The fallout hits hard. Early Friday, the air's expectant and sharp—like the city's holding its breath, waiting for a signal.
Minji texts before sunrise: "Heard? Half our crew's called out. Dao suspended, Daniel interrogated. They're pushing for confessions."
I reply: "No one confesses. We move as planned."
Jay's at the school gate, sketched cityscape in hand. "Some things you can only fix by breaking."
Rina appears, eyes flashing. "Power's shifting. Sungho's crew is rallying, but the old teachers—rumor says the system itself wants blood."
Dao's empty seat in homeroom hurts more than it should. Minji sits beside me, silent, anger barely caged.
Ms. Park talks about loyalty and forgiveness, but her voice cracks.
Mid-morning, I get the first full-on system glitch.
A "Status" screen flashes over my real sight—stats are numbers, but the categories talk back.
[STATUS: Kaelin (Stray/Unclassified)]
Luck: [Unknown]
Charisma: [Rumor-Linked]
Follower Count: [Self-Aware]
Quest Thread: [Evolve or Perish]
Active Perk: [Observation Barrier: Those who see you believe what they need.]
I blink. The world jitters at the edge, feels less concrete. Minji's words echo like debugging code.
By lunch, new faces show. Students from rival schools—drawn by the chaos, or maybe by the magnetic pull of main-character vibes.
"Who's the king here?" one asks.
Rina laughs—sharp. "There is no king. Only survivors."
Jay, ever architect, draws chalk lines at the quad's edge—inventing a safe zone.
"These are the borders. Inside, nobody betrays. Outside, everyone's up for grabs."
Someone smudges the line. "What if you never wanted borders?"
I answer, "Then cross every one you find, but remember what side you started on."
Afternoon. The crackdown is brutal—principals and staff comb the halls, pulling anyone on last night's rumor list. Rina gets hauled aside by two teachers, accused of inciting rebellion. Jay is told to hand over his sketchbook ("evidence of networks"), Minji threatened with "community service" unless she names names.
I'm left pacing, sense of reality flickering with system overlays. The phone buzzes with encrypted challenge:
[Side Quest: End the Day Unchanged]
Penalty: Lose a follower.
Bonus: Unlock new skill if survived.
Jay, eyes stormy, corners me behind the auditorium. "They want blood, not answers. We run or we rewrite."
Minji emerges—defiant, bruised, but whole. "They tried. I held."
Rina materializes out of nowhere, having ditched her escort, wild grin flashing. "If we're ghosts, let's haunt."
Suddenly, my vision splits again—status jittered, reality fractured.
All the stats flicker—charisma spikes when Minji laughs, luck climbs as Rina slips out, resolve maxes every moment Jay doesn't flinch.
I take center stage in the quad, corridor silent but pulsing.
Teachers hesitate; students form up—makeshift crew, rumor turned rally.
I open my mouth, "You want order? Break it."
The system vibrates through me—barriers drop, voices sync, every eye lenses my actions.
Kaelin (Stray/Unclassified)
Active Skill: Rulebreaker's Aura – For 10 minutes, all witnesses resist authority, truth warps in your favor.
System: History will remember the chaos, not the punishment.
The principal yells; students echo me instead.
Rina, Jay, Minji—each take up the cry, the world moves.
Some teachers balk, but most step back, unwilling to push against a united front.
Someone in the crowd chuckles, "He's glitching reality."
And I know it too.
Final bell. Suspension list doubled, but nobody goes home alone.
Rina hugs her bag, Jay slaps my shoulder, Minji wipes tears and grins through them.
Dao texts: "Best show all year. I'm not afraid anymore."
I answer, "You were never afraid, just waiting for permission."
Jay sends a final note: "Borders are just lines the brave step over."
After school, the city feels colder. Crew scatters, but nobody's truly alone—every step in sync with someone else's fight.
The system flickers again, now speaking in memory and intuition:
[End of Chapter: Glitch Zone Reached]
Kaelin (Stray/Unclassified)
Unlocked: "Influence Ripple" – Your choices trigger effects one step beyond rumor: minor events, shifts in perception, and luck for anyone nearby, for 24 hours.
Notice: "System surveillance upgraded. Expect escalation."
Minji calls as rain falls, voice shaky but alive. "We won something today. Might lose it tomorrow."
I listen, let the world breathe in the silence between us. "If the system's watching, let's give it a show."
Jay emails his sketch—the quad filled with moving figures, border lines erased, everyone drawn with eyes open.
Dao chirps, "I made the hall monitor flinch just by walking proud."
Rina texts, "Going out swinging is still going out fighting."
Night, I stand at my window.
The city pulses, flawed but unafraid.
Phone glows—system message streams:
[SYSTEM UPDATE: End Approaching]
Major Event: "Rogue Signal."
Objective: Survive, disrupt, transform.
Daily Bonus: If all allies remain by your side, future stat gain multiplied.
I write in my hidden notebook:
"We glitched the world enough to matter. If tomorrow's the war, we fight as legend—even if the only thing we win is history."