This was the first pause he’d had since the glitch god dumped him into this world.
And maybe… that was okay.
The interface pulsed to life in front of him, a soft hum in the back of his mind. Kai pulled up the full system status—something he’d barely had time to breathe through till now.
[World Node: Glitched Layer 1 - Core Verge Region] [Explorer ID: Kai] [System Sync Rate: 82%] [Level: 24] [EXP Balance: 46,800] [Custom Skill Slots: 4/6] [Craft Tier: Advanced I → Nearing Tier II Unlock]
Active Skills:
- Ashbind Pulse (Fire/Dark Fusion): Area root + burn over time. Strong crowd control.
- Gravity Core Shatter (Earth/Destruction Fusion): Terrain-breaking explosive force. Heavy stagger on larger mobs.
- Echo Drive (Custom): Spawns afterimages that mimic movements and absorb light attacks.
- Firewall Breath (Copied via Mirrorbyte): Cone-shaped firewall that melts defenses.
- Data Purge Beam (Copied): Deletes weak entities with high-precision beam; effective against digital-type mobs.
- Echo Howl (Copied): Sonic shockwave that disorients enemies, breaks stealth, and can chain against mobs.
Passive Abilities:
- Mirrorbyte Protocol (Custom): One skill mimic per battle; permanent learn on defeating opponent.
- Frame Recall: Access memories/data logs of system guardians; reveals hidden paths and boss phases.
- Echoform Glitchwalker (Hybrid Class): System resistance, extra skill crafting boost, mirrorbyte cooldown reduction.
Kai exhaled slowly.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“I’m not just surviving anymore,” he whispered. “I’m adapting. Rewriting.”
That truth was reinforced every time he faced a new glitched monstrosity and walked away not just alive—but upgraded.
The enemies? They weren’t just obstacles. They were tutorials. Blueprints.
That was how the system worked.
And he was becoming better at reading its language.
His thoughts turned to the people he’d met—not many, but some worth remembering.
- The Obsolete Guardian Frame, Null Warden A0, who gave Kai his first look into pre-glitch history.
- The Shrine Architect, a blind-folded code-sculptor who spoke in anti-virus riddles and lit Kai’s path with corrupted fragments.
- The Memory Child, not a fighter, but a mirror—a girl who remembered what this world was before.
They weren’t quest-givers. They were echoes—like him. Lost, searching, maybe hoping.
And he? He was no hero. No chosen one.
Just a world-walker with a broken system and a skill-crafting engine inside his soul.
Checkpoint: Core Verge Cleared
New Objective: Reach the Echo Jungle and locate the Central Sync Tree.
Reward: Stability Beacon Blueprint + EXP Multiplier Unlocked
He glanced up again at the glowing sigil in the sky—the celestial compass that had slowly begun spinning faster ever since he installed Mirrorbyte.
There was a connection.
There had to be.
Somewhere up there, in that broken heaven… the god that brought him here was watching.
Or maybe something else was.
He tapped into the crafting console one more time before descending the mountain. A single idea burned in his mind.
A skill to twist fate even further in his favor.
[Concept Entered: Glitch Stash]
- Effect: Temporarily stores a skill from Kai’s arsenal into a phantom inventory slot; allows mid-battle swap with another saved skill.
- Limits: One stored skill per 5-minute cycle.
[EXP Required: 41,000] [Proceed?]
“Yes.”
[Skill Crafted: Glitch Stash – Installed]
A smirk played across his face.
The game was getting faster. More layered. And he wasn’t about to fall behind.
He turned, cloak rippling with code particles.
“Next stop—Echo Jungle.”
And just like that, Kai began walking again.
END OF CHAPTER 10