I Got Tangled Up in a Strange Bug in a Match-Three Game

[The Most Sharp-Tongued Employee on the Internet vs. The Proud, Protective Game Developer]

Programmer Fang Chuyu is called in to work overtime at the last minute to patch an anomalous piece of code.

Instead, she gets trapped inside a full-dive game engine.

She turns into a new NPC in Fairy Tale Match-3: a sharp-tongued corporate drone fish?

Forced to become a pioneer explorer in the Fairy Tale Kingdom, Fang Chuyu fails miserably at the first level in Fool's Wharf.

Then she's hounded by a strange game bug that keeps shouting for help, insisting she find its memories and body.

Game bug: "System infection successful."

Fang Chuyu: "You don't know the answer to anything. What good are you?"

Game bug: "I can create an item-code editor for you."

So Fang Chuyu writes code to obtain custom items, clearing levels and unlocking fairy tales as she goes, rebuilding the Fairy Tale Kingdom.

Since the items come with stress-relieving sound effects that roast her boss, they unexpectedly become a huge hit.

But at some point, the game bug's personality changes!

It used to be thoughtful and always there when called. Now it's arrogant and rude, and barely responds to anyone.

*

Until one day.

A colleague says awkwardly, "Xiaoyu, I have something to tell you... You're not the only one trapped in the game engine."

Fang Chuyu: "Who else?"

Colleague: "Our game's producer, Yu Simeng..."

Fang Chuyu: "Where is he?"

Game bug: "Right beside you."

Fang Chuyu looks around in alarm, but sees no one.

The game bug speaks again: "I'm Yu Simeng."

Fang Chuyu: "???"

The game bug helping her clear the game is actually the real boss she's been roasting day and night?

[Plot Synopsis]

Fang Chuyu accepts the fact that she's become an NPC in the Fairy Tale Kingdom. Now all she has to do is reach the final level and find the anomalous code!

But little by little, Fang Chuyu discovers that the people and things in the Fairy Tale Kingdom are straying from the game's settings.

The mysterious sea-eroded cave beneath Fool's Wharf, the bones of fairy-tale residents buried near the Sea God Shrine...

The Gluttonous Eater begs her for help: the food on Tasty Street has started eating people.

The Cloud Witch of the Dark Forest has turned white-haired overnight, and her powers to command the wind and rain have vanished without a trace.

The king of Grimwood Castle has become a tyrant, and the most loyal Iron Knight is now a fugitive? And who is the mad charlatan in the dungeon?

Why has the cowboy hunter from the Western Desert returned to childhood, becoming a frail little girl with no combat skills...

The assembled Doll Knight at the Toy Amusement Park has always been timid and fragile, so why has it led a horde of plush toys in a revolt?

And what about the shadow assassin at the circus camp? He's always been a man of few words, appearing and disappearing without a trace, but now he's a loud, attention-seeking chatterbox.

Wasn't this supposed to be a healing fairy tale?

Theme: Fairy tales, match and clear your worries