An Immoral System Chose Me

Chapter 9: Dungeon Lift: Sleep vs. Shadow Monsters

Satya’s eyes felt like they had been rubbed with the coarsest grade of sandpaper. The caffeine coursing through his veins was no longer providing energy; instead, it was just a constant tremor in his fingertips that made him feel like an old, breaking-down refrigerator. Last night, he had spent hours performing a “Reality Audit”—a fancy term he’d coined to justify his hobby of dumping thousands of office documents into his Inventory to search for hidden source code patterns.

The result? He discovered that the 2022 office stationery procurement report had a data structure identical to a low-level summoning incantation. This world was truly constructed by someone far too lazy to write new code.

“Sat, you look... more wrecked than usual,” Rina remarked as they crossed paths in front of the water dispenser.

Satya only groaned softly, placing his paper cup under the hot water tap. “I just found out that our company’s accounting system is actually an ancient dialect of the programming language used to regulate gravity. No wonder Mr. Bambang’s temper feels so heavy.”

Rina chuckled, but her eyes flashed with genuine concern. “Get some rest, Sat. You’ve become a ‘Glitch’ that’s a bit too active. If you crash, who’s going to help me fight the Moderators?”

“I just want to go home, Rin. Sleep for fourteen hours, and hope that when I wake up, these blue windows have turned into more sensible weight-loss ads,” Satya muttered.

He stepped toward the elevator, intending to head down to the ground floor to find lunch or simply breathe in the Jakarta pollution—which, at the very least, felt more “real” than the AC-filtered office air. He entered the metal box along with three other employees he didn't know—background NPCs busy staring at their phone screens, trapped in a simulation of perfect routine.

The elevator doors closed with a soft chime.

[Ding!]

Satya froze. That sound didn't come from the elevator panel. It was the notification sound that now triggered a post-traumatic stress reflex in his brain.

[Warning: Spacetime Fluctuation Detected!]

[Forced Scenario: Instance Dungeon - 'The Vertical Abyss' (15th Floor - Ground)]

[Description: This elevator is no longer a means of transportation, but a death trap for the unprepared. Face the darkness or be swallowed forever!]

[Objective: Survive until the elevator reaches the ground floor.]

[Special Condition: Time outside the elevator slows down. Time inside the elevator accelerates.]

“Oh, come on! Now?!” Satya growled out loud.

The three employees beside him didn't react. They froze in place, their eyes blank, as if the pause button had just been pressed on their existence. The color inside the elevator slowly faded, turning into a grim shade of gray. The ceiling lights flickered blood-red, and the metal walls began to ooze a thick black liquid that smelled like engine oil and despair.

[System: User 001, prepare yourself! 'Shadow Stalkers' will appear in 3... 2...]

“Alpha, I’m sleepy,” Satya interrupted flatly. “Can we postpone this dungeon until I finish my coffee?”

[System: Dungeons are events triggered automatically by reader ratings that are starting to drop! They’re bored of watching you sort files! They want blood! They want action!]

“If they want action, tell them to watch John Wick,” Satya leaned his back against the elevator wall, which now felt cold and slimy.

From the corners of the ceiling, black shadows began to solidify. They formed faceless humanoid figures with long fingers as sharp as daggers. Their eyes glowed red, pulsing in sync with the static noise filling the room. Five shadow monsters now surrounded Satya in that cramped space.

[Monster: Shadow Stalker (Level 12)]

[Attributes: High Agility, Immune to Normal Physical Attacks.]

[System: Use your Punch of Justice combined with your Glitch Integration! Quick, Satya! If they touch you, they will drain your experience points until you're empty!]

Satya stared at the monsters with a lazy gaze. He saw the lines of code that formed them. These monsters were powered by ‘Aggression’ and ‘Fear.’ The more the target panicked, the stronger and faster their movements became. It was a cliché horror mechanic designed to create artificial tension.

“Alpha,” Satya said with a wide yawn. “Open Inventory.”

[System: Great! Are you going to pull out the Light Sword you defragmented yesterday? Or maybe a printer to throw?]

