This is a Beta Test?! - A Literally Broken System

*Partially,* Guidance sighed, her keyboard clacking as she worked. *Part of the blame is on me for failing to put a proper parameter safeguard, and a part of it is on the engine itself.*

Huh... Programming woes are to blame then. So all of the horrors I just went through earlier were just one massive list of bugs? "Guidance?"

*Yes, I'll try to fix it, Moriya,* the dev tiredly sighed. *For now, let's just make sure that Shizu's gonna be fine, okay?*

"What- Oh sure," I scoffed before shaking my head. "But that's not the point. It's clear that your game is a buggy mess."

I heard an audible cough come out from the solo dev's side as she stuttered out, *I-It's not my fault the engine's a mess. Blame it on the company...*

Company? "Wait... What company? I've never heard of any game using this Re:Mind Engine before..."

Guidance grumbled out, *Don't bother asking. I hate working there...*

I blinked at the hostile response. I guess she had some bad blood. I could only assume that she quit already to pursue being an indie dev.

[CHIME!]

At the familiar sound of things happening, I quickly turned my attention to the prison of command prompts encasing Shizu. The torrential stream of code had stopped, leaving a single blinking line on each of the windows as they seemed to wait for new inputs.

*Oh, it's done,* Guidance sighed, her relief palpable in her voice. *That's one problem solved, at least.*

In a similar fashion as my previous windows, the prompts slowly disappeared with a flash of shimmering light, revealing a now unconscious Shizu lying peacefully on the ground. The wounds on her face were gone, replaced with their former grace and beauty as her elegance stood at the forefront once more.

*She'll wake up in a sec,* the dev droned out, her keyboard still sounding off as she spoke. *I couldn't fix everything, seeing as the A.I. just went to town with her code, but she'll be more or less the same.*

"Thanks, Guidance," I smiled. "And sorry for waking you up for this."

She let out a hollow chuckle, *It's fine. This game is my baby, and all of its characters my creation. If it breaks, I'll do my damn hardest to fix it.*

I returned her declaration with an appreciative chuckle as I approached the unconscious Shizu. Making sure that the sleeping beauty was comfortable, I turned my attention back to Guidance. "I'm assuming that you're gonna be working on this game then?"

*I already am,* she yawned. *Just focus on enjoying my game, even if it's as unpolished as it is now.*

"So I guess I'm now your personal bug tester then," I scoffed. It wasn't something I ever saw myself doing, but I could see the fun in such an activity.New n𝙤vel chapters are published on

*You will be if you wanna live,* Guidance ominously chuckled. *We don't even know how this game will behave anymore. Your presence has already ruined my code. Who knows what will happen?*

I laugh at the dark humor, "Yeah... Maybe you'll get stuck in here with me one day."

A beat of silence followed my joke, Guidance freezing in her metaphorical seat as I was left hanging. "Guidance?"

*O-Oh! S-sorry, just spaced out there for a second...*

"Go back to sleep," I sagely advised. "You're more liable to make a mistake now than when you wake up later."

*But my code though...*

"Your code can wait," I sternly chided. "Take it from someone that used to be in the medical field."

Sleep was vital to proper cognitive functions. Even if we were kind of exempt from the rule, most workers have a schedule that allowed eight-hour sleep cycles. Well, for the regular people, at least. Us poor folk have to make do with six hours or less.

"I'm sure you want to-"

*Way ahead of you, Moriya,* Guidance cut me off, her yawn sounding legendary as her keyboard stopped sounding off. *Just call me when you need me...*

I let out a silent chuckle as I let the dev get her well-deserved rest. Beside me, Shizu was still asleep, and all was currently right with the world. Still, I couldn't help but feel like I forgot something... Wait... "Guidance!"

*Yes?*

"Who's supposed to give me the first quest?"

I knew I was forgetting something. I didn't even know who it was. And I was pretty sure it wasn't Shizu, now that-

*She's right there next to you,* the dev lazily replied. *And don't you dare lay a finger on her.*

Eh... I wasn't some desperate shmuck, Guidance- wait... "It was Shizu the whole time?"

*Just wait for her to wake up,* Guidance audibly waved me off. *She'll know what to do.*

I could only blink at her words. Seriously? It was my tour guide the whole time?!

*Good night, Moriya...*

"Good night...."

I found myself trailing off, still flabbergasted at the revelation just given to me. Shizu was the first quest giver? How could I miss her?! She was already hard to miss back when she was still clearly in a teenager's body, more so now... Then again, I was probably distracted by all of the spectacle that being in a different world had to offer.

"Heh... My mistake then..."

Looking up, the twinkling [Stars] of the cave roof above gently illuminated the world around us. The dark, cool shade of purple surrounding us seemed like a cozy backdrop as Shizu breathed lightly before me.

I let out a sigh, "I guess I can wait.."

Sitting beside her, I placed her head on my lap as I let her get some rest from her previous ordeal. It wasn't like I was in any hurry to do some progress anyway. Who knows how many more bugs were in this world? How many glitches were just waiting for someone to spring them and take me on a wild ride? Progressing was just guaranteed to make me encounter all of what this game what to offer.

And knowing all of that, how many of them were liable to kill me?

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