Chapter 106 — The Administrators
The Administrator Headquarters of SkyRealm was nothing like the world below.
There were no kingdoms.
No castles.
No battlefields.
No players wandering through towns.
Only endless white corridors floating within a sea of digital space.
Streams of blue code traveled through the walls like rivers of light.
Every few seconds, a massive system window appeared in the distance before disappearing again.
[SKYREALM SYSTEM — STABLE]
[PLAYER DATABASE — ONLINE]
[WORLD SERVER — OPERATIONAL]
[ADMINISTRATOR NETWORK — CONNECTED]
The Headquarters was the place where the people who maintained SkyRealm worked.
But even here, there were boundaries.
SkyRealm was only one game.
The virtual world was made up of countless different games, each with its own systems, mechanics, worlds, and administrators.
A game like SkyRealm had its own Administrator division.
Other games had their own.
Different headquarters existed behind different worlds, each connected to the game they were responsible for.
An Administrator from one game couldn't simply walk into another game's system and take control.
Their authority had limits.
Their permissions had limits.
Their worlds had limits.
And that was exactly why Orion had been thinking so carefully.
He walked through the endless corridor with his hands behind his back.
His expression remained calm.
But his thoughts were anything but.
Blaze.
The name continued repeating inside his head.
A player with almost no accessible records.
A player who had survived the Void.
A player who could resist Administrator Authority.
And, most importantly—
A player whose existence seemed connected to something the system itself had tried to hide.
Orion stopped.
A large transparent window appeared in front of him.
[SKYREALM ADMINISTRATOR NETWORK]
[ACTIVE ADMINISTRATORS: 47]
[HIGH ADMINISTRATORS: 7]
[HEAD ADMINISTRATOR: 1]
Orion stared at the information for a moment.
Forty-seven Administrators.
Seven High Administrators.
And one Head Administrator.
That was only the current structure overseeing his administrative network.
Beyond SkyRealm's system existed other games.
Other Administrator divisions.
Other headquarters.
Other authorities.
Orion turned the window off.
"...Too many rules."
"Too many limitations."
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
"You're complaining about the rules again?"
Orion froze.
Then slowly turned around.
A man stood several meters away.
Unlike Orion, he wasn't wearing the formal Administrator coat.
His clothing was much simpler.
A dark jacket.
Black trousers.
And a small Administrator insignia attached to his collar.
He had a relaxed expression on his face.
"You're supposed to be working."
Orion stared at him.
"...Inker."
Inker smiled.
"And you're supposed to be doing the same."
Orion sighed.
"I was."
"That's not what I heard."
"What did you hear?"
"That you spent the last several hours digging through restricted player records."
Orion's expression became slightly more serious.
"You heard about that already?"
"I'm an Administrator."
Inker shrugged.
"Information travels quickly around here."
Orion crossed his arms.
"It's about a player."
"Blaze?"
Inker's smile disappeared.
"...So it is."
Orion looked at him.
"You know him?"
"No."
"But I've heard enough."
Inker leaned against the wall.
"That's the problem with Blaze."
"You don't need to know him to know that something is wrong."
Orion remained silent.
Inker looked around the corridor.
"You know, sometimes I forget how strange this place is."
Orion raised an eyebrow.
"What's strange about it?"
"This."
Inker gestured toward the endless halls.
"We spend all day watching over a world that most players don't even realize is being maintained."
"Every monster."
"Every dungeon."
"Every quest."
"Every item."
"Every city."
"Every player."
"All of it passes through here."
Orion nodded.
"That's our job."
"Exactly."
Inker looked toward one of the enormous windows floating above them.
Beyond the transparent interface was a massive digital representation of SkyRealm.
Cities.
Forests.
Dungeons.
Mountains.
Millions of pieces of data moving constantly.
"And SkyRealm isn't even the entire system."
Inker continued.
"There are other games."
"Other worlds."
"Other Administrator divisions."
"Different headquarters."
"Different rules."
Orion glanced toward him.
"You're giving me a lecture?"
"I'm reminding you."
Inker smiled.
"Because you keep acting like the entire New World is your responsibility."
Orion chuckled.
"Not my fault the other games keep creating problems."
"That's exactly what I mean."
