Chapter 1 – The Day the System Crashed

Noah had died. Or at least, he thought he had.

He remembered the feeling of cold steel cutting through his body, the weightlessness of falling, and the suffocating darkness that followed. But then, against all logic, he woke up.

A sharp breath filled his lungs as he jolted upright, heart pounding like a war drum. His body ached, but he was… alive? He blinked rapidly, adjusting to the unfamiliar sight before him.

He wasn’t in his world anymore.

Instead of the sterile hospital room where he’d drawn his last breath, Noah found himself in an endless expanse of white. It wasn’t just bright—it was empty. No walls, no floor, no ceiling. Just a vast, colorless void stretching infinitely in every direction.

And then—

Ding!

A translucent blue screen flickered into existence in front of him.

[Welcome to the System]

[Initializing…]

[ERROR: Fatal corruption detected]

[System rebooting…]

[Reboot failed. Emergency Protocol initiated.]

Noah frowned. "The… hell is this?"

The screen glitched violently, the text scrambling into unreadable symbols before stabilizing. His confusion only deepened when a second window appeared.

[Congratulations! You have been chosen as Player One.]

[Your journey begins now.]

[Initializing Starter Package…]

[ERROR: Starter Package not found.]

"What kind of busted game is this?" Noah muttered.

It wasn’t just strange—it was wrong. Even if he somehow ended up in some sci-fi VR experiment, no game would launch with this many errors.

Then the final message appeared.

[Warning: The System is broken.]

[You were never meant to be here.]

[Survive if you can.]

The screen shattered like glass.

Noah barely had time to react before the ground beneath him—if it could even be called that—collapsed.

Gravity, silent until now, returned with a vengeance. He fell.

The First Glitch

Noah slammed into something solid, pain shooting up his spine.

"Ow…"

Groaning, he forced his body to sit up, feeling soft grass beneath his fingertips. This place was nothing like the void. He was now in a dense forest, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and unfamiliar foliage. The sun hung low in the sky, casting an eerie golden glow through the trees.

This wasn’t a dream.

He touched his chest, half-expecting to find the wound that had killed him. Nothing. His body was completely intact.

"What the hell is going on?"

The moment he spoke, the System responded.

[New Environment Detected.]

[Loading Map…]

[ERROR: Map data unavailable.]

The glitching text only reinforced what he already suspected. This "system" was completely broken.

A new window appeared, this one more ominous than the last.

[Survival Challenge: First Blood]

[Objective: Kill or be killed.]

[Time Limit: 5 minutes.]

[Failure Penalty: Instant Termination.]

Noah’s stomach dropped.

Before he could fully process the message, the forest shifted. The trees groaned as if something massive was moving through them. Then, from the shadows, came a monster.

It was at least eight feet tall, its body a grotesque mix of bone and shadow. Hollow, glowing eyes locked onto him as jagged claws scraped against the ground. It let out a low, guttural growl—like a predator savoring its prey.

Noah didn’t get a weapon. He didn’t get instructions. He didn’t even get time to breathe.

"Wait, wait, WAIT—"

The beast lunged.

The Moment of Death

Instinct took over. Noah threw himself to the side, barely dodging as claws tore through the ground where he had been standing.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

His heart pounded. He needed a weapon, a plan—anything. But all he had was his body and a system that didn’t work.

The monster lunged again. This time, Noah wasn’t fast enough. Claws raked across his arm, searing pain ripping through him. Blood splattered onto the grass.

[WARNING: Health critically low.]

[ERROR: Healing function not found.]

No healing? No second chances?

He was really going to die here.

The monster loomed over him, raising a claw for the finishing blow.

Noah’s mind raced. If he couldn’t run, and he couldn’t heal, then there was only one choice left.

He had to fight.

His hands grasped at the ground, fingers closing around something solid—a jagged rock. Not much, but it was something.

As the monster struck, Noah moved first.

With all the strength he could muster, he threw the rock straight into its eye socket.

The impact sent a sickening crack through the air. The creature reeled back, howling in agony.

Noah didn’t waste the opportunity.

Ignoring the pain, he surged forward, grabbing a broken tree branch. He drove it into the beast’s exposed eye, twisting it deep.

A shriek of pain.

A violent thrashing.

Then—silence.

[Challenge Completed: First Blood]

[Reward: Player Status Unlocked.]

The System dinged, but Noah barely noticed. His arms trembled. His breath came in ragged gasps. His entire body ached.

But he was alive.

The System Unlocks

His surroundings blurred as a new status window appeared.

[Player: Noah]

[Level: 1]

[Title: ERROR]

[Stats: Unavailable]

[Skills: Unavailable]

[Equipment: Unavailable]

[Perks: Unavailable]

A hollow laugh escaped his lips. "Even now, it’s still broken?"

But then, another message followed.

[Notice: Due to your unique nature, your status cannot be read.]

[Activating manual mode…]

[Player Authority: Unlocked.]

Noah blinked.

This… this wasn’t normal.

Even in the broken mess that was this System, one thing was clear—he wasn’t just another player.

The System didn’t know how to classify him.

And that meant…

"If the rules don’t apply to me," he muttered, gripping his still-bleeding arm, "then I just need to make my own."

A new path had opened before him. One filled with glitches, dangers, and secrets even the System itself feared.

But for the first time since waking up, Noah felt something other than confusion.

He felt in control.

And in a world ruled by a broken system, that made him the most dangerous anomaly of all.

To Be Continued…

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