Weird Game: I brought an old version bug

At six o'clock in the evening, the setting sun dyed the glass curtain wall of the office building a dark red.

Jiang Chen pushed open the iron door to the rooftop, the rusted hinges emitting a piercing screeching sound. The wind on the rooftop was strong, making his clothes flutter loudly.

Shiyu followed behind him, her short bow already strung, and her quiver filled with seventeen arrows.

"You're late."

Lin Bei squatted on the edge of the rooftop, an unlit cigarette between his fingers. He wore a dark gray tactical jacket, with the short knife engraved with words tucked into his waistband, and his back was bulging, clearly carrying other equipment.

"It's my first time here, and I got lost," Jiang Chen said.

"Enough with the nonsense." Lin Bei stood up, put his cigarette in his pocket, and said, "The rift isn't fully stable yet. The optimal time to enter is only fifteen minutes. Follow me."

He walked towards the center of the rooftop. There was nothing there, just an empty concrete floor with a few chalk marks drawn on it, like traces left by some kind of measurement.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Shi Yu asked.

"It's not just certain, it's absolute."

Lin Bei took out a palm-sized black cube from his pocket and placed it on the ground.

"The entrance to the Seventh Administrative District is right below this building."

The crack on the rooftop was only recently opened. I tried to drill through the underground parking garage before, but I couldn't get in at all.

The system blocked the channel at the physical layer.

[Distant Data Decoder: 2/3 remaining uses]

Jiang Chen's field of vision was filled with the prop description.

"What is this?"

"A decoder left over from the old version. Without it, you can't even get your hands on the gates of the Seventh Administrative District." Lin Bei pressed the button in the center of the square. "Step back."

The black cube emitted a piercing buzzing sound.

The cement floor began to crack, with cracks radiating outward from the center of the square, spreading like a spider web.

A dark red light surged from the crack; it was neither flame nor magma, but a flowing stream of data that twisted and pulsed in mid-air.

"They're here."

The cracks in the ground grew larger and larger, and dark red light condensed into a vertical fissure, two meters high and half a meter wide, with edges that pulsated irregularly like a torn wound.

Jiang Chen stared at the crack, and the scene before him appeared as two superimposed images.

What ordinary people see as a dark red light is, in the old version of the data layer, a door made up of countless lines of code, with dense text engraved on it, each line of code flashing and flowing.

An abnormal space entrance has been detected.

[Target Area: Seventh Administrative District (Data Graveyard)]

[Recommendation: Check the integrity of your equipment before entering]

"I'll go first." Lin Bei stepped into the rift first, his figure disappearing into the dark red light, as if swallowed up, leaving no trace.

Shi Yu looked at Jiang Chen: "Follow me."

"Um."

Jiang Chen took a deep breath and stepped into the crevice.

The moment he stepped across the rift, he felt his body being torn apart and then reformed.

A sharp pain shot through my skin, like countless needles piercing my pores simultaneously. My vision went completely dark for a moment, then suddenly brightened.

It wasn't normal brightness, but a strange, pale light.

You have entered an abnormal zone: District 7 (Data Graveyard)

[WARNING: This area contains numerous unpatched legacy data vulnerabilities]

[Advice: Stay alert and do not touch any luminous objects]

The temperature plummeted by more than ten degrees. The air was filled with a mixture of rust and ozone, like the smell of high-voltage power lines after a downpour, or the dampness of a basement that hadn't been opened for decades.

Jiang Chen opened his eyes.

The sight before him stunned him.

This is a city. Or rather, it is the ruins of a city.

Huge building ruins lay scattered on the ground, and some walls still had old versions of signs with illegible lettering.

The ground was covered with dark green, moss-like data residue, which felt soft and spongy underfoot, like stepping on rotting flesh.

The sky was gray, without sun or clouds, only an eerie milky white halo enveloped everything.

There were no shadows, no sense of direction; the whole world was like an overexposed photograph.

"Welcome to the Seventh Administrative District." Lin Bei stood not far away, his back to them, his voice as calm as if he were introducing his living room. "This is the Data Graveyard."

"Have you been here before?" Shigure asked.

"I've been here three times. The first time I almost died outside, the second time I figured out the outer route, and the third time I barely found a safe house."

Lin Bei turned around.

"This is the surface of the Seventh Administrative District; the real core area is underground. What you see now is just a layer of skin."

