I Logged In With A Broken System
Login Failed Successfully
The login screen bled.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
Red streaks crawled down the edges of the visor display like paint dragged by gravity. Kael froze, fingers hovering over the air keyboard.
"That's… new," he muttered.
The game had never done that before.
EPOCH ONLINE GLOBAL RELEASE IN 000007
The most anticipated full dive VRMMO in history. Ten years in development. Neural sync. Pain filters. Adaptive AI. Governments invested. Corporations fought lawsuits to be included.
And Kael had exactly one shot to get in early.
He cracked his neck and ignored the blood glitch effect. Probably viral marketing. Epoch loved creepy countdown theatrics.
Six seconds.
His apartment smelled of stale ramen and electricity. Job rejection emails scrolled on his phone, unpaid bills stacked on the table. Early players could earn real money through asset conversion this launch wasn't entertainment. It was survival.
Five seconds.
The visor sealed. Neural threads tightened behind his eyes like spider silk.
Four. Three.
"Come on…"
Two.
One.
LOGIN
Darkness swallowed him whole.
Then the screaming started.
Not his own. Not human. Thousands of voices overlapping, distorted, like a stadium being dragged through a tunnel.
ERROR SERVER DESYNC
ERROR AUTHORITY KEY MISSING
ERROR SYSTEM CORE CORRUPTED
"That's not in the trailer," Kael muttered.
He tried to pull out. No response. Emergency logout gesture didn't work. Panic command didn't work. Disconnect thought didn't work.
Cold prickle ran down his spine.
A new window opened cracked down the middle like broken glass.
WELCOME, USER
Name file missing
Soul signature accepted
Fallback profile generated
Kael laughed nervously. "You don't even know my name, but you took my soul. Great."
The interface flickered violently then stabilized into a stripped, skeletal UI. No color. No icons. Just text.
You have been assigned a System.
System Status Damaged
Repair Progress 1%
Functionality Unstable
"…Damaged?"
A metallic crack split the air.
The world rendered.
Kael stood in the middle of a ruined city. Modern skyscrapers split open like rotten fruit. Roads folded upward. The sky glowed a sick gray, like a paused thunderstorm.
No NPCs. No players. No music. Only wind and something else. Breathing. Behind him.
He turned slowly.
A creature crouched on the hood of a crushed car too thin, too tall, joints bent the wrong way. Its head split open vertically like a flower of teeth. It smiled.
WARNING AREA LEVEL UNKNOWN
EXPECTED PLAYER LEVEL 1
SURVIVAL PROBABILITY 2.1%
"I just spawned!" Kael shouted.
The monster lunged. Kael dove sideways instinct, not skill. The claws punched through the asphalt where he'd stood.
"Weapon! Inventory! Something!"
Nothing. No menu. No map. Only the cracked System window reappeared.
Broken System Patch Detected
Emergency Compensation Activated
A box materialized in his hands glitching between shapes like a corrupted file.
Starter Reward Replaced
Original Beginner Sword
New ???
"That's… not comforting."
The creature screamed and charged again. Kael threw the box.
It exploded into light. A weapon formed a rusted office stapler.
Kael stared. "…You're kidding me."
The monster screamed and leapt.
Kael swung. CRITICAL HIT.
The creature detonated like a dropped meat balloon. Silence returned.
Broken System Effect Triggered
All Values Randomized
Outcome MAX
A pulse tore through his body heat, pressure, vertigo like reality hiccuped.
You gained 999 in all base stats
Kael sank to his knees. "…I like this system."
Footsteps echoed in the distance. More shapes crawled from cracks and shadows.
Kael picked up a brick and threw it experimentally. It cut through monsters, vehicles, a building corner deleted everything in a straight line.
"…Even better than I imagined."
Then the sky cracked. Not clouds the sky itself splitting like glass. A giant golden eye looked down.
Administrator Override Detected
Illegal System Instance Found
Preparing Erasure
"Erasure?" Kael muttered.
The broken System flickered violently
Countermeasure Available
Warning Irreversible
Kael smirked. "Do it."
You have chosen Hide From God
Everything went black.
Kael woke in a wooden chair. Classroom. Sunlight through tall windows. Chalkboard. Old desks. Students whispering.
One tapped his shoulder. "You okay? You zoned out hard."
Kael looked at his hands. Normal. Human.
"…Did I get kicked?"
Then text burned across his vision invisible to everyone else.
Broken System Active
Location Tutorial World Version 0
Status You are not supposed to be here
At the front of the class, the teacher smiled too many teeth.
WELCOME, PLAYERS TO THE SAFE TUTORIAL
Kael grinned. The broken System whispered
She is lying.
To be continued...