"So that's what happening in the game, we have to start troubleshooting." Eirlys said, finally done the briefing.

The meeting continued, this time it seems they've gotten much more energetic from the sheer fact that the boring pleasantries were over and they could nerd out at troubleshooting the problem.

If I know Ann Murphray well, she'll make sure she didn't leave any trace that'll connect the crime back to her. So I sat, fumbling with my fingers patiently as I just listened.

I felt as if… Someone was looking at me, staring, matter of fact. Cus I stuck out like a sore thumb, but I couldn't prove it since everyone was just looking at their screens through the video call.

People were clearly exhausted as the meeting dragged, some in pajamas, some with their comfy beds made and ready.

The talk began to slip out of my mind and I had a hard time following the conversation when they started screen-sharing charts and logs that I couldn't read.

I sank deeper into the soft lounge chair, hugging my knees and trying to look unobtrusive while the dev team tore apart the economy of Darkmoon Adventure VR in real time.

I wanted to pull out my phone and document the situation to Ann, but was afraid that if Eirlys decided to check my message history, she'll put the pieces together quite easily.

Speaking of Eirlys, I was pleasantly surprised since she wasn't acting like some high-and-mighty boss; she wasn't even close to the center of the call… And here I thought she was the head of the department or something.

Well, she couldn't be, duh! If she's actually that capable to be the head of the department, she wouldn't need my help to be an insider.

Yet, she was still way more capable that I was, because she spoke a lot during the conversation, giving her insights and ideas with such confidence that I shouldn't have.

Eirlys sat leaning forward with a small laptop open in front of the projector where the online meeting were broadcasted (while I thought she'll use the computer in her room) with the same determined frustration as everyone else.

"Could be a value assignment glitch," someone said. "Maybe the reward table's pushing the wrong gold amount."

"Checking now," Another voice responded instantly, and keyboard clacking filled the speakers.

A few seconds later, a spreadsheet popped up, thousands of rows of item IDs and reward formulas scrolling at ridiculous speed.

I didn't understand any of it, it looked like a matrix table being printed out on Excel.

"Quest table's clean," the tech concluded. "Values haven't changed."

"Then maybe an NPC is priced wrong?" Another asked, her mic crunching like she was lying sideways on her bed.

Someone else immediately volunteered to check that, and screens flashed.

Shops from Beginning City, small sellers in Mok Town, black market in Toreno, desert traders in Klakku, potion vendors in the heart of Danielle… It took 10 minutes to check through every of them, but everything looked normal.

The conversation grew messier as they spiraled through possibilities, could it be quest rewards? Maybe it was monster drops! Or killable NPCs… Literally about anything that could award money.

Each suggestion was matched by the cold tap of a keyboard somewhere in the world.

Half an hour passed like that, and the air in the room grew heavier with each failed theory.

I watched their faces on the few cameras that were turned on. I saw people rubbing their temples, sipping cold cups of coffee while trying not to fall asleep. One guy was peeling an orange on camera with the slow resolve of a man who had seen too much, his eyes dark and depressed, yikes.

Eventually, someone finally spoke up, and he said something that changed the mood of the room.

"Found the anomaly."

Even I straightened, I got goosebumps! As if I was going to be caught in my lies! Even though I knew for a fact that I'm here to make sure they know the problem and they know how to fix it, and that they'll rollback the game.

Everyone seemed to lean toward their screens at once, even though technically we were all just looking at a projection on the wall.

A window expanded to reveal a list of transactions, logs of players selling items to vendors across the world, and he filtered through items to show one specific one.

Long, thousands of lines of columns of this one item called [Ancient Deep Sea Relic] being sold for thousands upon thousands of gold.

Cumulatively, a billion gold coin was in circulation already thanks to this.

Everyone started talking over each other in panic was utterly impossible, because well.

The [Ancient Deep Sea Relic] could only be found in, you guessed it, the [Deep Sea] area, an area only accessible after a questline, and that said questline could only be accessible after level 60.

"How many players reached level 60? Vinh, can you check that?" Someone said.

"Sure." An Asian guy with a bad English accent spoke, and after a few seconds, "40 players at level 60, and… Only 31 finished the Deep Sea questline."

"... How many of them changed their race into an Aquatic Beastman for longer duration of lung capacity?" Eirlys asked.

"Only 4… But that doesn't matter, because farming the Relic wouldn't exactly need that much lung capacity." Someone else spoke.

"Let's scroll up." The topic got back to its track when someone finally stepped in. "We should find the earliest strange transaction."

The guy did just that, and as the list flew upward through hundreds of sales, my stomach twisted into a tight knot. I was feeling so guilty, and I started to regret being here.

"The first ever sale was made by this guy…"

"That's half a week ago, ignore him. He should be legit, check for sales in the last 12 hours."

But of course, they do, and it didn't take long for them to find the primordial sinner.

The very first suspicious sale was highlighted:

Player: kalias222

Level: 3

Location: Beginning City Marketplace

Sold: Ancient Deep Sea Relic x99

Gold Received: 99,000

A level three account had been caught selling ancient relics from a level sixty questline in Beginning City.

Of course, it was not impossible, they could've traded it with something they have, a higher level play could've just give them that, since Darkmoon Adventure VR ran on a player-driven economy and a level 1 having level 999 gear wouldn't even be surprising. Of course, if the said items doesn't have the minimum level requirement to use.

I shrank a little further into my seat, trying to keep my mouth shut. Until, unexpectedly, someone spoke up.

"Eirlys, your assistant."

His voice was rather rough and more aged compared to these young techers.

"Does she have anything to add?"

I sat upright, started trembling like I just got picked to present in front of the class.

"I- Uh… Um… What, me?" I pointed at myself, looking over at Eirlys for help.

Eirlys looked at me, and I shook my head, asking her to speak instead of me.

"She doesn't, sir." She said.

I was quite shocked because the way she said that.

She used 'Sir'?

Eirlys called someone a sir, so that guy could be an OG in the company, I'd assume. Like, considering Eirlys' position as the heiress of the entire corporation? That guy would be the CEO or something!

Though, I didn't catch his name, he had his webcam off and now someone else webcam came through among the hundred, burying him again.

And I did, in fact, know.

I knew exactly how it started, I knew the exploit, I knew how Ann triggered it, and I knew this was all because I asked her for the favor. And god, I'm acting very suspicious right now, hell, they probably think I shouldn't even be here! Because I'm not contributing anything and was just observing a company talking, they should be afraid and make me sign an NDA ASAP.

"Guys." someone spoke, "The economy's officially crashed, every item, literally everything is priced to at least 10k gold coins now, even food."

More and more problem were arriving.

"A massive famine is going to happen because no one's willing to sell or buy stuff during this crash."

"The Klakku trade route stopped going in circulation, merchants are closing their shops."

"There's a riot in Danielle about wages, the AIs don't know how to handle said situation. They've announced a national crisis and is going to stop all exports."

"The Eastern continent seems to have caught on and stopped trading with the Western continent at all."

"The South continent is preparing their troops for a war and taking advantages of the chaos happening over at the West."

"I think 7 questlines regarding the merchant class is unavailable."

"Not just the merchant class, I think there's… 3 cleric quests, 9 ranger quests are all being affected."

"Values can't update fast enough!"

The bubble has officially burst.

"We need a solution!" Eirlys slammed on the table, startling me, "NOW!"

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