The Bug Player

The forest had gone still, but Aria didn’t dare trust the silence.

Her lungs burned with every breath, her legs wobbled under her weight, and her swords were tacky with sweat where she gripped them. Every swaying branch, every birdlike trill, every shifting shadow prickled the back of her neck.

She slumped against a tree, trembling.

“I survived. Against something impossible. And… I got stronger. That’s insane!”

The thought was equal parts terrifying and intoxicating.

A faint shimmer appeared before her eyes.

+++
[Skill Progression → Evasion Instinct Lv.2 → Adaptive Reflex Lv.1]
+++

Her fingers twitched. Even in her fatigue, she felt it—the subtle sharpening of her body. Her vision seemed keener, her limbs lighter, her movements waiting to burst.

She exhaled shakily and pulled up her Status Menu. The familiar console unfolded, rows of numbers and stats she knew by heart—until her eyes snagged on something new.

+++
Name: Aria | Class: Duelist | Lv. 15
HP: 420 → 346 | Stamina: 100%
Strength: 12 | Agility: 29 (+7) | Vitality: 15
Unique Traits: Adaptive Protocol (Active)

—

[Anomaly Detected]
→ Etheric Residue: 3%
→ Adaptive Hybridization: Monitoring…
+++

Her chest tightened. Etheric? That was Mana! A mage coding. Duelists didn’t touch ether. And Hybridization? What the hell did that mean?

Her gut whispered the truth before she wanted to admit it: the system wasn’t just giving her buffs—it was rewriting her.

A cracked smile tugged at her lips despite the dread.

“Guess being a bug has perks…”

“Hang on!” Before she lost her nerve, Aria tried asking the system how to exit the game. The only reply was silence.

“Hmnn… fine. Let me try my in-game commands then.”

[Log out] — no response.

[Force logout] — nothing.

[Quit! Forcequit! Quit! Force quit!] …

[Out Out Out] …

Still nothing.

Her teeth clenched as the weight of it sank in. No escape. No system. Just her.

“Fuck it! Fine! So be it then!” she shouted, voice breaking into the void.

Breathing hard, she whispered to herself, “I just need to survive this… maybe when the system finally gives me a quest or mission, I’ll find a way.”

+++++++

By the time she stumbled back toward the city walls, dusk had fallen. Torches flickered above the gates, painting the stone in pools of orange light. Merchants, adventurers, and wagons streamed in and out, their voices rising like a tide.

But something was wrong. She felt it before she saw it.

Whispers. Murmurs.

Stares.

Near the plaza, a knot of players leaned together.

“Did you hear? A Level 15 survived a Hell-Bear.”

“No way. That’s impossible.”

“Must’ve been a glitch… a bug in the system.”

The words stabbed her.

Aria froze, ducking behind a cart stacked with grain sacks. Her chest squeezed tight. A bug. That’s all they saw her as.

As if to mock her, another notification blinked:

+++
[Unique Player Detected → Attention Level Rising]
+++

“Oh, great. Just what I needed.”

“Uh… hi?”

She spun, swords half-drawn.

“W-whoa! Easy!”

A boy stood there, hands raised. He couldn’t have been older than her, maybe younger. His leather armor was patched, his short dark hair plastered with sweat. But his eyes—nervous, bright—shone with something different. Something like… Respect.

“You’re the Level 15, right? The one who survived the Hell-Bear?” His voice was hushed.

“I… I didn’t think anyone could do that.”

Aria kept her guard up. “Who the hell are you?” Her voice was sharp, her stance tighter. Trusting anyone here was the last thing on her mind. The first time she arrived, she was mocked. The second, nearly eaten alive by a beast.

Now, standing before her, was a figure—a boy? A man? She couldn’t even tell, and that made him all the more dangerous.

“Ren, I’m Ren.” he said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“And uh, don’t get the wrong idea… I wasn’t stalking you. Just… observing. You’re somewhat… different!”

“Different?!”

“Yeah.” His grin wobbled, but his words were firm.

“Most players climb the boring way. Grinding mobs. Stacking stats. Hiding behind numbers. But you—” He leaned in, eyes gleaming.

“You adapt! You didn’t kill the Hell-Bear, but you lived. That’s scarier than killing it!”

Aria’s throat tightened. Her eyes flicked back to the faint anomaly still hovering in her console. Different. He had no idea how right he was.

+++++++

Aria eased her stance. She couldn’t sense any ill intent from the person in front of her.

“Come. This isn’t the right place,” Ren said, gesturing for her to follow.

With no real choice—and after a few long minutes of hesitation—she finally moved.

