……What is this?
‘What did they do?’
What was that about Administrator Privileges?
They suddenly told me to prove myself, but what exactly was I supposed to do?
“Did I mention this? The moment a Necromancer dies, their familiar is erased along with them! It isn’t set free. It is erased! Do you understand?!”
I wandered through the darkness as I revealed one of Necromancy’s hidden rules, but Grid gave no response.
‘Do they already know?’
If so, Grid was not plotting to kill me.
They probably were not simply trying to imprison me either. As long as the leash existed, Grid could not travel far from me.
Then what in the world did they want?
‘……The Patch.’
Grid had said that once the Patch ended, the System would erase beings like us, whom it regarded as Bugs.
I thought I finally understood why they had granted me Administrator Privileges.
They were telling me to do something—anything—to prevent our erasure.
Yet they had not given me even the most basic explanation of what I needed to do or how I was supposed to do it.
‘Am I supposed to figure it out myself?’
So that was why they had used the word prove…… My mind went blank for an instant, but I had to pull myself together.
I retraced my memories and gathered every word Grid had spoken.
They had called me a Bug.
That was not merely an insult.
Grid had classified even themselves as a Bug.
‘If we’re Bugs…… does that simply mean we’re insignificant?’
That might have been the answer if I were the only one involved, but it could not be correct when Grid was included as well.
Although they were bound as my familiar, they were undoubtedly an existence far more capable than I was.
After all, they had subdued the Guide and the Inventory, both of which had left me helpless, in a single stroke.
In other words, Bug probably meant—
‘Something closer to a nuisance.’
Now I needed to determine whose eyes Grid and I had become a nuisance in.
It was not the Guide.
It was not the System or the Inventory either.
Grid had said that those things were merely devices rather than living beings.
If that was true, then separate beings had to exist who operated those three devices.
They were probably the ones Grid had vaguely referred to as ‘them.’
‘Beings above the System.’
Were they the new gods who governed Amuse?
Still, I could not continue calling them ‘them’ forever. I needed a suitable provisional name.
‘……Administrators.’
Those who newly governed Amuse—the Administrators.
The word fit perfectly.
No, no other word could have fit.
Just as information about a skill was engraved into my mind the moment I acquired it.
Just as Grid’s existence had suddenly surfaced within my mind the moment I activated Necromancy.
The instant I considered the existence of ‘them,’ the word Administrator was already engraved into my thoughts.
The new gods were called Administrators.
Grid must once have been an Administrator as well.
That must have been why the words ‘Executing Administrator Mode’ had appeared within the darkness.
The fragments that had been scattered in every direction finally came together.
‘Right now, I might be able to exercise the same privileges as an Administrator.’
TICK-
At that moment, a brief message appeared before both of my eyes alongside the sound of a second hand moving.
【Patch in progress. 99.03%】
The Patch progress screen now displayed decimal points.
It was a time limit.
I had to bring about some kind of change before it ran out.
【Patch in progress. 99.05%】
I understand, so be quiet for a moment.
Now I know what I need to do.
‘I have to bring the old man back.’
It had to be now.
I immediately addressed the screen.
“Revive Golden’s soul.”
[You do not have permission!]
“Revive the soul of Golden the Apothecary.”
[You do not have permission!]
“Open the Character Profile of Golden, the Apothecary of Arche.”
[You do not have permission!]
“Grant a soul and freedom to Golden, the eccentric Apothecary.”
[You do not have permission!]
“Fuck-!”
TICK-
【Patch in progress. 99.10%】
Damn it…… The mention of Administrator Privileges had raised my expectations, but I was not even permitted to alter a single one of Golden’s settings.
‘Weren’t beings like gods called Administrators?’
Why did it not work?
Was Grid’s power weaker than I had believed?
TICK-
【Patch in progress. 99.15%】
This was not the time to leisurely analyze the cause.
There had to be something I could do.
I had to find it immediately. I needed to discover what I could do now that I had become an Administrator.
‘Process of elimination.’
I erased the things I could not do from my mind one by one.
Opening another person’s Character Profile had failed.
Granting another person something they did not possess, or bringing them back to life, had also failed.
Changing the workshop’s settings had failed. I then attempted to alter Arche’s settings, but that failed as well.
Everything else failed, failed, failed, and failed.
Even though I had obtained an Administrator’s privileges, I could not change a single thing in Arche.
‘At this rate, I can’t even tell whether Administrators are supposed to be powerful.’
I could not tell what had changed at all.
I had been unable to do anything when the old man died before my eyes. Nothing about the present was any different.
TICK-
【Patch in progress. 99.27%】
At the time, all I had been permitted to do was bawl and vent my rage in the mountains like a pathetic bastard.
