This is a Beta Test?! - A Literally Broken System

The act of traveling never really struck me as something enjoyable. Well, it was when done in small amounts and when you\'re going to places you\'ve actually never been before. But to do so every day was a pain that I really didn\'t like to do. Especially so when it was for work.

Then again, wasn\'t that the same for most people?

When you\'re going from country to country as a relatively middle-class traveler, only then would it actually feel enjoyable. Money really did solve a lot of problems, huh. And here comes rich people telling us poor folk that money can\'t buy happiness...

"Well, we\'re here," I lazily declared as we stepped foot in front of the pier, the salty air almost making me thirsty. "I guess now you can have a more intimate look at the water. Right, Guidance?"

"Shut up."

I couldn\'t help but smirk as I turned to look at the audibly fuming dev beside me. For obvious reasons, she was very upset just looking at the sea of red in front of us. It was understandable, of course. After all, who wouldn\'t be upset at seeing their life\'s work not working as intended?

"I-I think it looks beautiful," Shizu weakly offered with a chuckle. "Its very waters command the three nations. Kattleyna, in all its might, can\'t even come close to taming it, much less [Marquee] and [Vestyge]."

"That\'s implying you all even tried," I quipped. "Are you saying that all of these nations actually tried to control the very seas?"

"Kattleyna? Never," the princess uncharacteristically answered with a serious tone. "What you\'re saying is blasphemy, Moriya. The Empire would never dare to encroach the realm of the Gods."

I raised an eyebrow at her words. Did she really believe that taming the seas meant playing god somehow? "What makes you say that?"

To my surprise, Shizu\'s eyes gleamed with a borderline zealous glint. Then again, I probably should\'ve expected this from someone that refused to believe that Guidance and I weren\'t [Eld] gods despite our wishes.

"The [Shallow Deep] is the very sea that gave life to this [Star]," Shizu religiously explained, her arms splaying out wide towards the very seas that we were talking about. "It wouldn\'t be proper for us to think that we can tame that which made it possible for us to even thrive in such an environment."

"I see," I nodded. "So it\'s all just religious stuff then?"

Shizu looked at me with a betrayed expression on her face. "R-Religious stuff? You\'d dismiss my words that easily?"

I blinked at her reaction, only for my own face to grimace as my own words replayed in my head. "O-Oh... Apologies." Yikes... That was kind of tactless of me.

"I-It\'s fine," the princess shakily waved her hand at me. "I can understand if you and Guidance wouldn\'t acknowledge such a creation."

"What\'s that supposed to mean?"

"N-Never mind," Shizu quickly shook her head with a smile, her entire body almost moving to bow at me. "It was my mistake."

Uhh... okay?

Letting off a shrug, I ignored Shizu\'s nervous energy in favor of turning my attention back to Guidance. She was still muttering to herself, it seemed, her fingers practically itching as she palmed at her [Manifest].

"How do I fix this?" Guidance audibly whispered to herself. "This is too big a scope for Shizu to handle, I think..."

"How about you just don\'t?"

I almost snorted as the dev almost jumped off her feet. Looking at me with an accusatory glare, she pouted, "You startled me."

"You should really try and loosen up about your own work," I gave her a knowing smile as I advised. "Not everyone\'s perfect. You can make mistakes too."

"But this wasn\'t my mistake!"

Shizu and I almost yelped in surprise at Guidance\'s adamant denial. She was loud enough that her voice practically echoed out into the sea, which was something that I didn\'t even know could even happen.

"This is just the Engine mocking me for my incompetence!" Guidance insisted, her face almost turning red with anger. "I can\'t even look at the code myself to see what\'s wrong with the damn thing. And even then, I don\'t think fixing the damage here would fix it for the entirety of the [Deep]."

An awkward silence settled between the three of us, all of us looking out towards the sea of errors as Guidance audibly panted with rage. Beside me, I could feel Shizu trembling slightly, probably already feeling nervous at the prospect of fixing such a massive problem. Not that I would let her.

"I..." Shizu hesitantly trailed off. "Should I-"

"Don\'t," I firmly stated, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Guidance here\'s just ranting. Besides, I highly doubt you\'d survive fixing something this massive a scale."

Shizu\'s golden eyes widened at my words, her gaze turning towards the sea as the gravity of the problem seemingly sunk in.

"You... You mean..."

"He\'s... not wrong," Guidance weakly backed me up, much to my surprise. "If you\'re already vomiting just from us fixing every little thing, I could only assume that fixing the entirety of the [Shallow Deep] with a press of a button would make your head explode."

I winced at the imagery that Guidance just offered us. And obviously, Shizu took it to heart, her trembling hands being a sign that she just thought through such a prospective scenario herself.

"I... I wouldn\'t want that, Guidance," Shizu weakly chuckled. "I think I\'d rather live a long life doing what I love best."

"Fair enough, right?" I chuckled. "Now, let\'s ignored the glaring red for a moment and look for our boat. We don\'t have all the time in the world, no?"

Shizu quickly backed me up with an energetic smile. "Right! We should have a [Rig] waiting for us by the Imperial port. Don\'t know where it is though, so we should probably ask around."

I blinked at what I just heard. A [Rig]? An Imperial port? I found myself looking at Guidance for answers.

"Don\'t look at me like that. At least let it play out before you interrogate me," the dev scoffed, much to my resignation.

"Let\'s go the Portmaster\'s Office," the princess smiled. "I\'m sure the answers are gonna be there."

As Shizu cheerfully skipped right in front of us, I could only shrug as Guidance and I followed the princess\'s lead. It was a fresh sight to see, after all. I haven\'t seen Shizu this happy in what felt like days now.

Guess I\'ll just have to be patient for answers.

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