“Vesa. Haven’t you got anything to do these days?”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s nothing serious. Looks like the User Anomaly Management Team needs some extra hands. Can you go and help out?”
User Management Bureau, Sealing Team.
Once again managing the seals of disasters, Vesa tilted her head as she looked at her superior.
“…Me? Isn’t that a different jurisdiction?”
“That’s true, but they seem to have a manpower shortage. You have to go since it’s a directive from above.”
“Above? It can’t be from Cheongsu-nim, right?”
“Who knows? But even if the lines are different, it’s all the same company. Company.”
“What about my work? I still have this to manage.”
“Have the others handle it. Don’t complain and just hurry up. Here’s the information they sent over.”
Clunk!
A pile of magically treated papers was placed on Vesa’s desk.
Inside was information about the hottest trending figure these days, Lily.
“It’s about Lily. That strange user.”
“Go do your job well. If you sense anything odd, make sure to report it up.”
“Understood.”
Vesa gathered her things and stood up.
Loading her belongings into the administrator-exclusive ‘bundle,’ she looked at her superior.
“When will I be back?”
“Well, I heard you’ll be sent back right after you finish the urgent tasks.”
What could possibly go wrong?
■
‘What could possibly go wrong!!!’
Whoooosh!!
Boom!!
Lily’s hammer whizzed through the air, aiming directly at Vesa. She gasped for air and dodged it just in time.
Even while dodging, golden lightning struck down recklessly, leaving only minor wounds while failing to stop her.
An utterly simple outsider, it was hard to believe Lily was just a ‘user’ with this incredible power.
‘This is insane. Totally insane.’
How did it come to this?
At first, it was just a simple assignment.
The User Management Bureau had two lines.
The paths had branched under the highest officials, Hwanggwak and Cheongsu, and Vesa was on Hwanggwak’s line.
Sealing Team Level 3 Administrator Vesa.
Having lived her life under Hwanggwak’s line, one day she was suddenly reassigned.
Though sudden, the order from ‘above’ was absolute.
The User Anomaly Management Team was a hastily established organization, so the ranks of Hwanggwak and Cheongsu were mixed.
No matter how different the lines were, the duty to ‘manage’ users was the same for everyone.
On the first day of her reassignment, Vesa received the task to monitor Lily, and while observing, she witnessed a situation quickly spiraling out of control.
I witnessed it happening.
‘What on earth is this…?’
Fake Lily and Erbenus Blodia’s illegal invasion. The extreme danger to users from the leak of the Book of Magia.
This was not something that just ended at the regular user line; it was an issue touching the ‘System’ realm, and what was particularly serious was the very existence of that Progenitor.
The Progenitor was an existence that wasn’t even recorded in the system.
Vesa, from the sealing team, found it incomprehensible that such a monster was ‘simply’ in the hands of an ordinary user.
If this continued, an entire new continent could fall into the hands of a mere user, so I reported and received a command to join appropriately and monitor the situation.
After that…
“Damn it!”
Boom!!
Lily, piercing through the golden lightning, struck Vesa again with her hammer.
After one hit, a dizzying sensation overwhelmed me, but the power emanating from the Blue Ring prevented the aftereffects and allowed me to recover.
“Indeed, you’re an Administrator.”
Of course, it seemed Lily was also taking damage, as her body was crackling with flames, but Vesa was still the Administrator.
She had been granted power to ‘manage’ users from the start, so fighting on equal footing was nonsensical.
“Do you not plan to tell me? If you do, I might let you go.”
“…My answer remains the same as before.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Zzzuuu!!
“Ugh!”
“Then I’ll keep going.”
Dodging the hammer, Vesa rose and thought.
I had known she was strong for a while, but I hadn’t expected it to be this intense.
The sealing team’s goal was to manage the bosses that would appear later, so in reality, they rarely encountered users.
Originally, I had intended to watch from a distance and leave if nothing significant happened.
However, with the intervention of Fake Lily, the Progenitor was incorporated into the system, and suddenly the two were fighting, making a complete mess of things. I felt the need to quickly stabilize the situation.
“…This won’t be wrapped up with just a written explanation.”
The Blue Ring above Vesa’s head vibrated.
This place was the final location one could reach if Erbenus Blodia’s quest was being carried out ‘normally.’
Here lay the Fruit of Blood, obtainable by clearing Blodia’s ‘final’ episode.
One of the materials needed to create the key to that ‘place.’
Normally, it was an item obtained much later, but if the world itself was falling apart, it would pass along too, so it had to be collected.
