Chapter 2: The Glitch in the Birthday Blues

Chapter 2: The Glitch in the Birthday Blues

Ran woke up on his twelfth birthday feeling distinctly un-celebratory. Sunlight streamed through his window, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air – tiny, energetic particles mocking his own stagnant cultivation. Another year older, another year cemented as the Clan Heir Who Couldn't. He half-expected a sympathy card from the clan elders instead of a gift.

He rolled out of bed with the enthusiasm of a slug being evicted from its favorite damp spot. Birthday celebrations in the Sayfrid Clan usually involved some form of public assessment or demonstration of progress. For Ran, that meant another round of polite smiles covering pitying thoughts. Maybe I can fake a sudden, debilitating allergy to Qi? That might buy me a year.

As he contemplated the logistics of feigning spontaneous energy-sickness, a faint ding sounded in his mind, like a tiny, slightly off-key bell.

Huh? Did a bird hit the window?

He looked around his room. Nothing seemed out of place. Just the usual sparse furniture, training manuals he barely understood, and the lingering scent of failure.

Then, text shimmered into existence directly in front of his eyes, hovering in the air like a transparent screen only he could see. It glowed with a soft, ethereal blue light.

[Welcome, Host Unit #734! Congratulations on reaching the designated Biological Activation Milestone (Age 12)!]

Ran blinked. He rubbed his eyes. The text remained. Okay, either I finally snapped under the pressure, or someone spiked my breakfast gruel.

[Initializing… Genesis Gaming System v0.9_beta Activated!]

[Warning: Beta Software. Features may be unstable, incomplete, or unexpectedly hilarious. Results May Vary. User assumes all existential risks. Good luck!]

Ran stared, mouth slightly agape. Genesis Gaming System? Beta? Hilarious? What in the Nine Hells is this? Was this some incredibly elaborate prank orchestrated by his annoying cousin Duncan? That seemed unlikely. Duncan lacked the subtlety, and probably the budget.

[Core Functionality Online: World Creation Interface (Limited), Player Dividend Loop (Active), System Energy Unit (SEU) Reservoir.]

[Current SEU: 1000 Units Available. Spend wisely... or don't, it's your funeral... metaphorically speaking. Probably.]

His initial confusion started shifting towards cautious intrigue. He hesitantly focused his thoughts on the words. 'Player Dividend Loop'? What does that mean?

The screen flickered, displaying new text.

[Player Dividend Loop: Simple Concept for Simple Hosts! Your created game world attracts Players (requires external deployment). Player activity (questing, exploring, existing vigorously) generates Ambient Reality Friction (ARF). System harvests ARF, refines it into pure Bio-Energy Dividends, and deposits directly into Host Unit's biological matrix. Bypasses standard biological cultivation limitations.]

[TL;DR: Players play game -> You get juice. Real power juice. Like, cultivation power. Capisce?]

Ran read it once. Twice. Three times. The implications slammed into him like a charging Boar-Ox. Players… playing a game… generating energy… that he absorbed… bypassing his trash-tier Spiritual Root?

Wait. Seriously? Like… a cheat code? For reality?

His heart started hammering against his ribs. The dull resignation that had become his constant companion evaporated like morning mist under a desert sun. This… this was it. This wasn't a prank. This felt like a lifeline thrown into the ocean of his mediocrity. A weird, possibly sentient, slightly sarcastic lifeline, but a lifeline nonetheless.

He mentally probed further. 'World Creation Interface'? 'Locked Options'?

[World Creation: Access the Genesis Void to build/modify game worlds. Initial access cost: 500 SEU. Warning: Void may contain existential dread and leftover code snippets from previous failed projects. Enter at own risk.]

[Other System Features: [Player Management], [Advanced Metaphysical Tuning], [Reality Index Stabilizer], [Sentient AI Buddy Module]... LOCKED. Requirements: Insufficient Host Level / Insufficient System Resources / Insufficiently Entertaining Host Antics. Try Turning It Off And On Again (Not Recommended).]

He ignored the locked features for now. The core loop was enough. More than enough. It was everything. A path to power that didn't depend on his faulty internal wiring. A way to escape the pitying looks, the disappointed sighs, the future as the clan's official paperweight.

The System's slightly unhinged tone and 'beta' status barely registered as concerns. Risk? Unstable features? Compared to the guaranteed mediocrity and slow decline his Grade 2 Root promised? There was no contest.

Okay, 'Genesis Gaming System v0.9_beta', Ran thought, a fierce grin spreading across his face for the first time in what felt like years. You might be weird, you might be glitchy, and you might have the personality of a snarky toaster, but you're MY glitchy, snarky toaster.

His twelfth birthday wasn't looking so bad after all. In fact, it might just be the day his life actually started. He had 1000 SEU, a plan forming in his mind, and a desperate, driving need to make this work.

Let's build a game.