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

Uhh....

"S-Shizu, I don't think that'll be a good idea..." Guidance weakly resisted, turning her gaze away from the one person she was just assaulting earlier.

"Nonsense! Father knows where to put-"

"You don't understand. I know where the story's going."

At the revelation, Shizu froze, her arms going limp on her sides as she whispered out, "Y-You... You know what's going to happen?"

pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "I made this world. I wrote all of your stories," Guidance whispered out. "The Emperor will fail. [Kattleyna] will fall before [Marquee] ever will."

Oh wow... I kind of feel like a backdrop character right now compared to Shizu and Guidance's drama session. Then again, what else was I supposed to do other than to listen and intervene in case they got too out of hand?

"T-That's not true," the princess shakily refuted. "The [Code Watcher]-"

"Is not a part of the game," Guidance sighed. "In fact, apart from you, none of us should be in this game in the first place."

"Woah, what's with the doom and gloom all of a sudden," I weakly chuckled, trying my best to keep tensions from going any higher. "I think it's safe to assume that nothing is going to plan with this world, correct?"

Guidance gave me a blank look before letting out a sigh of her own, "Well, your presence alone was already making the game engine act up in ways that aren't even logged in any type of software error. Adding myself in the equation, and surely this world will start disintegrating by the seams." She then turned to Shizu, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Yes?"

"Activate your [Manifest]."

"But I don't have-"

"It's pretty much a [Manifest] at this point," Guidance cut the princess off with an eye roll. "Let's just streamline it for efficiency's sake, yes?"

Huh... That was pretty all-professional of her just now. I guess the myth of programmers being burnt out efficiency maniacs had some semblance of truth in them.

"O-Okay... [Code Watcher]"

With a small declaration, Shizu's eyes turned black and green once more as she peered into the world behind the visual spectrum. Guidance watched patiently for some kind of reaction, her hands hovering over her keyboard as she waited for something to happen.

"W-what the..."

"What do you see?" the dev asked.

"The Numbers... They're turning into words?"

Okay? I have some semblance of knowledge on the subject at least, "Does that mean they're being turned into code?"

"That's what I need to know," Guidance murmured. "This [Manifest] of mine can interact with the code, but I can't exactly see the whole picture with just one screen when I'm used to having three. Meanwhile, Shizu here can do just that."

Wait... "But doesn't that mean you'll be coding essentially blind?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Then what were you doing earlier?"please visit pαпᵈα-:)ɴᴏᴠᴇ1.co)m

Guidance let out an exasperated sigh as she replied, "I was testing out the keyboard, as any self-respecting programmer would."

"Ah." Okay, that made sense at least.

I kept my silence as Shizu seemed to focus on what she was seeing, her mouth mumbling out nothings as she tried to read out the words she was coming up with.

"Okay, keep doing that."

To my surprise, Guidance whipped her keyboard back up and began typing, using Shizu's provided information to her advantage as she worked on whatever it was she was doing. For some reason, I kind of feel inadequate at seeing the two women actually doing work. Meanwhile, what the hell was I supposed to do? I couldn't code, and I sure as hell couldn't see the hidden code. I only knew basic PC troubleshooting. What little coding I did was way back during high school when I laid my hands on Visual Basic, and even that wasn't something I could do without a manual.

"What're you fixing?" I found myself asking.

"I'm working with what Shizu's giving me. And right now, she's giving me data about my own physical code."

Wait, what? "You mean you're fixing yourself?"

"What's there not to fix?" Guidance's scoffed. "I'm already trying to change my clothes into something more decent."

"Eh?"

[BZZZTTT!]

"Uggh..."

"KHH!"

I groaned as the world around us seemed to change, Guidance even moreso as she gritted her teeth through the changes she was undergoing. Whatever it was she did to herself, I didn't know. But what I did know was that she wasn't wearing her pajamas anymore. Gone was the spaghetti strap tank top and cotton pajamas. Now, her outfit consisted of something actually elegant and badass; a grey futuristic tailcoat with straps and holsters on both sides of the jacket, complete with black pants that seemed to glow blue in some places. Her shoulder-length hair was now styled into a low ponytail, and a pair of mismatching red and blue fingerless gloves appeared in her hands. It was overall kind of geeky and futuristic, but she somehow made it look cool.

"Ugh... That was.... more unpleasant than I expected..." Guidance groaned, one hand holding her head to steady herself as she closed her eyes. "I don't know how you handle that, Moriya."

"You get used to it," I chuckled as I shook off the minor headache. "It'll always be bad, but the first time's always the worst. How about-"

"BBLLEUUGHH-"

Oh dear me! "Shizu!"

My medical expertise kicking in, I rushed to the vomiting princess's side as she poured her stomach's contents out all over the wooden floor. Her eyes were back to their normal color, but the dark tears in her eyes were clearly not part of the intended side effects.

"BLLEUGH- O-Oh Gods.... BLLEUGGH!!!"

I held Shizu's hair up as she was reduced to being on all fours on the floor. Giving a knowing look to the other occupant in the room, the dev at least got my drift as she sprinted to grab a glass of water from the nearest sink. Well, at least we now knew that whenever Guidance wanted to change something, we had to make sure that Shizu wouldn't have her ability still running.

"T-That.... everything.... BLEuGh- Still spinning...."

Yep... In hindsight, we should've expected this.

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