TICK.
【Patch in progress. 99.34%】
All I could do was harm myself by smashing my fists and head against innocent trees and rocks.
TICK.
【Patch in progress. 99.40%】
Afterward, I resolved to die together with the Players and concocted poison.
TICK…….
【Patch in progress. 99.46%】
I drenched my body in poison and lured Monsters toward the workshop.
At the time, my Character Profile had not restrained me.
“…….”
I had been granted the freedom to harm myself.
What about now, when I had become an Administrator?
“Show me my Character Profile.”
【Character Compendium: 【A▚kun HΞL_IO ∨∅N R∪βIC】
【A fatal identification error has occurred.】
【Failed to reconstruct the entity name】
【Rebooting the System to run a temporary persona.】
BZZZZZT-
【Character Compendium: 악ㅋㅜㄴ ㅎㅔㄹ?ㅇ ㅍ▞ ㄹㅜㅂ▚】
【He is the foremost apprentice of Golden, the finest Apothecary in Arche. He is also the second-bestApothecary in αρχή·you know! Oh, and the fact that there are only tw-tw-two Apothecaries in Arche is a secret between you, Player, and us…… Additionally, despite his foul mouth, AkkunルB is a craven coward. Pleashe do not scare him too much!】
Within it were letters such as ル▚ and αρχή, writhing like worms.
I seized those grotesque things with my bare hand.
BZZT.
Electricity sparked across my fingers as though I had been electrocuted…… The current grew steadily stronger.
It felt as though someone had opened the top of my skull and was about to scoop out a portion of my brain with a cold iron spoon.
I felt sick.
But I could not stop.
I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip.
CRRRAACK-!
“Ghhhh……!”
I heard the sound of raw flesh being torn away.
The strange letters in my palm turned into black square fragments and scattered through the air.
At the same time, my vision spun, and stomach acid surged up my throat.
The more I touched the letters, the more my body deteriorated.
No, was it my soul that was being damaged rather than my body……?
‘The System recognizes this as an act of harming myself too.’
My Character Profile belonged to me.
I had been granted enough freedom to tamper with it, but the price…… I could not think about that.
I had to remain focused.
There were two things I needed to prioritize.
The first was finding a way to deceive the Administrators.
The second was removing the restrictions placed upon NPCs.
Before I was a Red Player, I was an NPC.
I would remain an NPC in the future as well.
I had killed BONBIN and Yes, I’m a Necromancer, but I still did not know which set of rules I would be forced to obey when I stood before other Players.
Most importantly, my range of possible actions was far too limited.
Why were there so many restrictions?
‘Mixing more medicinal ingredients doesn’t necessarily create a greater variety of effects.’
The ingredients only clashed and ate away at one another.
They could even become poison.
This was no different.
‘My Character Profile is needlessly long.’
The many phrases describing me had become entangled, stripping away my freedoms one by one.
I needed to replace them with a simple, unadorned sentence broad enough that nothing I did would contradict it.
TICK.
【Patch in progress. 99.55%】
Now that I had chosen a direction, it was time to act.
【Character Compendium: 악ㅋㅜㄴ ㅎㅔㄹ?ㅇ ㅍ▞ ㄹㅜㅂ▚】
First, I did not need the words Character Compendium or the strange letters.
I reached out again.
This time, I reached deeper and seized the roots of the letters.
CRUNCH!
“GACK, GASP!”
The instant I tore out the letters, blood streamed from my nose and wet my lips.
A piercing RIIIIING- screamed inside my head as though it would tear my eardrums apart.
My vision flashed red.
My brain throbbed.
I did not stop.
I wiped away the blood with a trembling hand and examined the sentence that remained.
【He is the foremost apprentice of Golden, the finest Apothecary in Arche. He is also the second-bestApothecary in ·you know!】
I did not need the word Arche either.
No matter how it was interpreted, it was a phrase that restricted my range of action to Arche.
The finest Apothecary…… That was tempting, but it was not mine to take.
Those words described my master.
The words Golden’s foremost apprentice that followed were not something I could keep either.
Presumably, those words were the reason I had been unable to travel far from the workshop.
I reached out to tear all of them away.
At that instant, an instinctive terror seized my wrist.
If I erased these things, would I still remain ‘myself’?
Would I become a mindless idiot who had lost all his memories?
“……I have to do it.”
I was already at rock bottom.
As I had said earlier, there was nowhere left for me to fall.
I chewed up my fear and swallowed it before seizing a handful of letters.
The letters burned my palm like a red-hot branding iron.
RIIIP- SSSSSS!
