"The last one."

A cheerful laugh echoed in the boundless library.

Owen stood amidst a pile of books. Today, he would finish reading the last book and finally escape this terrifying prison that had trapped him for billions of years.

This was the Void Library.

A place that gathered knowledge from all across the universe.

Originally just an ordinary human from Earth, Owen had been swept into a temporal vortex by accident. When he awoke, he found himself here.

For the first decade, he was overjoyed, devouring knowledge that didn't exist on Earth.

Magic, knights, alchemy, magic arrays.

He fantasized about one day leaving this place and wreaking havoc, commanding the masses, and becoming a legend in history books.

After a century, Owen grew anxious. His family and friends were long gone, and his name would fade into oblivion.

After a millennium, Owen fell silent. He read mechanically, as if he were a walking corpse.

Now, billions of years had passed.

Owen smiled as he finished the last page.

The entire Void Library began to tremble.

A portal of light appeared before him. On the other side was the world outside, the scenery he hadn't seen in ages.

"I can finally leave." Owen's laughter grew maniacal.

Anyone imprisoned for billions of years would go mad.

Owen was no exception.

He stepped through the portal.

All he wanted now was to destroy anything in the outside world that displeased him.

Blinding white light flashed.

...

"Tsk tsk, you actually woke up." A sharp male voice rang out. "What bad luck. I had planned for you to die in your coma."

Owen opened his eyes and found himself trapped in a magic array.

Not far away stood a mage in a black robe.

The mage droned on, and soon, Owen understood his situation.

Time had long since reduced his body to ashes. The body he was in now wasn't even his own.

It belonged to a mage named Daniel.

"Such a failure," the black-robed mage said. "You're forty years old and only at Tier-Iron. If it weren't for your father, there's no way someone as weak as you could become the headmaster of a magic academy."

"You're right," Owen nodded. "Quite the failure indeed."

The black-robed mage looked at Daniel's indifferent expression and sensed that something was off.

"Don't try anything!" the mage snapped. "The magic array beneath your feet is already linked to your mana. As soon as..."

"As soon as the magic array is activated," Owen interjected, "my body will 'boom' and explode, leaving me a pile of blood and guts on your head."

The black-robed mage was silent for a few seconds. He sensed things were spiraling out of his control.

"Yes, your knowledge of magic theory is impressive," the mage admitted, "but your strength is lacking. In one minute, you'll be dead."

Owen nodded.

At Tier-Iron, indeed, he couldn't break free from the magic array.

But knowledge is power.

Billions of years of accumulated knowledge were enough for Owen to wreak havoc in this world.

He just had one small question left.

"Setting up this kind of mana-linking magic array must've been troublesome. You could have just killed me directly," Owen said. "So, you went to the trouble to make it look like an accident? Someone hired you to kill me, and they must have a conflict of interest with me."

The black-robed mage nervously glanced around.

Daniel—no, Owen—was making him uneasy.

The mage was about to respond when Owen stopped him.

"Wait, I think I've figured it out." Memories surged through Owen's mind.

They were the original owner's memories and emotions.

Daniel's father, an archmage and the headmaster of Crossbridge Academy, had recently passed away.

That was the real reason someone had dared to send a killer after Daniel.

"I see," Owen nodded. "Now, you can proceed."

"What?" The black-robed mage frowned.

Something wasn't right.

Everything that had just happened felt wrong.

To avoid any further complications, the black-robed mage immediately activated the magic array.

Mana tendrils from the array began to extend toward Owen!

The spell took effect, which normally would have been instantaneous.

But to Owen, the process of the magic invading his body unfolded in slow motion, as if time itself had been stretched out.

Too slow.

So slow that Owen's mind began to wander.

He couldn't help but recall those days in the Void Library.

Time is the most powerful weapon.

Billions of years of solitude would shatter the souls of ordinary people.

Owen had survived and completed the library's task, thanks to his system.

With its help, not only had he withstood the erosion of time, but for every book he finished reading in the Void Library, he received a reward from the system!

After countless millennia, even the most worthless of rewards—mana stones, which served as currency or mana storage tools—had accumulated in terrifying numbers!

And those rewards were secondary.

The real treasure was the vast knowledge contained within the Void Library's collection!

Books of every known language, technology, and magic from the multiverse resided there!

In terms of knowledge, after billions of years of learning, Owen was practically omniscient!

Magic held no secrets from him!

The magic array had been set up in a remote forest, surrounded by another array to isolate sound.

"The son of an archmage, trying to take a shortcut to boost his Tier in a secluded spot of the academy, ends up burning himself and exploding due to the mana in his body—Daniel, your pathetic life ends here!"

The black-robed mage relaxed as Daniel remained motionless.

Threads of mana from the magic array seeped into Daniel's body.

The more powerful the mage's internal mana, the greater the damage from such an attack!

"What a waste," Owen said disapprovingly. "A Tier-Iron failure doesn't need such a fine magic array."

If it were him, he would have had thousands of better ways to make Daniel's death look like an accident.

The black-robed mage didn't know how to respond.

Then he noticed something strange.

"Why... Why aren't you dead yet?!

"You should have exploded by now!

"What are you doing?!"

The seasoned golden-ranked mage realized something had gone wrong!

The magic array began to flicker erratically.

Owen stretched lazily.

He looked at a specific spot on the magic array.

All magic arrays, spells, and other magical constructs were based on strict grammatical rules.

They were written in English, with some key terms replaced by Latin.

Owen had long mastered every known language, including the writings of different civilizations across the universe.

Deciphering the mysteries of magic—or even tampering with an enemy's spells—was something Owen could easily do, thanks to his vast knowledge and well-tempered mind power!

The syntax written on the magic array was like an open book to Owen, revealing all its secrets.

Owen directed his mana to follow the link with the array and began altering its structure.

It was simple for him: just change the original attack command from "to the other party" to "to myself."

But for Daniel, it would have been nearly impossible.

This body lacked talent, and its mana flowed sluggishly.

Even for someone as knowledgeable as Owen, it took a few seconds.

"Well then, goodbye," Owen smiled at the black-robed mage. "Boom!"

"You!" Those were the last words the black-robed mage uttered.

The magic array reversed.

The attack originally aimed at Owen rebounded onto the mage.

The black-robed mage began to swell, like an overripe tomato, and with a "boom!" he exploded.

Dark red tomato juice splattered around.

The soundproofing array suddenly lit up, as Owen had altered it to keep the blood rain from dirtying his shoes.

"Nice plan, sloppy execution," Owen commented like a teacher. "Too many flaws, allowing me to easily alter the syntax. Killer, remember this in your next life."

Smelling the blood in the air, Owen's rage and murderous intent slightly subsided.

At this moment, Owen and Daniel's memories fully merged.

Looking southward, not far away stood Crossbridge Academy.

In Riverside City, a small northern town on the continent, Crossbridge Academy had risen to prominence over the past few decades, thanks to the mages it had trained, making it as renowned as the other two great families.

Now that the old headmaster had passed away, everyone believed Crossbridge Academy was on the brink of collapse.

Owen didn't think so.

The academy belonged to Daniel, which meant it belonged to him.

Anyone who tried to take it from him would die.

Owen hummed a cheerful tune as he headed toward Crossbridge Academy.

Smashing tomatoes felt good.

Freedom felt even better.