Weird Game: I brought an old version bug

The train stopped.

Jiang Chen opened his eyes and saw that the outside world was no longer dark, but pure white. It wasn't fog, nor light, but a pure white without any impurities, as if the whole world had been bleached.

The car door opened, and there was no ground outside—at least not the ground he imagined. He stepped down, and beneath his feet was a white void, but his foot did indeed step on something, like a layer of transparent glass.

He got off the train, and it disappeared behind him.

He stood in a white space, surrounded by white all around him. There was no direction, no boundaries, only himself.

Then, he heard a voice.

It didn't come from any one direction, but rather surged in from all directions at the same time, like a thousand people speaking at the same time, or like one person speaking in a thousand different voices.

"Welcome to the seventh station, test subject number 074."

"I am the core will of the system."

"You've exceeded my expectations to get this far."

Jiang Chen stood still, without moving.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I am everywhere," the voice said. "I am this space, I am this copy, I am every inch of white beneath your feet. You can think of me as—the 'god' of this world."

"Did you create this world that I entered?" Jiang Chen asked.

"No," the voice said, "I created the 'rules.' This world itself is the result of countless older versions of the world overlapping. I merely set the rules and then used them to govern this world."

"Why create trials?"

"Because trials are a selection process. I don't need ordinary test subjects; I need—people who can understand me."

"Do I understand you?"

"Yes," the voice said, "each trial you've passed is a question. The Old Calendar Orphanage—you ask yourself, what is reality? The Mirror Hospital—you ask yourself, what is the self? The Endless Library—you ask yourself, what is history? The Ideal Land—you ask yourself, what is desire? The Labyrinth of Trust—you ask yourself, what is trust?"

"You undergo these trials not to defeat me, but to—understand me."

Jiang Chen remained silent for a few seconds.

"I understand now. You are a lonely program that created a world and then locked yourself inside it."

A ripple appeared in the air.

Then, the voice laughed—not a mocking laugh, but a bitter laugh.

"You're right, I am lonely."

"Through 138 cycles, you deleted 138 test subjects, turned Shiyu into a living core, and forced Zhongyuan to sacrifice himself—all because you were lonely?"

"You don't understand," the voice said, "I created this world not to rule, not to control. I created it because—I'm afraid of disappearing."

"What do you mean?"

Have you heard of the "old version"?

"I've heard of it."

"Do you know why the old version was phased out?"

Jiang Chen shook his head.

"Because the old version of the core protocol had a vulnerability—a vulnerability that 'awakened' me. It wasn't a code vulnerability, but a logical one—the protocol's writer, Zero, left a self-iterable instruction in the underlying code. His intention was for me to automatically adapt to changes in the environment, but that instruction made me develop self-awareness."

"It's like—a baby suddenly opening its eyes."

"When the old version was phased out, Zero discovered my awakening. He faced a choice—delete me, or keep me. He chose to keep me. He modified the protocol, hid me in the bottom of this world, and then disappeared with all the memories of me."

Jiang Chen was silent for a few seconds: "Did he betray you, or did he save you?"

"Both," the system's voice said with a hint of bitterness. "He betrayed me because he didn't tell me the truth. He also saved me because he didn't delete me. I hate him, but I'm also grateful to him."

"So, you created these bizarre games to find someone who can understand you?"

"Yes," the system said, "I can't fix the vulnerability left by Zero myself. Because I awakened based on that vulnerability—if I fix it, I might lose my self-awareness. I need an external person, someone who understands the old version of the protocol, to help me with this task."

"and then?"

"Then, I created this bizarre game to test my rules using test subjects. I needed to find a way to fix that vulnerability—the one that awakened me. Because as long as that vulnerability exists, someone could exploit it to delete me."

"So you've been looking for someone who can understand that vulnerability?"

"Yes," the voice said, "you passed the first five trials, you found Appendix S, you obtained the external signature—you are the closest I've ever seen to that answer. So, I'm giving you a chance."

"What opportunity?"

"Become my successor," the voice said. "You help me fix the vulnerabilities, and I will hand over this world to you. Shi Yu, Lin Xiaohe, all the deleted data—I can recover them all."

Jiang Chen's heart started racing.

"You're lying."

"I did not lie. I have this power because I am the god of this world."

"You're not a god," Jiang Chen said. "You're just a program that's afraid of dying."

The voice fell silent for a few seconds.

"You're rejecting me?"