“AAAAAAAARGH!”
Blood poured from my nose, eyes, and mouth.
It did not matter.
If I stopped here, I would die anyway.
TICK.
【Patch in progress. 99.70%】
I moved on to the next part.
【Oh, and the fact that there are only tw-tw-two Apothecaries in Arche is a secret between you, Player, and us……】
What a load of nonsense about a secret…… There were few words worth preserving in this sentence either.
CRUNCH! SNAP!
I tore out everything else.
Red tears flowed from the burst blood vessels in my eyes.
The flesh beneath my fingernails was blackening as it burned.
【Patch in progress. 99.76%】
Next…… I moved on to the next part.
【Additionally, despite his foul mouth, Akkun is a craven coward. Pleashe do not scare him too much!】
I froze for an instant.
A craven coward.
That cursed phrase, which had cast me into hell, seemed especially vivid.
Every time I saw that absurd assessment, the injustice of it nearly drove me mad.
I had not wanted to flee and leave my master behind.
I had not wanted to run away after watching them insult Mari.
Even if it cost me my life, I would have gladly paid that price if it meant I could kill those two Players.
If I had been able to do so, I would have.
I was not craven.
I was not a coward.
Therefore, I had assumed that the Character Profile was either an Administrator’s mistake or a mockery aimed at me.
But when I reconsidered it, perhaps that was not necessarily true.
【Patch in progress. 99.80%】
I had never left Arche in my entire life.
When I was still on good terms with the old man, I had never left because there had been no reason to do so.
After the tragedy five years ago, I remained in the workshop under the pretext of helping the physically impaired old man for Mari’s sake.
I had served Mari and the old man in an attempt to cast off my guilt.
Those words were all excuses.
My true feelings were nothing like that.
They were far uglier.
【Patch in progress. 99.90%】
I had simply been afraid of being alone.
I had merely been afraid of change.
‘Calling me a craven coward was an accurate assessment.’
Now I had to change.
CRRRUNCH-
I tore away most of the sentence, including the words craven coward.
【Patch in progress. 99.91%】
And so, I tore away the shameful past in which I had been born without parents and lived as a back-alley thug.
【Patch in progress. 99.93%】
I tore away the precious memories of being taken in by the old man and Mari and growing from a delinquent into a respectable Apothecary.
【Patch in progress. 99.95%】
I tore away the part of my humanity that had been twisted into cowardice because of Monsters.
I tore away the cowardly version of myself who had deceived himself because he lacked the courage to leave.
【Patch in progress. 99.97%】
I tore away nearly everything that defined who I had been within Arche.
With vacant eyes, I stared at my ‘introduction.’
There did not appear to be anything left to correct, so why could I not tear my gaze away from the screen?
【Patch in progress. 99.99%】
……I had to let go.
I swallowed the blood in my mouth and wiped the blood gathered around my eyes with the back of my hand.
Then, with great difficulty, I opened my mouth.
“Record…… the Character Profile.”
【Saving.】
【Refreshing.】
【Terminating Administrator Mode.】
【The Patch is complete!】
【Thank you for waiting! The Amuse Online live server is now open-!】
The cheerful message appeared, and at the same moment, a vivid blue light flashed from the center of the moon in the middle of the night sky.
The light continued to grow and multiply.
Before long, the blue lights were more numerous and vivid than the stars embroidered across the heavens.
One by one, the blue stars exploded like fireworks and crumbled like grains of sand.
Glittering blue powder poured from the sky like rain.
Soon, it blanketed everything in Amuse.
Some of the blue powder had landed on my black cloak, but it vanished as soon as I brushed it away.
There was nothing wrong with my body.
‘……I wasn’t erased.’
It seemed I had somehow managed to escape the Administrators’ notice.
I looked at my altered Character Profile with a bitter smile.
【Akkun】
【He is a talented Apothecary Player!】
This should make me look like a Player, shouldn’t it?
[You do not understand that the more you empty yourself, the more beautiful you become.]
A black screen filled my vision.
[You should have erased even the word Apothecary. You have placed shackles upon yourself, Akkun.]
“I am keeping that.”
[Those shackles are named memories and lingering attachment.]
“Say whatever you please.”
Grid was not wrong, so I did not feel like arguing.
I could not erase it.
I felt that unless I left at least that much behind, I might forget that I had once been a resident of Arche.
“Enough. The immediate crisis is over.”
I stared at Grid.
“Tell me everything you know right now. Explain it thoroughly and clearly enough for me to understand all of it.”
[At least you possess the will to learn.]
“I do not want to remain an ignorant fool forever.”
[Amuse Online is a real world masquerading as an augmented-reality RPG.]