Darkness.
Endless silent.
…Where am I?
No sky.
No ground.
No sound.
Just… nothing.
Then—
A crack.
[起動中…]
[Booting…]
Light bled into the void like a wound opening.
Fragments of broken screens floated around me.
Shattered code.
Distorted symbols.
Alive.
[バグ領域へようこそ]
[Welcome to the Bug Domain]
I frowned.
「バグ…領域?」
Bug… domain?
The moment I spoke—
Reality twitched.
A ripple spread through the darkness.
Like something responded to my voice.
[あなたは"例外"です]
[You are an Exception]
My chest tightened.
[システムはあなたを認識できません]
[The System cannot recognize you]
That much… I already knew.
But then—
[ゆえに,制限も存在しません]
[Therefore… no limitations exist]
…
No limitations?
Before I could react—
Pain.
A sharp, violent surge exploded through my body.
GHH—AAAH!!
My veins burned.
My vision cracked.
Something was being forced into me.
No—
Not given.
Injected.
[Assigning Bug Ability…]
The words glitched.
Flickering in and out of existence.
[Skill Creation: Failed]
[Retrying…]
[Skill Creation: Failed]
Again.
Again.
Again.
Then—
Everything broke.
[Forced Rewrite)
Silence.
And then…
[Skill Acquired]
A single line appeared.
Distorted.
Unstable.
[GLITCH]
My breathing stopped.
[Description]
[Temporarily destroy and alter the "rules" of reality]
…
I laughed.
Quietly.
「はは…なんだそれ…」
…What the hell is that?
Before I could think further—
The world snapped back.
Light.
Noise.
Voices.
I was back.
Tokyo.
Awakening Hall.
"…He's still here?"
"I thought he got kicked out."
Their voices felt distant.
Irrelevant.
Because something else caught my attention.
A crack.
In the air.
Right in front of me.
Like glass—
Reality itself had a fracture.
「...見えるのか?」
…I can see it?
No one reacted.
No one noticed.
Only me.
The crack pulsed.
Calling me.
Without thinking—
I reached out.
What happens if I touch it…?
My finger made contact.
Silence.
Then—
Reality broke.
The crack spread instantly.
Exploding outward like shattered glass.
「なっ――!?」
Wha—!?
Time stopped.
Completely.
A boy mid-laugh—frozen.
A teacher mid-step—frozen.
Even the air… stopped moving.
Only I could move.
My heart pounded wildly.
This is… "Glitch"…?
I turned slowly.
And then—
I saw it.
A monster.
Behind the walls.
Hidden.
Phasing in and out of reality.
Something that shouldn't be here.
[Unregistered Entity]
It noticed me.
Even though time was frozen.
Its head snapped toward me.
Smiling.
「見つけた.」
…Found you.
Time resumed.
SCREAMS erupted.
The wall exploded.
The creature entered the hall.
And chaos began.
I stood there.
Watching.
Breathing.
Slowly—
I smiled.
Perfect timing.
My hand rose.
The air cracked again.
Let's test it.