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3.11% This is a Beta Test?! - A Literally Broken System / Chapter 3: 1.3 Open the Game?

Chapter 3: 1.3 Open the Game?

Right... Chill, me... Calm down... I can piece this vague hackneyed prompts together in the same way I did with Western RPGs.... Like I said earlier, this has got to be some kind of anti-'broken power' tech that the devs put in to avoid players from breaking the game. Did it work in the sense of a filter or something? Or was the game capable of looking at the potential of every power that the player might have?

"Okay, let's try this..." I whispered out as I typed in another power set that I at least wanted to get. "I'll be pissed if this won't work."

Something mundane and simple; a pool cue with the ability to control small objects like it was in a pool table. Kind of stupid if one would think about it, but it was so ridiculously niche that it was practically useless unless I got creative. Not that I knew how to even play pool at a competent level, but I was at least good enough for-

*ERROR! NO THEME DETECTED!*

"What the hell!"

How in the world did that not have a theme?! It was all about pool and billiards! Hell, even the powerset was made to resemble a pool table! Why in the world did it not register?!

"Am I missing something here?! Why is there no tutorial here anyway?!"

The floating prompt above the book mocked me in its vagueness as it blared the error straight to my face. Why did it have to be such a glaring piece of crap when it couldn't even tell me why it was giving me an error prompt?! And why was it even giving off an error prompt instead of something more standard? Wouldn't it make better sense for the devs to just input something clearer as to why it's giving off the error in the first place?

"Something's wrong here...."

I shook my head in frustration as my brain ran on its own. The rationale of this whole situation was looking to be getting even more sketchier by the minute. Not that I even knew how much time had passed since I found myself in this empty space, but I can at least guess that I've wasted more than enough time for me to be comfortable with.

I was, for all intents and purposes, stuck in the character creation screen.

Now, despite looking for anything that might even give me a clue as to how to proceed, it was apparent as all hell that the book was the only thing that could even get me out of this place.

"Unfortunately, it's pretty clear that it's busted to kingdom come..."

The lack of the voice speaking was also pretty unnerving, as well as the lack of a basic ambiance as opposed to the blankness that was the white space. It felt... empty, incomplete.... Wait....

Was this game just... broken?

"Oh my- WHAT THE HELL!"

It made sense... It made so much damn sense! The error prompts, the earlier glitching effect, even the lack of a proper user interface would be easily explained away by the fact that the game was far from ready to be released. But then...

"Why release a broken game?!"

Why even make it available for download?! The devs didn't even make it an 'early access' game, let alone an actual beta! Did they really think that people would like to play such an incomplete mess that you can't even get past the character creation screen?! That was just stupid coming from an indie dev!

"And now what?! I'm stuck in this place forever?!"

How in the world was I going to get out of here then?! If I knew that getting transported to a game world meant that the programming aspect of the game was also going to affect me, I would've rather get plopped into a world with a horrible setting. At least I'd have a fighting chance as opposed to getting actually soft-locked before the opening sequence!

*U-uhm... Hello?*

And here I thought I got a real break from the monotony of life and the grind. Everybody said that doing something you liked meant that you wouldn't work a day in your life, but that was far from the case if you're a minimum wage slave. Then again, what else did I expect from a life that constantly screwed over the poor guys while keeping those in power perpetually in power? Why did I ever think that some sort of mystical power would suddenly choose me of all people to get a chance at getting into a fantastical world where I could make an actual difference for once?

*C-can you hear me?*

It really didn't make a lick of sense, doesn't it? A boat-ton of stories and web novels constantly boasted of game worlds and broken systems that would give their heroes the power to be the most powerful thing in the setting. And here I was, expecting the exact same thing to happen to me? Wishful thinking at best, right? Heh... What a joke.

*Uhh... Sir!*

"What the hell?!"

My ass unabashedly jumped at the sudden intrusion of the voice coming from above. It sounded the same as last time the voice talked to me, only... more human somehow?

*Oh! You can hear me! Thank God...* the female voice audibly sighed, causing a bit of reverb around me as her panicked breaths eased for a moment. *Look, I'm so sorry about all of this! I'm working to fix the issues right now.*

Wait... huh?! "Hold up! Who are you?!"

It was clear that this girl was the one that lent her voice for this game. She sounded a lot more timid than the earlier grandiose introduction back when I had yet to enter my name in. Was she a part of the dev team? Wait... How the hell would that even make any sense if I was inside their game?!

*I'm... ahhh...* the metaphorical voice of god trailed off as the clacking of a keyboard filtered through the background. It honestly sounded like she was in front of an actual computer. *I guess you can call me Guidance.*

"Guidance?" I asked incredulously as I stood beside the podium. "As in, the devs that made this game?"

*I- err... I'm... uhh... making this game solo,* the newly dubbed Guidance nervously admitted. *It's my first project...*

My knees buckled at such a declaration.

Oh dear me... So this chick was a solo dev for a game with a scope so massive that I honestly thought they had a large team to make it? Seriously? I would've been impressed if the game worked as intended.

{BZZT!!}

"Oh hell..."

