Weird Game: I brought an old version bug

The pale golden field of vision was instantly pushed to its limit.

Jiang Chen felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his retina, and tears welled up uncontrollably.

In that dazzling yet distorted halo of light, the faceless shadow behind the desk finally revealed its true form.

That wasn't the ghost left behind by Zhong Yuan at all, but a deformed monster formed from countless tangled scarlet codes.

These codes, accompanied by a tooth-grinding scraping sound, self-replicated, attempting to piece together a face that belonged to Jiang Chen.

"Isn't my face your face?"

The mechanical voice exploded again deep in his mind, making Jiang Chen's eardrums ache.

Jiang Chen instantly understood the terrifying meaning behind those words.

The system is extracting his biometric data, performing deep assimilation, and erasing his sense of self.

It attempted to replace Zhong Yuan's remaining obsolete data with Jiang Chen's underlying logic in order to completely reboot the system core.

"Jiang Chen, watch out! The data stream on its body is flowing backwards!"

Shi Yu's cool voice, tinged with a rare hint of anxiety and panic, broke the deathly silence.

The world she sees is clearly completely different from Jiang Chen's.

That crimson code, in her eyes, might be some kind of more terrifying ancient creation.

But Jiang Chen didn't have time to ask for details before the shadowy figure slowly raised its right hand, made of code, and pointed it at them.

The surrounding air instantly became viscous like water, and a strong sense of weightlessness suddenly gripped Jiang Chen's heart, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

[WARNING: Core data has been detected being overwritten]

[Mental resistance assessment in progress...]

The cold, grating notification sound echoed through the study like a death knell.

[Judgment Failed]

[Player Jiang Chen is being forcibly logged out]

[10-second countdown]

Jiang Chen felt his consciousness being forcibly pulled away, and his body went limp.

He bit his tongue hard, using the intense pain to force a sliver of clarity.

The decompilation core in his palm was so hot it felt like it was about to burn—only 29% of its energy remained.

"Shigure, share its visuals with me! Quickly!"

Jiang Chen roared at the top of his lungs through the team channel in his mind, veins bulging on his neck.

A silvery-gray light instantly connected their visions, and the scene in Shi Yu's eyes was forcibly inserted into Jiang Chen's mind.

In the lingering visuals of the old version from Shigure, that dark shadow wasn't code at all.

Instead, it was a huge, rusty old-fashioned typewriter.

The typewriter keys were jumping wildly, each key engraved with Jiang Chen's former game ID and test number.

Jiang Chen's heart pounded wildly.

This is not just a simple data overwrite; the system is also erasing his past test records.

【ten】

【nine】

【eight……】

The countdown echoed rapidly in his ears, and Jiang Chen's vision began to blur.

But he must find a way to break the deadlock.

The brain operates at high speed under extreme pressure, searching for even the slightest logical flaw.

This is an instinct ingrained in him as a senior tester.

The system's core protection protocol clearly stipulates that any unauthorized behavior will trigger the highest level of erasure.

However, the prerequisite for wiping out the target is that the target must be in an "unauthorized" intrusion state.

Jiang Chen is currently being "overwritten" by the system, and his identity is now ambiguous.

If the overwrite is successful, it will become part of the system core.

How can a system erase assets it has just assimilated?

This is a fatal logical paradox, a rule crack hidden deep within the core protocol.

"Since you want to assimilate me, let's see if your appetite is big enough!"

Jiang Chen's lips curled into a crazed sneer, his eyes becoming incredibly resolute.

Instead of resisting the copying, he deliberately lowered his mental defenses.

Let those scarlet codes flood your mind like venomous snakes, eroding your nerves.

He plunged the decompilation core deep into his own chest.

A pale golden light spread throughout the body along the veins of the blood, stinging the bone marrow.

[WARNING: Players have voluntarily granted low-level permissions]

[Data integration rate of 10%...]

Fifty percent...

The system's red light flashed wildly.

But the next second, the system's countdown abruptly stopped.

The black shadow made of code suddenly emitted a piercing screech, and its movements became noticeably jerky and stiff.

It couldn't understand Jiang Chen's suicidal behavior.

The underlying logic is in a deadlock, torn between "eliminating intruders" and "protecting core assets".

Taking advantage of this moment of stiffness, Jiang Chen endured the excruciating pain of his soul being torn apart and lunged forward.

His target was not the shadowy figure trapped in a vicious cycle.

Instead, it was the still-burning brass oil lamp and the stack of yellowed parchment on the desk.

What Zhong Yuan was determined to preserve at all costs is the key to breaking this vicious cycle.

