Weird Game: I brought an old version bug

The sound of fingernails scraping against the stone wall grew closer and closer.

Without hesitation, Jiang Chen grabbed Shi Yu's arm and pulled her into the nearest side alley.

The side alley was very narrow, barely wide enough for two people to stand side by side. Most of the crystal lamps overhead were off, and the dim light made it almost impossible to see anything more than three meters away.

He blew out the tinderbox and pressed it against the wall.

The two pressed themselves against the wall, holding their breath.

The sounds in the passageway paused for a moment, then continued.

It wasn't fingernails anymore, it was footsteps.

Very light, very slow, each step taken with great care—like something that knew it was tracking its prey.

Footsteps echoed from the direction they had come from, reverberating through the empty underground space.

Jiang Chen turned his head to the side and peeked out from the alley entrance.

He saw it.

A figure emerged from around the corner of the passage.

human form.

But the movements were very unnatural—one shoulder was higher than the other, and the left foot dragged on the ground when walking, as if the body's control system had malfunctioned.

The thing was wearing a tattered gray coat, had no hair on its head, and its skin appeared an abnormal grayish-white under the blue light of the crystal.

Jiang Chen's first reaction was: Player?

Then he saw the thing's face.

The facial features weren't completely distorted, but they were misaligned—one eye was higher than the other, the mouth was slightly open, and the tongue was sticking out as if frozen and wouldn't retract.

What gave him the creeps was the thing's pupil—unfocused, the grayish-white surface of the eyeball covered with a cloudy membrane, like a broken optical lens, yet still mechanically rotating.

Not a player.

It's something left over from the old version.

After the data was wiped out, all that remained was an empty shell—still patrolling the passageway according to some broken program instructions.

The thing walked to the center of the space and stopped.

It turned its head slightly, as if scanning its surroundings.

The grayish-white eyes paused for about a second as they swept across the side alley where they were.

Jiang Chen's hand was already gripping the dagger tightly.

But the next second, the thing turned its head.

It continued walking forward, deeper into the city, its left foot dragging on the ground, making a soft, rustling sound.

Only when the footsteps completely disappeared into the distant passage did Jiang Chen release his grip on the dagger and let out a soft breath.

"What is that?" he asked.

Shi Yu didn't look well.

"The old version of the patrol unit."

She said, "There are these things everywhere in Dawn City—when the system wipes data, it only wipes the live data, but these patrol units that run on system commands are still there. Because they don't belong to people, they are part of the building infrastructure."

"So the system didn't take them seriously."

"right."

Shi Yu said, "It's like the electrical outlet on your wall; you don't take the outlet with you when you move."

Jiang Chen glanced at the direction in which the thing disappeared.

"Have they already spotted us?"

"The target should be identified using visual and temperature perception."

Shi Yu said, "It paused for a moment just now, probably because it sensed the temperature difference on our side. But in its judgment logic, the side alley might be marked as an impassable area, so it automatically ignored it."

Jiang Chen's mind raced.

Residual data from the old version. Still working, but with logical flaws.

This is essentially the same as the BOSS battle against the Mineral Crystal Beast—a judgment loophole caused by inconsistencies in the data between the two versions, and he remembered this information.

The two emerged from the side alley and returned to the main road.

The scene in Dawn City's Third Administrative District was more dilapidated than they had expected.

The streets were wide enough for four carriages to travel side by side, but the road surface was riddled with cracks and collapses.

The buildings on both sides are mostly stone structures, and the roofs have collapsed to the point of collapse, revealing dark, hollow cavities inside.

Some buildings still have old versions of the GG sign hanging on the walls, the image of which has been eroded to the point of being almost unrecognizable, leaving only blurry color blocks.

Shiyu walked ahead, her pace quickening compared to before.

She seemed to be looking for something.

"Over here."

She turned at a cross street. "At the end of this street, there's an entrance to an underground level. The main control room of the distribution center should be there."

"You even remember the location of the control room?"

"It's not that I remember."

Shi Yu said, "It's a series of images. When I used to walk this road, I passed the same intersections and the same buildings every day. Over time, my muscles would remember them—even if I didn't want to remember them."

Jiang Chen didn't ask any more questions and followed behind her.

At the end of the street stood a square building, shorter than the surrounding structures.

There were no windows on the exterior wall, only a heavy iron door.

The iron gate has a rotary latch, which is coated with a layer of dark red anti-rust paint.

Shiyu walked to the door, grasped the turntable, and spun it hard.

The turntable emitted a sharp metallic scraping sound—creak—groan—as if no one had touched it for many years.

But the turntable didn't rust; with Shigure's full power, it opened up round and round.

A click came from the lock cylinder.

The door opened.

Inside is a downward stairwell.

The staircase was narrow and spiraled downwards, with a wall lamp that was off every two steps.

Jiang Chen relit the tinderbox, and the orange light illuminated the stairwell.

There were old graffiti on the wall—some symbols and numbers he couldn't understand.

Shiyu didn't even look and just kept walking down.

The spiral staircase went up about three floors, and at the bottom was an ordinary wooden door.

