[Notice, you have accessed the live chat.]
Kai, seated comfortably on his obsidian throne, kept his eyes focused on the dim blue light radiating from the system interface. Runes and text scrolled in the air right in front of him, casting a ghostly glow on his face.
It hadn't been a full day since Kai killed the White Light Guild members that threatened to raid his dungeon.
Once he was done going through the other stuff he got from their corpses, such as their armor and weapons, he decided to have another go at the live chat.
Surely they must have reported him already to the developers as an anomaly in the game.
Actually, Kai was looking to see if any of the developers would speak on the matter. Their opinion was actually the only thing he cared about at this moment.
Since he was alone in the throne room, having dismissed his minions, he could read as much as he needed without being interrupted by anyone.
The first message caught his eyes immediately.
{Mayomanl: Dude, everyone is talking about the new boss. is no one going to talk about the fact the developers just claimed a bug is running rampant in the game and killing players like crazy?}
'oH…'
Kai was interested. It seemed like a good place to start gathering intel.
{Rauna: Everyone has heard of it. I heard the place is locked right now; they plan to check the area out to see how they could get rid of the bug.}
{Gina: I expected a bug, tbh. But seeing that level 25 guild admit to losing in a starter dungeon has to be the rage bait. Are you saying a boss in a state dungeon would defeat me, a level 19 mage, in a fight?}
{Deona replied to Gina: Dude, shut the fuck up. Nothing about this game is normal to begin with, so i wont put this past us. I mean, the name of the game is summoern guild online, and barely anyone has chosen the class summoner.}
{User234343: I mean, bro is lowkey right; the game is sus as hell.}
Kai gave a small, dry smile.
'I am glad I am not the only one that thought that. It just had to be after i got stuck in the body of a dungeon boss that people realized it.'
However, the amusement faded quickly as another thought made its way to Kai's mind.
'They've already identified me as a bug; what next? Are they going to get rid of me? Delete me from the game permanently? Would that also mean I'll still die in the real world?'
A serious look played on his face, replacing the smile. A heavy sigh escaped his lips, echoing in the empty hall.
If that were to happen, he would have no choice but to simply accept his fate and let nature take its course.
It wasn't like he could battle with the developer of the game. They were gods in this digital realm; he was just a line of code to them.
His fist clenched on top of his throne's armrest, the stone cracking slightly under the pressure of his grip.
'Hopefully they don't kill me. i dont want to die. I mean, i havent even gotten the chance to explore the game yet.'
That was when the idea hit him.
If he could exit the dungeon while they were scanning for the bug, and he wasn't present there, what were the chances that they would detect he existed at all?
He could easily trick the game mechanics while taking another form entirely.
The only thing he could generally be worried about was if the game planned on doing a general scan of the entire map. If that was the case, then he truly had no choice.
'Still worth the try though. Besides, rotting inside this dungeon doesnt sound like a sure way to live either.'
With a gradual motion, he stood to his feet.
A whoosh of dark mist enveloped his body. In the blink of an eye, the monstrous form dissolved, and he transformed into his human form—the one with the silky black hair and the lean muscle.
Once he was in the disguised form, he turned to look at the live chat one last time.
'Now then, they should have made an announcement for when they plan to do the whole search. Let's see….'
Standing there, he kept scrolling through the entire chat history, trying to see if there was any chance the devs had dropped some kind of update or timeline regarding the bug fix.
Kai was right.
They did.
It had been posted a few minutes ago.
(Announcement from the devs: We have listened to the complaint of our users, and we plan to settle it as soon as possible in order for you players to further enjoy the game. Please, you have nothing to worry about; keep playing and logging into the game as you were. There is no call for alarm.}
Kai's gaze narrowed at two main things.
The first was the fact the devs were making it sound as though the matter was bigger than it seemed.
If it was simply getting rid of a bug, then all they had to do was send a notice of a patch. Instead, it seemed as though they were trying to do some major damage control to keep people calm.
Secondly, there was no time indication of when they would do the search for the bug.
Kai didn't consider himself to be such a little bug that they would be able to fix him live without locking the entire region down for maintenance.
Something wasn't right.
Before Kai could complete his thought, he suddenly sensed something.
His eyes widened in shock as a wave of strange, synthetic mana swept over the entire dungeon. It moved like an invisible scanner, passing through the walls, the floor, and even scanning past his own body.
In that moment, he realized. They had already begun.
[Notice, you are being observed.]
The system notification flashed right in front of him, red and urgent.
Kai sighed, still maintaining a calm look on his face despite the panic rising in his chest.
Without needing to utter a single word, he turned his gaze toward the upper side of the dungeon ceiling, staring into the void as though he were looking directly at a working security camera.
'Looks like they found me,' he whispered in his mind, his eyes still glued to that exact spot, never moving an inch from where he was.
....
Meanwhile, in the human world.
The corporate office was in chaos.
The company in charge of the game, "Summoner Guild Online," had their hands filled with something different. It was something far more sinister than an unexplained bug in the game code.
And it was only because of this that they knew they needed to make the difficult choice.
The executives looked at the screens, their faces pale.
The game needed to be shut down temporarily.