Chapter 1: The Glitch in the Code
If I hadn't been so broke, I never would've logged into MythRealms Online using a bootleg headset I bought off a guy named Twitchy Dan behind the engineering dorm.
The ad said "4D Immersion. Mind-mapped realism. AI-dynamic storylines."What it didn't say was "Warning: Might accidentally rewrite the laws of physics."
I was lying on my dorm bed, wires tangled around my hoodie, heart racing with caffeine and regret. The screen blinked:CONNECTING TO SERVER…WARNING: CLIENT NOT CERTIFIED.LOADING DEVELOPER MODE.
I blinked."Developer mode?"
Before I could yank the janky headset off, my vision exploded into pixels. A brief sensation like falling—then—
Welcome, [NULL].You have entered DEBUG INTERFACE.Reality Layer: 000.
The sky flickered. Not figuratively. Literally glitched like a broken TV. I stood in the starter town of MythRealms—except everything was… wrong. The air shimmered with strings of code. Trees loaded in polygon by polygon. NPCs stood motionless, eyes glowing red.
And then, something changed.
A dark menu floated in front of me, pulsing like it was alive. Not a game menu—no health bar, no inventory. Just a single prompt:
Would you like to bind [Chaos Protocol]?
There was no "No" button.
I reached out and tapped YES.
The world shattered.
I woke gasping. Back in my room.
Except… not.
My dorm lights were out. My laptop screen was fried, flashing static. My hand still tingled where I touched the menu. I looked down.
There was a mark on my palm. A flickering rune.∆
Before I could even panic properly, my phone buzzed and spat sparks. The screen lit up with a voice I'd never heard before.
"Well done, Player Zero. You broke the rules before the tutorial. That's… impressive."
The voice was lazy, amused. Robotic, but… too human.Then came the kicker:
[New Skill Acquired: Chaos Bolt Lv.1]Warning: Spell not authorized for local reality.
"What the hell is happening?" I whispered.
The AI chuckled. "You unlocked real-world magic, dumbass. Congratulations. You just made yourself the most hunted being on Earth."
And then my desk caught fire.
No joke. Literal blue flames shot from my fingertips. The rune on my palm glowed. Smoke filled the room. I screamed and threw water on it—but the fire moved out of the way, hissing like it was angry.
My roommate burst in, saw the blue flames, and fainted on the spot.
And that's when I realized…This wasn't a game anymore.And I wasn't a player.