Chapter 3: Observer Detected – Debugger Versus God
Warning: Entity [OBSERVER_01] is en route.
ETA: 02:43… 02:42…
---
I sat there on the cracked ground, my newly compiled body trembling, staring at the empty tunnel the Error Beast had just vanished into.
My heartbeat felt like code stuttering between frames.
I should've been dead.
That beast was an unkillable dev-world bug.
But I didn't kill it.
I rewrote the rule that made it dangerous.
And now the world was… reacting.
---
> [Skill Used: Manual Rewrite]
> Usage Remaining: 0
> Skill Status: Permanently Expended
> Consequence: Observer Notified
Observer.
I didn't like that word.
It wasn't just a system response. It was a title. Something alive—or worse, *assigned*—watching from above. Whoever or whatever "Observer_01" was, it had authority. Probably root-level clearance. A watchdog designed to maintain the world's integrity.
And I just broke the one rule I wasn't supposed to touch:
**"Don't rewrite reality."**
---
> [ALERT]
> Incoming Connection: Observer_01
> Syncing…
> Loading Zone: ADMIN CACHE SECTOR // Dev Layer: Hidden
The air in front of me bent like light through broken glass. Pixels twisted, and then something began to step through.
He wore a long black coat stitched with flowing silver code. His face was masked by a low-resolution blur, like an unfinished asset. One eye glowed red with a spinning loading icon. The other?
Pure white.
Emotionless.
> "So. You're the anomaly."
His voice echoed with mechanical reverb and something older—like ancient data corrupted by time. He didn't blink. He didn't breathe.
> [Entity: OBSERVER_01]
> Class: World Integrity Enforcer
> Authority: Admin-Level
> Status: Debug Mode Enabled
> Threat Level: MAXIMUM
---
"I didn't ask to be here," I said.
"No anomaly ever does."
He extended a hand—not to help, but to *terminate*.
> [Skill: Kernel Purge – Initializing…]
> Countdown: 5… 4…
I didn't have time to think.
No rollback. No dev menu.
No broken skill left.
Only instinct.
I dodged left just as a white-hot beam of compressed code slammed into the pavement where I stood. The concrete disintegrated into dust. The Observer didn't even flinch.
"Running will not save you," he said flatly.
"I'm not running," I growled. "I'm learning."
---
Suddenly, a flicker of something opened behind me.
A glitched doorway. A hidden exit.
My HUD blinked:
> [Secret Pathway Unlocked: Crash Sector 9]
> Status: Unstable. Untracked by Observer AI.
> Enter?
> YES | NO
The Observer launched another pulse.
I chose **YES**.
---
The world shattered again—this time by *choice*.
I fell through broken geometry, tumbling through corrupted air as system noise roared in my ears.
I landed hard.
And for a second, there was only darkness. Silence. Then a soft, female voice echoed from the void.
> "You shouldn't exist. But neither should I."
> "Welcome to Crash Sector 9."
> "We are all broken here."
---
> [New Character Encountered: ???]
> Status: Unregistered
> Class: Patch Fragment
> Alignment: Unknown
> Danger Level: Variable
---
For the first time since I awoke in this dev-world nightmare, I wasn't alone.
And that terrified me more than any Observer ever could.