The blade pierced Selin cleanly. Hero flinched. He never wanted to do this, but he had been forced to.

"You have killed the parasite!""You have killed..."

Hero did not want to see that name. A tear immediately fell from his eye. It seemed as if Selin was still alive, but her fate was sealed.

Selin staggered back a few steps. Blood sprayed from her wound as Hero immediately pulled the sword out. Selin looked at Hero one last time, then collapsed. For Hero, everything slowed down. He no longer saw the world like others did. He felt empty and filled only with grief. He had just killed Selin.

"I had to do it!"

Hero withdrew and ran out of the cave. Ice lay unconscious on the ground inside and did not notice anything. Selin, however, exploded into a thousand blue fragments. In the end, she was a non player character. Even so, she would always be remembered by the group. She died bravely in battle, if it had not been for that parasite.

The cave was now empty and dark. Every torch on the walls went out. Only the quiet breathing of the unconscious Ice could be heard. But with Mike…

He opened his eyes and found himself in a white, hollow room. Beside him floated black text, clearly visible against the white surroundings. It was an introduction text and explanation. Mike read it out loud.

"Welcome, admins. You were chosen for various reasons. Overall, there are five of you, but sadly only four remain, since one admin died in battle before we could grant the full admin power. You have survived three months in the game. That is very good. Congratulations. Approximately one million players have already died."

Mike stopped. A shiver ran through him at that sentence. One million had already died. In just three months. One million.

He swallowed and continued reading.

"As a reward, the four of you will now receive admin rights. There are several rules. Do not kill others unless they attack first. Do not change events or story occurrences. Tell no one about this."

The last rule glowed red. Tell no one. That would be difficult if Mike suddenly became many times stronger. How was he supposed to explain his sudden disappearances?

"Receive voice powers?""Decline and continue playing normally?"

Mike naturally wanted to choose the first option. Suddenly, a system window appeared in his view.

"One admin has declined. There are now only three."

Mike frowned. Someone had really refused this power. Why would anyone do that? Without hesitation, Mike pressed yes.

A golden glow burst from his chest, followed by a black flash. The next moment, Mike stood in front of the cave. He paused, realizing something felt different. His vision was clearer, faster. He understood why. He had become many times stronger, faster, and smarter.

Mike looked around and noticed Hero sitting against a rock wall. He was shaking. His hands would not stop trembling, even after a full minute. Mike assumed it was fear.

"Hero, are you okay?"

When Mike said his name, Hero flinched and looked up, but did not answer. He only pointed with a trembling finger toward the cave.

"Where are Ice and Selin?"

Hero did not respond. He just stared lifelessly ahead.

Mike entered the cave. As the rock wall covered him, he realized this was the perfect moment to test his new powers. He focused and stood above the water. He stepped in. He was already inside. He could see clearly and breathe normally. The water no longer bothered him.

Mike swam and felt his speed change drastically. With one powerful movement, he slammed into the end of the tunnel. He looked up, pushed off the ground, and shot upward. He flew, narrowly passing the wall. That had never happened before.

He focused again on why Hero had looked so terrified. Mike looked around and noticed Ice lying on the ground. She was alive, thankfully, but once again out of energy. Selin was missing.

Mike realized it immediately.

"Oh… Selin fell in the fight?"

He looked saddened. He had liked Selin. He wanted to ask Hero what had happened, but something stopped him. A white cloud lay on the ground.

Mike's sword was lying next to it, surrounded by a golden aura.

"Oh, my sword."

Mike picked it up. The blade instantly turned black as shadows spread across its entire length. He stored it in his inventory and looked back at the cloud. He touched it.

"Cloudless. A large fragment of the Cloud of Joy."

"Cloud of Joy?" Mike repeated. He had never heard that name before. It sounded peaceful.

Suddenly, five goblins burst out of the ground and charged at him. They struck him, but the very first attack was enough. A shadow flashed, and the goblins instantly lost their heads.

"Oh right. The first attack gets blocked. Well, that takes care of you."

Satisfied, Mike walked back to Cloudless and picked up the entire cloud with both hands.

Mike knew from Hero how it worked. He could create anything he imagined. For now, he wanted nothing, because he already had everything he needed. So he also placed Cloudless into his inventory. Mike knew he wanted to learn more about this Cloud of Joy. It had to help them further, or it would become their next boss that they would have to defeat.

Mike was about to swim out of the cave, but then he realized he had forgotten something and paused.

Ice.

As if summoned, her body twitched and she slowly sat up.

"Uh… Mike?"

She looked at him. It was dark inside the cave, so she could not see him clearly, but because Mike carried a certain aura, she recognized him without doubt. For a moment, Ice thought she saw Mike's blue eyes briefly turn blood red.

Suddenly, a strike came from behind and hit Ice. Her head dropped forward. A figure appeared in front of Mike. It was human.

"Hello. How are you?"

The human figure glowed blue, a light blue shimmer. Mike saw it pull out a knife. Rage flooded through him. First Ice was attacked, and then that question. How are you.

Mike lost control. He needed to release his anger. He let it consume him more and more, knowing it was not good, but it had to come out.

Mike dashed toward the figure, but he did not strike it. Instead, he stared into the blue mass of its body. Suddenly, the figure began to tremble as it looked into Mike's eyes. They glowed red, shaking with rage, filled as if with blood.

Mike's arms turned into shadows, completely black. He was about to touch the figure, but it sank into the ground and vanished.

Blood dripped from both of Mike's eyes, and overwhelming headaches crashed over him.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.