Ezra Dirgantara, or Zayr in his new body, stood in the middle of the barren desert, staring at the flickering transparent screen in front of him.
> [KILL: Chicken of Doom - EXP +100]
> Bug Exploit Detected. No Penalty Given. System Is Broken.
He chuckled sarcastically. "If the system's broken, that's the system's fault, not mine."
Wasting no time, Ezra started testing the world. He clearly remembered many buggy locations in Oblivion Rift Online. One of the most famous glitches was the "Infinite Cactus Jump" in the desert area, which, if exploited, could launch players indefinitely.
He walked about a hundred meters and found a scrappy cactus half-buried in the ground.
"If my theory's correct..."
Ezra ran and jumped onto the cactus, mentally holding down the imaginary jump button.
TING!
His body shot into the air about 30 meters high.
"WOOOOHOOOOOO!"
He floated freely with a look of pure joy. But it didn't last long.
> [System Warning: Unauthorized Movement Detected.]
> [Applying Correction Protocol.]
"Eh?" Ezra panicked.
Suddenly, gravity snapped back to normal... but even stronger.
CRASH!
Ezra slammed into the ground, creating a small crater in the sand.
> [Health -9]
Ezra now had only 1 HP left.
"CRAP! I'M DOWN TO 1 HP?!"
He coughed hard, standing up while clutching his side.
"Okay, noted. The system's broken, but it's also semi-aware. Gotta be careful exploiting glitches."
Wincing in pain, Ezra decided to find a safe place to rethink his plan.
***
A few minutes later, Ezra found a small ruin at the edge of the desert. A half-collapsed building, maybe once an NPC inn.
As he approached to enter, a pop-up appeared:
> [Quest Triggered: Cleanse the Abandoned Inn]
> Eliminate all Corrupted Rats inside.
Ezra blinked.
"Cleaning an inn? Sounds basic."
But he knew better than to underestimate quests in this world. "Corrupted Rats" could mean goat-sized rats or ones that exploded.
With only 1 HP left, he thought carefully. If he misstepped, it would be permanent game over.
Then Ezra remembered another glitch: the "Rat Freeze Bug." If he stood in a specific corner before enemies spawned, their AI would freeze.
"Okay, worth trying."
He crept inside, found the narrow back-right corner, and stood still.
TING!
Two large red-eyed rats spawned... and, as expected, froze in place.
Ezra grinned widely.
He picked up a small rock from the floor and threw it at each rat's head.
> [Corrupted Rat defeated. EXP +2]
> [Corrupted Rat defeated. EXP +2]
"HAHAHA! Easy win, babyyy!"
Just as Ezra was about to celebrate, a new pop-up appeared:
> [System Warning: Exploit Abuse Detected. Applying Penalty.]
"AGAIN?!" Ezra screamed.
Two new rats spawned, twice the size, and moving normally.
"Oh, come onnnn!"
With only 1 HP, Ezra ran like crazy, bolting out of the inn chased by two giant monsters.
***
Ezra tumbled onto the sand, panting heavily.
"Okay, second note: If you're gonna exploit, always have an escape plan."
He checked his status screen.
> [Level 1]
> [HP: 1/10]
> [EXP: 104/200]
At least his EXP was rising nicely.
Ezra stared at the glitchy sky above. This world was broken. But that was his opportunity.
With a crooked smile, Ezra swore,
"If this world's broken, I'll be the most broken thing in it."
---
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