2026-02-19 20:21:44THE GLITCH
Jack's point of View No one spoke as I walked through the gate. The wood creaked behind me when it closed. The village didn’t look like much up close. Rough wooden houses. Stone paths. Smoke rising from chimneys. A few lanterns hanging from posts even though the sky never changed. It should’ve felt safe. It didn’t. Every step I took, I could feel eyes on me. Not mocking anymore. Watching. The red-haired player walked a few steps behind me. Not close enough to touch. Close enough to stop me if I tried something. His voice cut through the silence. “Check him.” Two players stepped forward immediately. One was Level 14. The other Level 11. They focused on me. Their eyes shifted slightly the way players do when reading status windows. The Level 14 frowned. “…That’s weird.” “What?” someone asked. “I can see his name. Player Zero. But the level isn’t stable.” The Level 11 squinted. “It keeps flickering.” My chest tightened. Above me, I saw it too. PLAYER ZERO For a split second— PLAYER ZERO – LEVEL ? Then back to nothing. The red-haired guy stepped closer. “Open your status,” he said. “I don’t know how to show it to you,” I replied honestly. That earned a few quiet laughs. He looked annoyed. “You don’t know how to share stats?” I shook my head. Silence again. He studied me carefully now. Not like prey. Like a problem. “Fine,” he muttered. “System read.” He reached out and activated something. A faint blue light scanned over me from head to toe. It felt cold. For a second, nothing happened. Then— The light flickered. The air made a strange cracking sound, like glass under pressure. The red-haired player pulled his hand back. “…What?” The players around us stepped back slightly. “What did it show?” someone asked. He didn’t answer right away. His jaw tightened. “It failed.” A small ripple went through the crowd. “Failed?” “That’s not possible.” “System reads never fail.” I swallowed. Inside my vision, something blinked. Small. Barely noticeable. WARNING: SYSTEM SYNC FAILURE PLAYER ZERO NOT REGISTERED TO MAIN SERVER My breathing slowed. Main server? What does that mean? The message faded quickly, like it wasn’t meant to stay. The red-haired guy tried again. Another scan. Another flicker. Then the same crackling distortion in the air. “It’s not connecting,” he said quietly. Now people looked uneasy. A woman near the well took a step back. “That’s not normal…” I looked down at my hands. They looked normal. I felt normal. Weak. Tired. Hungry. But normal. If I wasn’t registered… Then what was I? A voice spoke from behind the crowd. “Move.” It wasn’t loud. But everyone moved. A tall player stepped forward slowly. Above his head: PLAYER – LEVEL 24 He wasn’t bulky like the red-haired guy. He wasn’t loud either. His armor was darker, worn but clean. His expression calm. He looked at me carefully. Not mocking. Not irritated. Just focused. “Do it again,” he told the red-haired player. The red-haired guy frowned. “It’s glitching.” “Do it again.” He did. Same result. The scan shimmered over me— Then broke apart like static. The Level 24 player watched closely. His eyes didn’t leave my face. After a moment, he spoke quietly. “It’s not that he’s hiding stats.” The village held its breath. “It’s that the system can’t place him.” A heavier silence fell. The red-haired guy crossed his arms. “So what? A bug?” The Level 24 didn’t answer immediately. He kept looking at me. Then he asked me directly. “When did you spawn?” “Recently,” I said. “From a drop point?” “Yes.” He nodded slowly. “And you’ve only killed one creature.” My heart skipped. “How do you know that?” He didn’t smile. “Because if you had killed more, the system would have forced registration.” Forced registration. The red-haired player scoffed. “You’re saying he’s not synced?” The Level 24 finally looked at him. “I’m saying,” he replied calmly, “he’s inside the world… but not attached to it.” The words sat heavy in the air. Inside. But not attached. A few players shifted uncomfortably. One muttered, “Is that even possible?” The red-haired guy looked back at me. “…That’s why your HP froze.” So they noticed that too. I didn’t speak. Because I didn’t understand any of this. The Level 24 stepped back slightly. “He’s not a threat right now,” he said. “If he was, the system would react differently.” “Or it can’t,” someone whispered. He ignored that. “Let him stay,” the Level 24 continued. “But watch him.” Not protect. Not trust. Watch. The red-haired guy held my gaze for a long moment. Then he turned away. “Fine,” he said. “But if this ‘glitch’ causes trouble, he’s out.” Out probably meant dead. The crowd slowly began to break apart. But the atmosphere had changed. People gave me space. No one laughed now. No one mocked. They just kept glancing at me like I might disappear… or explode. I stood there in the middle of the village, unsure what to do. The Level 24 player paused beside me before walking away. He spoke quietly, low enough that only I could hear. “Whatever you are… the system doesn’t like it.” Then he left. I looked up at the sky. The floating symbols seemed brighter. Watching. Above me, my name flickered one more time. PLAYER ZERO For half a second— UNREGISTERED ENTITY Then it returned to normal. And just like that, I was allowed inside. But I wasn’t welcome. Not really. I wasn’t a player. I wasn’t a monster. I was something the world couldn’t label. And that made me more dangerous than being weak.
