Real World: Sector 9 – Concrete Slums, 2125
The air was thick with recycled smoke and the stink of hot metal. Neon lights flickered against rusted rooftops while delivery drones zipped past tangled power lines. In this part of the megacity, time moved slower — and survival meant staying quiet, invisible.
Jin Wei pulled the hood of his jacket tighter as he crossed the alley. Behind him, the shout of a vendor was cut off by the screech of hoverbikes. He didn't look back.
"Just a game," he muttered under his breath. "It's just a game."
But it wasn't.
Chrono Genesis was more than a game now — it was the world. Your rank in the virtual world determined your job offers, your real income, your living quarters. And Jin? He was a nobody. A dropout. The younger brother of a ghost.
His hands trembled as he pushed open the rusted door to the broken café where he squatted after hours. There, half-covered in a thermal blanket, lay his sleeping mother — her breathing shallow, the oxygen canister ticking beside her.
Jin crouched beside her and adjusted the mask.
"I'll get the meds, Ma," he whispered. "One more level… one win… I promise."
Virtual World: Chrono Genesis – Beginner Zone
A flash of white, then—
Login complete.
Location: Cursed Graveyard, West Edge of Novarus.
Level: 4
Class: None
The wind howled through dead trees as Jin materialized, his tattered robe clinging to his frame. Around him, players trained, sparred, and showed off shiny loot. He had none.
His weapon? A rusted dagger.
His rank? Unlisted.
His title? "Bug Hunter" — a slur players used for nobodies who searched for glitches to exploit.
"Yo, Jin the Dying Dog is back!"
Three teens from a rich guild laughed from a nearby rock, their armor polished, weapons glowing.
Jin ignored them. He had bigger problems.
For days now, he'd been chasing a strange visual bug — a flicker of red code that appeared right before he died in-game. He had tested it five times. He died five times.
But he was sure of one thing: it wasn't a glitch.
It was something buried deep in the system.
Something old.
Ten Minutes Later – Fight Arena Ruins
Jin stood over a campfire, watching the shadows.
He had lured it here — a corrupted mini-boss: "Hollow Wraith – Lv. 12"
His dagger was useless. He was going to die again. But he didn't care.
The red code would show up. It had to.
The wraith screeched and lunged.
Jin didn't dodge. The claws tore through his chest, sending his HP to zero.
System Message: You have died.
Respawn in 3… 2… 1…
Respawn Location: Beginner's Graveyard
Jin gasped back into existence, eyes wide, body shaking. Around him, the graveyard shimmered with mist.
Then he saw it.
A glitch in the sky — just above a gravestone — red lines of data swirling like blood. His heart thundered.
This time… he moved.
Hand extended, fingers trembling — and he touched it.
A burning shock flooded his palm. For one second, all color drained from the world.
System Override Detected.
Legacy Combat System: B.L.O.O.D Protocol loading…
Warning: Version 0.01 Active — Permanent Death Enabled.
No system support. No maps. No guides. One life. Accept?
The sky flickered black. The graveyard turned crimson.
Jin's lips curled into a grin.
"Hell yes."