The blue light of the computer screen was the only thing illuminating Kin's dark room. For three days, he hadn't slept. His eyes were bloodshot, fixed on a line of forbidden code he had discovered in an old, dusty memory card labeled "Greed Island – Beta Test."
"They said this game was impossible to enter without a Joystation and the physical cartridge," Kin whispered, a smirk forming on his face. "But they didn't know about the back door."
Kin wasn't just a gamer; he was a completionist. He needed to see everything, find every secret, and collect every item. As he hit the 'Enter' key, the screen didn't show a loading bar. Instead, it turned a deep, abyssal black.
Suddenly, high-pitched static filled the room. The air began to vibrate, and the smell of ozone—like a lightning strike—burned Kin's nose.
[SYSTEM ALERT: UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED.]
[ADAPTING TO HOST SOUL...]
[INITIALIZING TRANSMIGRATION SEQUENCE.]
"What the—?"
Kin didn't have time to scream. A vortex of white light erupted from his monitor, dragging his body forward. It felt like his atoms were being torn apart and reassembled in a heartbeat.
When the light faded, Kin fell face-first onto hard, sun-warmed earth. He groaned, shaking his head, and looked up. The sky wasn't the ceiling of his room; it was a vast, endless blue. Giant trees, unlike anything on Earth, towered hundreds of feet into the air.
He looked at his hands. They were his, but younger, stronger. And strapped to his wrist was a metallic device he recognized instantly.
"The Binder," he gasped.
He touched the screen, and a holographic window flickered to life in front of his eyes. But instead of the standard player menu, a glitchy red text appeared:
[GLITCH ACTIVATED: THE FORBIDDEN COLLECTOR SYSTEM IS NOW LIVE.]
[UNIQUE ABILITY UNLOCKED: "EYE OF THE ARCHIVE" – You can see the hidden stats and drop rates of all cards.]
Kin stood up, a cold, calculated smile on his face. He wasn't just a player anymore. He was the glitch in their perfect game.
"Greed Island," Kin muttered, looking at the distant mountains. "I'm going to take everything you have."