A brief round of static assaulted my view for a split second again; the world possibly changing around me again as I recognized the action that had happened earlier. The last time this happened, I was finally able to enter my name into the system. So I guess this will fix the current issue?

*There,* the voice sighed as if in relief. *You should be able to enter a [Manifest] now.*

I raised an eyebrow at Guidance's claim, "So it won't deny anything I put into it then?"

*Yep,* the woman replied. *Or, at least, it should be...*

....It should be, huh. "Let's check then."

Turning back to the podium, I entered my earlier idea of two guns that never ran out of ammunition with a new drawback wherein each bullet required a small percentage of my blood to fire. It wasn't completely broken that it would break the game, but at the same time, it would give me some semblance of safety from most of the possible encounters.

*Apologies, Somatic. Please input a compatible [Manifest]*

...

...

Huh? Was this thing actually kidding me?

The voice was back to the usual monotone flair as Guidance's voice droned out the new error prompt floating in front of me. It didn't look as shoddy as the earlier error prompt, but it still barred me from continuing the game!

"Come on!"

I screamed out my frustrations, cause of course that was gonna happen when dealing with a broken game that wouldn't even let me play it!

*W-What?! I-is there something wrong?!*

The solo dev's voice returned to echo around me once more. I guess she heard my outburst considering the abject fear coloring her tone. I'm really starting to think that the game was going to be a broken mess even if I managed to get in. Then again, what was I supposed to do when that was the only choice I seemingly had at the moment?

"The damn thing rejected my [Manifest]" I forcefully toned my voice down, knowing from experience that screaming wouldn't do crap in the current situation. "I guess I'm going to be stuck here for a sec, huh..."

*I-I'm sorry! I'm doing my best!*

My fists curled as I struggled to contain the anger I was feeling. It really wouldn't do to be mad now, especially if the only person that could possibly solve my situation was already doing her best. Not that I doubted her ability to code if this was the current state of the game, but I sincerely hoped that I got out of here sooner rather than later.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
ChellyArks ChellyArks

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!

Creation is hard, cheer me up!

Chapter 4: 1.4 Open the Game?

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into what felt like hours. The only thing keeping me from going insane was the assurance that the clackity sounds that Guidance's keyboard was giving me. I still didn't get how this whole situation was even possible, but details like that were pretty much a moot point when the situation itself was 'I'm trapped in an actual video game.' I sincerely hoped that the solo dev was at least able to get me into the game world. Whatever it was out there outside, I'd take it any day over the blank nothingness of this white void.

Hell, I'd even take just getting me back to the real world if the game was as incomplete as a patchwork of broken tiles.

{BZZT!!}

The world erupted into the familiar void of static. As opposed to the first two times it happened, this one felt significantly weaker. Heh, I guess I'm getting some sort of immunity from the glitch effect. Also, it probably meant that Guidance changed the world again.

*I-I think I got it.*

Yep. That was a confirmation.

I raised an eyebrow at Guidance's return. I could hear the tiredness in her tone, but frankly, I didn't care so long as I could get out of here, "About time, yeah?"

*Y-yeah...* the woman stuttered. *The program should work now. If not...*

The dev trailing off in her own sentence was giving me a foreboding vibe, "If not, what?"

*W-well... Just please check if it works first,* Guidance meekly requested. 'Practically asked' if I was really dissecting her tone. *Let's just cross that bridge if it happens, right?*

That did not give me any confidence whatsoever, "Riiight..."

Standing back up and staring at the book, the thing had no significant changes to it. I guess the fixes were more on the system-side as opposed to the aesthetic type. Either way, so long as it worked, I was fine with whatever the hell it looked like.

"Let's give it a shot."

Typing in my old idea, the concept of a gun that'll never run out of bullets was always a safe bet. Even if the enemy was a massive monster, there was nothing a decent gun couldn't chip out one bullet at a time. Pressing the enter key, I waited as the book seemed to turn to the next page.

...

...

Okay? Nothing was happening so far, at least. The book was still blank, however, but this was progress.

A few seconds later, the book seemed to glow as it slowly drifted away from the podium, the hard-bound pages fluttering madly against the non-existent wind. I guess this was some kind of event then, maybe to give me my [Manifest] after some sort of fanfare?

...

.....

....

Uhh....

It's been a few minutes now, possibly bordering on ten minutes since the whole 'glowing book' thing started. If I had to hazard a guess, this was the world trying to load in my [Manifest]? I kind of understand the wait though. I mean, if the system was supposed to generate any kind of powerset for the player to use, the programming chops required, as well as the processing load of such an action was probably more than even my old busted PC could even handle. And if this world was still operating on those kinds of rules... Oh no...

Was this world operating under my PC's specs?

*So, uhh... Moriya, right?*

Guidance's voice seemed to come from behind me as I heard the woman ask my name. Not that it was my real name, but it might as well be if this was a new world. "Yeah?"

*I- err... I wanna thank you for giving my game a chance,* the woman meekly thanked me, her tone sounding far too cute for some reason. *I never thought that anybody would even try to download something from an unknown dev like me.*

I scoffed, "Well, the premise was pretty cool, I guess. And not that I had anything else to play at the time, so here I am."

