Errors Were Made
The warmth of the fire crackled softly in the hearth, casting flickering shadows across the cabin’s wooden walls. Enigma stretched, savoring the sensation of movement, the freedom her new form granted her. She had never imagined a day where she could stand, breathe deeply, and feel the world around her so vividly again. Even if that world was digital, it was hers.
She sat at the modest wooden desk, idly flipping through the pages of an old leather-bound tome she had found tucked away in the cabin’s bookshelf. The text was written in a strange, flowing script she didn’t recognize—yet something about it called to her. Magic, real magic, was within reach.
“Alright,” she muttered, closing the book with a soft . “Time to get back to work.”
A notification window flickered into existence before her:
[Error Correction in Progress]
The questencountered a system failure. Compensation for lost rewards is currently being generated. Estimated completion: Unknown.
Mimir Suggests: ‘Try the cheese.’
Enigma snorted. “That AI is something else.”
She stood, adjusting the fit of her tattered gear. Her basic robes were still singed from the battle with the fire elemental, and she knew she’d need something sturdier before she got into any serious fights. But first, she had to figure out what exactly was wrong with the tutorial area.
“Hey, Mimir,” she said aloud, testing the system’s response time. A chime rang in acknowledgment.
[Direct Query: Mimir]
Enigma: What’s the deal with the tutorial bugs?
Mimir: Anomalous data detected. You possess a title that should not exist within the system parameters. This title caused a cascading failure when interacting with procedural reward generation.
Mimir: Additionally, a root-level command has been issued to disable Title functionalities. Your active titles now exist in a Schr?dinger state—both present and not present.
Would you like to initiate a localized diagnostic?
[Yes] [No]
She hesitated for a moment before selecting Yes
A low hum filled the air, and for a moment, the entire environment flickered. The textures of the cabin walls wavered, as though reality itself had momentarily desynced. Then, a new window appeared.
[Diagnostic Report: Tutorial Zone]
Status:
Errors:
Cause:
Affected Areas:
Recommended Action:Administrator Override Required.
Enigma let out a low whistle. “Looks like I broke more than just a quest.”
She leaned back, contemplating her options. She had her , which granted limited moderator access, but would that be enough to patch whatever was happening?
One way to find out.
She focused on the sigil and activated Limited Developer Access.
[Developer Mode: Granted]
Available Commands:
- /ViewLogs
- /ForceReset [Zone]
- /BypassRestriction [Title System]
- /QueryMimir [Direct Access]
She scrolled through the options. was tempting, but who knew what that would do to her progress? No, she needed something more precise. Her finger hovered over /BypassRestriction [Title System]
If the title system was bugged, then maybe reactivating it would stabilize her abilities rather than break things further. She tapped the command.
The world around her stuttered.
A sudden rush of golden light flared from her Alpha Tester’s Sigil
[System Override Detected]
Title System: Now Active.
Your active title “Gambler” has been restored.
Enigma grinned. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Her satisfaction was short-lived.
The world around her The golden light that had spread from her sigil began to ripple erratically, warping the environment around her. A deafening, digital rang through the air as red warning texts flooded her vision.
[Critical Error: Data Corruption Detected]
Emergency System Purge Initiated.
Reverting Player State…
Enigma barely had time to react before her clothes, items, and equipped gear blinked out of existence.
“Wait, what the—?!”
Her Staff of the Emberforgerobesinventory
The game had stripped her bare, literally. She was now standing in the middle of the tutorial zone with absolutely nothing.
A new window popped up before she could even process what had happened:
[Quest Status: Puzzle of the Enigmatic Key]
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Status:
Compensation Cannot Be Generated.
Error Code: 403—Item Not Found.
Mimir Suggests: ‘Maybe try turning it off and on again?’
Enigma buried her face in her hands. “You have to be kidding me.”
Mimir’s chime rang out again, almost apologetically.
[Direct Query: Mimir]
My deepest apologies, Enigma. This is… unfortunate.
Would you like a complimentary blanket?
[Yes] [No]
Enigma exhaled slowly. “You know what, Mimir? Yes. Yes, I would like a damn blanket.”
A soft sounded next to her as a digital wool blanket materialized in the air and fell unceremoniously over her head.
“This is how I saw today going.”
Mimir eventually led her back to the cabin, during the few days waiting for Tim to come back online to fix the quest she went over her gains.
