[We are now confirming and listing all of your achievements, N/A...]

"Oh…" Adam heard the whisper, and he looked at the words floating in front of him.

He was, however, distracted by Kenichi as the Hero began to shimmer, slowly turning translucent.

The Japanese speedster was still celebrating, pumping his fists in the air and shouting words Adam couldn't understand. But slowly, inevitably, Kenichi was fading… probably returning to where he was before the Game started.

[N/A, you defeated multiple veteran participants as a level 1...]

Kenichi stopped celebrating, turning his head toward Adam. Even through his reflective visor, Adam could see the Hero's eyes. They weren't looking at Adam's face—they were staring at something above his head.

Adam caught his own reflection in the polished surface of Kenichi's helmet, and there it was. His halo. Red and spinning slowly… almost like when a video you are watching buffers.

"Ganbatte, Kuripu-san." Kenichi raised both thumbs toward Adam, his grin visible even through the helmet's tinted glass. And then he was gone, dissolved into particles of light that danced briefly in the desert air before vanishing completely.

[You defended multiple allied participants from certain death...]

Adam stared at the empty space where Kenichi had stood. The silence felt wrong after all the noise, all the screaming, all the death. He turned his attention to the shattered remains of the Spawn Crystal, its fractured pieces scattered across the sand like broken mirrors.

[You contributed to the defeat of a Level 1 Monster...]

Each shard reflected a different angle of him. In one piece, he saw his blood-soaked and tattered armor. In another, his empty eyes. A third showed his trembling hands. The reflections multiplied endlessly, creating a kaleidoscope of his own exhaustion and horror.

How many people had he killed today? How many faces would he never forget?

[You helped destroy multiple enemy crystals...]

And while the Administrators were reminding Adam of everything he'd done, the people who'd watched everything he did during this Game went wilder than ever. The comments flooded everyone's screens faster than they could follow.

<HOLY SHIT DID HE JUST SOLO A HERO???>

<WHO DIS?!!!!>

<did this creep just win the Game for his team?>

<this shit craazzy!>

<government plant??>

<does anyone know what country this guy bleongs to?!>

<American. Has to be. Everyone saw him with Duelist of Rose in Dallas.>

<sumone contact Sylvie!!!>

<I'm camping outside the IBAA headquarters to see him register>

<Wait... what happened to the livestream?! Why is it offline?!>

<What's happening?! Fuck this station1111!!!>

[You eliminated an enemy Hero in single combat...]

The Administrator's voice continued its words, but something was building inside Adam's chest. A pressure. A weight that had nothing to do with his injuries.

And then, as if knowing the thought slowly building in him—

[You eliminated over one thousand enemy participants...]

"Stop," Adam whispered.

[You killed more than ten enemy participants in less than a minute…]

"N-no…"

[You eliminated a second enemy Hero in single combat...]

"Stop it." Adam's voice became louder.

[You have killed more than a hundred enemy participants in less than half an hour…]

"I… I didn't want that…"

[You contributed to the destruction of the enemy Spawn Crystal, securing victory for your team...]

"Stop!" Adam's scream tore across the desert. Tears of blood streamed down his face again as the full weight of what he'd done crashed over him. "Stop listing them! Stop making it sound like something to be proud of!"

The sand beneath his feet began to tremble.

"I've killed innocent people! People who should be with their loved ones right now! People… people who should be with their children, their families!" Adam cursed and pointed at the sky. "What right did I have to do that?! What right do you have to make us do all of these things?! None of them deserves this!"

[You have exceeded all expectations, N/A. The Universe has taken notice of your—]

"Fuck the universe!" Adam roared, his voice cracking with rage and grief. "Fuck the Administrators! Fuck this Game! Fuck you!"

Adam stood up straight, baring his teeth against the universe.

"If you like watching us kill each other, then at least join this fucking Game!" he roared. "How many lives have you ruined?! How many smiles have you wiped out just to satisfy whatever fucking satisfaction you get from watching us?! Why don't you come down here, and tell me, to my face, why you are doing all of this?!"

Adam's mouth started to bleed.

