Chapter 1: The Broken Script
The Hall of Awakening smelled of ancient incense and suppressed breath.
Han Jin knelt on the cold marble floor, his palms sweating. Above him, the Great Elder held the Divination Stone. It was a jagged obsidian shard that pulsed with a rhythmic, golden light—the heartbeat of the world's laws.
"Next," the Elder's voice boomed, echoing against the high vaulted ceiling. "Han Jin of the Outer Circle. Step forward and reveal your destiny."
Han Jin stood, his legs feeling like lead. In this world, your Script was everything. It was a spiritual scroll born within your soul at the age of sixteen. It dictated your talent, your elements, and how far you could climb toward immortality.
A golden Script meant you were a genius. A white Script meant you were a commoner.
Han Jin closed his eyes and reached into his dantian. He felt the familiar weight of his soul, but as he pulled his Script into reality, the air in the hall turned cold.
A flickering, gray parchment unfurled above his head. It didn't glow. It didn't pulse. It vibrated violently, the edges blurring as if the world was struggling to render its existence.
The text wasn't a beautiful poem of destiny. It was a jumbled mess of jagged symbols and bleeding ink.
[Err0r: L1f3_Path_Not_F0und]
[Critical Failure: Talent.null]
[Status: Unknown_Entity]
The Great Elder recoiled, his face contorting in disgust. "A Broken Soul? In three thousand years of the Cloud-Step Sect, we have never seen a Script so… repulsive. You are not just talentless, Han Jin. You are a mistake in the eyes of the Heavens."
Laughter erupted from the disciples behind him.
"Look at that trash!"
"It looks like a dying moth."
"Talent 'null'? He's literally a zero!"
Young Master Wei, the sect's golden boy, stepped forward, his own golden Script shining like a miniature sun: [Destined for the Heavens - Grade A].
"Elder," Wei sneered, "why waste the sect's air on a glitch? Throw him out before his bad luck infects the rest of us."
Han Jin felt a cold, sharp sting in his chest. But as he stared at the gray, vibrating text of his "broken" scroll, something changed. A small, translucent blue box flickered in the corner of his vision.
[System Warning: Internal Logic Conflict Detected.]
[Target: Divination Stone (Divine Tier Object)]
[Would you like to Report this Bug?]
Han Jin's breath hitched. Report it? No. If I'm a mistake, then I'll be the mistake that breaks this world.
He reached out with his mind and touched the "Report" button.
[Permission Denied. You do not have 'Admin' privileges.]
[Alternative Found: Execute 'Edit_Mode' (Trial Version)?]
Yes, Han Jin screamed internally. Execute!
The world suddenly slowed down. The laughter of the disciples became a low, distorted drone. The Great Elder was frozen mid-sneer. Han Jin looked at the Divination Stone in the Elder's hand. To his eyes, it was no longer a stone. It was a cluster of glowing code.
[Object: Divination Stone]
[Function: Reality Assessment]
[Durability: 1,000 / 1,000]
Han Jin focused on the 1,000. He didn't have much energy, but he imagined his finger as a pen, crossing out the numbers.
He deleted the 1,000. He typed 0.
[Edit Successful. Applying Changes...]
Time snapped back to full speed.
CRACK.
The Divine Stone—the pride of the Cloud-Step Sect—didn't just break. It disintegrated into fine, black sand that poured through the Great Elder's fingers.
The laughter stopped. The silence was so heavy it felt like it could crush the walls.
"My apologies, Elder," Han Jin said, his voice steady for the first time in his life. He wiped a bead of blood from his nose and looked at the shocked crowd.
"It seems your destiny-maker had a bug. Or maybe... it just couldn't handle mine."
The Great Elder's face turned a dangerous shade of purple. "Guard! Seize this heretic! He has sabotaged a holy relic!"
Han Jin didn't wait. He turned and sprinted toward the hall's exit. As he ran, his gray Script flickered again, a new message appearing in his mind.
[First Bug Exploited: +100 Data Points Gained.]
[New Ability Unlocked: Passive Scan.]
[Scanning Young Master Wei...]
[Flaw Found: Inefficient Mana Circulation. Would you like to 'Delete' his left leg's muscle memory?]
Han Jin grinned as he burst through the doors into the night. The "Broken Soul" was finally going to start fixing the world.