Time: April 30, 2032. 12:15 PM.
Location: Tokyo National Arena.
After Raiden (The Fake Iron Man) was left wallowing in the mud, the remaining 69 members of the "Great Seven" fell into disarray. They hesitated to attack. After all, the five people standing before them clearly weren't ordinary humans.
Kenji yawned and glanced at his sister.
"Laylo, your turn. Show them some... 'sweet dreams.' Just don't kill them; we need living witnesses."
Laylo stepped forward. Her new white dress fluttered in the wind. She gently rang the small silver bell in her hand (the "Spirit Caller" artifact Kenji had crafted for her).
Ding...
The sound should have been drowned out by the noise of the arena. But it wasn't. It rang directly inside the enemies' minds.
Laylo's eyes turned completely white.
[Skill: Mass Hallucination — "Inner Demon"]
The enemy army suddenly froze.
To their eyes, Laylo no longer looked like a little girl.
In her place, they saw their deepest fears:
For one mage, she was a zombie eating him alive.
For a swordsman, she was his betrayed, undead master.
For another, she was a tax auditor (a joke, perhaps, but a terror for them nonetheless).
"No! Stay back!" an A-Rank tank screamed, slashing his sword at the ally next to him. "Die, monster!"
"What are you doing, idiot?! It's me!" his partner yelled, but the tank couldn't hear him.
Chaos engulfed the arena. The 70 "elite" warriors began to fight each other. They slashed at the air, at the ground, and at their comrades.
The spectators watched in horror. This wasn't a battle; it was a madhouse.
Laylo stood on the stage, playing her bell, conducting them like an orchestra.
"Spin... Jump... Fall..." she whispered.
Kenji stood behind her, shaking his head.
"Psychological warfare. Worse than physical pain. My sister is... terrifying."
Government Box. VIP Zone.
The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense stood at the window looking down, trembling.
"This is a disgrace!" the Defense Minister shouted. "The whole world is watching our strongest warriors tear each other apart!"
"Cut the feed! Now! Turn off the cameras! No one must see this!"
Technicians scrambled to press buttons.
The giant screens in the stadium and the live stream on the internet switched to a "Black Screen."
[TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAND BY...]
But... less than five seconds later, the screens flickered back on.
Only this time, instead of the government logo, a "Sad Face" :( smiley (like the Windows Blue Screen of Death) appeared, followed by Kenji's face at the bottom.
Kenji looked into the camera and winked.
"Sorry, citizens. Looks like the Government's Wi-Fi router froze. I just rebooted it for them."
"The show goes on. Don't touch that remote."
The Defense Minister collapsed into his chair.
"He hacked our system... He controls everything."
The Prime Minister, drenched in cold sweat, picked up the red phone.
"Activate Plan B."
"But sir... they haven't been fully tested..."
"I said activate it! Destroy everything on that field! 'Neutron,' and our disgraced soldiers too!"
The Arena Field.
As the chaos on the battlefield continued, the massive steel walls behind the Arena gates suddenly groaned open.
The air temperature plummeted.
A heavy, cold pressure—completely unlike the "Mana" typical of players—filled the field.
Laylo stopped ringing her bell.
"Brother..." she said, backing away. "The spirits... they ran away in fear. Something is coming. Something very... 'lifeless'."
Heavy footsteps echoed from the tunnel.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Ten warriors marched onto the field.
They were identical—2 meters tall, clad in heavy, full-plate armor of silver and gold that covered their faces entirely. In their hands, they held long, glowing halberds.
There were no "Names" or "Ranks" above their heads.
There was only one label. A yellow text (Neutral, but Immortal status):
[NPC: IMPERIAL GUARD (Level ???)]
[Status: System Enforcer]
Kenji's eyes went wide. He bit through his lollipop, shattering it.
"Are you kidding me?!" he shouted. "NPCs?! Here?!"
Sato (The Tank) gripped his shield tightly.
"Kenji, who are they? They don't look human."
"They aren't human," Kenji said, speaking fast. "They are AI Guards that protect the cities in the game. The rule was: 'If you attack an Aggro Guard, regardless of your level, they one-shot you.' They are a mechanism created to 'punish' players!"