Crackle…!
“I said I would regret this.”
“…!”
Vesa’s energy intensified.
Lightning not of her previously granted power, but borrowed from ‘above.’
A bolt of lightning completely scorched Lily’s body.
“Phew… Phew…”
“You held on for a long time, statue. Time to die…”
Gugugugugugu!
[Ooooh]
[Huh?]
[Great Progenitor]
[That Guy Uncle is going to die]
[Where did Lily go?]
[?]
[?]
[Eh]
[What’s this?]
[Lightning?]
The battlefield where Pharaoh and Lasty are fighting fiercely.
As Lasty, who was aiming for the heart, ripped off Pharaoh’s arms in desperation, her hands finally stopped.
A powerful aftermath felt from afar.
Even though it seemed to be a force happening in ‘another space,’ it was so immense it sent shivers down the spine.
Pharaoh, gasping for air, looked towards the source of the aftermath.
“Lightning?”
“…The power above.”
“Damn it. What else did you summon? It’s already hard enough dealing with this crazy woman…”
“Statue.”
Kwa-chik!
“Gah! This little brat!”
“Where did Lily go?”
“How should I know…”
“If you don’t want to die, tell me.”
Lasty’s blood magic violated Pharaoh, but he still didn’t seem to realize what was happening.
In a fit of irritation, she ripped out his heart and flung it into the distance.
Creeeak!
[Ah]
[That Guy Uncle ㅠㅠㅠ]
[Progenitor is so damn strong for real;;]
[That Guy vs Progenitor, Progenitor wins!]
[Where did Lily go?]
[Lily disappeared!!]
[Progenitor is scary…]
[But really, where did Lily go?]
“…No way.”
[?]
■
It’s burning.
As the electric shock felt like it would incinerate me, I sensed death creeping in.
This was the second time I experienced death after the return, following Black Lily.
Amid the relentless lightning strikes, I raised my holiness and my body slowly began to regenerate.
In my dimming vision, the raccoon’s face was filled with horror.
“…This is insane.”
“Phew… That’s exhilarating.”
When I faced the opponent with a hammer, I thought they were weak, but the Administrator is indeed the Administrator.
While normal lightning would be one thing, the lightning coming from that ‘ring’ had a different dimension of power and authority.
“At least upper level. Even if the power is lacking, its rank can be comparable to the very top.”
If the power that could be manifested were at the highest level, no matter how much I tried, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.
I might have completely exhausted the holiness possessed by the Black Lily and collapsed right there.
“Now that I see it used, it seems it’s not a power I can keep using. How long does it take to recharge?”
“……”
“Excuse me?”
“I might need to quit my job, not just submit a statement…”
Kuu-rung!
Once again, a lightning bolt settled in the raccoon’s hand at the same level.
I don’t think I can hold up for a second time, even if I managed the first.
“Do you want me to use the Sacred Transformation?”
“……”
“If you hit me one more time, I’ll really get serious.”
The opponent is an existence that can unleash the highest rank of power.
Since I can’t win with some pathetic power, I’m thinking of mobilizing everything I can.
Of course, the Sacred Transformation or Annihilation will also affect Deoen and my ‘reality,’ but that’s a dilemma for the opponent too.
The raccoon ground its teeth, entangled in lightning.
“…So let’s do this nicely. To avoid tiring each other out.”
“Is it really that hard to speak the truth? I just need to fight once and rest for three days after that.”
Can that raccoon really maintain its position while recklessly using prohibited powers?
A brief struggle ensues.
I guess the raccoon, being the administrator, knows more about which side incurs a loss.
He twitched his hands and let out a sigh, extinguishing his power.
The crazy brilliance of the Blue Ring gradually faded.
“Understood. Then, please speak…”
“Oh, and I have a few questions I’m curious about.”
“…Why?”
“Well, you attacked me, didn’t you? Administrator.”
The administrator, who was supposed to manage things, approached the user with impure intentions and then retaliated when questioned.
If Deoen were a typical game, it wouldn’t be surprising to bang my head against a wall.
Upon hearing this, the raccoon jumped up, claiming it wasn’t an impure intention and that back then, it wasn’t even himself.
But that doesn’t change the truth.
“It’s a fact that you approached me, right? So it’s fine for us to fight like this.”
“…I will allow only three questions. Questions that delve into information about the Management Bureau are not permitted, so please keep that in mind.”
“Oh.”
Finally, the moment has come to grasp the essence of these raccoons.
What should I ask first?
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