“No.”

Satya reached into his Inventory and pulled out something unexpected: [Stack of Boring Logistics Files (Rank: Trash)]. He stacked the thick files in the corner of the elevator until they reached knee-height. Then, he pulled out his [Old Denim Jacket] and a roll of carpet samples he had ‘borrowed’ from the interior design room yesterday.

He rolled the carpet out over the dirty elevator floor, used the stack of files as a pillow, and covered himself with the jacket.

[System: ...What are you doing?]

“I’m doing what anyone stuck in a stalled elevator should do: waiting for help while getting some rest,” Satya answered calmly. He positioned himself as comfortably as possible in the corner, closed his eyes, and ignored the five shadow monsters now standing just inches from his nose.

[System: USER! THIS IS A DUNGEON! YOU CANNOT SLEEP IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE!]

“Who said this was a battle? This is an elevator malfunction,” Satya muttered without opening his eyes. “These monsters... they aren't living beings. They are manifestations of ‘Narrative Intensity.’ If I don't provide the intensity, they have no fuel to act. Just watch.”

One of the Shadow Stalkers raised its sharp hand, preparing to pierce Satya’s chest. However, as the hand nearly touched Satya’s shirt, the monster’s movement slowed, then stopped. It looked confused. The target wasn't afraid. The target wasn't fighting back. The target’s heart rate was even slowing down toward a sleep phase.

In the System’s logic, if there is no conflict, there is no action. If there is no action, the attack animation cannot be completed.

The shadow monster just stood there frozen, its hand trembling in the air, trapped in a broken logic loop.

[System: (Alpha’s voice sounds extremely frustrated) You are breaking this Dungeon’s mechanics! Reader ratings are in freefall! They are commenting: ‘What kind of protagonist sleeps while surrounded by monsters? Just delete the story!’]

“Let them be angry,” Satya whispered. “I’m tired of being a slave to their entertainment. If they want action, tell the Author to make a new character who’s stupider than me. I just want ten minutes of sleep while this lift goes down.”

[System: If you do not complete this Dungeon the right way, this elevator will never open! You will be trapped here forever in a state of ‘Stasis’!]

“Oh yeah?” Satya opened one eye, staring at Alpha through the system window. “Alpha, you forgot one thing. I have 7.0% Glitch Integration. And I know this elevator isn't stuck because of magic. It’s stuck because you’re holding the ‘Event: Door Open’ in your command queue.”

Satya moved his hand covertly under the jacket, using the Quick Hands skill combined with a bit of Glitch energy. He didn't attack the monsters. He attacked the elevator control panel hidden behind the virtual wall.

He “touched” the line of code that read: IF (DUNGEON_CLEARED == FALSE) { LIFT_DOOR = LOCKED }.

“Delete,” Satya murmured.

[System: DON’T—!]

BZZZZT!

Purple sparks erupted from the elevator panel. The lines of code shattered into small fragments, which were then absorbed into Satya’s Inventory as ‘Trash Data.’

Suddenly, the shadow monsters inside the elevator began to flicker unstably. Their bodies cracked, revealing leaking lines of binary code. They let out a painful screeching sound before finally exploding into harmless shards of black light.

[Dungeon: 'The Vertical Abyss' has been illegally destroyed.]

[Evaluation: Error 404 - Narrative Context Not Found.]

[Reward: None (Cancelled by Moderator).]

[Penalty: Reader Rating dropped to 1.2/5.0.]

Satya didn't care. He closed his eyes again, enjoying the silence that returned after the monsters vanished. The three NPC employees beside him began to move again, as if nothing had ever happened. They only complained because the elevator felt a bit shaky.

“Oh, the elevator’s moving again, huh?” one of the employees said, returning to their phone.

The elevator stopped at the ground floor with a sweet chime. The doors opened.

Satya stood up lazily, putting the carpet and the stack of files back into his Inventory in one swift motion. He walked out of the elevator, leaving the NPCs staring at him in confusion as he exited while rubbing his eyes and carrying a crumpled jacket.

