Where y'all get cheap components from?

Don't. If you can help it.

I only buy from reputable sources.

Okay, that's a big fat lie... we've been forced to deal with some shady brokers in order to keep production rolling long enough for us to redesign and re-spin boards for shit we can't get anymore. We're talking about being forced to shell out $80 per IC for some critical shit they suddenly quit making due to scamdemic.

Has been a seriously rough last two years.

Edit: Suppose I should also come clean that I've bought vintage ICs from China that I know some poor soul was probably forced to extract from trash PCBs for pennies a week.

Is that an ATMega168 or 328?

That was my first one ever. Bought a bag full of parts and it came with PDF instructions on how to get started. Arduino was just coming out into the market at the time. What I had wasn't fancy at all... just a breadboard, a 4x20 LCD, 7805 regulator, and misc components. The Atmega168 already came with a bootloader installed, so no need for a programmer. The code was done in a simple text editor and compiled with gcc. 12-13 years later, it's a large chunk of what I do for a living...

Chinese wholesalers like Aliexpress and DHGate. I wouldn't rely on them for anything mission-critical, but they work well enough.

One mistake you made. The output string should be "N I G G E R".

China