Inker laughed.
For a moment, the two Administrators simply stood there.
They weren't merely coworkers.
They had known each other for years.
Long before the Collapse.
Before the current chaos.
Before the world below became something neither of them had expected.
Inker was one of the few Administrators Orion actually considered a friend.
Someone he could speak to without maintaining the usual professional mask.
But eventually—
Inker noticed Orion's expression.
"You've got something else on your mind."
Orion looked away.
"...I need someone."
"Someone?"
"To deal with Blaze."
Inker's expression immediately changed.
"Deal with him how?"
"Capture him."
"...Orion."
"I don't intend to kill him."
"That's not what I asked."
Orion remained silent.
Inker sighed.
"You tried using Authority against him."
Orion looked at him.
"Yes."
"And?"
"...He resisted."
Inker stared at him.
For the first time, the relaxed expression disappeared completely.
"An ordinary player shouldn't be able to do that."
"I know."
"Then why are you still treating him like one?"
Orion's eyes narrowed.
"Because I don't know what he is."
Silence filled the corridor.
Inker slowly stood upright.
"Then maybe you should stop trying to fight him."
Orion smiled faintly.
"I'm not."
"I'm looking for someone who can."
Inker immediately understood.
His eyes widened slightly.
"...No."
Orion said nothing.
"Orion."
"No."
"Don't tell me you're thinking about him."
Orion finally smiled.
"I haven't even said his name."
"You don't have to."
Inker stared at him.
"...Trygo."
The name hung in the air.
Neither Administrator spoke for several seconds.
Then Inker quietly sighed.
"You're insane."
Orion's smile widened.
"Maybe."
Inker looked away.
"You really want to bring that man back into this?"
"I need someone who can fight without relying on Authority."
"That's exactly why I'm telling you not to."
Orion's expression became serious.
"Why?"
Inker looked directly at him.
"Because you know what Trygo is."
"He's not just another Administrator."
"He's the reason half of the old security protocols exist."
Orion said nothing.
Inker continued.
"Before he became an Administrator..."
"Trygo was one of the most dangerous players ever recorded."
He paused.
"And unlike most legends..."
"He wasn't famous because he had the strongest equipment."
"He wasn't famous because he had the highest level."
"He was famous because he understood the game."
"Better than almost anyone."
Orion's smile slowly disappeared.
Inker continued.
"He studied everything."
"Movement."
"Cooldowns."
"Hitboxes."
"Terrain."
"AI behavior."
"System interactions."
"Hidden mechanics."
"Exploits."
"Anything that could give him an advantage."
"And when he discovered a weakness..."
"He used it."
Orion remembered the old reports.
Administrator defeated.
Administrator defeated.
Administrator defeated.
Inker shook his head.
"Trygo didn't fight Administrators like a normal player."
"He fought us like a player who had already figured out how we worked."
"And that's what made him dangerous."
Orion looked down the corridor.
"So you understand why I need him."
Inker stared at him.
"No."
"I understand why you're afraid of Blaze."
Orion's expression hardened.
Inker continued.
"And that's what worries me."
He stepped closer.
"Because if you bring Trygo into this..."
"...you aren't just putting you in danger."
"You're putting everyone Connected to BLaze in danger too."
Players.
Npc.
Mobs.
Everyone in skyrealm.
Anyone connected to Blaze.
That's Breaking Protocols
Trygo wouldn't care about their faction.
He wouldn't care about their political beliefs.
He wouldn't care about the Empire.
He would care about one thing.
The challenge.
Inker looked at Orion.
"Are you really prepared to unleash someone like that in the new world"
Orion's golden eyes reflected the streams of code around them.
"...I don't know."
He paused.
Then smiled.
"But I intend to find out."
Inker sighed.
"Where is he?"
Orion turned toward the distant corridor.
"Somewhere in this Headquarters."
"In his room, probably."
Inker shook his head.
"Of course he is."
Orion began walking.
"Come on."
Inker followed reluctantly.
"Where are we going?"
Orion didn't look back.
"To find out whether the legend is still alive."
And somewhere deep within the Administrator Headquarters...
An old Administrator was still waiting.
Completely unaware—
That the past was about to find him again.