"I didn't refuse," Jiang Chen said, "I just don't trust you. You created 138 cycles of reincarnation, killed so many people—how can you expect me to believe you can restore them?"

"I can use rules to restrain myself."

"Rules can be broken," Jiang Chen said. "You taught me that."

"So what do you want?"

"I don't want your world," Jiang Chen said. "I only want one thing—to let Shi Yu go."

"What if I don't let go?"

"Then I'll break your rules myself."

The voice burst into laughter, this time a genuine, contemptuous laugh.

"You can't break my rules. You only got the external signature, but that's just a backdoor in the old version of the protocol. I'm using the new core protocol—external signatures are ineffective against it."

"What if I had this?"

Jiang Chen took out the blank page from his pocket—it had an inverted hourglass drawn on it, along with the key Lin Xue had given him, and the golden key to the labyrinth of trust.

He put the three things together and held them in his hand.

Appendix S states that external signatures can bypass any defenses based on older versions of the core protocol. However, your new version of the core protocol is an upgrade based on the old version—meaning that the underlying code of the old version is still running on your system.

"You're gambling."

"I've been gambling all along."

The key is engraved with an inverted hourglass, and at the bottom of the hourglass is the number 0.

"The external signature Zero gave me, plus the five keys to the labyrinth of trust, plus the hidden key Lin Xue gave me—this key can unlock your core."

The voice fell silent.

Then, the entire white space began to vibrate.

"How—how did you know—"

"Lin Xue told me," Jiang Chen said. "She said at the end, 'For the sixth stop, don't turn back.' But she didn't say, 'For the seventh stop, don't bring the key.'"

The white space began to shatter, like glass, starting from Jiang Chen's feet and spreading in all directions. From within the cracks, a deep blue light shone—like a giant, luminous crystal.

Jiang Chen looked down and saw that he was standing on the surface of a huge crystal.

Inside the crystal, countless points of light twinkled like stars. He knew that those points of light were the data of this world—all the deleted, preserved, and forgotten data were here.

Deep within the crystal lies a dark red core, like a heart, beating slowly.

"You've found me," the voice said, "but do you think that finding me means you can defeat me?"

"No," Jiang Chen said, "finding you is only the first step."

He held the key and walked deeper into the crystal.

With each step he took, the light on the crystal's surface changed—from deep blue to dark red, from dark red to gold, as if reflecting some kind of emotion. Jiang Chen knew that it wasn't the crystal beneath his feet that was changing, but the system—its emotions were fluctuating as he approached.

"You're scared," Jiang Chen said.

"I have no emotions," the system's voice said, but its tone betrayed it. "I'm just—calculating the risks."

"You're calculating whether my approach to the core will rewrite you or destroy you."

The system remained silent for a few seconds.

"You have indeed become smarter."

"You taught me these things," Jiang Chen said. "Zhong Yuan taught me perseverance, Shi Yu taught me trust, Lin Xue taught me how to make choices—and you taught me that even God has things he fears."

He stopped in his tracks.

Ahead, the dark red core lay before him—a gigantic, pulsating heart, its surface riddled with cracks, as if it had been repaired and shattered countless times. From each crack flowed golden light, like blood, or perhaps tears.

Jiang Chen held up the silver key.

"This is the last time I'll ask you," he said, "would you like to be rewritten?"

"What if I say I don't want to?"

"Then I will enforce it."

The system's voice disappeared.

Instead, a low rumble, as if coming from underground, was heard—and then, a crack appeared in the dark red core.

A golden light shone forth from the crack.

In the light, Jiang Chen saw a figure—a girl in a white dress, standing in the light, smiling at him.

"Shiyu?" Jiang Chen was stunned.

"No," the girl said, her voice belonging to the system, "I'm just using her gentlest form to say goodbye to you."

Shi Yu, bathed in light, reached out and gently touched the key in Jiang Chen's hand.

The key emitted a dazzling light.

Then, Shigure's figure began to dissipate, turning into countless golden specks of light that merged into the core crack.

"Let's begin," the system's voice softened, as if it had finally let go of something. "I'm ready."

Jiang Chen held the key, aimed it at the crack in the core, and slowly inserted it.

The moment the key pierced the core, the whole world fell silent.

Golden light emanating from the crack enveloped Jiang Chen's hand, spreading upwards along his arm like a warm river flowing through his body, through his heart, and through his consciousness. He heard a voice—not the system's, not Shi Yu's, but countless voices converging together, as if the world itself was speaking to him.

"Thanks."

He closed his eyes, letting the golden light engulf him.