They slipped into the ruined outskirts, where half-collapsed walls and overgrown streets hid them from prying eyes. Perching on a broken pillar, Ren finally began to explain.

Guilds ruled the districts. Elites hoarded resources. Anyone labeled “abnormal” was either recruited… or erased.

The word erased clung to her like ice.

“So, I’m a target,” she murmured.

Ren nodded grimly.

“Unless you find allies.” His gaze softened.

“I could help! We could help each other!”

Aria hesitated. Trust was expensive, and she was broke. But Ren didn’t have the cold greed she’d seen in others. He looked like someone barely hanging on himself.

“…Fine!” She said at last. “I’ll stick with you. For now!”

Ren’s grin was quick, relieved.

“Okay! Deal!”

+++++++

They trained beneath the rising moon.

Aria tested her new reflexes against low-level mobs—wolves, goblins, the kind that would’ve given her trouble yesterday. Now, every dodge felt sharper, smoother, less desperate. Near-misses rewarded her again and again.

+++
[Adaptive Trigger → +2 Agility]
[Adaptive Reflex → Lv.2]
+++

Sweat plastered her hair to her forehead, but exhilaration pulsed beneath her fatigue. She wasn’t just leveling. She was evolving.

Ren on the hand watched her, awestruck.

“I’ve never seen anyone grow like that in hours. You’re like… a glitch that fights back!”

Aria smirked weakly.

“Guess I’m the system’s favorite error!” Then a smirk appeared on her face as she remembers the silence that the system gave her recently.

But then… The system chimed cheerfully in her head, its voice glitching between singsong and static:

+++
[Heeey~ Player Aria! ♥
Achievement unlocked: Not Dead Yet.]
+++

“…You’ve got to be kidding me!” Aria muttered. This system sure knew how to annoy people.

+++++++

The next day, chaos found them.

The marketplace buzzed with lantern light and chatter when a hush rolled through the crowd. A man strode forward in gleaming armor, his level tag flashing like a threat.

[Lv. 52]
A crimson guild insignia glowed over his nameplate. He smirked.

“So this is the bug everyone’s whispering about.” His voice cut through the plaza.

“Hmmmnn… Pathetic. You shouldn’t exist here!”

Ren stepped forward.

“Ignore him, Aria. He’s baiting you!”

But Aria’s fingers already tightened on her swords. She felt the stares, the whispers. If she ran now, she’d always be the hunted.

“Fine,” she snapped.

“Let’s see who the bug really is!”

+++++++

The duel cracked the plaza open.

His sword came down like a hammer. She twisted aside, sparks leaping where steel bit stone. The crowd gasped. She couldn’t match his stats. But then—she saw it.

The twitch of his shoulder before a thrust.

The flare of his nostrils before a feint.

The patterns of his movement.

+++
[Adaptive Reflex → Lv.3]
[Counter Instinct Lv.1 Unlocked]
+++

Her body moved before thought, sliding past his strike, her blades flickering in sudden counters.

Gasps rippled. She wasn’t dodging by chance anymore—she was reading him.

The guild player snarled.

“Impossible!” Sweat beaded down his brow.

One final sidestep. His blade whooshed past her. Aria’s swords flashed, steel kissed steel… and with a sharp clang, his weapon spun from his hands, skittering across stone.

Silence. Then… the crowd erupted.

The marketplace roared with laughter, disbelief, awe.

A Level 15 had just disarmed a Level 52.

The man’s face burned red. He turned on his heel and stormed off as jeers followed him.

+++++++

Aria’s chest heaved. Her hands shook… not from fear, but exhilaration.

Ren grabbed her shoulder, grinning ear to ear.

“See? You’re not a bug. You’re a damn system-breaker!”

Aria swallowed hard. The rush faded, replaced by cold dread as the system chimed again in her mind, voice playful but tinged with static:

+++
[Woo~ Congrats, Bugsy! ♥]
[Adaptive Event Detected → Social Threat Level Rising]
[Recommendation: Make friends fast ♥ Or, y’know, run.]
+++

Aria didn’t linger to hear the rest. The weight of the crowd’s stares pressed on her like chains, and every whispered bug gnawed at her chest. Ren tugged her arm, urging her toward the safety of the alleys.

But even in the shadows, there was no escape from the system’s mocking hum in her ears:

+++
[Player Flagged → Duels Pending Authorization]
[Warning: High-ranking guild interest detected ♥]
+++

Her gut twisted. Whatever had just happened in the plaza wasn’t over… it was only the opening act.

Somewhere above, in the marble balconies of the guild halls, eyes sharper than blades had already marked her name.

Tomorrow… she wouldn’t be facing whispers. She would be facing judgment.