Ryuu dragged his feet into class, sore from more than just physical training. Ever since the duel with Reika, his system felt… off. Like something big was humming beneath the surface, just out of reach.
His classmates were buzzing about normal things—pop quizzes, new anime episodes, cafeteria scandals—but he wasn't really listening.
Because Reika was watching him.
She approached during lunch, her usual cold confidence sharpened by something quieter—urgency.
"You've been marked," she said under her breath, sitting across from him.
Ryuu raised an eyebrow. "Good morning to you, too."
"I'm serious," she said, eyes narrowed. "You've triggered something. The system isn't local anymore. It's responding to… external eyes."
Ryuu blinked. "External like… government agents or eldritch gods?"
She didn't smile.
"There are other players," she said. "People like us. System-bonded. But they're not from here. And they're not playing fair."
A chill crawled down Ryuu's spine.
System Notification:
[Dimensional Awareness Spike Detected – Surveillance Probability: 78%]
"You're saying I'm being… watched?" he asked quietly.
"Not watched," Reika corrected. "Scanned. Something's preparing to move you off the board."
That got his attention.
"You're not Fate-bound," she continued. "That makes you… unstable. And instability draws the system's attention like a magnet."
Ryuu tried to laugh it off. "So what, I'm a living bug report?"
But her silence said more than any words.
He leaned back, scanning her expression. She wasn't just warning him—she was concerned.A rare look on someone so composed.
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
"Because even chaos has rules," she said, standing. "And when you're dragged into what's coming, I don't want you glitching out halfway through."
She walked away without another word, leaving Ryuu alone with his spiraling thoughts.
System Ping:
[Incoming Transition Event Detected]
[World Anchor Weakening – 40%]
He glanced at the window. For a second, the sky flickered.
Like a screen.
Like a countdown.
Ryuu's walk home was… weird.
At first, it was subtle. Streetlights flickered as he passed. A dog barked at him like it recognized something off.
The system's UI glitched for a split second—then returned to normal.
He rubbed his eyes. "Am I getting motion sick from reality?"
System Notification:
[Environmental Stability: 73% – Anchor Drift Detected]
"Anchor drift? What does that even mean?"
He glanced around. The world looked normal—too normal. Like it was trying to stay that way.
Then came the NPCs.
An old lady walking her dog greeted him cheerfully: "Good morning, brave soul. You have twelve moons left. Use them well."
He froze. "Wait, what?"
But she kept walking, smiling like she hadn't just dropped a JRPG prophecy in the middle of the sidewalk.
System Alert
[Dialogue Anomaly: Irregular Script Triggered]
Ryuu's brain was buzzing. Was this a dream? A memory? Or… a leak?
He checked his HUD again.
Blink.
[World Transfer Pending]
[Estimated Activation: Tonight – +/- 3 hours]
He didn't know whether to panic or grab snacks.
At his door, he nearly tripped over a small package.
No sender. Just his name. Inside: a wristband with a familiar bunny charm—Hinami's.
There was a note:
"For luck. If things go sideways, don't forget who you are. – H"
Ryuu stared at the charm, then slipped it on with a shaky grin. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"
The system didn't answer.
That evening, he sat on his bed, hoodie half-zipped, pacing mentally through every weird thing that had happened in the last 24 hours.
- Fate girls with godlike thread powers.
- Glitch dungeons.
- A rubber chicken that somehow disrupted destiny.
- And now, this.
The portal hadn't opened yet—but the air felt heavy. Like reality was stretching at the seams.
He tossed a few things into his bag—phone, snacks, charger. The system buzzed.
[Item Incompatibility Warning – Devices may not function in next world]
"Then why let me pack it?!"
[Comfort Item Flagged: 'Ritual of Normalcy' Bonus Applied]
"…okay, weirdly thoughtful."
He stared at his closet door. Or more accurately—the distortion forming just behind it.
The swirling light was faint, but undeniable now.
It was time.
The portal was fully awake now—swirling, glitching, alive.
