Darkness. Absolute, suffocating darkness.
Kieran Vale felt nothing—not the sensation of air against his skin, not the weight of his own body. It was as if he had ceased to exist, suspended in an abyss where time and space had lost all meaning.
> "Initializing... System Boot Sequence Engaged..."
A cold, mechanical voice echoed through the void, emotionless and absolute.
> "Congratulations. You have been chosen as the new Administrator of World 132."
Kieran’s thoughts snapped into focus. Administrator? What the hell was that supposed to mean? The last thing he remembered was… what? His memories felt hazy, slipping through his grasp like grains of sand. He tried to recall his past life, but it was as if someone had scrubbed his mind clean.
> "System calibration in progress. Memory reconstruction… failed. Admin privileges unlocking… 5%."
A rush of information flooded his consciousness. Lines of data scrolled through his vision—numbers, code, strange sigils he somehow understood without reading. He felt something settle into him, as if he had just become part of an unseen machine.
Then, suddenly—light.
A vast, endless sky stretched before him, but it was unlike any sky he had ever seen. It was composed of floating data streams, shimmering like the aurora borealis. Numbers, symbols, and glowing geometric shapes spiraled through the ether, forming shifting pathways across a void of infinite space.
He was floating in the heart of the System.
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> "Administrator Rights: Tier-1 Access Granted."
"System Control: 5% Unlocked."
"Welcome, Administrator Kieran Vale. You are now responsible for World 132."
Kieran clenched his fists. He could feel something intangible connecting him to a distant world—a planet far below, covered in continents and oceans, brimming with life. He could sense its heartbeat, as if the entire world was a living entity responding to his presence.
Then, the first error appeared.
> "Warning: World 132 is experiencing critical system failures."
"System corruption detected—34% of world functions compromised."
"Previous Administrator status: Unknown. Last log recorded… ERROR."
His gaze snapped toward the distant planet. There were glitches in the world itself—mountains that flickered in and out of existence, forests vanishing in pixelated static, rivers flowing backward against gravity. Even from this high vantage point, Kieran could see monsters that shouldn''t exist, aberrations twisted beyond reason.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
> "System Directives Initiating…"
"Primary Directive: Stabilize World 132."
"Secondary Directive: Investigate the disappearance of the previous Administrator."
"Tertiary Directive: Prevent total world collapse."
Kieran exhaled sharply. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what this meant. He had been thrown into a broken system, expected to clean up a mess that wasn’t his.
Who the hell made this decision?
Then, new lines of code flashed before him.
> "Administrator Actions Unlocked."
[Grant Skill] – Assign new abilities to players or NPCs.
[Modify Quest] – Create or alter quests within the system.
[Generate Entity] – Create creatures, dungeons, or world events.
[Direct Intervention: Tier-1] – Manifest an Avatar within the world.
[Error: Corrupted Data Detected] – WARNING: Some functions may not work as intended.
Kieran’s eyes narrowed. The Direct Intervention option caught his attention.
> "Manifest an Avatar?"
A window appeared before him, showing a character customization screen. If he understood correctly, this would let him enter the world physically—but as a "player" rather than an Administrator. That meant he could investigate the problem firsthand without revealing his true identity.
His fingers moved instinctively, selecting his appearance—keeping a neutral, low-profile look. Tall, lean build. Black hair, silver eyes. Nothing that stood out too much.
> "Confirm Avatar Creation?"
“Yes,” Kieran said.
> "Avatar Created: Kieran Vale."
"Initiating Transfer to World 132…"
A sudden force pulled him downward. His body collapsed inward, data streams wrapping around him like chains of light. The sky of numbers and code blurred, warping into a tunnel of spiraling energy.
And then—impact.
---
[World 132 – Unknown Forest]
Kieran hit the ground hard, knees digging into damp earth. The scent of moss and rain filled his lungs as he sucked in a breath. For the first time, he felt his body—the weight of his limbs, the cool air against his skin. He wasn’t just data anymore.
Above him, the sky stretched in hues of deep purple and gold, the sun frozen mid-set as if time itself had stuttered. Trees loomed around him, ancient and gnarled, their bark cracked with strange, glowing veins. The entire world felt off, as if reality was a half-finished painting.
> "Administrator Interface… Online."
His vision flickered. A translucent status screen materialized before him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Player Status: Kieran Vale]
Level: 1 (Administrator Avatar)
Titles: [Administrator-in-Hiding]
Skills:
[System Override (Restricted)] – Allows limited manipulation of world rules.
[Error Detection] – Identify glitched elements in the system.
[???] – Locked.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
His brows furrowed. Most of his Administrator powers were locked in this form. That meant if he got into trouble, he couldn’t just alter the world on a whim. He was playing by its rules now.
A rustling noise cut through the silence.
Kieran’s head snapped up. The bushes nearby shuddered, something moving through them. A low, guttural growl echoed—inhuman, primal.
Then, it stepped out.
A "Glitched Beast", its body a grotesque mix of shifting pixels and organic flesh, its eyes glowing like static-filled screens. The creature shouldn’t exist. It was a result of the world’s corruption—an abomination spawned from a broken system.
And
it was staring right at him.
Kieran clenched his fists. This was it. His first fight.
> "System Warning: Unauthorized Entity Detected."
"Combat Mode Engaged."
A countdown appeared in his vision.
> 3… 2… 1…
The beast lunged.
---
End of Chapter 1