By the third watch of the night shift, my eyelids were heavy enough to be lead weights, but I didn't dare close them.
The wind on the watchtower was fierce, making the wooden planks groan like they were ready to splinter. Marcus and Mia were below guarding the Core room, while I lay flat on the tower roof, staring into the abyss at the edge of the parking lot. The campfire light from earlier was long gone, but that prickle on the back of my neck remained—the feeling of being watched, sharp as a needle.
Around 2:00 a.m., a private notification flashed in my vision, visible only to me.
[System Notification: Bug Feedback Acknowledged (Exclusive)] Detection: Player Alex Chen (#847291) utilized the "Core Emergency Overload" mechanic during the Territory Defense to achieve effects exceeding intended parameters. This action has been flagged as a "Technical Debt" event.
Current Core Status:
Operational Integrity: 87% (Permanent Bad Sectors: -13%)
Risk Assessment: Predicted Core collapse probability during high-load combat: +4% per instance (Cumulative).
Repair Conditions: Acquire a "Core Patch Kit (Beta Hotfix)" x1 and inject within 24 hours (Failure to comply will trigger random Negative Events).
Potential Patch Locations:
Abandoned Data Center (Marked on minimap, ~3.2km from current Territory).
Looting other player territories.
Random System Drop (Probability <5%).
Submit this Bug Feedback?
Submit: Instantly receive "Bug Hunter Badge" (+5% chance to detect exploits) + 50 XP + System Public Commendation (Increases Reputation, but the exploit will be permanently patched).
Ignore: Exploit remains available for use, but the System will flag you as a "Malicious User." Subsequent actions will increase "Blacklist Risk" (3 strikes leads to System "Optimization").
I stared at the text, the sleepiness vanishing instantly.
"Technical debt..." I hissed under my breath.
I knew that term too well. Back at the office, every time we used a dirty hack to meet a deadline, the debt would just snowball. Eventually, the system would crash, the project would fail, and everyone would go down with the ship. Now, I was the one holding the bill.
That overload had saved everyone, but it wasn't free. The Core was like an old server—I'd overclocked it to survive the surge, and now the sectors were fried. One more push like that and we'd be looking at a permanent Blue Screen of Death.
I didn't choose immediately. If I submitted it, the exploit was gone. We'd be "safe" from the system, but if Thorn came back, we'd have nothing but our grit. If I kept it, I had a backdoor, but the System would be watching me like a micromanager waiting to fire me for a KPI violation.
I clicked "Decide Later"—the System actually provided a greyed-out 12-hour buffer.
As the prompt vanished, a low, mechanical whir-buzz echoed from the Core room—the unmistakable sound of a dying hard drive trying to read a corrupted sector.
Mia climbed up the tower, her voice barely a whisper. "What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost."
I hesitated, then shared the notification with her—a perk of our "Team Binding," apparently. She read it in silence for a long time.
"This system is playing with us," she finally said. "It doesn't just want us to survive; it wants us to play 'correctly.'"
"A programmer's greatest fear is being killed by his own code," I said with a wry smile. "Now I'm the guy who wrote the temporary patch."
Below us, Marcus leaned against the Core room wall, his axe nearby. Li Wei and the two other women—Lin Xiao and Zhang Jing—were busy at the workbench. Zhang Jing was the quietest of the bunch, but she'd proven her worth by tagging a bruiser with a glass bottle during the siege.
Suddenly, Lin Xiao let out a sharp "Ah!"
We all snapped into combat readiness, but it wasn't an enemy. It was Lin Xiao's system panel glowing bright gold.
[Class Awakening Triggered!] Player: Lin Xiao (Lv.4). Conditions met: Multiple combat instances using kitchen implements + successful crafting of improvised rations. Class Unlocked: [Guerilla Chef (Rare)]
Class Traits:
Culinary Alchemy (Lv.1): Craft recovery items from any ingredients (HP Recovery +20%~50%, chance for random buffs).
Makeshift Seasoning (Passive): Carrying her food provides teammates with additional Stamina/Resistance.
Kitchen is a Battlefield: +15% Damage and +10% Crit Rate when wielding cookware.
Lin Xiao stood frozen, still clutching a greasy frying pan she'd salvaged from the kitchen.
"I... I awakened?" she stammered, eyes wide with disbelief.
Zhang Jing was the first to react, rushing over to hug her. "That's amazing! We finally have a healer—wait, a chef!"
Lin Xiao blushed. "Not a healer... a cook."
I hopped down from the tower and approached her. "Want to give it a spin?"
She nodded and pulled a few bags of expired chips, a bottle of water, and half a pack of spicy jerky from the resource crate. As she tossed them into the pan, a virtual stove interface ignited in the air. She took a breath, her hands moving through the interface with the precision of a chef—or a coder refactoring a messy script.
Three minutes later, a plate of "Spicy Chip Medley"—looking bizarre but smelling heavenly—was ready.
[Item: Emergency Power Meal (Lv.1)]
Effect: HP +60, Stamina +15 (1 hour duration), Minor Fire Resistance.
Note: The taste is... abstract, but it gets the job done.
We each took a bite. It tasted like a street fight between salt and spice, but a second later, my HP bar ticked upward visibly, and the bone-deep fatigue began to lift.
Marcus inhaled half the plate. "If you level this up, can you make pot roast?"
Lin Xiao laughed shyly. "Maybe."
I patted her shoulder. "Welcome to the core team. You're our lifeline now."
The small victory gave everyone a boost, but the night wasn't over. Around 4:00 a.m., a global announcement scrolled across everyone's HUD:
[Beta Phase 1 – Player Conflict Escalation] Multiple territory raids confirmed. The System encourages 'Healthy Competition,' but malicious destruction will trigger 'Balance Adjustments.' Special Note: Players with high accumulated Technical Debt should prioritize repairs.
Thorn had definitely seen it too. He was probably out there, cursing my name. Meanwhile, the buzzing from our Core room grew more frequent—the sound of a hard drive in its death throes.
I looked at the "Abandoned Data Center" marker on the map. 3.2 kilometers. Not far, but a death trap at night.
The 12-hour countdown was ticking.
I turned to the group. "When the sun hits the horizon, we're heading to the Data Center. If we don't fix the bad sectors in the Core, we're sitting ducks for the next raid."
Marcus nodded, grabbing his heavy axe. "Pack the Chef's new specials. We're going in buffed."
Lin Xiao raised her frying pan. "I... I'm ready."
Mia looked at me, her gaze lingering on the flickering light of the Core. "Are you going to submit that feedback, Alex?"
I remained silent for a few seconds, watching the dying pulse of our base.
"I haven't decided yet," I said. "But if we don't fix the hardware, the technical debt is going to bury us alive anyway."
From the darkness beyond the lot, that low, mechanical chuckle rippled through the air again. This time, it wasn't Thorn. It was the System, waiting for my answer.
[To be continued...]