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

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into what felt like hours. The only thing keeping me from going insane was the assurance that the clackity sounds that Guidance's keyboard was giving me. I still didn't get how this whole situation was even possible, but details like that were pretty much a moot point when the situation itself was 'I'm trapped in an actual video game.' I sincerely hoped that the solo dev was at least able to get me into the game world. Whatever it was out there outside, I'd take it any day over the blank nothingness of this white void.

Hell, I'd even take just getting me back to the real world if the game was as incomplete as a patchwork of broken tiles.

[BZZT!!]

The world erupted into the familiar void of static. As opposed to the first two times it happened, this one felt significantly weaker. Heh, I guess I'm getting some sort of immunity from the glitch effect. Also, it probably meant that Guidance changed the world again.

*I-I think I got it.*

Yep. That was a confirmation.

I raised an eyebrow at Guidance's return. I could hear the tiredness in her tone, but frankly, I didn't care so long as I could get out of here, "About time, yeah?"

*Y-yeah...* the woman stuttered. *The program should work now. If not...*

The dev trailing off in her own sentence was giving me a foreboding vibe, "If not, what?"

*W-well... Just please check if it works first,* Guidance meekly requested. 'Practically asked' if I was really dissecting her tone. *Let's just cross that bridge if it happens, right?*

That did not give me any confidence whatsoever, "Riiight..."

Standing back up and staring at the book, the thing had no significant changes to it. I guess the fixes were more on the system-side as opposed to the aesthetic type. Either way, so long as it worked, I was fine with whatever the hell it looked like.

"Let's give it a shot."

Typing in my old idea, the concept of a gun that'll never run out of bullets was always a safe bet. Even if the enemy was a massive monster, there was nothing a decent gun couldn't chip out one bullet at a time. Pressing the enter key, I waited as the book seemed to turn to the next page.

...

...

Okay? Nothing was happening so far, at least. The book was still blank, however, but this was progress.

A few seconds later, the book seemed to glow as it slowly drifted away from the podium, the hard-bound pages fluttering madly against the non-existent wind. I guess this was some kind of event then, maybe to give me my [Manifest] after some sort of fanfare?

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Uhh....

It's been a few minutes now, possibly bordering on ten minutes since the whole 'glowing book' thing started. If I had to hazard a guess, this was the world trying to load in my [Manifest]? I kind of understand the wait though. I mean, if the system was supposed to generate any kind of powerset for the player to use, the programming chops required, as well as the processing load of such an action was probably more than even my old busted PC could even handle. And if this world was still operating on those kinds of rules... Oh no...

Was this world operating under my PC's specs?

*So, uhh... Moriya, right?*

Guidance's voice seemed to come from behind me as I heard the woman ask my name. Not that it was my real name, but it might as well be if this was a new world. "Yeah?"

*I- err... I wanna thank you for giving my game a chance,* the woman meekly thanked me, her tone sounding far too cute for some reason. *I never thought that anybody would even try to download something from an unknown dev like me.*

I scoffed, "Well, the premise was pretty cool, I guess. And not that I had anything else to play at the time, so here I am."

An awkward laugh echoed from around me, *I-it's cool? I honestly thought it was pretty cringe...*

Cringe? Yikes. From the word choice alone, I could already tell that she was pretty young; probably even around my age. Or maybe she was just young at heart? Who knows... Also, why am I even thinking about this?

"Cringe, huh," I chuckled. "It was still more ambitious than most games."

*Yeah...*

The sound of the floating book settled against the silence as Guidance and I stopped the banter. It was getting kind of awkward now. The whole place was just glowing blue with the way the book was emitting its glow.

...This was taking too long now.

"Is it supposed to be like this?" I asked into the ether. "It's been like, what? Almost thirty minutes now?"

...

...

*O-Oh? Did you say something?*

I raised an eyebrow at her response. She sounded tired. Then again, coding was supposed to be hard. I guess she was working hard trying to at least make me enter the game world. I appreciate the effort then.

"This is kinda taking too long," I scratched the back of my head. "I mean, I can only assume that it's still loading?"