[System: You’ve really gone too far, Satya. The Moderators are holding an emergency meeting right now because you just destroyed one of the most important ‘Events’ in this volume without breaking a single sweat.]

“Good. Tell them to send snacks to the meeting,” Satya replied as he walked toward the building’s exit.

However, as he reached the lobby, he saw Rina standing there, waiting for him with a pale face. Beside Rina stood a tall man wearing a very neat black suit, sunglasses, and holding a walking cane with a silver crow-shaped head.

The man radiated an aura so powerful that people in the lobby unconsciously walked away from him, creating an empty circle around him.

[System: Warning! High-Level Entity Detected!]

[Identity: The Critic (Messenger of the Author)]

[Status: Severely Disappointed.]

Satya stopped walking. His sleepiness vanished instantly, replaced by sharp alertness. He could see the lines of code around the man were no longer blue or purple, but a very solid, pure gold.

“Satya,” the man spoke without moving his lips. His voice echoed directly inside Satya’s skull. “This story was supposed to be an urban fantasy epic full of struggle and sacrifice. But you... you’ve turned it into a lazy satirical comedy.”

Satya put his hands in his jacket pockets, gripping the untitled black book. “This world might be a story to you, but this is my life. And I have the right to be lazy in my own life.”

“Your life exists because people are reading,” The Critic said, stepping forward. His cane tapped the marble floor, and each tap made the reality around them tremble. “If readers stop reading because the protagonist prefers sleeping over fighting, then this world has no reason to exist. I am here to provide an ‘Incentive’ to get you back on the right track.”

The man raised his cane, pointing it toward Rina. “If you cannot provide action, then I will provide tragedy. That always works to boost ratings.”

Suddenly, a circle of golden light appeared beneath Rina’s feet. The girl gasped, trying to jump out, but her body was as if pinned to the floor.

“Satya!” Rina screamed.

[System: Satya! This is a ‘Scripted Death Event’! The Moderator wants to kill Rina to force you into ‘Berserk’ or ‘Awakening’ mode!]

Satya’s eyes flashed a bright purple. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. This was what he hated about trashy stories: killing off side characters just to give the protagonist “character development.”

“Alpha,” Satya’s voice was low and dangerous.

[System: Yes, User?]

“What percentage of Glitch Integration do I need to delete this guy?”

[System: He is a direct representation of the Author’s authority. You need at least 50% to fight him fairly. Currently, you only have 7.0%. You will not win.]

“I don't need to win fairly,” Satya pulled out the broken printer from his Inventory—the one he had fixed with game logic yesterday. “I just need to break the script.”

Satya didn't attack The Critic. Instead, he threw the printer toward the golden circle of light beneath Rina. Just before the printer touched the light, Satya activated the Quick Hands skill and triggered a ‘Forced Defragmentation’ on the printer right over the circle’s coordinates.

BOOM!

An explosion of raw data occurred. The printer didn't shatter into plastic shards; instead, it turned into thousands of lines of error code that crashed into the logic of the golden circle. The light flickered, trying to process the ‘Broken Printer’ data that had suddenly entered the ‘Rina’s Death’ script.

[ERROR: INVALID ASSET IN SCRIPTED EVENT!]

[CONFLICT DETECTED: PRINTER_LASER_JET IS NOT A SACRIFICIAL ELEMENT.]

The Critic was stunned. “What have you done?! You ruined this scene with... office trash?!”

“It’s not trash, it’s a ‘Bureaucratic Intervention’,” Satya ran forward, pulling Rina out of the circle which was now glitching severely.

Satya stood in front of Rina, staring at The Critic with the most cynical smile he had ever made. “Listen, old man. You want tragedy? You want action? I’ll give you something much better. I’ll give you a ‘Hiatus’.”

Satya opened the untitled black book wide. He bit the tip of his finger until it bled and smeared it on the book’s pages, triggering the Glitch power stored within.

“Alpha, use all my system points to trigger a fake ‘Server Maintenance’ on this area!”

[System: That will use up all your savings! You’ll be point-poor again!]

“Just do it! While I still have plenty of logistics files to sell later!”