It buzzed with a low-frequency hum that Ryuu felt more in his bones than his ears. His posters fluttered on the wall, caught in a wind that didn't exist.
He stood in front of it, bag slung over one shoulder, otaku hoodie zipped halfway.
"…This is either the start of an epic adventure or how I get isekai'd into a horror game with no pants."
The system chimed:
[World Transfer: READY]
[Destination: Classified]
[Survival Odds: ~53% (Variable)]
"Hey, 53%! That's passing!"
[Based on mental stability, preparation, and hoodie-equipped bonus.]
"…wait, the hoodie affects survival rate?"
[Yes.]
He looked down at the pixelated dragon on his chest.
"You're the real MVP," he whispered.
The charm from Hinami jingled gently on his wrist as he stepped forward. His room distorted like a melting painting. His bed, desk, everything stretched and bent as if rejecting him.
Then—
One step into the portal.
He felt his body deconstruct—not painfully, but like he was being rewritten. Like every part of him was being copied, backed up, and recompiled for a new operating system.
His thoughts blurred. Flashes of code, sound, fragments of memory—his first day with the system, Hinami's smile, Reika's warning, his mom yelling at him to take out the trash—
Gone.
Then rebuilt.
System Loading...
[New World Environment Detected]
[Initializing: Glitch Isekai – Ver. 0.1 Beta]
The colors shifted violently. Sky and sea blended. Time bent sideways.
He heard a voice—his own?—whisper through the distortion:
"Don't forget to pack your otaku hoodie. You'll need it."
Ryuu smiled, even as his form dissolved.
And then he was gone.
Only the faint shimmer of light remained, humming in an empty bedroom.
Ryuu's eyes snapped open—just in time to realize he was falling.
Air rushed past. Sky above him was broken into squares like a corrupted video file. The clouds jittered, vanishing and reappearing like missing textures.
"Wh–WHOA WHOA WHOA—!"
He twisted mid-air, flailing like a ragdoll. His system stuttered into life:
[BOOTING...]
[ERROR_SKY Detected]
[You are now entering: World #1024 – Trial Instance]
He spun past a flock of glitchy birds—one of them screamed "NANI?!" and exploded into confetti.
Below him? A floating forest.
Chunks of land hovered midair, trees pixelated and low-res. Some flickered between day and night. One tree had no trunk—just leaves suspended over a black void.
He braced for impact.
[Gravity Protocol: Unstable]
[Fall Damage: Randomized]
"Wait, RANDOMIZED?!"
CRASH!
He landed—badly—on something soft and squishy.
"OOF—what the hell?!"
He sat up. Beneath him was a jiggling slime wearing a wizard hat. It looked up at him, blinked, and in a robotic voice said:
"Please… remove… butt."
"…Sorry."
He rolled off it just in time for the slime to poof into a glowing XP ball and vanish. A pop-up appeared:
[Defeated: Slime Mage Lv.1 (???)]
[Gained: 2 XP + 1 Random Drop]
A gacha wheel appeared mid-air. It spun wildly—then spat out a baguette.
Ryuu caught it, staring.
"This world's on drugs."
A red window slammed into view:
[WARNING: You've entered a Corrupted Isekai Trial World]
[Main Challenge: Survive 24 Hours in Glitch Zone]
[Gacha-Luck Zone Active – All mechanics partially randomized]
Ryuu groaned. "Of course."
He stood, brushing off pixelated leaves. A squirrel nearby climbed into the air like it was using an invisible staircase.
The HUD flickered again, finally stabilizing with a chime:
[Survival Challenge Started – 23:59:52 Remaining]
Ryuu glanced around. Every direction looked unstable—platforms floating, grass changing colors, and an NPC lumberjack stuck in a loop chopping the same tree.
He took a deep breath, gripped the baguette like a weapon, and muttered:
"Okay, Ryuu. You survived social anxiety, a school duel, and a beach full of demon fanservice.
Now you just gotta survive Minecraft.exe."
He took his first step—and the ground flickered beneath him.
Challenge accepted.