The ambient noise was briefly broken by a loud thud coming from the world around me. Pretty sure it wasn't from the book, so that was probably from Guidance's side?

"You okay there?"

​ *I-I'm fine!* the shy woman practically screamed all around me. A few more thuds then echoed in my ears, before the familiar sound of keyboard clacking returning to the forefront once more. *Let's see.... Okay, last time I tested that feature out, it loaded after about.... forty minutes of waiting?*

What?! Forty minutes?! Forty long minutes?!

*The program I used for it was kind of finicky, so it really makes any kind of rig chug despite being top of the line,* Guidance smoothly explained. *Still, I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to take this long...*

"Then I suppose I'll just have to wait it out?"

*W-well, yes... Sorry about that...*

And just like that, the nervous, stuttering girl was back; far from the professional sounding woman that just spouted the technical jargon just a few seconds ago. I suppose we have our own specialties then. Either way, so long as I can get out of this place, then it's all the same to me.

Still, if I'm going to be stuck here waiting for at least thirty minutes more, I might as well try and kill for time. And what better way to do so than to field some questions to miss Guidance?

Let's start with something simple...

"Say, how are you even talking to me?"

As much as I'd like to not question my current existence, there was only so much my brain could take before it got too curious. If I was in this weird game-like world, then was I just a line of code now? Or was I actually a being of flesh and blood with Guidance having the reigns to manipulate the world as she saw fit? Just the method of her trying to talk to me would probably give some insight to this. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too earth shattering.

*Well, u-uhmm... It's... kind of hard to explain?* the woman stuttered out questioningly. *It's like... I'm talking to you in my head....*

Talking to me in her head? "As in telepathy?"

Guidance hummed through the air in thought, *I-I guess? I'm pretty sure I'm not moving my mouth here... And I'm not typing out my thoughts while coding... S-so yeah...*

Hoo boy... So she was talking to me straight with her thoughts, which would mean that she had... complete control over me? Wait...

"You're coding the game, so you're in front of a computer right now?"

Her voice sounded tired and clearly annoyed, *Yeah? How else would I be working to get you out of there?*

The edge in her tone was different again, far from the stutter that it used to hold. I guess I struck a nerve. Still...

"Can you see me?"

This would be the clincher. If I was truly a character stuck in a game, the philosophical debate regarding the state of my being would become the least of my concerns. Not to mention, I'd have my privacy completely obliterated if this Guidance chick was able to look at me twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.

*Of course. Why wouldn't I be?* the stern persona replied again. *If I couldn't, how else would I be able to help you get out?*

"Figures," I scoffed. Well, that's masturbating completely thrown out the window. "You wouldn't be much of a dev if you can even see your game world, wouldn't it."

The constant clattering of keys stopped for a brief second before continuing on again. Guidance's shy persona was back in full swing, *Y-yeah... I-it's not like I haven't been doing this for a few years now...*

Huh...

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...

That was pretty awkward. Good job, me, for making a girl uncomfortable like usual. It's like an actual superpower at this point! And most of your friends are girls too! How in the world did that make sense?!

*The Journey to Completion begins with the First Step, Somatic*

Woah! The in-game narrator hijacked the comms again. I guess the damn thing finished loading?

*Take your [Manifest] and go forth on your adventure*

Guidance's recorded voice ended as the book finally floated back down to the podium. With a flash of light, the small object coalesced into a shape that was familiar to me; two pistols of contrasting colors. Black and white. [Blanc and Noire].

*May your Journey be safe, Somatic*

Taking the guns from the podium, a rush of energy shot through my arms as it diffused throughout my entire body. I felt my blood move towards the base of my guns, feeding the new weapons with the ammunition that they needed to function.

"Nifty..."

Doing a few poses to get a feel for them, I couldn't help but grin as the prospect of an adventure still succeeded in making me all giddy inside. What was I going to see? Would I be fighting some kind of big bad? Would I even make some friends along the way?

Who knows? But I'll be happy to figure it out!

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As soon as the world loads in, I guess.

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