The air in the forbidden archive still smoked from yesterday's battle. Ancient tomes, scorched and broken, lay scattered as if the library itself had shuddered in terror. Yet in the center of it all, I stood alone—my clothes soaked in blood, Qi crackling along my veins like wildfire. The Ranker's Gambit had lifted me into the top 6 million; the taste of power was intoxicating. But it came at a price.
Around noon, the glowing prompt appeared again:
[System Message: Administrator Descending
Name: [REDACTED]
Estimated Level: God-Level Class
Estimated Alignment: Neutral-Hostile]
My vision blurred for a second. Administrator. Not just an enforcer. A cosmic-level entity. The Ranking's "boss," the code that maintained the universe. The same motive force that had crafted the Gambit and the hidden prison corridors.
I staggered back, instinct screaming at me to run again. But if I ran, the skip in the system's code could follow. Better to face it. Face it now, or never.
Hour 1 — Heart in My Throat
No footsteps echoed. No lightning whip crackled. Just the hum of the system's presence. Then… a ripple in the air. The wards of the archive glowed black against some unseen wave. My senses pulsed.
A silhouette blurred into view. Tall. Androgynous. Wrapped in dark robes made of faint starlight textures. No face. A smooth void. A distortion where an eye should be. Yet I felt it stare.
[ADMINISTRATOR LOG]
Anomaly: Received
Target: "Rogue Variable"
Inheritance: Active
Corruption: 15%
Adjustment: Erasure or Subjugation]
A wave of darkness washed over me. My knees buckled; Qi pitched in my core like a spinning storm. But I stood firm.
I had no choice.
The Administrator's voice echoed in my skull. Not words, but code—blunt, brutal, uncompromising:
~subchild("Lu Tian").kill("ghostsweeper", any);
~eval(corruption; decimate_if>20%);
~if(signal.lost) warp.delete;
Then the words formed in my mind:
"Your existence is an error."
Hour 2 — Clash of Powers
I forced my core to burn. Yesterday, I'd stolen Elder Wuyin's life and Wei San's techniques. My Qi was still unstable—tendrils of black water mixed with golden pulses. I felt raw power, but also a virus.
I lunged.
The Administrator blocked with kinetic force alone: a barrier of empty space, like a tear in reality. The attack disintegrated.
In return, it struck me. Lightless but crushing—force that shouldn't exist. Qi wave burst from its palm. My limbs screamed as my Qi core destabilized. I fell back, the world blurred.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Corruption rising.
Risk: Exceeding 20% — auto-lock purge.]
I couldn't afford that.
I lunged again—this time not with Qi, but with my blade, the same cleaning knife that stole Teng's life. Administrator rippled. I phased through. Blade hit. No blood—only a ripple in space, like silk tearing.
Still, the Administrator shivered, recoiled as if stung. Something in me cut it.
Something in me had teeth.
Hour 3 — Mindspace Breach
Administrator stepped forward. The wards around the archive dissolved. The walls behind it reflected a new realm—code and bone, rankings and curses. I recognized the geometry—it was the System's realm.
No escaping.
It reached for me—and my mind screamed.
Suddenly, I was standing in a space of broken ranks: scrolls for 9 million, 6 million, 100k… all swirling. I saw my own Rank: 6,999,999—blinking. And beneath it, hidden code: "Ghost Variables; Rogue; Ranker's Gambit."
It crashed toward me. Not a body but an idea—something pushing me, forcing.
I fought back. I shouted—with my voice and my code. I summoned Elder Wuyin's lightning whip, my stolen strength. Electricity coiled around me in a black aura. The Administrator recoiled again—code shivered around its hands.
I punched through code. I punched through bone. The Administrator staggered off-balance in the astral realm.
Hour 4 — The Price
A voice—mine? No—it was Teng's, Wei San's, others. Screams. Murmur of death. A choir of stolen souls booming in my mind. "Kill them all." Old Man Teng's last thought, still stuck in my teeth.
I staggered. On the astral battle-field, I collapsed to my knees.
The Administrator paused.
"Corruption 20%. Ranker's Rogue status confirmed. Deliver target for eradication?"
I couldn't answer. Or rather:
"Subprotocol:RogueOverrideActivated."
I roared as my heartbeat jumped. Qi erupted. The stolen techniques, the plant-sensing, the lightning whip, golden palm—all awakened. Darkness and light tangled. I burst back into real space.
The Administrator stood. I stood. Silence.
Hour 5 — The Choice
Its hand extended. Not to strike—but to offer.
A glowing swirl of code—a scroll-level instruction:
**Accept interface?
Become sub-administrator
Receive safe path
Trait: System Incognito
Decline?
Immediate eradication**
I thought of the grass beneath my robe. The herb gardens, the Old Man Teng I was. The herb pavilion now empty. My pupils dilated.
I was free? Or just more shackled?
I clenched the blade, its edge scratched from both fights. Blood or code—what mattered more?
I pulled back the blade and slashed through the interface offering.
Hour 6 — Rebellion Sparked
Code exploded.
The Administrator screamed. A cosmic scream that rattled every grimoire in the archive. My ears rang. The archives disintegrated—walls rotting like dead flesh.
I stood on the rubble.
The Administrator shimmered, fading. Words echoed in the smoke:
"You dare defy a Higher Node. You are… intriguing."
Then it vanished.
The archive collapsed. Books and stone crashed around me; dust choked the air. When it cleared, I was alone—blood mixing with ash.
My heart thundered.
[SYSTEM UPDATE]
Corruption: 25%
Status: Rogue Administrator Candidate
Next Target: Rank #6,999,998
Objective: Survive 24h + Interface Renewal]
The Administrator may have retreated—but its shadow remained in my code. Every heartbeat, every scar, every soul I'd stolen. I couldn't escape the aspiration of divinity. So I breached.
Hour 7 — Outside, No Mercy
Dusk had fallen. The herb pavilion courtyard was littered with bodies—support staff, enforcers, cultivators fleeing. Most crouched, staring at me as if I were a god or demon.
They backed away. I didn't speak.
Zhang, Rank #8,456,221, appeared at the edge of the courtyard—with half of Outer Sect's guards. His jade pendant gleamed.
"Lu Tian," he spat. "They told us; you massacred elders." He sneered. "You killed Elder Wuyin. And that… girl in the library—did you kill her too?"
I said nothing.
He summoned lightning whip. I summoned black lightning whip. Qi crackled.
[Challenge: Involuntary]
[Target: #8,456,221]
Zhang froze.
I lunged.
He dropped his whip and ran screaming into the night. The guards scattered behind him—like mice.
I—had become something else.
Hour 8 — Cliff of Tomorrow
The courtyard lay silent. Moonlight gleamed off the ruins of the archive and the bodies. I knelt and felt the air. My senses sharpened. My corruption climbed. But I also felt new paths—unknown powers.
I whispered:
"What… am I?"
The question echoed in the sky. Somewhere above, beyond mortal sight, something blinked in the cosmos.
The Administrator would return.
The Ranking would fight.
And I had won the first battle.
But only the first.