Jiang Chen looked around. The architectural style here was completely different from the real world—it was more like the internal structure of some kind of giant machine. Pipes, gears, and data cables were exposed, and the exposed metal surfaces were covered with a layer of dark red rust. Some parts were still slowly running, making a clicking mechanical sound.

"These buildings... are they from the old version?"

"Yes. In the old version of the city architecture, the seventh administrative district was the data core area, which is equivalent to the main server room in your current version."

Lin Bei pointed to a wide passage ahead, "Go this way, get to my safe house first. Don't touch anything on the way, don't step on the glowing areas, and don't speak loudly."

Why?

"Because the monsters in the data graveyard rely on sound and data fluctuations to locate their prey. Stepping on a glowing floor is equivalent to striking a gong within a 500-meter radius."

The three of them walked along the passage.

A strange sensation came from the ground beneath my feet, like stepping on a giant sponge. With each step, the ground would sink slightly, then slowly rise back, making a dull thud.

"The physical rules here are a bit different," Shi Yu said.

"It's not that it's different, it's that it's incomplete." Lin Bei walked in front, his short sword already drawn. "After the old version crashed, the data integrity of the Seventh Administrative District was compromised."

Many physical rules only retain partial implementation code, leaving the rest in this strange state.

He stomped on the ground, and a dent appeared under his foot, which took five seconds to return to its original shape.

For example, gravity.

The gravity here is only 70% of the normal level, but sometimes it can suddenly become 150%.

You were walking along peacefully when suddenly you felt twice as heavy. Don't panic, it will subside in a few seconds.

Just as Jiang Chen was about to speak, the weight under his feet suddenly increased, and he sank down, almost kneeling on the ground.

"Hold……"

"That's what happened just now," Lin Bei smiled. "You'll get used to it."

The three continued onward, passing through one passage after another.

The buildings on both sides became increasingly dense, and in some places, one could even see the complete old version of the signs—"Third Energy Distribution Station," "Year 47 of the Lunar Calendar · Data Maintenance Center," and "Seventh Administrative District · Entrance Hall."

"These signs...are they all in Chinese?"

"The old version of the city used Chinese. After the version update, the system changed the language layer to Common Tongue, but the encoding format of the underlying data remained unchanged, still Chinese."

Jiang Chen stopped and stared at a sign for a long time.

The sign reads: "Seventh Administrative District, Data Management Bureau, Year 47 of the Lunar Calendar"

"What does '47 years in the lunar calendar' mean?"

"That was the year before the old version crashed," Lin Bei said. "According to my calculations, the old version had been running for at least sixty years. In the lunar year 47, it was its forty-seventh year of operation."

"The forty-seventh year..." Jiang Chen repeated softly.

He suddenly remembered that Lao Shen's notebook also mentioned the date "47th year of the lunar calendar". The last page of that notebook read "47th year of the lunar calendar, Frost's Descent, System Archive".

"That module, 07-02, was also archived in the 47th year of the lunar calendar."

"Yes," Lin Bei said. "This means that the archiving time of 07-02 and the system crash time are the same year. They may even be the same day."

"So, there's a direct link between the system crash and the 07-02 archive?"

"Very likely."

Jiang Chen remained silent for a few seconds, then continued walking forward.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, Lin Bei suddenly stopped, raised his right hand, and made a "stop" gesture.

There's something ahead.

Jiang Chen immediately activated the Rule Chain - Reconnaissance.

[Rule Chain - Reconnaissance Lv.1 Activated]

[Information being retrieved within a 30-meter radius...]

[Cooldown: 180 seconds]

[Mental Energy Consumption: 30/90]

Within a 30-meter radius, the data stream unfolded like a spider web.

He saw it.

The building's surface was covered with a dense mass of data remnants, including damaged code snippets, abandoned log records, and some binary data that he couldn't understand.

But what caught his attention most was an unusual data fluctuation beneath the ground twenty meters ahead.

The wave resembled a snake, moving slowly across the ground, but its trajectory was unpredictable.

It's neither a straight line nor a curve, but an irregular, unpredictable wandering path.

"There's something underground about twenty meters ahead," Jiang Chen said in a low voice.

"What kind of thing?" Lin Bei asked.

"Like a snake. A snake made up of data streams, moving across the ground. It's not fast, but its trajectory is strange and irregular."

"Data Remnant Serpent." Lin Bei frowned. "Lv.8, a remnant of data from an older version, feeding on mental energy. Its attack method is mental shock; its physical defense is low, but it's difficult to lock onto."

