Weird Game: I brought an old version bug

"So, how many doors like this are there in the city now?"

Jiang Chen sat on a plastic stool at a breakfast stall, holding a cup of soy milk in his hand, his eyes fixed on a black spot on the exterior wall of the office building across the street.

The spot wasn't big, about the size of a fist, and it looked like a stain on the gray wall.

But if you stare at it for a while, you'll find that it's actually slowly expanding.

It's just that the speed is so slow that it's almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Shi Yu sat opposite him, holding a fried dough stick in her hand, but didn't eat it.

“I counted last night,” she said, “and found seven places along the way from my place to yours.”

"Seven locations." Jiang Chen repeated the number. "Yesterday evening, on my way back, I only saw three."

"So they are increasing."

Jiang Chen took a sip of soy milk and didn't say anything.

Last night on the rooftop, the voice claiming to be "part of the old system" said—the door is open and can't be closed.

At the time, he thought it was just a metaphor, meaning that the barrier between two worlds had been broken.

But now, sitting here, watching the data rifts from the game sprout on the buildings of the real world, he truly understands the meaning of that sentence.

The word "door" is used literally.

"Where do these doors lead?" Shigure asked.

"I don't know," Jiang Chen said, "but we can give it a try."

Shi Yu looked at him without saying a word.

"Are you sure?" After a long pause, she finally spoke. "We don't even know what those doors are, and we're just going to walk right in?"

"That doesn't sound like something you would say."

Shi Yu was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"When we first met, you went to grind monsters in a level 8 wilderness area all by yourself, ignoring even the 'high-risk areas' marked by the system. Now, seeing a few doors, you're hesitating?"

Shiyu was silent for a few seconds, then smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, but a smile that said, "You're right, I was indeed hesitating about something."

"Maybe it's because this time it's not in a game," she said. "Last time it was in a game, so dying was fine, since it was in a game anyway."

But this time, if something really goes wrong, there won't even be a chance to rewind.

"Dying in the game is real death," Jiang Chen said. "Have you forgotten what the system announcement says? 'Death is real death.'"

"That's true."

Shiyu put down the fried dough sticks, stood up, and patted the oil off her hands.

"Let's go. Which door should we start with?"

Jiang Chen stood up and pointed to the black spot on the exterior wall of the office building across the street.

"The most recent one."

The two crossed the road and stood in front of the office building.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary commercial office building. People are coming and going in the lobby on the first floor, and the security guard is sitting behind the reception desk scrolling on his phone. Everything seems normal.

But that black spot was stuck to the glass curtain wall on the second floor.

From the outside, it looked like a stain on the glass. But Jiang Chen took a closer look and discovered...

That's not something attached to the glass surface; it's seeping out from inside the glass.

It's as if some substance has seeped into this side from another space.

"Can you see more information?" Shi Yu asked.

Jiang Chen activated the rules-based reconnaissance and aimed it at the black spot.

[Rule Reconnaissance (Lv.1) in use]

[Consumed: 15 Spirit Points | Current Spirit Points: 75/90]

The feedback he received made him frown.

[Target: Dual-boundary fracture - Unstable]

Status: In progress (34%)

[Source: Data layer penetration test of the old version]

[Note: The old version of the archaeological data is seeping into the real world. When the seepage reaches 100%, the rift will stabilize into a passable "door," connecting the real world to the corresponding location in the old version of the data layer.]

[Current passability: No]

[Estimated stabilization time: Approximately 3 days]

"It's not stable yet," Jiang Chen said. "The progress is 34%, and it will probably take another three days to fully open it."

"Three days..." Shi Yu mused. "What about that door from last night? The one downstairs in your dorm?"

"That has stabilized."

How did you know?

"Because I saw something there," Jiang Chen said, "a black vortex, like an open door."

Shi Yu looked at him and remained silent for a few seconds.

Why didn't you tell me yesterday?

"Because I haven't had time yet," Jiang Chen said. "And I wasn't even sure if it was real. It wasn't until I saw more cracks today that I was certain it wasn't an illusion."

Shigure took a deep breath and then turned to look at the end of the street.

"Where do we go now?"

"Go back to that office building," Jiang Chen said. "That door on the rooftop is the first one to appear, and it's currently the only one that's stable. If we want to figure out where these doors lead, that's the best place to start."

"OK."

The two turned and walked back. After a few steps, Shiyu suddenly stopped.

"Wait a moment."

"What's wrong?"

Shi Yu squatted down and looked at the ground by the roadside. There was a very thin black line in the gap between the paving stones of the sidewalk, as if someone had drawn it with a marker.

But upon closer inspection, it's not painted on; it's the color of the floor tiles themselves that's changing.

Black is seeping out from the cracks.

"There's one here too," Shi Yu said.

Jiang Chen squatted down and touched the black line with his hand. A faint vibration came from his fingertip, as if something was flowing underground.

[Rule Reconnaissance (Lv.1) in use]

[Consumed: 15 Spirit Points | Current Spirit Points: 60/90]

[Target: Dual-boundary fracture - Unstable]

Status: In progress (12%)

[Source: Data layer penetration test of the old version]

"Progress 12%." Jiang Chen stood up. "Slower than the last one."

