth.

Somchai crawled out from under his desk, his holovisors cracked and his hair standing on end from the static. He looked at the smoking remains of his servers, then at Eka, then at the night sky.

"Holy... Eka... you did it," Somchai breathed. "The network... it’s dark. The whole sector is off the grid."

Eka looked at his hands. He felt... light. For the first time in six years, the humming was gone. The pressure was gone. He reached out and summoned his status screen.

[Name: Eka Pradana]

[Level: 1]

[Rank: F]

[Stored Kinetic Charge: 0.00%]

"I'm still Level 1," Eka said, his voice hollow.

"Look closer, man," Somchai said, stumbling over to him. He pointed to the bottom of the screen where a new line of text was slowly materializing in gold letters.

`[LOCK REMOVED]`

`[CALCULATING OVERFLOW EXPERIENCE...]`

`[NOTICE: SYSTEM REBOOT IN PROGRESS]`

"It’s not over," Somchai whispered, his eyes wide with a mixture of terror and awe. "The System is trying to figure out where to put six years of S-rank experience now that the siphon is broken. Eka, you didn't just break the network."

"What did I do?"

Somchai looked at the data-pad in his hand, which was showing a map of the entire city. Thousands of red dots—the markers for every registered hunter—were flickering and disappearing.

"You crashed the bank," Somchai said. "It’s not a bug anymore, Eka. It’s a gold mine. And the bank wants its money back."

Eka looked up at the high district, where the lights were slowly starting to come back on, one by one. But they were different now. They weren't steady. The

y were flickering, as if the city itself was struggling to breathe.

"Let them come," Eka said, his voice cold. "I’ve got plenty of room for more damage."