[System: Activating Protocol: ‘Technical Break’!]

Suddenly, a giant system window appeared in the office lobby sky, blocking everyone’s view, including The Critic’s.

[NOTICE: SERVER IS UNDERGOING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE. ALL NARRATIVE ACTIVITIES ARE SUSPENDED FOR 10 MINUTES. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.]

The world around them froze. The Critic was trapped in a pose with his cane raised, his face showing anger frozen mid-expression. Rina also froze, but Satya, thanks to his Glitch Integration, could still move.

“Come on, Rin,” Satya pulled Rina’s stiff hand, dragging her toward the exit, which fortunately wasn't locked by the system during the ‘Maintenance’ period.

They managed to get out of the office building, running toward the crowd of people on the sidewalk who were unaffected by the glitch inside the lobby. Satya kept running until they reached a quiet little alleyway.

The maintenance ended. The world began to move again.

Satya collapsed, leaning against the cold wall. His breath was ragged. His system points now showed the number: 0.

[System: You are truly insane, Satya. You just drove away the Author’s messenger with a fake ‘Maintenance’ notice. Our rating now... wow, strange. The rating actually jumped to 4.2/5.0.]

“Why?” Satya asked, still panting.

[System: Reader Comment: ‘Insane! The protagonist hacked the system to get time to escape! Now that’s what I call smart! 5 stars!’]

Satya laughed bitterly, staring at the cloudy Jakarta sky. “Turns out they like seeing me cheat, huh?”

Rina, who could finally breathe a sigh of relief, looked at Satya with both admiration and horror. “Sat... you just saved my life with a printer?”

“Well, at least that printer was useful for something other than paper jams,” Satya wiped the sweat from his forehead. “But we’re in big trouble, Rin. The Critic won't stay quiet. He’ll be back with a stronger script.”

“In that case,” Rina gripped Satya’s hand. “We have to find a way to write our own script before he returns.”

Satya looked at Rina, then at his palm. His Glitch Integration bar was now blinking with a new number.

[Glitch Integration: 12.5%]

“Alpha,” Satya called out.

[System: Yes, User?]

“Open the ‘TRASH’ folder now. I know you can do it because your system is unstable after that ‘Maintenance’ earlier.”

The System was silent for a moment, then a clicking sound echoed in Satya’s head. A black window appeared, displaying rows of corrupted and fragmented files.

At the very top, there was a file titled: [PROJECT_REBELLION_LOG_001.txt].

Satya opened it, and his eyes widened at the first line of text there:

“If you’re reading this, it means I’ve successfully slept in the elevator. Good, Satya. You’re starting to understand that the best way to fight the system is by not playing by its rules. Now, go to Grandpa Jaka. He is an NPC who knows how to delete the Author.”

Satya closed his system window. “Grandpa Jaka... that coffee seller on the side of the road?”

“What is it, Sat?” Rina asked.

“Plan change,” Satya stood up straight, his eyes flashing with determination. “We aren't running anymore. We’re going to find the real weapon.”

In the distance, The Critic stood in the empty office lobby, staring at the exit with cold fury. But above his head, a small notification appeared:

[Warning: Protagonist is starting to write his own plot. Danger Level: SSS.]

Satya walked out of the alley, ready to face the next chapter not as a character, but as a threat to those who dared to write his life.

[USER_001_PAST_DATA.log - Updated]

STATUS: AWAKENING - THE GLITCH ARCHITECT.

GLITCH INTEGRATION: 12.5%

NOTE: USER HAS FOUND A MESSAGE FROM ‘PAST SELF.’ ALPHA’S CONTROL IS WEAKENING.

EVALUATION: ‘REAL WORLD’ SCENARIO IS INCREASINGLY BROKEN. PREPARING ENCOUNTER WITH ‘THE ANCIENT NPC.’

In another dimension, a reader typed: “Holy crap, what a plot twist! Satya planned this from a previous timeline? Keep it coming, author!”

Satya didn't hear that, but he felt a strange sense of satisfaction. The narrative war had just begun, and he had just won the first round with a nap.