Urban System in America
Chapter 32: Returning to Reality

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Returning to Reality

One year and 28 days later.

Inside the system space.

Ding!

[Congratulations!]

[You have mastered the basics of Hacking]

"Huh? Is it already over?"

A hunched figure, whose head was almost buried in the computer, muttered as he slowly lifted his head.

His ocean-blue eyes showed deep exhaustion, and dark circles adorned his handsome face.

[System space will collapse in 60 seconds. Get ready]

Hearing the prompt again, he jolted up from his seat.

"NO! NO! Give me some time, just a bit more."

But the system didn’t respond, continuing its countdown.

[53...52...51...]

"Agh!" Seeing this, he groaned and roughly smothered his hair as he sat down in frustration.

After staying in this place for a year, he had already gained a general understanding of the system.

This guy was as stubborn as an ox, there was no use trying to reason with it.

Thinking back on the year, he really didn’t know how he had managed to get through it.

Just like the five stages of grief, he had also gone through the five stages of acceptance.

"This is fun! I’ll master it in no time!"

Initially, he was very excited and motivated, starting with a burst of enthusiasm.

But as the novelty faded, he felt bored and frustrated from continuous learning without any breaks.

"Ugh, these tutorials are so boring! Hey, anyone here? Anyone?"

He started doubting himself, wondering if he would ever get good.

"This code is stupid! Why won’t it just work?!"

Frustration kicked in, leading to tantrums when things didn’t go as planned.

As he cursed the code, the system, and even the computer.

Then came the "Debugging Blues."

"I’m never going to understand this. What’s the point of even trying?"

A period of discouragement set in.

He felt overwhelmed by the complexity of hacking and started losing motivation.

And would spend hours staring at the screen, feeling lost and defeated.

"This error message makes no sense! I’m just going to give up."

But then, as he pushed through and started getting the hang of things, excitement returned.

"Wait a minute... I get it! This is actually pretty cool."

Slowly, he found joy in learning and manipulating systems.

And this was where he was now, fully immersed, loving the challenge and the thrill of the process.

And yet, this stupid system had to interrupt him now. Couldn’t it wait just a little longer?

With a sigh of frustration, he finally accepted it, laying back in his chair and waiting for the countdown to complete.

[Get ready, system space will be destroyed in...

3... 2... 1...]

Boom!

With a loud explosion, the system space collapsed.

His consciousness was jolted back into reality.

He found himself sprawled on his bed.

He slowly opened his eyes, but a sudden wave of dizziness hit him, leaving his vision blurred for a moment.

After some time, the dizziness finally subsided. Looking around, he hurriedly checked the time, it was just past 1 AM.

He had spent over a year in system space, yet only an hour had passed in the real world.

A strange feeling of confusion and disorientation settled in as he felt overwhelmed by the sensation of time distortion.

Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths to calm himself. His mind buzzed with a headache and the newfound knowledge he had just acquired.

After a while, he felt much better and slowly sat up. Though still a little dizzy, it was manageable.

Noticing the computer in the corner, he felt an itch. His fingers twitched, eager to test his new skills.

Without hesitation, he sat in front of the computer and powered it up.

His instincts took over. He pulled up the command prompt, his fingers moving on their own, typing out a series of commands.

First, he checked for active user sessions using the "query user" command. Seeing that only his session was active, he smirked and moved on.

Opening a PowerShell window with admin privileges, he executed a familiar script to extract saved Wi-Fi passwords.

Lines of text filled the screen, revealing every network his device had connected to—complete with security keys.

His blood rushed with excitement. The thrill of seeing his knowledge in action was exhilarating.

Even though it was all basic stuff, something an expert would scoff at, but doing it with his own hands felt completely different.

Next, he upped the challenge and tested his ability to crack a locked user account.

First, he created a bootable USB loaded with Kali Linux tools—the most widely used operating system among hackers.

Using it, he easily bypassed the login page entirely, launching a brute-force attack on encrypted files.

Within minutes, he had full system access. No backdoors, no tricks, just raw knowledge applied with precision.

Leaning back, his heart pounded with excitement.

This was real. He had truly mastered hacking.

A smirk played on his lips.

But as the adrenaline faded, exhaustion hit him like a tsunami.

Closing everything down, he crashed into bed and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

---

The next morning, he woke up feeling oddly refreshed, as if all his exhaustion had been washed away.

He had spent over a year in system space. Even though the system had kept him in perfect condition, minor mental strain was inevitable, but now, even that was gone, thanks to his "Divine Body."

Seeing that it was already 7 o’clock, he quickly changed into his running gear and headed outside.

As he ran, the warm sunlight bathed his body, lifting his mood.

Then, his eyes caught a glimpse of a beautiful silhouette jogging ahead.

Even from the back, he could tell, she was breathtaking.

Her long black hair fluttered in the air, and her long legs moved gracefully, her pace smooth yet fast.

Feeling a sudden competitive spark, he pushed himself to catch up.

But no matter how hard he tried, she remained ahead, eventually disappearing from sight around a corner.

With a defeated sigh, he shook his head and continued his jog.

Maybe if fate allowed it, they would meet again.

After exercising for a while, he returned home, showered, and prepared a simple breakfast.

As he ate, he nodded in satisfaction.

It seems like my proudest cooking skills haven’t degraded.

After finishing his meal, he grabbed his things and left for university.

Upon arrival, he felt a strange sense of freshness, almost like he was stepping into the campus for the first time "again".

Parking his car, he made his way toward his classroom.

Opening the door, he saw that Professor Clement hadn’t arrived yet.

So, he greeted a few classmates along the way before settling into his seat.

As he exchanged greetings with his deskmates, a small group of students gathered around, chatting with him.

Soon, Professor Clement arrived, and everyone hurried back to their seats.

The professor took a deep look at Rex but said nothing.

Rex met his gaze calmly, showing no reaction.

After a moment, Professor Clement turned away and started the class as usual.

Everything seemed normal.

Until.....

(End of Chapter)