Fynn stared at the tiny fire elemental hovering above his desk. It twirled in the air, leaving faint sparks that smelled vaguely of burnt plastic.
"Okay… okay, don't panic," he muttered. "It's just… a glitch… a cute little glitch."
But deep down, he knew this wasn't normal. He had been grinding quests for weeks, and never—never—had a spell manifested like this outside the game.
Tentatively, he typed another command into the debug menu: /follow_target/.
The elemental blinked and floated toward him… then crashed into his monitor with a tiny thud, sending sparks across his desk.
Fynn yelped, nearly tipping over his energy drink. "Right. Bad idea. Very bad idea."
A notification popped up in the corner of his HUD:
"Mana expenditure abnormal. Spell instability detected."
He froze. "Mana… spell… huh?"
It hit him. This isn't just a game anymore. Somehow, my stats… my actions… they matter here.
Learning the Rules the Hard Way
Fynn tried to recall what he knew from grinding Ethereal Code. Even as a low-level player, a few principles stuck:
Spells cost energy. He could feel it now, a faint tingling running down his arms whenever the elemental moved.
Precision matters. Typing a command incorrectly can have… unpredictable consequences.
Observation is everything. Every glitch, every spark, is a warning.
Armed with this vague understanding, Fynn tried a basic command: /fireball/.
Instead of the sleek, controlled fireball from tutorials, a tiny explosion shot out from his desk, singeing his keyboard. Sparks flew, and the elemental squeaked, spiraling in panic before landing safely on his lamp.
Fynn coughed, waving away smoke. "Right… maybe I need a tutorial. Or a new life."
Turning to the Community
He grabbed his phone, opening a live-streaming platform. The VRMMO community sometimes posted duels, tutorials, and "glitch compilations." Maybe someone had dealt with a rogue elemental before.
Scrolling, he saw clips of street duels: fireballs colliding mid-air, ice spikes piercing drones, players leveling so fast their stats glowed. That's insane… I'm level 8, and these people look like gods.
Then, a single clip caught his eye. A small elemental, almost identical to his, knocking over a desk in someone's apartment. The title: "Rogue Spell Glitch?"
Fynn's stomach sank. I'm not alone—and apparently, someone's noticed.
The Elemental Learns… Fast
"Okay, small buddy," he muttered, scratching his head. "Let's figure this out together."
He tried another command: /follow_target/. The elemental zipped to him obediently. Encouraged, he typed /fireball/ again—but this time with a carefully compiled "debug syntax" he had copied from a tutorial.
The fireball formed perfectly… then hit the wall. A crack spread across the plaster, smoke curling in the corners. Fynn's heart raced.
I can't even control a fireball properly… how do people duel in the streets without burning the city down?
First Realization
By the end of the hour, Fynn had learned three things:
Even small spells had consequences in reality.
Rogue spells were dangerous, unpredictable, and could draw attention.
He had just barely scratched the surface of the system's rules—energy limits, syntax precision, and code-magic interaction were just the beginning.
And the scariest part?
A faint buzz from outside his window. A shadow shifted across the neon-lit alley below. Someone—or something—was watching.
Fynn froze. The elemental squeaked again, as if sensing the same presence.
He whispered, "Great… just great. I think I just signed up for a war I don't understand."