The faint glow of the dungeon's walls flickered like dying embers, casting long, eerie shadows across the stone floor as Alex, Betsy, and Drax moved deeper into the labyrinth. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and decay, and each step echoed through the oppressive silence, a constant reminder that danger could strike again at any moment.
But Alex's mind wasn't on the dungeon anymore—it was on what had just happened. The power he had unleashed against the boss had been unlike anything he had ever felt. It had surged through him, raw and uncontrollable, yet focused enough to tear through the creature like it was nothing. He could still feel the tingling in his hands, the strange energy that had taken control of him.
He was starting to realize that his glitch wasn't just a malfunction. It was something far more dangerous, something that could either be his greatest strength or his downfall.
The boss's body had already dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, leaving behind a pile of loot on the cold stone floor. Drax, always eager, was already rifling through the items, muttering excitedly about the weapons and armor that had dropped. Betsy, ever cautious, stood a few feet away, her eyes scanning the shadows for any signs of movement.
But as Alex stood there, staring at the fading remains of the boss, a notification appeared in front of him—a glowing window, shimmering with the telltale signs of a system glitch.
**"CLASS SELECTION: CHOOSE YOUR CLASS."**
Alex blinked, his heart skipping a beat. He hadn't expected this. Normally, players chose their class when they entered the game, but his glitched stats had made that impossible. Now, after defeating the dungeon boss, it seemed like the system was finally catching up—or at least, trying to.
But something was wrong. The class options were supposed to be listed in front of him, clear and straightforward. Instead, the screen was a scrambled mess of garbled text and flickering icons. Five options hovered before him, but none of them were readable. The letters twisted and distorted, the names of the classes hidden behind layers of static.
**Glitched. Again.**
Alex clenched his fists, frustration bubbling up inside him. He had no idea what these classes were, no way of knowing what he was about to choose. He could feel the weight of his decision pressing down on him, but he had no choice. He needed a class to survive in this world, and if the glitch was going to keep him from seeing the options, he would have to take a risk.
He took a deep breath, his hand hovering over the screen. "Here goes nothing," he muttered, and clicked on one of the garbled options.
For a moment, nothing happened. The screen flickered, the static growing louder, and Alex's heart raced in his chest. Did the glitch break everything? But then, the window cleared, and a single line of text appeared, sharp and clear against the dark backdrop.
**"Class Chosen: Shade Master."**
Shade Master? The words hung in the air, unfamiliar and strange. Alex frowned, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of it. He had never heard of that class before. It wasn't one of the standard classes he had seen other players choose—Warrior, Mage, Archer. This was something else, something tied to the darkness of the dungeon.
Suddenly, another notification appeared.
**"Shade Master: You now have the ability to revive and control the shades of fallen dungeon creatures."**
Alex's eyes widened. **Revive? Control?** He looked down at the fading black smoke where the dungeon boss had fallen, his mind whirling with the implications. If this class allowed him to control the shades of monsters, that meant he could turn enemies into allies. He could raise an army of creatures to fight for him, drawing power from the very things that had once tried to kill him.
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But at what cost? His glitch had already made him more powerful than he should be, and now it had granted him a class that seemed tied to the very shadows of this world.
"Alex?" Betsy's voice broke through his thoughts, and he snapped his head up to look at her. She was watching him with a wary expression, her bow lowered but ready. "You alright?"
"Yeah," Alex said quickly, forcing a smile. "Just... trying to figure something out." He didn't mention the new class. Not yet. He wasn't sure how they would react, and part of him wasn't even sure if he wanted this power. But he couldn't deny the potential it held.
"I grabbed the loot," Drax said, swinging his sword over his shoulder and tossing a few gold coins into the air with a grin. "Not much, but we got a decent haul. Some gold, a few potions, and this beauty." He held up a sleek, black dagger, its blade shimmering in the faint light.
Betsy glanced at the dagger, nodding approvingly. "That'll fetch a good price at the market."
Alex barely heard them. His mind was still fixated on the new class and the possibilities it opened up. He could feel the weight of the dungeon pressing in on him, the shadows growing thicker with each passing second, as if the dungeon itself was waiting for him to make his next move.
Suddenly, another notification appeared, this one unexpected.
