"Cheng Shuili, this feature must go live tomorrow! Fix it tonight!"
"Cheng Shuili, the server's down—get up and reboot it!"
"Cheng Shui—"
Gasp.
Cheng Shuili shot upright, her breath ragged and eyes wild. The office? Gone. Her dual-monitor setup? Gone. That cursed spaghetti-code line she'd been debugging for twelve hours straight? Also gone.
She blinked. The ceiling wasn't the cold fluorescent white she was used to.
Wait… where was she?
The last thing she remembered was a stabbing pain in her chest—then darkness.
Her fingers trembled. "I… died?"
There was a pause.
Then a dry chuckle escaped her lips. "Ha. At least I don't have to fix those damn bugs anymore."
Just as she exhaled in relief, a cold, mechanical voice rang out in her mind:
[Welcome to the Highway Survival Game. All 7 billion global players are now in position.]
A translucent panel popped up in front of her:
[Player: Cheng Shuili (ID: AAAJCCJ8888)][Initiating Talent Draw…][Congratulations! You have acquired the talent: Bug Physique (SSS-grade)][Description: Your presence attracts system loopholes. You excel at finding bugs—and abusing them.]
Cheng Shuili stared blankly at the screen.
"Bug… Physique?"
As a programmer, she was practically allergic to that word. "Bug" was the bane of her existence. Just seeing those three cursed letters made her eyelid twitch.
She looked around.
A straight, seemingly endless highway stretched out in front of her, flanked by empty plains and jagged, distant hills. The sky was blood-red. The wind stirred dry, yellow grass around her.
Yup. She was no longer in the mortal realm.
Guess I transmigrated…? she thought.
Her lips curled into a grin. "No more bosses. No more Jira tickets. No more 996 schedule. This might actually be paradise."
She jumped in place once, then twice—just to be sure it wasn't a dream.
[Talent Draw Complete. Welcome to the Highway Survival Game. You are currently located in Longguo Sector 3, District 1000. Please select your starter vehicle.]
Four new panels materialized:
[A. Mountain Bike – basic transport, no fuel needed, 5kg storage][B. Electric Tricycle – 50km range, 20kg storage, slow speed][C. Pickup Truck – versatile, 100kg storage, high fuel usage][D. Cargo Van – 300kg storage, heavy vehicle, fuel guzzler]
Cheng Shuili narrowed her eyes.
"Huh… UI alignment's a bit off," she muttered. "No responsive scaling, no hover feedback. Who designed this?"
She couldn't help herself. Years of muscle memory took over.
Tap. Swipe. Two-finger press. Long tap. Rapid triple-click on Option C…
And the interface glitched.
A mosaic of pixelation distorted the panels before everything disappeared with a soft pop.
"…What the hell?"
The screen flashed red.
[Abnormal user interaction detected. Vehicle selection bug triggered. Reallocating…][Reallocation failed.][Assigning compensation vehicle…]
[You have received: Rusty Shopping Cart (Durability 10/100, Storage 50kg, No engine, push to move)]
Cheng Shuili: "…"
Before her stood a beat-up shopping cart with three half-broken wheels and a crooked sign:
XX Supermarket Clearance: 9.9 Yuan
"…Is this a joke?"
So this was the SSS-grade Bug Physique? She broke the system on her first click?!
No time to reflect. The system continued:
[All players have chosen their vehicles. Game starting. Please review the basic rules:]
[1. Follow the highway. Random supply crates will appear. Some are helpful. Others… not so much.][2. Daytime: 8:00–20:00. At night, stay within 6 meters of your vehicle. The darkness is alive.][3. Each player has their own instance of the highway, but "Highway Merge" events may occur.][4. Humans say: 'When the neighbor hoards food, I hoard guns.' The neighbor is your pantry.][Newbie Protection Active: 7 days. Day 1: reduced monster rate, automatic vehicle repair.][Day 1 Objective: Travel 50km.]
Cheng Shuili stared down at her rusty cart.
She gave it a tentative push.
Screeeeech.
One wheel wobbled, turned halfway, then clunked to a halt.
"…Alright, still better than walking."
She crouched, fiddling with the axle—until she noticed something odd: a small rectangular port under the frame.
Is that… a USB port?
She patted her hoodie pocket. A familiar cable rested there—one she'd had in her old world. What were the odds?
Out of curiosity, she plugged it in.
[Warning: Unauthorized vehicle modification detected!]
"Huh?! You call this junk a vehicle?!"
She yanked the cable out in frustration—and kicked the jammed wheel.
Crack!
The wheel snapped off and flew ten meters.
The system glitched again.
[Vehicle damaged during Newbie Protection!][Error: Cannot repair!][Compensation protocol triggered…][Congratulations! You have obtained:]
[Supermarket Promo Edition Electric Cart – Durability: Infinite, Storage: 200kg, Max Speed: 40km/h, Range: 100km per charge]
Cheng Shuili blinked.
Then she grinned.
"…Bug Physique? Not bad."