An awkward laugh echoed from around me, *I-it's cool? I honestly thought it was pretty cringe...*

Cringe? Yikes. From the word choice alone, I could already tell that she was pretty young; probably even around my age. Or maybe she was just young at heart? Who knows... Also, why am I even thinking about this?

"Cringe, huh," I chuckled. "It was still more ambitious than most games."

*Yeah...*

The sound of the floating book settled against the silence as Guidance and I stopped the banter. It was getting kind of awkward now. The whole place was just glowing blue with the way the book was emitting its glow.

...This was taking too long now.

"Is it supposed to be like this?" I asked into the ether. "It's been like, what? Almost thirty minutes now?"

...

...

*O-Oh? Did you say something?*

I raised an eyebrow at her response. She sounded tired. Then again, coding was supposed to be hard. I guess she was working hard trying to at least make me enter the game world. I appreciate the effort then.

"This is kinda taking too long," I scratched the back of my head. "I mean, I can only assume that it's still loading?"

The ambient noise was briefly broken by a loud thud coming from the world around me. Pretty sure it wasn't from the book, so that was probably from Guidance's side?

"You okay there?"

*I-I'm fine!* the shy woman practically screamed all around me. A few more thuds then echoed in my ears, before the familiar sound of keyboard clacking returning to the forefront once more. *Let's see.... Okay, last time I tested that feature out, it loaded after about.... forty minutes of waiting?*

What?! Forty minutes?! Forty long minutes?!

*The program I used for it was kind of finicky, so it really makes any kind of rig chug despite being top of the line,* Guidance smoothly explained. *Still, I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to take this long...*

"Then I suppose I'll just have to wait it out?"

*W-well, yes... Sorry about that...*

And just like that, the nervous, stuttering girl was back; far from the professional sounding woman that just spouted the technical jargon just a few seconds ago. I suppose we have our own specialties then. Either way, so long as I can get out of this place, then it's all the same to me.

Still, if I'm going to be stuck here waiting for at least thirty minutes more, I might as well try and kill for time. And what better way to do so than to field some questions to miss Guidance?

Let's start with something simple...

"Say, how are you even talking to me?"

As much as I'd like to not question my current existence, there was only so much my brain could take before it got too curious. If I was in this weird game-like world, then was I just a line of code now? Or was I actually a being of flesh and blood with Guidance having the reigns to manipulate the world as she saw fit? Just the method of her trying to talk to me would probably give some insight to this. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too earth shattering.

*Well, u-uhmm... It's... kind of hard to explain?* the woman stuttered out questioningly. *It's like... I'm talking to you in my head....*

Talking to me in her head? "As in telepathy?"

Guidance hummed through the air in thought, *I-I guess? I'm pretty sure I'm not moving my mouth here... And I'm not typing out my thoughts while coding... S-so yeah...*

Hoo boy... So she was talking to me straight with her thoughts, which would mean that she had... complete control over me? Wait...

"You're coding the game, so you're in front of a computer right now?"

Her voice sounded tired and clearly annoyed, *Yeah? How else would I be working to get you out of there?*

The edge in her tone was different again, far from the stutter that it used to hold. I guess I struck a nerve. Still...

"Can you see me?"

This would be the clincher. If I was truly a character stuck in a game, the philosophical debate regarding the state of my being would become the least of my concerns. Not to mention, I'd have my privacy completely obliterated if this Guidance chick was able to look at me twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.

*Of course. Why wouldn't I be?* the stern persona replied again. *If I couldn't, how else would I be able to help you get out?*

"Figures," I scoffed. Well, that's masturbating completely thrown out the window. "You wouldn't be much of a dev if you can even see your game world, wouldn't it."

The constant clattering of keys stopped for a brief second before continuing on again. Guidance's shy persona was back in full swing, *Y-yeah... I-it's not like I haven't been doing this for a few years now...*

Huh...

...

...

That was pretty awkward. Good job, me, for making a girl uncomfortable like usual. It's like an actual superpower at this point! And most of your friends are girls too! How in the world did that make sense?!

*The Journey to Completion begins with the First Step, Somatic*

Woah! The in-game narrator hijacked the comms again. I guess the damn thing finished loading?

*Take your [Manifest] and go forth on your adventure*

Guidance's recorded voice ended as the book finally floated back down to the podium. With a flash of light, the small object coalesced into a shape that was familiar to me; two pistols of contrasting colors. Black and white. [Blanc and Noire].

*May your Journey be safe, Somatic*

Taking the guns from the podium, a rush of energy shot through my arms as it diffused throughout my entire body. I felt my blood move towards the base of my guns, feeding the new weapons with the ammunition that they needed to function.

"Nifty..."

Doing a few poses to get a feel for them, I couldn't help but grin as the prospect of an adventure still succeeded in making me all giddy inside. What was I going to see? Would I be fighting some kind of big bad? Would I even make some friends along the way?

Who knows? But I'll be happy to figure it out!

...

....

........

As soon as the world loads in, I guess.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
ChellyArks ChellyArks

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!

Creation is hard, cheer me up!

***

And that's the intro

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