The shadowy figure reacted extremely quickly, with countless scarlet tentacles shooting out from its body, heading straight for Jiang Chen's back.

"Dark Red - Damage Reversal!"

Jiang Chen roared and activated his modified reconnaissance skill to its maximum level—112 seconds remaining on cooldown, 180 seconds to reset after activation.

A dark red light shone brightly.

The tentacles pierced through Jiang Chen's body, but a flash of dark red light appeared...

The damage was forcibly reverted to 0.5 seconds earlier, narrowly escaping disaster.

Taking advantage of that brief moment of invincibility, he rolled and pounced in front of the mahogany desk.

He grabbed the stack of parchment and held it tightly to his chest.

The tentacles missed their target, shattering the wooden bookshelf behind them, sending countless paper books raining down.

Ignoring the cold sweat seeping down his back, Jiang Chen quickly scanned the contents of the parchment in his hand, his pupils suddenly contracting.

That wasn't some profound low-level code, but a handwritten letter to "the next Jiang Chen".

The powerful strokes of the brush clearly indicate that Zhong Yuan wrote his final words in a state of extreme panic and haste.

If you are seeing this letter, it means you have triggered the core overwrite and survived by sheer luck.

Don't trust the system, and don't trust Shiyu. She's not a survivor of the old version; she is...

The writing stopped abruptly there, the rest of the writing completely obscured by a charred mark.

Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat.

Shigure isn't a survivor of the old version? Then what exactly is she?

He subconsciously turned to look at Shiyu, only to find her standing there blankly.

His eyes were terrifyingly empty, as if he had lost his soul.

The blade in her hand had fallen limply to its side.

He was unconsciously muttering a string of strange, old-version code to himself.

The shadowy figure trapped in the logical loop suddenly stopped struggling.

Slowly, it turned towards the direction of Shigure.

The crimson code on its body began to fade rapidly, revealing a smooth face without features, exactly like Shigure's.

[System notification: Residual data from an older version detected]

[Performing final cleanup procedures]

Jiang Chen then realized that the system's real target was not him at all, but Shi Yu, the biggest rule bug.

The previous overwriting and attacks were only to force Shigure to comply.

This caused her to reveal the underlying characteristics of her old self in a state of extreme fear.

The shadow transformed into a massive red net, descending upon Shi Yu and sealing off all her escape routes.

Jiang Chen's eyes were bloodshot. He shoved the decompilation core into the crack of the desk and forcibly connected it to the power supply in the study. Sparks flew everywhere—the energy was 22% remaining.

"If you want to mess with her, first ask me, the 'replicant,' if I agree!"

He frantically typed on the virtual keyboard, his fingers blurring into a blur.

Since the system believes that he is being overwritten, he uses the permissions of this unfinished product to forcibly tamper with the environmental parameters of the study.

Pale golden light spread wildly along the desk, and the walls of the entire retro study began to peel off like melting wax.

The real code hidden behind the wall was exposed, and Jiang Chen directly modified the gravity parameters and spatial coordinates.

The giant red net slammed into an invisible wall of air when it was only half a meter away from Shi Yu's head, producing a dull thud.

The dark figure let out a piercing scream as its data structure was torn to pieces by the spatial distortion.

[WARNING: An unknown error has occurred in the core region's physics engine]

[Attempting to restart...]

The system's red light flashed wildly, and the alarm blared incessantly.

Jiang Chen didn't give it a chance to restart. He used the decompilation core to directly detonate the coordinate anchor points in Zhong Yuan's log.

With a deafening roar, the entire study collapsed completely, turning into countless gray data fragments that flew wildly in all directions.

Jiang Chen felt his body lighten, and a strong sense of weightlessness returned.

But this time, it was a fall into an endless abyss, with the wind whistling in their ears.

In the last second before his consciousness faded into darkness, he gripped Shigure's hand tightly, pulling her into his protective embrace.

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Chen regained consciousness amidst a bone-chilling cold.

My nasal cavity was filled with a strong, rusty smell that made me nauseous and dizzy.

He struggled to open his eyes and found himself and Shiyu lying on a desolate gray plain, surrounded by deathly silence.

There was no sun in the sky, only a huge, cracked, red moon.

It hung silently overhead, casting a blood-red light.

Shiyu remained unconscious, but dense, old-version golden runes were appearing on the surface of her body.

His breathing was weak and rapid; his life was hanging by a thread.

Jiang Chen gripped the tattered letter in his hand and looked up at the eerie red moon.

He knew the real game had just begun, and the real challenges were yet to come.

And the secret of Shigure

Perhaps this is the only key to unlocking the ultimate truth of this abyss game.