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

I hummed in agreement as I listened to the dev mumble about her own game. At that point, I just let her ramble about what she still needed to fix with her code. All the while, I just let out a grunt or word of acknowledgment every time she gave me a lull. It was kind of therapeutic, listening to someone gush about their passions while you yourself are doing some menial braindead work. There was just a way with how animated she sounded whenever she actually talked about her work, no matter how buggy or broken it might be.

*Oh right... You might've noticed something in your [Manifest] bar before? Something about [Manifest Points]?*

"Hmm?" I looked up, my attention peaking up as I remembered. "Wait a sec, [SS2]"

[SS1][STAT SCREEN 2][SS3]

[MANIFEST: Blanc and Noir]

[MANIFEST LEVEL: 1/10]

[MENTAL FORTITUDE: 0]

[MANIFEST POINTS: 0]

[MANIFEST QUIRKS]

[Blood Bullets: [Blanc and Noir] utilizes the Somatic's blood as ammunition. Drains 3% of Max [HP] per shot.]

Opening up the window, I quickly trained my gaze on the aforementioned points that Guidance told me. It was still firmly at zero though, so I won't be doing anything with it anytime soon. "Yeah? I see it now."

*Okay...* the dev sighed as she then explained. *This... might sound strange to you, but that actually correlates with the [Moves] system.*

I actually stopped midstep, my brows furrowing in growing confusion. "Come again?"

Guidance let out another sigh as she replied, *[Manifest Points] are spent to acquire [Moves]. I... just forgot to move the UI element of it to the [Moves] tab.*

My face scrunched up at what she was saying. What? "You mean... I should treat these points as skill points? They're not even directly related to the window that they're at?"

*Please don't remind me...*

Wow....

I couldn't help but let out a laugh, my utter disbelief translating to genuine humor as the weight of the bug slowly settled in. It wasn't that dangerous of an error. In fact, it was only a minor inconvenience in the long run. But the fact that it even existed just further cemented the fact that this wasn't a world with logic... Wait, why am I only now even realizing this...

*Moriya?*

I blinked as Guidance's dejected tone echoed through the back of my head, my attention solely back on the land of the real as the swamp below me slowly settled back into solid ground. Huh... I guess I made decent progress. "Yes?"

*Are you... Are you mad?*

Huh? "I'm not? What makes you think that?"

*Well, you keep screaming at me for one...*

Ouch... That actually made guilt flare up inside my chest. "Oh..."

*The game's a mess, and it keeps trying to make your life in there miserable, right?* she whispered out, her voice almost drowned out by the train she was riding. *I just thought that.... that you might be mad at me.*

"Don't think that," I quickly replied. "I might be annoyed, but don't think I'll be mad at you. And even then, I'm pretty quick to forgive. Don't worry about it. I'm managing right now, right?"

*Y-Yeah...*

I let out a sigh, "Look, just focus on what you can do. I'll keep telling you stuff that you might've missed, and you can work to fix them on your end. Sound fair?"

Guidance didn't reply to me with words, but her hum of reluctant acceptance was just as good as a nod of assent. Either way, I guess this was gonna be our dynamic for the foreseeable future.

A comfortable silence followed suit, the sound of the marshy swamp barely filling in the idle quietness around me as Guidance's surrounding background noise faintly threatened to spill over to the pristine quiet of the nature around me. Eventually, my feet finally stopped sinking into the muck as I found myself back on solid ground once more.

*Oh! M-My stop's here...* Guidance suddenly chimed up. *I honestly don't have the energy to do things tonight... Can the fixes wait till I get some free time?*

I nodded despite knowing she couldn't see me. "Sure thing. Take care of yourself out there, wherever you are."

*T-thanks...*

Letting out a sigh, I tuned out Guidance's ever-present aura as I returned to the task at hand. The forest was thinning out the more I pushed myself forward. Shizu was still quietly snoring on my back, and judging by the salty smell in the air, I could only surmise that we were near some kind of sea or ocean... or whatever a body of water inside a world-spanning cave was called.

"I'm liking where this is going..."

With a grin, I picked up my pace through the surrounding trees and shrubbery. Using the [Midasean Star] as a guide, I kept going north, the smell of the sea only getting stronger as faint ocean waves began crashing against my ears. It was a good thing then that I never seemed to get tired as I practically power-walked through the brush, still making sure that Shizu's beauty sleep wasn't getting disturbed. Finally...

"Oh wow.... this is really nostalgic..."

Predictably, the strong aroma of salt water hitting my face made some memories from my childhood pop up in my head. They weren't relevant, but I just couldn't help the correlation as I moved past the last brush barring my way and... and....

What...

I stood dumbfounded, my eyes wide open as my brain struggled to process just what the hell I was supposed to see. "Eh... Am I seeing this right?"

Standing just above a sheer cliff, the strong sea breeze hit me right in the face even as I failed hilariously in recognizing just what was even in front of me. A sea of red stretched out all the way to the distant horizon, the same five-letter word repeating all jumbled together in what I could only describe as a literal ocean of utter hilarity.

"Seriously, Guidance? How?!" I yelled out in disbelief. "This is just embarrassing!"

I mean, how could someone screw up simple water textures?! It's literally just water!

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