He looked around. People were coming and going on the street, and no one noticed the tiny black lines under their feet.

The morning rush hour had just ended, and commuters hurried to work. A crowd gathered around a breakfast stall, and a food delivery driver on an electric scooter was waiting for the red light at the intersection.

everything is normal.

But those black lines were slowly spreading beneath their feet.

Jiang Chen suddenly thought of a question.

"Shigure, can you see these cracks?"

Shi Yu paused for a moment, then said, "Of course you can, it's right here..."

She stopped halfway through her sentence.

She noticed that a passerby had stepped directly onto the black line without any reaction.

When that person stepped over it, the black lines seemed to disappear as if they didn't exist at all.

There was no obstruction, no tactile sensation, and it didn't even attract the person's attention.

"They can't see it," Shi Yu whispered.

"Only we can see it," Jiang Chen said. "Or rather, only those who have access to the old version of the data can see these cracks."

Shigure's expression became complicated.

"What does this mean?"

"This means these cracks are from the 'old version'," Jiang Chen said. "Ordinary players—or rather, ordinary people's eyes—can't receive the data signals from the old version. Only people like us... who have connections to the old version, can see them."

"Then what's the difference between us and ordinary people?"

"The difference is," Jiang Chen looked at her, "that they live in the current version of the world. We, on the other hand, can see what it looks like when two versions are superimposed."

Shiyu did not speak.

She looked down at the slowly expanding black line on the ground and suddenly felt that there was something really separating her from the world.

It's not that others can't see her, it's that she can see things that others can't.

"Let's go," Jiang Chen said. "Let's check that door on the rooftop first."

The two walked quickly back to the office building.

This time, they took the elevator directly to the top floor and then walked up the stairs to the rooftop.

The door to the rooftop was not locked, and there was not even a trace of dust on the doorknob being disturbed, but the door could indeed be opened.

Jiang Chen pushed open the door to the rooftop and walked out.

During the day, it looks no different from an ordinary office building rooftop.

The ground is covered with a waterproof layer, the edges are fenced off, and the city skyline is visible in the distance.

But in the center of the rooftop, in the same spot as last night, there was a black vortex.

It's still there.

But unlike last night, during the day the vortex looked more like a three-dimensional void.

It is not painted in the air, not an illusion, but a real entrance that exists in space.

The edges are deep black, and the center is pure black. When light shines on it, it seems to be sucked in, without any reflection.

"That's it," Jiang Chen said.

Shiyu walked to the whirlpool, stretched out her hand, and hovered it less than ten centimeters from the edge of the whirlpool.

"It's windy," she said. "A very cold wind, blowing from inside to outside."

Jiang Chen also reached out and felt it. There was indeed a wind, as if it were blowing up from deep underground, carrying a damp, metallic smell.

"Have you made up your mind?" Shi Yu asked.

"Decid what?"

"To go in or not to go in?"

Jiang Chen stared at the black vortex and remained silent for a few seconds.

"I've made up my mind," he said, "but not now."

Why?

"Because we need to prepare." Jiang Chen turned to look at her. "We don't know where this door leads, what's on the other side, or whether we can come back after we go in."

"If we go in empty-handed, and then get stuck, we won't even have a chance to call for help."

"So what do you plan to do?"

"Let's gather information first," Jiang Chen said. "There are seven fissures forming in the city, located in different places."

If they are all doors, then each door may lead to a different place.

We need to figure out what the routing rules are for these doors.

Shi Yu looked at him, a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"When did you become so cautious?"

"From the moment I discovered that there were two versions of this world," Jiang Chen said, "the data conflict between the two versions meant that many rules were uncertain. In an uncertain environment, the more preparation you do, the better your chances of survival."

Shi Yu was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay. So where do we begin?"

"Let's start with the map," Jiang Chen said. "Mark all the cracks that have been discovered in the city and observe their formation rate, location distribution, and stabilization time. After three days, when the first door has stabilized, we'll make a decision."

He paused, then said:

"Furthermore, there's still one question I haven't figured out."

"What's the problem?"

"The voice that spoke to me on the rooftop said the door was open and couldn't be closed." Jiang Chen looked at the black vortex. "But she didn't say who opened it."

Shigure's pupils contracted slightly.

"You mean these doors didn't open automatically in older versions of the system?"

"I don't know," Jiang Chen said. "But she mentioned one thing—she said that when I reset the system, I did some things that I myself didn't know about."

The wind blew out from the vortex, carrying a cool breath.

The two stood on the rooftop, staring at the black void, and remained silent for a long time.

The city's hustle and bustle continued downstairs, and no one knew that on this rooftop, a door to another world was slowly opening.

No one knew that the two people who could see the old version of the data were deciding whether or not to go in.

Jiang Chen took one last look at the vortex, then turned and walked towards the stairwell.

"Let's go. We'll come back in three days."

He pushed open the door and went inside.

Shiyu followed behind, and just as she was about to leave the rooftop, she looked back at the black vortex.

She always felt that the vortex moved slightly when she looked at it.

It was as if it was responding to her gaze.