Chapter 107 — The Legend They Couldn't Erase
The two Administrators continued walking through the endless white hallway.
Their footsteps echoed softly against the smooth floor.
Around them, streams of information floated through the air.
Some displayed player activity.
Others showed server conditions, world events, system errors, and thousands of other pieces of information that existed beyond the awareness of ordinary players.
Inker casually looked at one of the screens as they walked.
"So..."
"How's SkyRealm?"
Orion glanced at him.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean."
Inker waved his hand toward the floating displays.
"Everything okay down there?"
"I heard there's been quite a commotion lately."
Orion shrugged.
"Nothing unusual."
Inker raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing unusual?"
"Orion, I heard the Empire is fighting other games now."
He stopped walking for a moment.
"They aren't satisfied with conquering the other Sync Corp games?"
"Now they're going after games outside their network?"
Orion continued walking.
"They've been expanding."
"That's what Empires do."
Inker followed him.
"That's a little more than expansion."
"The Empire has always been aggressive, but this is different."
"They're crossing borders that weren't theirs to cross."
Orion shrugged again.
"If you're that curious..."
"You should go down there and see it for yourself."
Inker looked offended.
"Why would I?"
"Because you're always staring at that thing."
Orion pointed toward the enormous screen floating beside them.
The screen displayed thousands of constantly updating pieces of data.
Player movements.
Server populations.
World activity.
System fluctuations.
Trade information.
Combat reports.
Everything was being processed simultaneously.
Inker looked at the screen.
"...This?"
"Yes."
"It's literally my job."
He waved his hand toward it.
"Almost all Administrator data can be managed remotely."
"I don't need to physically visit the world every time something happens."
Orion smiled.
"Unlike you, I actually enjoy going down there."
"Yes."
Inker sighed.
"That's your problem."
"You're too interested in the players."
Orion shrugged.
"Someone has to actually look at what's happening."
Inker turned back toward the screen.
"Data doesn't lie."
Orion glanced at him.
Inker tapped several commands into the interface.
The screen changed.
A graph appeared.
The line suddenly rose.
Then rose again.
Then again.
Orion stopped.
"What is that?"
"Player activity."
Inker enlarged the graph.
"Look at the numbers."
Orion studied them.
"...That's almost double."
"Exactly."
"Compared to last year?"
"Yes."
Inker pointed toward another section of the screen.
"Player activity in SkyRealm has increased dramatically."
"At first, I thought it was just npc population growth."
"But then I started noticing something."
"What?"
Inker changed the display.
A list appeared.
Different player origins.
Different game signatures.
Different system classifications.
Vexsora.
BattleNet.
CraftWorld.
There not Sync Corp titles.
And several entries from games outside the corporation's network.
Orion stared at the information.
"Players from other games."
Inker nodded.
"More and more of them are entering SkyRealm."
"Some are traders."
"Some are mercenaries."
"Some are adventurers."
"Some are just looking for somewhere safer."
Orion's expression became more serious.
"And some are probably here because of the Empire."
"Probably."
Inker closed the screen.
"But that's not the part I'm worried about."
Orion looked at him.
"So..."
"You're concerned?"
Inker paused.
He stared ahead.
Then shook his head.
"I don't think that's the word."
He continued walking.
"It's not that I don't care."
"I know there are going to be consequences."
"When people from different games start mixing..."
"Conflicts are inevitable."
"New alliances."
"New wars."
"New economies."
"New problems."
He sighed.
"I just don't want to get involved."
Orion looked at him.
Inker gave a small smile.
"I think most Administrators feel the same way."
"We maintain the worlds."
"We don't control the people."
"And when players start fighting each other..."
"That's their problem."
Orion said nothing.
For several seconds, the hallway was quiet.
Then Inker suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
He raised his hand.
A small interface appeared beside him.
A notification flashed across the screen.
[INCOMING ADMINISTRATOR COMMUNICATION]
Inker looked at it.
"Ah."
He sighed.
"I should take this."
He opened the communication window.
"Hello?"
A voice came from the other side.
Orion couldn't hear everything.
He simply continued waiting.
After a few moments, Inker looked toward him.
"I've got to deal with this."
He dismissed the communication.
"That's it for now."
He pointed toward the hallway ahead.
"Keep going."
"Take the next left."
"You should be able to find who you're looking for."
Orion nodded.
"Thanks."
Inker smiled.
"Just don't cause a system-wide incident."
"No promises."
Inker shook his head.
"That's exactly what I was afraid you'd say."
He turned and walked away.
Orion watched him disappear around the corner.
Then he continued forward.
His footsteps echoed through the empty hallway.
Left turn.
Then another corridor.
The further he walked, the quieter the Headquarters became.
The bright white walls slowly changed.
The usual Administrator doors disappeared.
There were fewer system windows.
Fewer active terminals.
Even the ambient sound of the Headquarters seemed to disappear.
Orion slowed down.
Something suddenly occurred to him.
"...Wait."
He stopped.
He hadn't seen Trygo in years.
Not personally.
Not since before Trygo became an Administrator.
