[System Alert]
New Zone Discovered: Cradle of Glitches
Environmental Status: Stable (Unverified)
Possible Event Trigger: [Active Scans]
Security Level: -5
Warning: This area has not been debugged by system.
(confused) …Security level negative five? What kind of game is this?
Suddenly, static filled noise like radio static wrapped in whispers.
(spun around and saw nothing)
Then—
BOOM
"A pulse of blue light cracked through the air, followed by a thin wire of code that snapped like lightning and vanished"
My gut says I should run. But I've got nowhere to go.
(crouched low and fingers wrapping tight around the chipped blade)
"What was that?"
(Inner thought) Wait, no monsters. No mobs. No terrain interaction. And now I find a zone that literally says it hasn't been debugged?
(Whispering)
This isn't just a glitchy game.
This place is... abandoned. Like the devs gave up halfway through.
I kept walking, one foot after the other, trying not to let the rising dread crush me. Every few steps, my HUD blinked out, then blinked back. My mana bar occasionally twitched downward for no reason.
Eventually, I saw something, something tall.
A spire. Metallic. Cracked halfway up, sticking out of the ground like a broken antenna. Bits of code glitched and shimmered near its surface like heat haze.
[Interactable Detected]
Object: Bugged Tower Root (Ancient Data Spike)
Function: Corrupted Data Access
Do you wish to interface? Yes • No
(Hesitation) ...Data spike? This is a tower?
Yeah. Let's interface. I am quite curious to see what happens. And I also don't have anything else to do at the moment. How worse can it possibly be?
[Touch Activated]
Initiating System Dive…
(Sudden surge of light)
My vision blurred. The cold vanished. A new interface slammed into my mind like a memory I never lived.
[SYSTEM ECHO: INITIATING ERROR LOG ACCESS]
...
...
Log #0001
Subject: Class SYNC attempt failed.
Error Code: 0419-G
Auto-assigned skill functions incompatible with spiritual frequency.
Error detected in limbic circuit translation.
Passive 'Invert Output' automatically applied.
Diagnostic note: "Subject Kaien Rook registers as acceptable anomaly."
Sanction Level: Tolerated
(Backing away)
What the… this system knows it's broken. It allowed it. Sanctioned it?!
(Heart pounding)
...'Acceptable anomaly'?
...???
So they let it happen... on purpose?
(staggered back, hands trembling)
And 'Tolerated'? (irritated twitch)
Even the system is making fun of me?
(Ding)
[Skill Acquired]
Error Pulse Lv.1 – Emits a corrupted burst from within, dealing AoE magic damage.
Cost: 30 MP.
Note: This is a glitched variant of 'Group Heal.'
[Title Bonus Activated]
'The Misaligned' allows mutated skill retention.
Skill saved.
...(after a pause)
…So now, even more healing magic hurts things.
That's fine. That's just fine. (smirks)
I guess I'll just keep collecting these bugs until I become the biggest glitch in this whole damn world.
If this was a broken game, I'd break it further.
And if they left me to rot in a world like this…
...Then they'd regret not deleting me.
(to be continued...)