"Mm-hmm." A young man with blond hair walked through the forest with indifference. As he passed, the trees bent and the rough terrain smoothed, as if nature itself bowed before him. Everything around him responded to his mere presence. His blue eyes looked up at the night sky, which seemed ready to dawn at any moment. The stars in the sky were countless, each shining brightly.
"Gya Gua Gaaaaaa."
"Mmm?" He glanced to the side; at some point, a group of goblins prowling the area spotted him. As if feeling an instinctive fear toward the being before them, they began to shout, trying to appear threatening, though their bodies trembled and their gazes betrayed panic. "Too observant creatures," said the young man, watching them with complete disinterest. He snapped his fingers, and instantly, the goblins' heads swelled like bladders and exploded, scattering fragments of brain and blood.
With a faint smile, the boy wiped a piece of matter that had splattered his face. "Inferior species are terribly annoying," he murmured.
"Then, why don't you return to the Golden City?" asked a voice that emerged from the ground. The young man turned and looked at the ground; immediately, two golden eyes appeared alongside a massive shadow that covered his own. He put on a smile that dripped with false cordiality. "Arka, old friend. How did you find me?"
"You made so much noise you thought no one would discover you? You underestimate us," replied the voice as a figure began to materialize from his shadow. It was colossal, so enormous it blotted out the light of the stars. Its gaze descended upon the insignificant being before it. But the young man seemed unintimidated; he stared directly at it without blinking.
"I hope you don't plan to descend in your complete form. If you do, this entire region will be destroyed, and the consequences will not be small," he said, as if reminding it of something trivial. Suddenly, he burst into a mad laugh. "Though... it would be interesting to see what the administrators would do to you for that breach."
As if responding to those words, the gigantic figure shrank until it became a tiny point, then adopted a completely black humanoid form. Golden eyes glowed in the darkness of its silhouette, and black flames danced across its surface. "I know better than anyone how this works. Unlike you, I have carried out my duties carefully," it explained with a hint of irritation. "Now, explain yourself: why are you interfering with the participants' fate?"
"Ah, so you noticed," replied the young man, smiling.
"Explain. You know the consequences. If this goes wrong, the region will be reduced to ashes."
"And is that a problem? The regions destroyed so far are countless, whether by our hand or their own."
"This is different," the being replied evasively.
"Yeah, yeah, they always say that," grumbled the young man, exasperated. "My interference was minimal; it changed nothing of their future or past."
"You think I don't know what you did? The sponsors who were interested in him will be very puzzled that he didn't accept anything. If this goes wrong, the administrators could investigate and link it to you," it explained.
"It won't be a problem. I made sure to erase all traces of myself completely, even from his own memory. It will be as if I never existed, and even if he tries to remember, it will be impossible to see the whole picture," he explained as if talking to a child.
The being nodded. "What you did is still risky. If it were anyone else, I would report it to the higher-ups immediately," it said as if threatening him.
"But, really, are you going to inform the higher-ups?" he asked, knowing the answer.
It shook its head immediately. "I have no reason to, and I don't intend to. This is just a warning: do not interfere with destiny. Things must follow their course. Moves can only be made when the region opens."
"As you wish," said the young man, disinterested, turning away. "One question: how long until the first release?"
"You know better than I," replied the black being, raising its gaze to the sky, where the sun was beginning to emerge.
The young man smiled again. "I'll keep watching. I hope the bearers and thieves of the Star put on a good show." His body began to burn away in black flames until it disappeared without a trace.
"Slippery idiot," murmured the being with a sigh before also vanishing.
At the same time, in another place, where there was a golden throne on high with a circle of innumerable seats decorated with symbols, several beings spoke.
"The first cycle has been completed; the release of the first barrier will be done immediately," explained one being. "Now that the system will be released for the participants of region 3798, who will be in charge of administering said region?"
A being stood up. "I am the most suitable person; with my leadership, I can raise the level immediately to fully liberate the region."
"Are you serious? The last time you administered a region, you caused too much instability with your missions and events, which led to the loss of all participants in region 1810. Stop trying to do something that is clearly beyond you," said someone from the crowd.
"I am much more qualified for that task than that guy; just one month will be enough to liberate the region."
"That useless fool is really talking! With him, we can only expect less than five percent of the participants to survive. Are you really useful?" asked the one who had been pointed out first.
"What did you say, bastard?" said the being while staring at him intensely.
"What you heard, idiot," he replied with a smile.
Immediately, they began to shout at each other, and it seemed that at any moment they would come to blows.
But a hand was raised, and everyone fell silent and still.
"Are you sure you can properly administer the region?" asked one being slowly.
The one called trembling replied: "Yes, this time there should be no problems, and it will work correctly. Just give me one chance."
"Very well," responded the being with little interest. "But understand that if this doesn't work, worrying about only being demoted will be the least of your problems."
"Yes, yes," said the trembling one.
"Good, now that it's decided, add the basic systems and prepare everything," he explained. "There isn't much time left for the festival, so the newly integrated regions must get ready," he ordered as he disappeared from the place.
As if it were a signal, the lights began to turn off, indicating that the place had been completely abandoned and the meeting had ended.