Shiyu pushed open the wooden door.

Behind the door is a spacious control room.

The room was about 30 to 40 square meters, with a crystal lamp hanging from the ceiling that flickered on and off.

In the center of the room stood a metal table, piled high with papers and documents.

There was also a cup of tea that had long since dried up—black tea stains remained in the cup, like time frozen in time.

Several stone slabs hung on the wall, covered with dense text and data.

A dozen or so wooden crates were neatly stacked on an iron rack in the corner, each crate bearing a unique number.

"This was the logistics registration station back then."

Shiyu walked to the metal table, her fingers lightly tracing the dust on its surface. "The supplies arrive here. First, register them, then distribute them for transport to the ground. I... I used to work here."

Jiang Chen looked at her.

She didn't use uncertain words like "maybe," "it seems," or "I feel."

She used the phrase "had worked there".

"What are you doing here?" Jiang Chen asked.

Shi Yu remained silent for a while.

"Record."

She said, "The type, quantity, and destination of the incoming and outgoing supplies—every record must be manually entered. Because the system sometimes misses data, a physical backup is necessary."

Jiang Chen walked to the wall and picked up a stone slab.

The text engraved on it was from an older version, which he could barely make out:

[Dawn City, Third Administrative District, Supply Ledger]

[Date: 297 days until the end of the lunar calendar countdown]

[Items to be received: 500 boxes of first aid medicine, 2000 boxes of compressed food, and 300 lighting crystals]

[Sent: None]

[Note: The surface entrance has been closed for three days. The system announcement states external maintenance, but no more supplies are being brought in from above.]

Below that is a line of even smaller characters, engraved deeper than the others:

They closed the door.

Jiang Chen put down the stone slab and picked up another one.

[Date: 290 days until the end of the lunar calendar countdown]

[Note: The system interfaces of main passageways A01 and A02 have been completely disconnected. Supplies remain for less than two months. The control room issued a final order: all non-essential personnel must evacuate to the lower levels of the fourth administrative district. However, the evacuation routes were blocked halfway through.]

The inscription on the third stone tablet is even shorter:

[Date: 285 days until the end of the lunar calendar countdown]

[Note: Crystal Energy supply has been cut off. Backup power for the Third Administrative District will run out in 72 hours.]

Jiang Chen looked at each piece one by one.

The records became shorter and shorter towards the end, and the handwriting became increasingly illegible—as if they were hastily carved under increasingly urgent circumstances.

[Day 280 Countdown: Lights Off. All residents on the lower floors have been relocated to the administrative center area.]

[Countdown 273 days: Backup power remaining 16%.]

[Day 271 Countdown: Backup power depleted. No instructions received from the ground.]

[Countdown 270 days: Last entry.]

Jiang Chen picked up the last stone slab—it was smaller than the others, and the handwriting was completely different.

It wasn't sloppy; it was very neat, each stroke precise, as if written in a very clear-headed state.

If you see this record—

[This indicates that the surface entrance to Dawn City has reopened.]

I don't know what time it is outside.

If the old version still exists, then you, like me, are data that hasn't been deleted yet.

[Or—you're from the new version. You're someone the system allowed to see these words alive.]

No matter who you are—

Head east. Pass through the ruins of the Old Square and the Fourth District, and walk to the base of the Energy Hub Tower.

Something is buried there.

[Things the system doesn't want you to see.]

Jiang Chen stared at the last line of text for a long time.

"Shigure".

"Um?"

"How many people used to work in this supplies registration office?"

Shiyu walked over and glanced at the stone slabs.

My gaze lingered on the last piece for a long time.

"...Two," she said, "the stationmaster and me."

"What's the station manager's name?"

Shiyu frowned, as if struggling to grasp something from her memory.

"His surname is—"

She paused several times. "His surname is Shen. Station Chief Shen. Everyone calls him Old Shen."

"What kind of person is he?"

Shi Yu remained silent for a long time.

He doesn't smile much.

She said slowly, "He speaks slowly and steadily—but he always keeps his promises."

Jiang Chen looked at her.

Shiyu's voice trembled slightly.

He said—

"Shigure, after this update is finished, I'll take you to see the surface."

This is the same sentence she said in Chapter 7.

Jiang Chen pointed to the last stone slab: "Did you write the words on this?"

Shi Yu lowered her head and looked at the neat strokes.

Her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

Then she reached out and gently touched the carvings on the stone slab with her fingertips—"No," she said.

"But the handwriting... I recognize it."

She looked up at Jiang Chen.

"It was written by Lao Shen."

The control room remained quiet for a long time.

After a long while, Shigure finally spoke.

The voice was calmer than before, as if all emotions had been suppressed to a bottomless abyss.

"Let's go."

She turned around and walked towards the door.

"Head east."

"Where to?"

"The ruins of the Old Square and the Fourth District."

Shi Yu stood at the top of the stairs, turned around and looked at him.

"Old Shen said there's something buried there—something the system doesn't want people to see. I want to go take a look."

There was no hesitation in her eyes.