Ice: "Great... just my miserable luck. How is my entanglement level still 100%? Minutes ago, I used the Loom, reached the stage of Loom-Intersection, and even had a glowing tattoo!"
System: > [Sir, you received a massive, temporary hormonal surge that activated the threads for five minutes, as I informed you previously. However, in essence, your threads remain completely entangled.]
Ice looked toward the ground with a broken, frustrated gaze. Strands of his long white hair cascaded over his eyes, reflecting the ambient light like shards of ice. He had dared to believe that after fighting with such intensity, he would permanently retain that strength. But suddenly, the feeling of suffocation and grief vanished from his heart; the mental constriction eased, and he returned to a neutral state as if nothing had happened, though his features remained grim. A system screen flickered into existence, assembling itself like shards of glass:
[NOTIFICATION: EMOTIONS ABSORBED VIA THE FROST-PARASITE.]
Ice raised his head to read the notification. Once the screen vanished, he stood up and looked at Zis, who was sitting on the snow. A faint shadow of a smile appeared on Ice's face from a distance as he asked: "What are 'Customization Points'?"
Kaylee: > [To change the system's color or any specific feature, you need a certain number of points. Premium customizations require a high amount.]
"Hmm..." Ice murmured, glancing left and right at the staggering number of open windows he hadn't closed yet. He began shutting them down one by one in a burst of realization. At the final window—the one displaying his stats—his eyes caught the word: "CODE."
Ice jolted. "What... Code? Can you define what a 'Code' is, Kaylee?"
Before the system could respond, the sound of shattering ice cut through the air. Ice spun around to see Zis, who had just kicked a block of crystalline ice into a frozen ridge, causing part of it to crumble from the impact. Ice ignored Zis and redirected his focus to the system. Zis, sensing the direction of the conversation, adjusted his posture.
Zis: "Do you want to know about Codes?" Ice: "Yes."
Zis took two steps forward, his hands clasped behind his back, waiting for Ice to prompt him. He then turned back to face Ice from a distance of three paces. Unclasping his fingers, Zis began: "A Code is a cipher that passes through—"
Ice cut him off, averting his gaze with total indifference. Zis stared at him in genuine shock. "Never mind," Ice said. "Thanks for the 'thorough' explanation. System, explain the meaning of 'Code' to me."
The system screen erupted in a vivid, saturated violet glow directly in front of Ice, having shifted from behind him.
System: > [Understood, Sir. Providing a brief explanation through an interactive simulation.]
The system screen expanded into a luminous glass sphere, enveloping Ice in a violet aura. The system's voice became immersive, drowning out the environment as the very snow beneath him turned purple from the light. Inside this sphere, which felt as smooth as polished glass, a deep robotic voice resonated from the central screen—the only one that had turned pure white to stand out.
System: > [Imagine yourself as Zis.] Ice: "That's difficult." System: > [Agreed. Fine, imagine you are an advanced Loom user.] Ice: "Who else could I imagine?"
Silence fell for a heartbeat. Then, the white screen expanded into the sphere itself, and Ice felt himself falling inward, as if plunging over a smooth, curved cliff. He found himself in a realm of absolute whiteness. A reverberating echo preceded the deep voice as the violet screen reappeared.
System: > [Unleash your imagination and drift with me. A 'Code' in your world is not a skill you simply choose; it is the essence of your biological state. Loom threads run through your tendons and vessels; thus, they follow the pathways of your nerves and blood. The network of blood and nerves differs from one human to another by 100%.]Shutterstock
An image of Zis appeared, showing prominent, dark-red veins. System: > [See this vein in his hand? Not everyone possesses this exact vein, at this size, in this location, or with this pressure. Even your fingerprint and the distribution of your capillaries are unique. Therefore, the vibration of these threads varies from person to person, emitting a mathematical frequency that never repeats.]
[RESULT: You are not 'given' a Code. Your biological signature is read and converted into an equation. The name of this equation is the 'Code.' This is why two people cannot possess the same Code, and why one person cannot possess two Codes—the interference of two different frequencies within the same body would cause a hydraulic explosion that would tear your veins apart.]
[ADDITIONAL DATA: There is a market for 'Chips.' These are simply instances where someone converted their Code into momentum and compressed it into a silicon chip. These can be used once, as Zeus did for you. The Code is injected into your threads for a duration; the higher the quality of the chip, the longer the energy remains stable. Once the duration ends, the chip burns out and the energy vanishes. Everything has a price. Containing two codes is harmful—it acts like a virus. Did this explanation suffice?]
Ice: "Impressive... though a few concepts remain a bit vague." System: > [ALERT: Sharp drop in intelligence levels detected. Loading 'The Idiot's Guide' to Loom-Pressure.] Ice: "No, no! I get it! I understand!"
Suddenly, the white world vanished, spiraling inward like water being sucked down a drain. Ice was back in the cold.
Zis: "So... did you understand?" Ice: "Of course. I'd understand any explanation that isn't yours."
Zis chuckled. "Thank you for the sarcasm. Now, we must end these trivial matters and proceed with the primary mission." Ice: "But I still have questions." Zis: "You'll learn the answers later. The Academy is only 5km away."