Glitchvale was dying in the most undignified way possible. The sky flickered between error messages and discount pharmacy ads, chickens were slowly transforming into HTML code, and Gary the Trash Can was now piloting a stolen boss monster mech with "DOWN WITH PHYSICS!" banners fluttering behind him. Yamete Kimochi stood on a sneezing trash can (inanimate objects had developed cold symptoms at 92% corruption) and stared at the Admin Override prompt hovering before them.
"So let me get this straight," Yamete said, swatting away a floating "Low Memory" warning that kept bumping into his forehead. "Option one: let the world explode and keep our cheats. Option two: reboot everything and lose all our progress."
Admin Theta, her character model still glitching between elf princess and disgruntled llama, nodded vigorously. "That's the gist! Though—"
THUNK!
A rogue bookshelf sprinted past them screaming "I'M FREE!" before glitching through a wall.
GLich-chan sighed. "We should probably decide before the chairs unionize again."
The situation around town was... not ideal:
1. The Revolutionary Chicken Army had barricaded the guild hall demanding better working conditions for NPCs.
2. Dave the Fired Boss Monster was hosting his long-awaited 17th birthday party in the town square, complete with a cake that kept switching between chocolate and raw meat textures.
3. Sigma stood trapped in an endless loop of his cloak respawning and belting out Whitney Houston covers every time he tried to remove it.
Yamete approached the chicken barricade first. The lead revolutionary, a hen in a tiny helmet, glared at him. "Bok! We will not back down until NPCs get dental coverage!"
"Pretty sure we're all about to not exist," Yamete pointed out.
The hen considered this. "...Bok. Then we demand severance packages!"
Yamete solved that crisis by duping magical corn (and one very confused scientific calculator corn) before moving on to Dave's party.
"You realize the world's ending, right?" Yamete asked as Dave struggled to blow out candles that kept relighting themselves.
Dave, a hulking monster with "BETA TESTER" sharpied on his forehead, snorted. "I waited 17 in-game years for this cake. Your apocalypse can wait."
It was GLich-chan who hacked the quest log to rebrand the party as a "Save the World Celebration (With Cake Maybe)", finally convincing Dave to help.
Sigma proved less cooperative. "GET THIS THING OFF ME!" he shrieked as his cloak launched into an emotional rendition of "I Will Always Love You" for the forty-seventh time.
Theta smirked. "Karma's a beautiful thing."
Just as corruption hit 96%, Gary's mech came crashing down beside them, waving a USB drive labeled "Plan C" in its metal claws. What followed was the most chaotic system reboot in gaming history:
1. Gary plugged the drive into the world's core (through sheer trash can determination)
2. Theta's old backup files spilled out along with decades worth of developer memes
3. The entire town briefly turned into a 2005-era RPG complete with pixelated graphics and MIDI soundtrack
When the dust settled, Glitchvale was... different, but familiar:
- The "Cheat Engine" remained, but now scolded Yamete when overused ("Really? Speedhacking to the bathroom?")
- Sigma found peace as a garbage collector (his cloak finally stopped singing)
- Gary became interim mayor (his first decree: mandatory naptimes for all NPCs)
As Yamete and GLich-chan watched the sunset from a roof that occasionally turned into gingerbread, Dave finally cut into his cake—only to find the long-lost "Tutorial Dungeon Beta" inside.
"Okay," Yamete admitted, stealing a pixelated strawberry from the cake, "maybe some bugs are worth keeping."
---
A monitor flickered to life in the void, displaying:
[EARTH.EXE CORRUPTION DETECTED]
[ADMIN YAMETE REQUIRED FOR IMMEDIATE DEBUGGING]
[P.S. BRING SPOONS]