**"Time Earned: +8 Hours."**
Alex blinked, his heart skipping a beat. **Time?** He hadn't thought about it since entering ALBEKO, but now the reality of the system hit him like a ton of bricks. Time was the most precious resource in both the real world and this virtual one, and here, defeating monsters and completing dungeons rewarded players with more time to live.
Without it, you died.
Alex quickly pulled up his real-world timer, the familiar numbers flashing before his eyes.
**8 hours, 2 minutes, 11 seconds.**
He hadn't even realized how low his time had gotten. The dungeon had taken longer than he thought, and without the extra time earned from the boss, he would have been dangerously close to running out. His heart raced as the implications set in. If he didn't keep earning time in ALBEKO, his clock in the real world would hit zero, and that would be the end.
It all made sense now. The dungeons, the quests, the monsters—it was all a way to keep players hooked, to make them fight for more time. **ALBEKO** wasn't just a game. It was a survival system, and every player was in a race against the clock.
"I got some time too," Drax said, glancing at his own timer. "Guess we're living a little longer, eh?"
Betsy nodded, her expression serious. "That's the system. You work, you fight, you survive. Fail, and you run out of time. Simple as that."
Alex swallowed hard, the weight of the situation pressing down on him. This wasn't a game where you could relax and take your time. Every second mattered. Every dungeon, every quest, every battle—it was all about earning more time to keep yourself alive in the real world. And the stronger you got, the more time you earned. The weaker you were, the faster you died.
"Let's head back to the city," Betsy said, turning toward the exit of the dungeon. "We've earned enough for now, and we need to prepare for the next floor."
As they walked back through the winding corridors of the dungeon, Alex couldn't shake the feeling that his time was already slipping away. His glitch, his new class, the endless fight for survival—it all felt like a ticking bomb waiting to go off.
But what choice did he have? This was his reality now. And if he wanted to survive, he would have to master the power the glitch had given him. Whether he liked it or not.
---
The light of **Starter City** greeted them as they stepped out of the dungeon, the sounds of the bustling marketplace and the chatter of players filling the air. The city was alive with activity, adventurers coming and going, their timers flashing above their heads like constant reminders of their mortality.
Alex scanned the crowd, noticing the levels and classes displayed above the heads of the players. Most were still low-level, like him—Level 3, Level 5, a few Level 7s here and there. Their classes were mostly familiar—Warriors, Archers, Mages. But a few players had special classes, their names glowing in strange colors that marked them as something unique.
Alex wondered what his class looked like to them. He had no way of knowing what "Shade Master" meant to the rest of the world. Did it make him stand out, or was it just another hidden part of the glitch? He quickly glanced at his reflection in a nearby window, hoping to catch a glimpse of his own status.
But to his surprise, there was nothing above his head. No level. No class. Just the blank space where his stats should be.
The glitch was hiding everything.
"Hey, you coming?" Drax called out, waving him over.
Alex nodded and followed, though his mind was still racing. The glitch wasn't just affecting his stats. It was hiding him from the rest of the world. No one could see his level or class. No one could tell how powerful—or broken—he really was.
That could be an advantage.
"Let's head to the marketplace," Betsy said as they made their way through the crowded streets. "We need to sell this loot and stock up on supplies before we tackle the next dungeon. We're getting closer to Level
99, and the higher we go, the tougher it's going to get."
Alex nodded, though the thought of another dungeon so soon made his stomach turn. He still had no control over his power, and every fight felt like a gamble. But he couldn't afford to back down now. He needed the time, and more than that, he needed answers.
As they approached the marketplace, Alex's eyes drifted to the massive clock tower that loomed over the city. Its hands ticked slowly, counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds of every player's life.
**K**'s symbol was etched into the base of the tower, a constant reminder of who controlled this world. The players might fight and struggle for survival, but in the end, **K** held all the cards. He was the god of this world, the one who decided who lived and who died.
And Alex hated him for it.
He had watched his sister's timer hit zero in the real world, powerless to stop it. **K** could have intervened. He could have changed the system. But he didn't. He just watched as the world crumbled, and now he was doing the same thing here in ALBEKO.
Alex clenched his fists, his anger simmering beneath the surface. He didn't know how, but one day, he would make **K** pay. For everything.
For now, though, he had to survive.