By the time Arin and his not-so-merry band returned to the Brightmoon Sect, the sun was already setting behind the mountains. Redmist Gorge was behind them—left scarred and partially cleansed of the corrupted system fragment.
Ahead lay another battlefield: the sect courtyard, political elders… and gossip.
As they walked through the main gate, disciples whispered from every corner.
"There he is!"
"Is that the guy who seduced a spirit fox and beat a ghost with debugging tape?"
"I heard he made a corrupted admin cry!"
"Didn't he bribe his system with grilled meat?!"
Arin was trying very hard to look cool and composed, but the moment someone pointed at him and said, "That's Trash Brother Arin!", he crumbled a little inside.
"Trash Brother?" he muttered. "That's my title now? Really?"
Yura smirked beside him. "It's better than 'Pantsless Bug Handler.'"
"That was one time!"
Yue Lan rolled her eyes. "You're lucky the sect didn't rename the whole mission the 'Redmist Trash Clean-up Operation.'"
Jun Bai walked behind them, deliberately holding his sword like it was a celebrity prop. "As usual, I did most of the important work."
Arin turned back. "You screamed and summoned twenty illusionary clones of me doing the worm dance."
"They distracted the enemy!"
"They distracted me!"
The group entered the main hall, where Elder Mushi, Elder Lianhua, and a few other high-ranking sect members were already waiting. The atmosphere turned serious.
Elder Mushi's bushy eyebrows twitched. "You survived. Impressive."
Yura whispered, "Did he sound… disappointed?"
Elder Lianhua stepped forward, elegant and unreadable. "Your report, Arin."
He stepped up, cleared his throat, and pulled out a slightly wrinkled scroll.
"We encountered over a dozen corrupted specters. Confirmed presence of a system fragment entity known as 'The Nameless.' I initiated a debug strike using an experimental seal. Fragment dispersed. Area… mostly stable. There were also ghost squirrels, but I assume that's outside the mission scope."
The elders exchanged looks.
Lianhua's voice was cool. "And your system?"
Arin shrugged. "Still trash. But at least now I know why."
A flicker of amusement crossed Mushi's eyes. "We'll send a cleansing team to monitor the area. You will receive contribution points and artifact clearance level 2."
Jun Bai gasped. "Level 2?! That's what they gave Sect Master Lin after he repelled the Blood Demon Cult!"
Arin blinked. "Wait… I thought I was gonna be punished for crashing into corruption with debug tape and bad jokes."
Mushi grunted. "You were. But then we read your system logs."
Lianhua stepped closer. "Arin, that fragment—'The Nameless'—was thought erased centuries ago. If it's resurfacing through rogue systems…"
"…then this sect has much bigger problems than your attitude," Mushi finished.
The room fell silent.
Even Arin's system chimed.
[Fragment Signature Logged. Admin Alert Unavailable. No Response from Higher Plane.]
Arin whispered, "So we're on our own."
Suddenly, the sect bell rang.
A disciple ran into the hall, panting. "Message from the South Ridge! A celestial gate has appeared. Unknown energy. No movement yet."
Lianhua turned to Arin. "Your group is to rest. You're not being sent again. Not yet."
"Thank the heavens," Jun Bai whispered.
But Arin wasn't so sure. Something felt unfinished.
Later that night, in his room, Arin stared at the artifact cube—the Debug Dice—spinning quietly on his desk.
Yura entered, looking uncharacteristically serious. "You okay?"
"No," Arin said. "We made noise. The wrong kind. Whatever was hiding… now knows I'm a bug in the code."
Yura walked over and sat beside him.
"We'll deal with it," she said. "Or bribe it with grilled buns."
They both chuckled.
Suddenly, a flicker of light danced across the cube.
It rolled on its own.
[DEBUG DICE RESULT: ???]
[New path unlocked.]
From the shadowed edge of the room, the system whispered:
[...They know.]