Chapter 125: The Admin's Wrath and the Art of the Forbidden Deal
The sky above the valley wasn't just red anymore; it was fracturing into a grid of 'Null-Space.' The 'True Players' had been disconnected, but their departure had left behind something far more dangerous: the attention of the System Overseers—The Admins. These weren't kids playing a game; they were the cold, calculating entities responsible for maintaining the 'Profit-Margins' of reality.
"Von, the atmosphere is ionizing," Rena said, her voice trembling as she watched her emerald mana sparks turn into jagged, white binary code. "The Admins are performing a 'Area-Scan.' They're looking for the anomaly that caused a Rank 1 player to lose all his gear to a... 'mysterious hermit'."
Aki, who was currently busy trying to fit three legendary glowing rings onto one finger, looked up with a nervous grin. "Hey, it's not my fault they don't read the fine print! My shop has a 'No Refunds' policy written in invisible ink on the back of a leaf. It's perfectly legal!"
"Legal or not, they're here," Von (Volt) growled, his iridescent armor pulsing with a dark, violet light that seemed to eat the surrounding sunlight.
From the center of the 'Null-Space' grid, a figure descended. He didn't use a pillar of light. He simply stepped out of the air. He was dressed in a suit made of pure, flowing shadows, and his face was a blank, glowing white mask with the words [ERROR_CORRECTOR_01] floating above him.
The Negotiation with a God-Bot
The Admin landed softly on the grass, which instantly withered and turned into grey pixels beneath his feet. "Anomaly detected," the Admin's voice was like a thousand computer fans whirring at once. "Volt_Iteration_500. You have exceeded your narrative parameters. You have corrupted the User-Experience. Deletion is the only logical resolution."
The Admin raised a hand, and the ground beneath Von began to dissolve into a pit of 'Non-Existence.'
"Wait! Wait! Hold your digital horses!" Aki screamed, running out from behind his stall and waving a white cloth (which was actually a stolen silk underwear).
The Admin's mask flickered. "Subject_777. The Glitch. You are scheduled for 'Garbage Collection.' Why do you interfere?"
"Interfere? No, no, no! I'm here to offer a business proposal!" Aki stood in front of Von, puffing out his chest. "Look, Mr. Error-Corrector, you want to delete us because we're 'bad for business,' right? But think about the 'Player Retention'! If you delete the Demon King, the game is over. If the game is over, the players stop spending money on those shiny golden coins."
The Admin paused. The logic made sense within its programming. "Continue."
"Instead of deleting us," Aki whispered, leaning in as if he were sharing a secret with a god, "why not turn us into a 'Hidden Expansion Pack'? We stay here, we 'beat' the players who aren't worthy, and they have to spend more money to buy even better gear to try and defeat us! It's an infinite cycle of profit! You keep your job, we keep our lives, and the players keep losing their lunch money. It's a win-win-win!"
The Admin's Counter-Offer
The Admin stood silent for a long moment, processing the data. "Your proposal has a 74% probability of increasing quarterly revenue. However, the 'Demon King' asset is too unstable. He must be bound by a new set of 'Constraints'."
"Never," Von stepped forward, his sword vibrating with enough power to crack the air. "I didn't break one cage just to walk into a gold-plated one. I am the Sovereign of Twilight. I don't follow your constraints; I rewrite them."
"Then you are a 'Virus'," the Admin concluded. His arm transformed into a massive, pixelated blade that glowed with the power of a dying star. "And viruses must be quarantined."
The Battle of the Void-Blade
The Admin moved with a speed that defied the laws of motion. He didn't 'travel' from one point to another; he simply 'existed' at the new location instantly. His blade slammed into Sai's new neon shield, and the sound wasn't a metallic bang, but a digital screech that made everyone's ears bleed.
"Sai! Hold the line!" Rena shouted, throwing every ounce of her mana into a 'Gravity-Well' spell to slow the Admin down.
Von lunged, his blade meeting the Admin's pixel-sword in a shower of sparks that looked like falling code. "You think you're the master of this world? You're just a script! A piece of logic that can be broken!"
"I am the System," the Admin replied coldly. "I am the math that makes you real."
"Then I'll just have to change the equation!" Von roared, activating his 'Eclipse' skill at full power.
The world went dark. Not the darkness of night, but the darkness of a screen being turned off. In that void, the Admin's light was the only thing visible. Von used that light as a target, striking not at the Admin's body, but at the 'Connection-Link' behind his mask.
The Glitch's Ultimate Heist
While Von was distractedly fighting the Admin, Aki realized his proposal had failed—but it had given him enough time to do what he did best: Stealing the unstealable.
Aki crept behind the Admin, using the 'Luck Algorithm' to vibrate his molecules at a frequency that made him invisible to the Admin's sensors. He reached out toward the Admin's 'Admin-Panel'—a floating holographic screen that only appeared during combat.
"Let's see... 'Delete Account'... 'Ban Player'... 'Spawn Dragon'... oh, what's this? 'Source-Code-Key'?"
Aki grabbed the 'Key'—a small, glowing golden floppy-disk icon.
[WARNING: SYSTEM-CRITICAL ASSET STOLEN. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.]
The Admin suddenly froze, his pixel-sword flickering out of existence. "Asset_Lost. Integrity_Compromised. Initiating Emergency Backup..."
"Not so fast!" Aki shouted, holding the golden icon high. "Von! I've got his heart! Or his brain! Or whatever this shiny thing is!"
The Retreat of the Overseer
The Admin's white mask cracked. "You... have no idea... what you have done. Without the Key, the boundary between the 'Game' and the 'Real World' will dissolve. You haven't saved your world... you've opened the door for Them."
With a final, distorted sound, the Admin vanished, retreating to the upper-server to report the loss. The 'Null-Space' grid in the sky slowly closed, but it left a jagged, permanent scar across the stars.
Aki sat on the ground, panting, still clutching the golden Key. "We did it? We actually beat a guy with 'Admin' in his name?"
Von walked over, his armor returning to its dull, iridescent grey. He looked at the Key in Aki's hand with a look of deep concern. "You didn't just steal a key, Aki. You stole the 'Password of Existence.' The Admin was right. The players were just a nuisance. Now, the 'True Creators'—the ones who built the Architect himself—will have to step in."
Aki looked at the Key, then at the gold-painted rusty swords in his shop, then back at Von. "So... does this mean I can't be Mayor anymore?"
Von finally let out a small, tired laugh. "Aki, at the rate we're going, you might end up being the CEO of the Universe. But for now, we need to hide. This key is the most hunted item in reality.