The smile-puppets advanced.
One step at a time.
All teeth, no soul.
Arin stood at the center of the room, now glowing faintly with a debug-red aura. His system menu floated like a transparent hologram in front of him, with flickering mood tags blinking across his vision.
He pointed to one puppet.
[Emotion: None]
[Command Line Status: Awaiting Orders]
Arin muttered, "They're not alive. These are corrupted system constructs—reused corpse data with default emotional shells."
Yura grinned, tails burning like mini bonfires. "Then I don't have to hold back."
With a flick, she launched a burst of foxfire that twisted in midair and slammed into three puppets. They exploded—not into gore, but into digital fragments that shattered like stained glass, leaving behind echoing laughter that faded too slowly.
Jun Bai's sword cut through two more, his form clean and precise.
"These aren't even good illusions. They're stuttering."
Yue Lan stepped beside him, her sword aura flaring. "It's not about being good. It's about making us question what's real."
Behind them, Arin's system flickered.
[DEBUG TOOL READY: EMOTIONAL DEFRAG ACTIVE]
Lia whispered through system link: "Target their memory nodes. Strip away the smile protocol. You can disable them without full deletion."
Arin held out his hand.
The code symbols spun in his palm.
He slammed it against the floor.
A red pulse radiated outward—when it touched a puppet, their face convulsed. Smiles cracked. Painted cheeks peeled. One by one, they froze, trembling.
Then dropped.
Silent.
Still.
Yura looked around. "What did you just do?"
"Gave them permission to be miserable," Arin replied, panting. "Basically reminded them they're dead."
Jun Bai winced. "That's dark."
Arin wobbled. "Debug mode isn't free, okay? I think I just burned the calories of five meals."
Yue Lan handed him a spirit fruit.
He munched.
Yura poked one of the fallen puppets. "There's still something alive in here. Not just code."
That's when the walls of the teahouse groaned.
Behind a paper door, a new figure emerged.
Not another puppet.
Not a smiling disciple.
But a girl.
About Arin's age.
White robes. Pale pink eyes. A cracked porcelain mask covering the lower half of her face. In her hands, a sealed scroll glowing with ancient script.
She looked at Arin.
Then she bowed.
"Arin of the Trash System. We've been waiting for you."
Arin blinked. "Wait, people know my system now?"
Lia answered him quietly. "The corruption spreads faster than I thought. Your name is becoming a... bug in the divine registry."
Yue Lan stepped forward, wary. "Who are you?"
The girl raised her head.
"I'm called Shinri. I'm a failed disciple of this sect. My smile broke."
She peeled back her mask.
No mouth.
Only scarred skin, sewn shut.
Jun Bai shuddered. "What the hell is this place?"
Shinri held out the scroll.
"This is the heart of the corruption. It's leaking through this. A system trade contract that was never fulfilled. A pact made to sell divine items… stolen from someone like you."
Arin's eyes widened. "My stolen rewards."
Shinri nodded. "I tried to break the cycle. But the sect rewrote my system permissions. Now I live as a broken smile—unable to feel joy, unable to die."
Yura whispered, "That's more depressing than any fox ghost story I've ever heard."
Arin reached out. "Can you give us the scroll?"
Shinri hesitated.
"I can… but if I do, this sect will collapse. Everyone trapped here—even the still-human disciples—will die. They've been twisted too far. Only the core collapse will reset their souls."
Yue Lan looked pained. "There's no way to save them?"
Lia replied, flatly: "No. This place is a system sinkhole. Holding it up is like preserving a dream made of static."
Arin sighed. "Then we do it fast. Clean. No guilt. If this was built off stolen wishes… we shut it down."
Shinri handed him the scroll.
"I'll hold the doors open. Once you activate the pact's reversal, run. Do not look back."
Jun Bai cracked his neck. "Let's make this dramatic."
Yura smirked. "Always."
As the team exited the teahouse and raced toward the inner sanctum, the entire sect began to tremble. Glowing cracks appeared in the sky, like the world itself was a shattered mirror.
Inside the scroll, Arin saw the truth: his items, his rewards, his missed chances—sold, repurposed, repackaged under different systems and different names.
All stolen by his system.
Lia whispered, "Now you understand."
Arin nodded.
"Yeah. This system's not just trash. It's a damn black market."
He activated the scroll.
It burst into golden flames.
The sky shattered.
And the Sect of the Eternal Smile… began to scream.