The world had changed.
No warning. No mercy. No reason.
It was like waking up inside the ruins of a dream—only this dream stank of burnt plastic, scorched steel, and the metallic tang of blood in the air. The once-bustling city I called home was nothing more than a graveyard of concrete and fire.
I stood on a highway split in two, cars dangling half-off the edge like toys broken by an angry child. Skyscrapers loomed like crooked tombstones against a blood-red sky, some ablaze, others shattered into blackened skeletons.
Above me, faint blue screens flickered in the air—System windows. Notifications. Warnings. Glitches. Some blinked out of existence mid-sentence; others repeated broken lines like a corrupted record.
[Player Status: Incomplete]
Name: Unknown
Level: 2
Class: Unassigned
Title: [Glitched One]
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
Stamina: 80/80
Unique Skill: [Glitch Code: Rewrite]
New Skill: [Glitch Code: Summon] (Locked)
I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I'd gone insane.
"Unassigned... Glitched One... what the hell is happening to me?"
Others—those who survived—were given classes: Warrior, Mage, Archer. Some even shouted in joy when System-granted swords or spellbooks materialized in their hands.
Me? I got an error message and this weird 'Rewrite Console'—like a broken cheat terminal out of some old RPG.
I swiped the system screen away and opened the console again.
> ITEM: NONE
COMMAND: [Generate: Weapon]
A faint spark crackled in the air.
Was this real? Or just another glitch?
"Let's find out."
> COMMAND: [Generate: Weapon = Steel Sword (Tier 1)]
A moment of silence.
Then a sharp blue flash.
Right before my feet, a crude steel sword materialized—dull, chipped, but very real. I knelt and picked it up, its weight solid in my grasp.
"I could get used to this…"
A sound snapped me from my thoughts—a wet, dragging hiss. I turned sharply.
Something in the shadows, crawling from an overturned delivery truck.
A Crawler Beast.
Level 5.
It was horrible—a spiderlike body with jagged mandibles, too many twitching legs, and a gleaming black shell smeared with fresh blood. Its soulless eyes fixed on me.
> [Enemy Detected: Crawler Beast — Lv.5]
Threat Level: Moderate
Recommended Action: Escape or Fight
Fight? With this rusty piece of junk?
Or… cheat?
I grinned nervously and opened the console.
> ENEMY_LEVEL = 1
The screen glitched, flickered—and the Crawler stopped mid-crawl, its body shuddering as if invisible chains crushed it. It shrank, its carapace cracking. Its killing aura vanished like popped soap bubbles.
I ran forward, gripped the sword with shaking hands, and swung.
Squelch.
One clean strike split its brittle skull.
The beast collapsed in a twitching heap of legs.
> [Enemy Defeated.]
EXP Gained: 150
Loot: Monster Core (Low), Chitin Plate x2
Level Up!
Level: 3 → 4
Stat Points +5
I panted, clutching the sword.
"This... is insane."
A system where I could change reality itself. No balance. No rules. Only the risk of discovery.
And then the real problem arrived.
[New System Quest: Survive the First Wave]
Objective: Defeat or avoid the incoming horde.
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Reward: Random Skill Scroll
Failure: Death
"Horde...?"
The ground trembled beneath my boots.
From the far end of the highway, black shapes poured like liquid shadow from a huge crimson portal. Dozens—no, hundreds—of monsters: more Crawlers, massive Hellhounds, tall humanoid Raiders with twisted horns and burning eyes.
A living wall of death, coming straight for me.
I swallowed hard.
"Escape code… escape code… come on—"
> ENEMY_COUNT = 0
[System Warning]
Command Denied. System Protection Active during Horde Events.
Risk of Detection: 30%.
My fingers clenched into fists.
"Of course they patched this part... they want me to suffer."
The only other way was to cheat myself stronger.
I eyed the locked skill in my status:
[Glitch Code: Summon]
Status: Locked.
Not for long.
> UNLOCK_SKILL: [Glitch Code: Summon]
The console sparked—lines of broken code surged across the screen like panicked ants.
[Warning: Skill Force-Unlocked]
[New Ability Acquired: Glitch Code: Summon]
Description: Summon a random entity by manipulating broken code.
Cost: 30 MP
I didn't hesitate.
"Summon! Now!"
A jagged rift tore open before me, blue and violent.
From its depths, something... impossible stepped out.
A humanoid shape, but flickering, its form unstable—pixels breaking apart, lines of glowing code running across its skin. No face. No clear body. It shifted between forms: a man, a beast, a machine.
> [Summoned Entity: ??? — Data Unknown]
Status: Friendly or Hostile: Unstable
It tilted its formless head toward me.
"...Master?" it rasped, the voice glitching between male, female, and machine tones.
I raised my sword, heart pounding as the monstrous horde closed in fast.
"You want to help? Then help me survive this wave."
The glitch-being crackled like static, raising one melting arm toward the swarm.
The approaching Hellhounds stopped—confused—sniffing the air. Some turned, growling... not at me, but at the Summon.
The glitch laughed—a horrible, metallic sound—and leapt into the swarm like a broken god, tearing monsters apart with limbs that stretched and reformed like living code.
I watched in awe and terror.
I had no idea what I'd summoned.
But one thing was certain.
I wasn't the only glitch in the System anymore.