meeting J
1160 Words
Chapter 7: MEET J
Rooftops were bad for hiding.
Too open. Too many drones.
"Okay," I said to Hana. "New rule. We stay underground."
"Subways?" she asked.
"Subways," I confirmed. "Where GM-07 can’t teleport without causing a 10-car pileup."
*[BOUNTY: 1,000,000 CREDITS]*
*[ANOMALY METER: 85%]*
*[WANTED STATUS: ACTIVE]*
Every screen in Seoul had my face. My D-rank Archer face. With the glowing "GLITCH" tag GM-07 put on it.
We dropped into Gangnam Station. 3AM. Empty.
My phone buzzed.
*Unknown J*: _Platform 4. Last train. Come alone. -J_
*Me*: _How do I know you’re not GM?_
*Unknown J*: _Because GM-07 is scanning Platform 1. I’m the one who told you._
Hana grabbed my arm. "Don’t."
"I have to," I said. "1 mil bounty. We need help."
"Then I’m coming," she said.
"J said alone."
"Then J can deal with 2 people," she said.
Fair.
Platform 4. Last train. Lights flickering.
And one person sitting on a bench.
Girl. Maybe 20. Black hoodie. Black mask. Gloves.
Hair dyed white. Holding a tablet that had 12 System windows open.
She didn’t look up when we sat down.
"You’re late," she said. Voice distorted. Modulator.
"Traffic," I said. "GM drones."
She finally looked at me. Eyes were gray. Tired.
"Ren Park. Anomaly 85%. Wanted by System. By Iron Fist. By me."
"By you?" Hana said.
J pulled down her mask.
She was pretty. In a "I haven’t slept in 3 months" way.
And on her wrist was a tattoo.
*[ADMIN - GLITCHED]*
My blood went cold.
"Who are you," I said. Not a question.
"I’m J," she said. "And I’m you. 3 months ago."
---
### *THE TRUTH*
The train came. Empty. We got on. Doors closed.
J tapped her tablet. The windows inside went black. No cameras.
"I was Beta Tester #12," she said. "Same as you. I clicked [ADMIN] as a joke too."
"And?" I asked.
"And I used 100%," she said. "Day Zero. I saved 40 people from a Titan. Same as you, but bigger."
She rolled up her sleeve. Burn scars. From wrist to elbow.
*[ANOMALY METER: 100% → SYSTEM RESPONSE: ERASURE ATTEMPTED]*
"They tried to delete me," she said. "In real life. Not just the game. They sent a GM Enforcer to my apartment."
"What happened?" Hana asked.
"I fought back," J said. "Used [DELETE] on the GM. Cost me 60% of my HP and these scars. But I lived."
"Why are you telling us this," I said.
"Because you’re at 85%," she said. "At 90%, they don’t send GM-07. They send GM-01. The one with no face and no rules. And at 100%, they nuke the whole block to make sure you’re gone."
Silence. Train rattling.
"So why help me?" I asked.
"Because you’re doing it wrong," she said. "You’re hiding. That’s what they want. If you hide, you stay weak. If you stay weak, you die."
She turned her tablet to me.
It showed the System Code. Lines of it.
And one line was highlighted.
*[ANOMALY CAP: 99%. USER EXCEEDING CAP TRIGGERS DELETION PROTOCOL]*
"The cap is fake," J said. "It’s not a limit. It’s a leash. The System wants us scared of 100% so we never reach it."
"So what," I said. "I just... use 100%?"
"If you do, you die," she said. "Unless you do it with me."
---
### *THE PLAN*
J stood up. Walked to the other end of the car.
"My name is Ji-woo," she said. "But everyone calls me J. I’ve been underground for 3 months. Building this."
She tapped the train wall. It opened.
Hidden room. Server farm. Dozens of monitors. All showing GM patrols. Bounties. Dungeon data.
"Welcome to the Glitch," she said. "We’re 6 people. All Admin class. All hunted."
"6?" I said. "There are 6 of us?"
"There were 12," she said. "The others hit 100%. They’re gone now."
Hana looked sick.
"The System isn’t a game," J said. "It’s a farm. It puts monsters in, gives people powers, and watches who breaks the rules. The ones who break it too hard? It deletes them and resets the server."
"And you want to..." I trailed off.
"Break the server," J finished. "From the inside. With you."
"Why me?"
"Because you used 80% to save one kid," she said. "I used 100% to save 40. You have restraint. I don’t. I need you to be the one who doesn’t go crazy at 100%."
She held out a USB. Black.
*[ITEM: SYSTEM ROOT ACCESS]*
*[WARNING: EQUIPPING RAISES ANOMALY TO 99%]*
"This will let you see the real System," she said. "GM schedules. Deletion orders. Everything. But the moment you plug it in, you’re at 99%. One more skill and GM-01 comes."
I didn’t take it.
"Why trust me?" I asked. "You don’t know me."
"Because Baek offered me 2 million to give you up," she said. "And I told him to get lost."
She smirked. "Also because you have terrible poker face. You’re a bad liar."
"That’s rude," I said.
"It’s true," Hana said.
---
### *THE CHOICE*
Alarms. Red light.
*[GM DRONE DETECTED: PLATFORM 4]*
*[ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 60 SECONDS]*
"s**t," J said. "They found us."
She threw me the USB. I caught it.
"Decision time, RNG God," she said. "Plug it in. Hit 99%. Help us fight.
Or run. Stay at 85%. Die slower."
The train started moving.
Outside the window, a white portal opened. GM-07.
He saw me. Pointed.
"Ren," Hana said. Quiet. "What do we do?"
I looked at the USB. 99%.
I looked at J. Scars. Tired eyes.
I looked at Hana. She wasn’t running.
Three months ago I used 80% to save a kid.
Today I had to decide if I’d use 99% to save everyone.
"Okay," I said. "Screw it."
I plugged the USB into my HUD.
*[ANOMALY METER: 85% → 99%]*
*[WARNING: CRITICAL THRESHOLD REACHED]*
*[GM-01 DISPATCHED]*
*[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: [ADMIN CONSOLE]]*
The world went quiet.
New windows opened. Hundreds.
I could see GM-07’s location. HP. Cooldowns.
I could see the bounty on my head. I could see Baek moving toward Gangnam.
I could see the System. The real one.
And at the top:
*[ADMIN: REN PARK - STATUS: UNAUTHORIZED]*
*[OPTION: [DELETE SYSTEM]? Y/N]*
My hands were shaking.
"Ren?" J said. "You okay?"
"No," I said. "I can see everything."
GM-07 slammed into the train. Door ripped off.
He looked at me. At the USB. At 99%.
"Ren Park," he said. "Final warning."
I stood up.
"No," I said. "My turn."
*[END OF CHAPTER 7]*
*WHAT JUST HAPPENED:*
1. *J Reveal*: Ji-woo. Another Admin glitch. Scars from hitting 100%
2. *The Glitch*: Underground group of 6 Admins trying to break the System
3. *99% Meter*: Ren plugged in the USB. Can now see GM code and has [ADMIN CONSOLE]
4. *GM-01 Coming*: The final boss admin. Sent only for 100% users
5. *Cliffhanger*: Ren can now press [DELETE SYSTEM]
*Chapter 8* = Ren vs GM-07 with 99% meter and new Admin powers.
- Writer