"Is it possible to go around it?"

"No. That's the only way to get into the safe house; it's the only passage."

Lin Bei drew the short knife from his waist, and the characters engraved on the blade began to glow.

"Jiang Chen, you're in charge of location tracking. Shi Yu, provide ranged suppression. I'll handle the melee."

"receive."

The three advanced in battle formation. Jiang Chen walked in front, Shi Yu was five meters behind him, and Lin Bei was on the side.

In Jiang Chen's vision, the abnormal data fluctuations became increasingly clear.

It's getting close.

"Stop. It's right beneath our feet."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the ground suddenly exploded.

A dark red shadow burst forth from the ground, moving with lightning speed, heading straight for Jiang Chen's face.

Jiang Chen instinctively dodged to the side, the dark red shadow grazing his cheek, leaving a burning sensation.

He could even feel the stinging sensation on his skin as the data stream swept across it—like being burned or frostbitten.

[Attacked by unknown source: Mental damage +5]

[Mental Strength: 85/90]

"Hold!"

Lin Bei's short sword had already slashed down.

The blade struck the dark red shadow, producing a crisp metallic clang.

Jiang Chen then saw clearly that it was a snake-like creature, about two meters long, whose body was composed of flowing data streams, with dark red code constantly circulating and jumping inside its body.

The head is a shimmering ball of light, without eyes or a mouth, only a single point of light, like a half-open eyeball.

[Data Remnant Serpent: Lv.8]

[Residual data from the old version, feeding on mental energy]

[Attack Method: Mental Shock]

"A monster that attacks with mental attacks!" Jiang Chen shouted.

"Understood." Shi Yu drew back the bowstring.

[Precision Shooting Lv.2 Activated]

Hit rate +30%, Critical hit rate +20%

[Mental Energy Consumption: 15/80]

The arrow shot through the air, leaving a silvery-white trail before striking the head of the data snake with pinpoint accuracy.

The ball of light exploded, bursting out with a blinding white light, like a small flashbang.

Jiang Chen instinctively closed his eyes, but the white light still pierced through his eyelids, making his eyeballs hurt.

The data snake convulsed for a few seconds before disintegrating into code fragments and vanishing into the air.

The fragments flickered in mid-air a few times, like fireflies, before finally going out completely.

[Slaying Data: Remnant Serpent Lv.8]

Experience points gained: 120

[Drop: Rule Fragment x1]

A notification popped up in Jiang Chen's field of vision.

On the ground, a dark red crystal the size of a fingernail lay quietly, its surface smooth, with a faint light flowing inside, like stars twinkling in congealed blood.

"A fragment of rules!" Jiang Chen bent down and picked up the crystal.

"Not bad luck." Lin Bei sheathed his sword, wiping away the data residue on the blade. "Sold out on my first time in the data graveyard. This stuff can sell for 50,000 yuan a piece in the data hunter circle."

"fifty thousand?"

"Yes. Rule fragments can be used to unlock older versions of skills, or to customize the effects of existing skills. They are hard to find on the market because they only drop from the data graveyard."

Shigure put away his bow, walked over, and glanced at the fragments: "Keep going. The smell of blood will attract more monsters."

"The smell of blood is useless at the data layer, but data fluctuations will attract others like us," Lin Bei said. "The kill data fluctuations from just now have probably traveled several hundred meters already. Let's go."

The three quickened their pace and made their way through the ruins.

After walking for about ten more minutes, Lin Bei stopped in front of a partially collapsed building.

The building's exterior walls are made of metal and covered in rust, but the doors are intact and show no signs of rust.

The door lock is an electronic lock with a small screen displaying a static countdown [00:00:00].

"We've arrived at the safe house." Lin Bei entered a string of code on the door lock, a combination of sixteen numbers and letters. After entering it, a green "OK" popped up on the screen.

The door opened silently.

"Come in."

The three entered the building.

The room was surprisingly clean. There was no dust, no cobwebs, the furniture was neatly arranged, and even a light was on.

It wasn't the eerie milky white light of a data graveyard, but rather normal warm yellow lighting.

The living room has a sofa, a coffee table, a bookcase, a refrigerator in the corner, and even an old-fashioned television.

"Does anyone live here?" Shi Yu asked.

"I'm staying here temporarily. I stay here every time I come to the Seventh Administrative District."

Lin Bei went to the kitchen and poured three glasses of water.

"This is the former staff break room of the Seventh Administrative District, which I found in the old version of the data."