"If you like watching us die, then just kill me! Try to kill me! No… just kill me! Kill me a billion times, tear my limbs a trillion times, I don't care! Leave these people alone, leave the children alone! I know you know what I can do! Let it be me. Let me be enough! Please…

…torture me for eternity if you have to, just leave these people alone."

[The Universe has taken notice of your achievements and has—]

"Fuck you! You…

…you who is watching all of this!"

[Oh…?]

And all of a sudden, the sand beneath Adam's feet spread outward. He felt himself sinking, the desert floor joining him.

And without even a second, the bedrock hidden deep beneath the sand revealed itself. Adam tried to stand, but it felt like the invisible weight he'd been carrying manifested itself and slammed him to the hard ground.

He looked up… and there it was.

An Administrator.

An Administrator hung in the air above him—a figure so wrong it bent the space around it, its form an impossible tangle of light and angles. Six wings spread from its back, each one covered in eyes that blinked in unison. Its face was perfectly human, too human except for the extra eye on its forehead, like a marble statue given life but not warmth.

If there was anyone else in Adam's position, they would fold… perhaps even faint from the terror that had frozen their blood.

But instead, Adam felt only rage.

He spotted the Shion nearby, sitting on one of the rocks. With a grunt of effort, he wrenched his arm free from whatever force held him and lunged for the weapon.

The Administrators only watched him, not doing anything at all.

Adam's fingers closed around the Shion's grip, but before he could lift it, an invisible weight slammed him back against the bedrock again. His body pressed flat against the stone as if he'd become part of it…

…no. He truly had become a part of it; half of him was buried within the earth itself.

[I am Mikhail,] the Administrator spoke, but its mouth didn't open, and its expression never changed despite the obvious curiosity in its voice.

[I have watched your performance with great interest. The Universe has spoken, and it has chosen a most... unique gift for you. You, player of unknown name.]

"F-fuck… you…" Adam struggled against the force holding him, muscles straining, veins bulging. But he might as well have been trying to lift a mountain.

Mikhail descended slowly, its feet touching the bedrock with no sound at all. Up close, Adam could see that its skin was too perfect, too smooth. Like porcelain that had never known a flaw.

…A being like this was the one watching and playing with them? With limbs that looked like they'd never known violence at all?

[You are about to be reborn,] Mikhail said, raising one hand toward Adam. Light began to gather in its palm, growing brighter and brighter. [As was done to the champions before you, the process will be painful, but mercifully quick. Try not to resist.]

The Administrator floated backward, giving Adam space as the light expanded to engulf all of him.

Heat. It started as warmth in his chest, then spread outward like lava through his veins. Adam gritted his teeth, refusing to scream.

But the heat kept building. And building.

Soon it wasn't warmth—it was agony. His blood felt like it was boiling him from the inside. His bones felt like they were eating him. Every cell in his body was being torn apart and rebuilt, over and over again.

Well, it wasn't anything Adam had never felt before.

[The Administrator, Mikhail, is looking forward to what you will become, N/A.]

Adam's vision went white. His body began to disintegrate from within, flesh dissolving into light particles that swirled around him.

This was it. This was how everyone before him became a Hero. This was how they gained the power to defy—

[ERROR. ERROR. ERO!$%%%%1^##R]

And all of a sudden, Mikhail's statue-like face started to shift.

[ERROR! Rebirth process of N/A failed. Champion is overpowering the Universe's gift.]

Mikhail's eyes turned wide at this, and all three of his eyes began turning everywhere. And soon, the Administrator's perfect face twisted into confusion.

[The Administrator, Mikhail, is confused about this impossibility. No one can go against the wish of the Univ—]

"Grah!" Adam's scream drowned the words of the Administrators, and the light that completely veiled him suddenly withered away. The light seemed to want to return, but slowly… it floated above Adam's head…

…once again forming a halo.

[N/A has rejected the Rebirth Process. Administrator, Mikhail, must solve this immediately...

…or perish through the Universe's wrath.]

[The Administrator, Mikhail… gulped.]

The Administrator slowly turned its eyes back to Adam...

...only to see him smiling at it.

"F-fuck... you."

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