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10
THE SYSTEM WATCHESThe sky wasn’t supposed to flicker.But it did.Jack noticed it first at dawn.He was alone near the outer gate, leaning against the repaired barricade, pretending to watch the horizon.The sky above the wasteland shimmered for half a second.Not lightning.Not weather.A distortion.Like a reflection on broken glass.Then it was gone.Jack stared upward.“…You saw that too, right?” he muttered.No one answered.Because no one else reacted.The guards beside him didn’t move. Didn’t look up.The sky returned to normal blue.Clean.Empty.Jack swallowed.Maybe he imagined it.A faint chime echoed in his ears.SYSTEM UPDATE…The words appeared in the corner of his vision.Then froze.The text glitched.Pixelated.Then vanished.Jack stiffened.“What?”Nothing else happened.He opened his status panel.Level: 0HP: Stable.No notifications.No alerts.He closed it slowly.Behind him, the morning bell rang -training hour.He turned and walked back toward the yard.But so
9
HOW LEVELS WORKThe village felt different during the day.Less afraid.More structured.Jack hadn’t noticed it before, but everything ran on quiet efficiency. Teams were assigned to wall repairs. Scouting parties rotated shifts. Resource gathering had fixed routes. Even combat drills happened at the same hour every afternoon.It wasn’t random survival.It was organized progression.Jack stood near the training yard, watching two mid-level players spar. Their movements were sharp, deliberate. Not flashy efficient.Every strike calculated.Every dodge precise.“Do you see it?”The voice came from behind him.Jack didn’t turn immediately.“I see two people fighting,” he said.Level 24 stepped beside him, hands folded loosely behind his back. His expression was as calm as always. Measured. Observing everything.“No,” the Level 24 said quietly. “You see levels.”Jack frowned slightly.The sparring players clashed again. One moved faster. Cleaner. Stronger.The other yielded ground almost
8
AFTERMATHThe smell of burnt wood lingered long after the monsters were gone.Morning light bled slowly over the village walls, revealing what the night had taken. Splintered barricades. Cracked stone. Blood darkening the dirt pathways. A collapsed watchtower still smoldered near the northern gate.Players moved like ghosts through the damage.No one spoke loudly.No one laughed.This wasn’t like the smaller raids.This one had hurt.Jack stood near the outer wall, staring at the deep claw marks carved into the wood. They were higher than his head. Deeper than he thought possible.He could still hear it.The sound of bone snapping beneath his blade.The moment his body moved faster than it ever had.The moment everything sharpened.He swallowed.He didn’t understand what had happened.And that scared him more than the monsters did.Behind him, whispers drifted through the air.“That’s him.”“Player Zero.”“He killed a Level 29 alone.”“No party support.”“I checked the combat log. It
8
THE FIRST NIGHT RAIDJack's point of View The alarms started as a low hum.I was sitting alone near the back of the village, close to a stack of empty crates. No one had offered me a place to stay. No one told me to leave either.Just space.Then the hum became a sharp metallic ringing.LOUD.Over and over.Players froze mid-step.Then someone shouted—“Raid!”Everything moved at once.Lanterns were lifted. Weapons drawn. Boots hitting dirt fast.The air changed.Fear.Real fear.I stood up slowly.“What kind?” someone yelled.“Outer field breach!”“Multiple signatures!”The red-haired player was already running toward the wooden walls. His sword drawn. Calm. Focused.Level 50.This was his world.Torches along the fence burst brighter as players climbed the guard platforms.I hesitated.I could stay behind the houses.Hide.No one would blame Player Zero for not fighting.No one expected anything from me.Another scream cut through the air.Not human.Something deeper.Something wro
7
THE GLITCH Jack's point of View No one spoke as I walked through the gate. The wood creaked behind me when it closed. The village didn’t look like much up close. Rough wooden houses. Stone paths. Smoke rising from chimneys. A few lanterns hanging from posts even though the sky never changed. It should’ve felt safe. It didn’t. Every step I took, I could feel eyes on me. Not mocking anymore. Watching. The red-haired player walked a few steps behind me. Not close enough to touch. Close enough to stop me if I tried something. His voice cut through the silence. “Check him.” Two players stepped forward immediately. One was Level 14. The other Level 11. They focused on me. Their eyes shifted slightly the way players do when reading status windows. The Level 14 frowned. “…That’s weird.” “What?” someone asked. “I can see his name. Player Zero. But the level isn’t stable.” The Level 11 squinted. “It keeps flickering.” My chest tightened. Above me, I saw it too. PLAYER Z
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ONE MINUTEJack's point of View The gate opened wider.Not to welcome me.To give space.Players gathered quickly when they realized what was about to happen. Some leaned against the wooden fence. Others climbed onto barrels. A few looked bored.This wasn’t new for them.I stood in the dirt clearing.Across from me stood the red-haired player.Up close, he looked even more confident. His armor was clean. His sword polished. He didn’t look worried.Above his head floated the blue text:PLAYER – LEVEL 50My eyes moved up to my own.PLAYER ZERONo level.Just that.Zero.He saw me looking.“Don’t worry,” he said calmly. “I won’t use everything.”The crowd laughed softly.A tall player near the gate raised his hand.“One minute,” he called. “Fight.”The red-haired guy didn’t rush wildly.He walked toward me.Slow.Controlled.Then suddenly—He disappeared from where he stood.My brain barely caught up before something slammed into my stomach.I folded instantly.Air gone.Pain everywhere
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