Orion knew the records.
He knew the reports.
He knew the stories.
But he realized something uncomfortable.
He didn't actually know what Trygo looked like anymore.
Time had passed.
Players changed.
Administrators changed.
Even legends changed.
Orion continued walking.
Then—
He saw it.
A massive door stood at the end of the corridor.
It was unlike every other Administrator door in the Headquarters.
Most doors were simple.
Clean.
White.
Functional.
This one wasn't.
The massive doorway was dark.
Ancient-looking.
Its surface was covered with old system markings.
Some of them were no longer used by modern Administrators.
Orion stopped several meters away.
"...So this is it."
He stared at the door.
His thoughts returned to Inker's warning.
Don't.
He's not just another Administrator.
He's the reason half the old security protocols exist.
Orion's expression became serious.
Trygo.
The name belonged to an era that most current players only knew through stories.
Before the Collapse.
Before the world became the New Earth.
Before Administrators became the rulers of broken worlds.
There was a player who refused to accept the difference between player and Administrator.
His name was Trygo.
He wasn't the strongest player in the world.
He wasn't the highest level.
He didn't possess some legendary artifact that made him unbeatable.
He simply understood games.
Better than almost anyone.
He studied systems the way other players studied weapons.
He learned movement patterns.
Cooldowns.
Damage calculations.
Hitboxes.
Terrain.
AI behavior.
Animation delays.
Server mechanics.
Hidden interactions.
And most importantly—
He learned Administrators.
Whenever an Administrator appeared to stop him...
Trygo studied them.
The first Administrator defeated him.
The second didn't.
The third lost.
Then the fourth.
Then the fifth.
Soon, reports began appearing throughout the system.
A player had entered an Administrator-controlled area.
The Administrator had activated Authority.
The player had survived.
The Administrator had been defeated.
At first, the system treated the incidents as anomalies.
Then they happened again.
And again.
And again.
Trygo wasn't defeating Administrators because he possessed greater Authority.
He had none.
He was a player.
That was precisely what made him terrifying.
He fought with the limitations of a player—
and somehow turned those limitations into weapons.
He discovered ways around abilities that were supposed to be absolute.
He manipulated terrain.
He baited cooldowns.
He forced Administrators into predictable patterns.
He exploited the difference between what an Administrator could do...
and what an Administrator expected a player to do.
Eventually, Administrator reports stopped describing Trygo as a player.
They began describing him as a threat.
A special threat.
An exception.
A problem that could not be solved through normal measures.
Then came the incident that became legend.
Trygo challenged an Administrator directly.
Not because he needed anything.
Not because he wanted territory.
Not because he wanted power.
He simply wanted to see if he could win.
And he did.
The Administrator was defeated.
Then another.
Then another.
Every victory made Trygo more confident.
Every defeat of an Administrator created another story.
Eventually, the Head Administrator personally intervened.
That battle became one of the most heavily restricted events in the old records.
The exact details were classified.
But everyone knew how it ended.
Trygo lost.
For the first time in a long time...
The player had been defeated.
But the Head Administrator didn't erase his account.
Instead, Trygo was given a choice.
Retire from the game world forever.
Or become an Administrator.
He chose the second.
And that decision created something the system had never intended to create.
A former player...
who understood Authority.
An Administrator...
who understood players.
A man who knew exactly how the system worked from both sides.
That was Trygo.
Orion stared at the door.
He remembered one final detail from the old records.
Trygo had never truly become an Administrator because he wanted the position.
He had accepted because it gave him something else.
Access.
Knowledge.
Freedom.
The ability to explore systems that ordinary players could never reach.
Even now, years later, his existence remained unusual.
Orion technically outranked him.
Trygo was still an Administrator.
He was still subject to the hierarchy.
But that didn't mean Orion could treat him like an ordinary subordinate.
Trygo wasn't recruited because he was obedient.
He was recruited because the system couldn't afford to delete him.
Orion slowly walked toward the door.
His hand stopped inches away from the control panel.
"...What am I doing?"
He already knew the answer.
Blaze.
Ryze.
The Resistance.
Everything happening in SkyRealm was becoming connected.
The Empire was expanding.
Players from other games were entering SkyRealm.
And Blaze—
a player with no proper record—
had somehow resisted Orion's Authority.
If Orion wanted answers...
he needed someone who could confront Blaze without relying on Authority.
Someone who fought like a player.
Someone who understood what it meant to fight an opponent who broke the rules.
Orion looked at the massive door again.
For the first time since arriving at the Headquarters...
he felt uncertain.
Then he smiled.
"...Fine."
"I'll take the risk."
He placed his hand against the door.
The ancient system markings slowly illuminated.
[RESTRICTED ADMINISTRATOR QUARTER]
[USER: TRYGO]
[STATUS: ACTIVE]
Orion stared at the final line.
Active.
He hadn't expected that.
A quiet smile appeared on his face.
"So..."
"You're still here."
The door unlocked.
CLANK.
The sound echoed throughout the hallway.
Orion pushed it open.
And for the first time in years...
the door to Trygo's world began to open.