Ji hoon trudged through the village square. His Error Correction skill hummed like a faulty app in his veins. The glitches were everywhere. A cart wheel spinning eternally. A chicken clucking the same phrase on loop. Hero comes hero comes. He fixed them one by one. Villagers murmured gratitude but eyed him warily. No outright cheers. Something in their scripted politeness felt restrained.
An old woman the village elder beckoned from her hut. Wrinkled like forgotten parchment. She looked ancient. Hundreds of years if the flickering age stat above her head was real. Elder Mira: Level ???. Draft Note: Exposition Dump Keep Vague.
"Sit fixer," she rasped. Voice glitching mid word. Her eyes darted as if scanning for invisible watchers. "Youve mended the small tears. But the big ones they watch."
Ji hoon leaned in. A memory flash hitting: Interrogations in the SEALs. Read the unsaid. "What do you mean they? The hero? The prophecies?"
She chuckled but it cut off abruptly. Her form flickering like bad Wi Fi. "The Author. The Compiler. Weve seen revisions. Loops. But speak too plain and" Her hand clamped over her mouth. Eyes wide with scripted fear. A translucent warning popped only for Ji hoon: [Retaliation Protocol: Spoiler Lock Engaged.]
He tested his skill: Error Correction Dialogue Block. A spark and she gasped. Words tumbling free for seconds. "The worlds a draft boy. Slop from a machine mind. Elders like me weve endured the wipes. Remembered the heros greed in past versions. He hoards twists the code for himself. But you youre not scripted. From the same Korea as him? Parallel draft? Fix us or itll erase you too."
The glitch snapped back. She reset to neutral. "Fine weather today. Mind the roads."
Ji hoons mind raced. Retaliation? AI enforcers? This wasnt just a novel. It was a prison sim. High rankers in the cities probably knew more. Silenced by fancier threats. Lost thrones. Fabricated scandals. His curiosity about Mr Everything burned hotter. If they shared origins maybe together they could hack the system. But greed that could corrupt anyone.
Pushing on he corrected a path glitch leading out of town. Unlocking a map fragment. Distant spires: The capital where the hero built his empire. Elders and officials there. Silent sentinels with keys to the layers.
As a patch rolled in [Update Incoming: Monster Spawn Increased] Ji hoon gripped his multi tool. Humility settled in: In his old life hed commanded fates. Here he was the glitch they feared and needed.
The increased spawns hit hard. Glitchy goblins materialized in the fields. Their models half baked with missing textures and jerky animations. Villagers scattered but a few fought back with pitchforks. Ji hoon dove in. Error Correction: Spawn Overload. He focused on a cluster. Reducing their numbers from ten to three. The remaining ones charged. He swung his tool shifting it to a makeshift blade. SEAL reflexes kicking in dodging a crude swing. A quick jab to a goblins core corrected to critical hit.
One down. But the last goblin glitched duplicating itself mid leap. Ji hoon cursed under his breath. Another memory unlock: Astronaut training zero G maneuvers. He rolled using the momentum to trip the duplicate. Then corrected the duplication error. Both vanished in pixels.
[Correction: Balance Restored. Skill Level Up: Event Tweaks Unlocked. Village Rep +10.]
Panting he helped a fallen villager up. The man an NPC farmer with a name tag reading Generic Laborer #3 nodded thanks. But his eyes held a flicker. Awareness? "You fight like no peasant. The heros buffs dont touch you."
Ji hoon paused. "You know about the hero? Lee Min jun?"
The farmer glanced around. Lowered his voice. "We extras arent supposed to say. But the scripts loose here. Hes in the capital. Greedy as they come. Hoarding artifacts that could fix the glitches for all. If youre hunting answers fixer watch for the high ones. They know but fear the wipe."
Before Ji hoon could press a glitch ripple hit. The farmer reset: "Good harvest this year eh?"
Damn retaliation. Subtle this time. Ji hoon gathered supplies from grateful villagers. A worn cloak. Some bread. A map sketch leading to the next town. His plan forming: Head to the capital. Track the hero. Use corrections to gain allies. Unravel if this was parallel or same world. And maybe humble that greedy bastard along the way.
As he left the village a hazy Draft Viewer activated again. Showing Lee Min jun in a grand hall. Surrounded by adoring followers. Pocketing a glowing orb while an official begged for it back. Slipping into Korean: "This worlds mine now."
Ji hoon smirked. "Well see about that."
The road ahead glitched with foreshadowing text: [Insert Journey Montage Here.] He corrected it to clear path. But deep down he knew the AI wasnt done updating.