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Slow cautionary steps towards his beckoning. Sukuinote extended his hand, and I hesitated for my own. A skeptical pause, hovering above his open palm.

“Sora, I don’t have to be deceptive to be nefarious. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t need your hand for it. Trust me, I’m just trying to pay you back now, alright?”

Doubtful though I still was, my curiosity outdid my suspicions in the end and soon my hand found its way into his, and he gripped it tight.

“Kinda like a handshake, yeah?” He said, meeting my reserves with a smile. “Keep still. Takes a moment for it to initiate.”

Moments in idle standby where only the whirring hum pervaded the vacant air. Briefly, my eyes wandered, never being one for patience.

Overlooked once, that minuscule border of white, manifesting slowly from the wall behind Sukuinote. Glanced over twice, emerged another joining just beside it. The third one that cropped out finally grabbed my attention.

As I did, these small holograms of static white were soon coming fast in abundance, carving their very own spaces, suspended only mere inches from the stone walls which were gradually being consumed from sight by the exponential growth until not an inch was left of it to be seen.

Then one by one they flickered to life. Emanated in a soft hue of blue, varied graphs and charts, endless streams of scriptures and codes, statistics and data that seemed to stretch to eternity brimmed the display of every single one.

“All done,” Sukuinote withdrew his hand. “Well, are you finally seeing what I’ve been seeing? I’ll take that crazy soul-searching your eyes are doing as a big fat yes.”

My eyes took in all there was to see until my neck turned stiff. “Did you just give me what I think you gave me?”

“Yep, you got admin privileges,” then upon seeing the look on my face, added promptly. “Restricted admin privileges. Level 1 out of 5, just enough to be a spectator on everything but not enough to actually change anything.”

“Boo.”

“I’m not crazy enough to give you the keys to the game just yet, Sora… maybe in a decade or two or perhaps when you finally kill me. For now...” He walked to a particular set of screens to the far right, “Pay close attention to these ones here.”

I followed in his wake, muttering as I did so, “How the hell do you moderate the game with so much info and shit here to process?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “Comes just as naturally as breathing does for all of you, could do it all up here in my head if I wanted to. But I prefer a more, uhh - human approach when it comes to administrating. I like my efforts to be… authentic, that might be the word of it.”

I drew up beside him, staring at twelve separate borders occupying a rather large chunk of space at least in comparison to the rest. Within the twelve, specifically on the upper left, unveiled a scene of movement.

It showed a person… running across rows of barren, dark corridors that were just oozing with familiarity. The blazing orange of his tousled hair, uneasiness paling his freckled face whiter than any sheet of paper.

I pointed to the scene before me, “That’s… oh man, that’s him, isn’t it?”

“Background Character B, the one and only. 4 days later. Still braving the horrors of the dungeon, still desperately on the lookout for any sign of you.”

“Me?”

“Saved his life, right? Probably feels like he owes you big. Every now and then he goes on a little expedition for you before returning back to your party currently residing in a chamber somewhere to the southeast.”

He didn’t even need to do that. While I appreciate the gesture, right now it feels like I just gave him borrowed time.

“He’s going to get himself killed,” I said, somehow feeling annoyed.

“Dungeon isn’t as dangerous as it was before, Sora,” Sukuinote raised his hand, drawing focus to the hologram in the middle, “Have a look at your friend over there.”

He says look, but the more appropriate term was ‘see if you can spot it’, for all there was, in that scene of another random corridor, was a red blur whizzing past a flurry of blades.

Two NPCs slashing and swinging, their blades sweeping across the air as the blur effortlessly weaves through every attack. Almost like a graceful dance.

A closer look would have you discerning the slight curve of a smile engraved on that haze of red. A devilish smile that would haunt me in my fucking dreams till the day I die.

He says friend, but the more appropriate term was something I would rather not mention.

“Arishia’s not a friend,” I said at once, the thought of it utterly repulsive. “She’s just a dead woman walking.”

Sukuinote made no qualms to my remark, instead, chuckled quietly with a smile. “I don’t know about that. You might wanna think twice about fighting her - look at what she’s doing to them.”

I squinted my eyes and slowly, gradually, saw better the true intent behind her quick movements.

In disbelief, I turned to Sukuinote, “Now is that intentional, or is that another damn oversight on the game’s part?”

She spun right, and the blade hurtling towards her sliced skin. Only it wasn’t her own. Another blade aimed to skewer, narrowly missing her neck, burrowed through the throat of another.

“Can’t harm the NPCs, unless you got a sword like yours,” Sukuinote muttered, still marveling over her finesse. “But there’s no restriction in place saying they can’t harm each other.”

The NPCs were ferocious, unrelenting, but also very much careless. Arishia was taking advantage of that fact, and having them inadvertently attack each other with their mindless flailing.

Not long afterward, her braindead foes were finally vanquished with two reckless stabs, dissipating in a flash of blue light. An impressive display of skill and fluidity, in comparison to me, a witness in disbelief, knowing such feats was far beyond reach.

It was such an infuriating sight. How am I supposed to compete with that?