After the system crashed, the data in this room was not corrupted because it had a high privilege level; it belonged to the "administrator's private lounge."

"For administrators only..."

"Yes. The administrator of the Seventh Administrative District is the highest-level holder in the old version of the system. This room has the highest privileges of all rooms and will not be attacked by the system's cleanup program."

Jiang Chen sat on the sofa, which was very soft and no different from a sofa in the real world.

How many times have you stayed here?

"Four times. Each time I come, I stay for two to three days."

Lin Bei handed him a glass of water.

"The food and water here are things I brought from the real world."

The things in the data graveyard are neither edible nor drinkable.

They are all data remnants; consuming them will pollute your mental energy.

Jiang Chen took the water glass and took a sip. The water was cold and ordinary, but in this place, it seemed especially precious.

"How long do you plan to stay here?" Lin Bei asked.

"It depends. I want to find the core data from the old version to understand what exactly happened back then," Jiang Chen said.

I need to know,

Why does the system crash?

Why was 07-02 archived?

And what's behind that door?

"The core data is three layers underground," Lin Bei said. "The surface layer is a data graveyard, which is where we are now. The middle layer is a cluster of abandoned servers, storing the runtime data of old versions of the system. The bottom layer is the real core area, storing the highest-level code of the system."

"How do we get down?"

"Found the entrance. The middle-level entrance is on the basement level of an abandoned administrative building on the east side of the Seventh Administrative District. There is an elevator shaft there that leads directly down to the middle level."

"Mid-level... what's your level?"

"The monsters are all around level 10 or higher. I almost died inside last time I went in."

Lin Bei pointed to the scar on his chest.

A scar about ten centimeters long stretched from the collarbone to the chest. It was very dark in color, as if it had been bitten by something.

"I got bitten by a data ripper and it took me half a month to recover."

"Data ripper?"

"Lv.12, adept at both physical and mental attacks. It's very fast and has a wide attack range. Once it targets you, you basically can't escape."

Jiang Chen remained silent for a few seconds.

"But I still have to go down."

"I know. So I will take you to the middle level entrance, and you can find your own way from there."

"And you?"

"I'll stay on the surface, responsible for intelligence support and logistics. The middle level isn't my territory; if I went in, I'd only be a hindrance."

Shi Yu put down her water glass: "Where is the entrance to the middle level?"

"Three kilometers to the east, there's an abandoned administration building on the basement level. There's an elevator shaft there that leads directly down to the middle floor."

"Tonight's operation?"

"No, tomorrow," Lin Bei said. "The data flow in the Seventh Administrative District is unstable at night, and the monsters will be more active. It's relatively safe during the day. The 'daytime' here lasts about twelve hours. It's evening now, and in six hours it will enter 'nighttime'."

Jiang Chen nodded: "Then tomorrow."

"You guys rest first, I'll go outside and set up a perimeter." After saying that, Lin Bei turned around and walked out of the safe house, closing the door behind him.

Only Jiang Chen and Shi Yu remained in the room.

"Do you think he's trustworthy?" Shi Yu asked.

"I don't know. But he does know a lot of things." Jiang Chen played with the fragment of rules, the dark red crystal reflecting an eerie luster under the light.

"I always felt like he was hiding something."

"Who doesn't?" Jiang Chen said. "You also have things you've kept from me."

Shi Yu paused for a moment, then did not refute.

She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes: "I'm going to sleep for a while. You take the first shift, and wake me up in two hours."

"it is good."

Jiang Chen put the rule fragments into his pocket, leaned back on the sofa, and looked out the window.

Outside the window, "evening" was descending on the Seventh Administrative District—the milky white halo was darkening, turning into a hazy, smog-like color. In the distance, the ruins of buildings appeared and disappeared in the gloom, like giant tombstones.

He stared out the window, his thoughts drifting far away.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted slightly.

Outside the window, a huge black shadow slowly walked by.

It was the silhouette of a person—tall, at least three meters tall, with a slender figure, broad shoulders and a narrow waist, walking slowly, as if taking a stroll or on patrol.

But the figure in the shadows was almost identical to his.

Jiang Chen suddenly stood up and rushed to the window, but the dark figure had already disappeared.

There was only a hazy fog and ruins outside the window, nothing at all.

"What's wrong?" Shiyu was awakened by his movement.

There's something outside the window.

"What is it?"

"A dark figure." Jiang Chen stared out the window, his throat tightening. "It looks exactly like me."