Ding! Class level 2
You gain +2 INT and PER
You have 5 unused stat points
You may choose up to 3 new spells
She thought about her stats and her status screen popped up, “Not enough to bring charisma up to human standard but I can at least not trip over my own feet.” She put two points into agility bringing it up to human standard and dumped the rest into her charisma.
Enigma Level 2 Human - Mage
HP - 100 Skills
ST - 100 Magical Affinity - Unaligned
MP - 170 Polearm Proficiency - Novice (0%)
Magical Detection - Novice (9%)
Attribute Score Modifier Arcane Lore - Novice (0%)
Strength 10 (0) Mystic Reserves - Apprentice(1.3%)
Perception 14 (+4) Frost Magic - Novice (20%)
Agility 10 (0) Healing Magic - Novice (0%)
Constitution 10 (0) Fire Magic - Novice (0%)
Intelligence 19 (+9) Loot Lord - Passive
Wisdom 15 (+5)
Charisma 7 (-3)
Luck 14 (+4)
Now what spells do I want? Let’s look the spell selection window opened and she was presented with few more options.
- Glacial Armor(MP Cost: 75, Duration: 5 minutes)
- Frozen Grasp(MP Cost: 50, Duration: 10 sec)
- Frostbolt(MP Cost: 40, Damage: 6(n))
- Fireball(MP Cost: 100, Damage: 8(n), 10 ft radius)
- Flame Lash(MP Cost: 60, Damage: 5(n) + 2(n) over 5 sec)
- Heatwave(MP Cost: 80, Duration: 8 sec)
- Mana Surge10% MP(MP Cost: 0, Cooldown: 1 minute)
- Dispel Magic(MP Cost: 60)
- Arcane Missile(MP Cost: 75, Damage: 4(n) per missile, 3 missiles total)
- Blink15 feet(MP Cost: 50, Cooldown: 10 sec)
- Ethereal Step3 seconds(MP Cost: 80, Cooldown: 20 sec)
- Mend Wounds5 + n HP per second(MP Cost: 75)
- Minor Wardmagic shield
- Illuminate
- Shadow Tendrils(MP Cost: 90, Damage: 5(n) over 6 sec, Immobilizes)
- Hex of Weakness(MP Cost: 60)
- Soul Drain(MP Cost: 70, Damage: 6(n), Healing: 3(n))
- – Enhances sight in total darkness for . (MP Cost: 15, Duration: 5 min)
Well, well, look who’s catching on! +1 Wisdom—try not to hurt yourself thinking too hard.
“Well that was definitive. Also Mimir, are you the one in charge of these comments on some of these rewards?”
[Direct Query: Mimir]
Enigma: are you the one in charge of these comments on some of these rewards?
Mimir: I am not in charge of the reward system. That would be another AI Rasputin. He is a bit snarky. My focus is player interactions, game and level design, and support.
Rasputin: Yes and would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling AI’s
“Well that’s not at all frightening, I wonder how many AI’s Tim has running rampant in here?” She said to herself looking back at the list.
One by one she eliminated more and more spells off the list till she was left with a choice between four.
She willed the window into a wheel, closed her eyes and set it spinning. She choose whatever the wheel stopped on.
New spells learned
Glacial Armor
Arcane Missile
Shadow Tendrils
New Skills Learned
Dark Magic Novice 0%
Arcane Magic Novice 0%
She chuckled, and got up to get herself a cup of tea. As she was pouring herself a cup she nearly dropped the kettle when a message from Tim popped up in her vision.
***
Tim: soooo, not going great is it? Sorry about the item deletion. The failure corrupted the data, entirely unsalvageable. I have one of my guys re-coding that entire questline. For now, here. For your modesty.
***
A new sounded, and a set of simple clothes: underwear, bra, cotton shirt and pants; materialized on the table nearby. Enigma sighed and picked them up. At least she wouldn’t have to run around wrapped in a blanket anymore. She quickly dressed while reading the next message from Tim.
***
Tim: We’re going to be shutting down the servers for a bit, during that time we’ll do a game wide server reboot and you’ll be reset to where you started in the tutorial dungeon. Not to worry, for you it will be a blink of an eye.
***
“Um yeah, not very excited about just being turned off like that.” Enigma said to the cabin.
***
Tim: Sorry, but the only way I can get the data to cooperate is if I can sift out what’s the title system and what’s your data. The only way to do that is if you aren’t active at the tiem.
Tim: time* lol
Server Shutdown In 5..4..3..2..