"But... how? They are supposed to obey the System! How is the government controlling them?"
The ten Guards reached the center of the field.
They looked at the members of the "Great Seven" fighting amongst themselves.
One of them spoke in a metallic, emotionless voice (like Google Translate):
"VIOLATION DETECTED. PUBLIC DISTURBANCE. PENALTY: DEATH."
One Guard swung his halberd at the nearest A-Rank warrior (his own ally!).
The warrior didn't even have time to defend himself.
SWISH!
The warrior was sliced in half, armor and all. A fountain of blood erupted.
Simple, emotionless, one-hit death.
The government was slaughtering its own soldiers.
Because for an NPC, there is no "Friend" or "Enemy." Only "Violator." And right now, everyone on the field was a violator.
"Run!" screamed the survivors of the "Great Seven." "They're monsters!"
The Guards now turned toward "Neutron."
"TARGET: NEUTRON GUILD. VIOLATION LEVEL: MAX."
Five Guards sprinted toward Kenji and his team. Their speed... it looked like teleportation.
"Sato! Shield!" Kenji yelled.
Sato thrust his massive Titan Shield forward.
[Absolute Defense!]
The Guard struck the shield with his halberd.
CLANG!
Sato, a tank with 20 years of experience, was sent flying backward as if hit by a train. A crack appeared on his shield.
"Argh!" Sato hit the ground, coughing up blood. "What kind of power is that?! My bones are vibrating!"
Grom (The Berserker), enraged, lunged at the Guard.
"Die, tin head!"
He swung his axe at the Guard's head.
Tink!
The axe bounced off the Guard's helmet. There wasn't even a scratch on the helm.
The Guard looked slowly at Grom and kicked him in the stomach.
Grom flew 50 meters and smashed through the stadium wall.
The situation was critical.
Kenji realized: These NPCs had 90% Damage Reduction and True Damage (Defense Penetration).
The Government was literally using "Cheats."
"Kaito, get Laylo out of here!" Kenji commanded. "I'll distract them!"
"But Captain..." Kaito hesitated.
"FAST! These aren't players! You can't play around with them!"
Kenji stepped forward. He held no weapon.
He faced three Guards.
The Guards attacked simultaneously. Three halberds coming from three directions.
Kenji narrowed his eyes.
His physical strength wasn't enough. That was clear.
But he had Knowledge.
Every NPC had a "Script" (Action Pattern). Kenji had memorized this script eighty years ago.
Right strike—0.5 second delay. Left strike—45 degree angle.
Kenji moved like liquid.
He slid under the first halberd.
He twisted his shoulder to let the second pass.
He jammed his finger into the microscopic gap in the armor behind the third Guard's knee.
[Weak Point: Movement Lock]
The Guard stumbled and fell onto his partner.
Kenji seized the moment, leaped onto them, pulled a "Sticky Mana Bomb" from his Inventory, and slapped it onto the Guard's visor.
BOOM!
The Guard's head snapped back, but he didn't die. He just lost his balance.
"Tough bastards," Kenji panted. "Normal bombs feel like mosquito bites to them."
Suddenly, the giant screen in the stands (which Kenji had hacked) changed again.
Instead of Kenji's face, strange codes appeared.
The Government was trying to cut the connection, but Kenji forced the "Live Stream" to continue.
He looked at the camera and screamed to the whole world:
"Do you see, people?! Instead of protecting its citizens, your Government unleashed the Game's 'Watchdogs' on us! They are killing their own soldiers!"
"But know this... There are no rules for an Admin!"
Kenji clapped his hands together.
He remotely connected with the Core of Tower 4 (which he had subjugated).
"Core! Send me energy! All of it!"
The sky turned black.
A massive violet vortex appeared above the stadium.
The NPC Guards looked up at the sky. They sensed the System energy.
"ERROR. EXTERNAL SOURCE INTERFERENCE."
Kenji floated into the air. His eyes glowed with violet light.
"You want to play by game rules?" Kenji laughed savagely. "Then I'm going to Crash the Game."