“I don’t believe it,” I shook my head, feeling absolutely pathetic. “Actually I refuse to believe it. I want to believe in the scenario where she’s in tears crying desperately for help that won’t come as a million of them chase her to the ends of the earth for all eternity.”

“Better start believing then,” Sukuinote said, his expression in a state of constant admiration. “She alone is 50% of the reason why the number of NPCs is slowly dwindling.”

“Oh yeah? Who might the other 50% be?”

He nudged to the display closest to him on the corner right, “Another friend of yours, I believe.”

I walked closer to the screen cluttered with a number of individuals, their numbers ranging in the dozens, taking refuge in some sort of large room. Some were cowering, others simply fidgeting in place, while the rest simply exuded impatience, anxiously waiting for something… or someone.

An intriguing sight. Especially after spotting a flash of movement bursting forth from an entranceway. Surprise raised my eyes wide open, recognizing almost at once the tall lanky figure, rushing towards the group.

“Friend… Tayuma, huh? ‘Least you’re not wrong there,” said I, gaze glued to the screen.

Tayuma’s arrival seemed to signal the end of standby, suddenly they were scrambling, weapons drawn, posture rigid. A palpable tension resonating as they faced the dark depths of the doorway.

To my surprise, Tayuma took to the frontlines, gesturing wildly and issuing commands, the same steely resolve still a burning flame in his eyes, concealing no fear.

Then they emerged, a large horde of NPCs, funneling through the doorway Tayuma came from, aggression filling their manic expression. The players, under Tayuma’s command, began to engage them with almost equal ferocity.

Too much was going on to even comprehend them all. Small skirmishes, bouts of clumsy sword-fighting, were happening left, right and center. What they lack in fighting experience, they made up for in numbers. They outnumbered the NPCs ten to one but there was just one fatal flaw in their approach.

“I’m guessing they have a plan in place?” I glanced briefly at Sukuinote. “I don’t think they’d fight something invincible if they didn’t otherwise.”

He held up a finger, “Shh, or you’ll miss the best part.”

In the midst of battle, dead center in the stage of chaos, Tayuma raise high the sword in his hand, straining desperately a loud yell. A violent eruption of earth met his call, hurling everything to the ground, players and NPCs alike struggling for balance.

“Right, I get it now,” I said, feeling a sick sense of deja-vu.

Specific parts of the floor burst open, devouring in its deep abyss, every single NPC in the vicinity, their demented cries fading to a silence into the darkness below.

“Environmental hazards… fall damage,” Sukuinote spoke, sighing in awe, “I never really thought of that. Loliman there, had the bright idea to try it out just yesterday… and since then it works like a charm. Lure them to booby traps, now that’s smart.”

Reverence and applause showered down on Tayuma, who was grinning sheepishly at all the praise as the holes in the ground reverted back to their original state, ready once more, for another unsuspecting victim.

“It does have its downsides though,” Sukuinote pointed out a few players on-screen, wincing in agony and clutching parts of their bodies, “Unless you’re as nimble as Arishia, not really a good idea to be engaging in close combat. I recall they lost two of their members yesterday doing that.”

“Stop blowing smoke up her ass, she does that to herself already,” I said irritably. “I think Tayuma has a good strat going… just needs a little refining, is all.”

He formed a smile, “I never said it was a bad tactic. I just simply think Arishia’s way is a tad bit more impressive and sleek.”

“Well not everyone is Arishia, thank fucking God. That woman has a death wish, and I sincerely hope it gets granted real soon.”

“Ah, you’re in luck then!” He suddenly said, clasping his hands together. “Because I’ll be making you the judge of that.”

I didn’t know how he expected me to react, wearing that smirk of his, as if egging me on to try and get an answer to that deliberately ambiguous statement.

Fuck it, I do need an answer, “I really do not like how that sounds, but fine, I’ll bite. Judge of what?”

He made a wide sweeping gesture, his arm overlapping slowly, Background Character B, Arishia, Tayuma, and the many, many others presented on the small displays.

“Every single one of their lives.”

No, no, a million times no. I’m stepping out - time out, don’t need this. Not another critical decision hinging solely on my discretion, no. Been there done that, not a good time.

“And I’m the perfect choice for an arbiter?” I felt a stream of displeasure surging my non-existent veins. “Alright, here’s my judgement: get some glasses or a new set of eyes… yours are clearly dysfunctional.”

He started to pace, slow casual steps, like a night out on a stroll, “I’ve reconsidered my approach after hearing what you have to say, and you’re right - I shouldn’t fault anyone for being scared, it’s only natural after all. Instead, I shall reward people for other things, like bravery for example.”

“All fine and dandy,” I said, keeping his ambling figure within sight, “Wanna get to the point now?”

“The point is, rather than the stick, you’re getting the carrot. I won’t take away the NPCs but I will offer a surefire solution to their demise and also to your freedom. It’s just a matter of being able to accomplish it or not.”

“Oh, you aren’t gonna suggest going on a wild goose chase for a mystical item that may or may not exist now, are you? By your standards, that sounds par for the course.”

“No, no, no… not a bad idea though, could use that some other time,” He nodded in approval, “No, all you gotta do is just finish what they set out to do in the first place.”

What they set out to… oh fuck no.

“Go kill the boss, Sora.”