Logged In As The Game’s Hidden Admin

Dangerous Experiments

The beast, the Shadow Stalker, let out another piercing shriek, its head swivelling slowly, its glowing green eyes locking onto the cluster of terrified avatars. It flexed its claws, tearing deep gouges into the pristine digital grass.

Kael could only stare, his own breath hitched. No, no, no! This isn't a game! I've just... I've just doomed them all! The terror in the other players' eyes was palpable, a wave of pure, unfiltered fear that washed over Kael, making his digital limbs feel like lead. The game had just become very, very real. And he, Kael Virex, the bored, unemployed i***t, had somehow become its accidental, terrifying god.

The translucent obsidian panel still floated before him, taunting him with its power. His eyes darted to the 'Spawn' command, then to 'Delete'. Delete! Yes! I can just delete it, can’t I? Undo the mistake! His phantom fingers trembled as he tried to tap the 'Delete' icon, but the panel, an extension of his will a moment ago, now felt unresponsive, distant.

His heart hammered. The Shadow Stalker moved, a blur of predatory darkness. It lunged, not with a roar, but with a terrifying, silent speed. One of the scrawny lads, still frozen in place, didn't even have time to scream. The monster’s claws tore through him like wet tissue paper. His avatar exploded into a shower of iridescent particles, a soundless disintegration that left behind nothing but a lingering shimmer in the air.

[PLAYER DELETED: JAYDEN_X7]

The notification flashed in Kael’s peripheral vision, stark white against the crimson Administrator banner. Deleted. Not 'died'. Not 'fainted'. Deleted. Like a corrupted file. The horror coiled in Kael’s gut, cold and sharp. That player, Jayden, was gone. Erased. His memory, his presence, wiped from Aethernia as if he’d never existed.

"No!" Kael cried out, a raw sound ripped from his throat. He pounded his fist against the invisible panel, his desperation mounting. "Delete! Delete the monster! Now!"

His focus sharpened, the blurry commands on the panel resolving into crisp, actionable text. He located the 'Delete' icon once more, a small bin symbol glowing ominously. He tried to drag it over the Shadow Stalker, but the beast was already savaging another player, its form a whirlwind of black shadows and emerald eyes.

[ERROR: TARGET IN COMBAT. DELETE PROTOCOL DENIED.]

A cold wave of despair washed over Kael. Denied? What do you mean, denied? I’m the bloody admin! The system, it seemed, had rules even for him, an unauthorised administrator. Rules that were now condemning these innocent players to oblivion.

The red-haired girl, Lyra, had finally snapped out of her paralysis. She let out a fierce battle cry, a desperate, defiant sound. Her wooden sword, laughably inadequate, became a blur as she tried to intercept the Shadow Stalker, positioning herself between the monster and a petrified female player.

"Run! Get out of here!" Lyra screamed, her voice hoarse, her face contorted in a mask of fear and fury. She was small, but there was a fierce spirit burning in her eyes.

The Shadow Stalker ignored her, its attention fixed on the easier prey. It backhanded the petrified player, sending her flying into a shimmering tree. She, too, dissolved into a cascade of particles.

[PLAYER DELETED: STARGAZER_LILLY]

Kael watched, helpless, his mind racing. Two players. Gone. He had to do something. Anything.

"Move, Lyra! Run!" he yelled, though he knew she couldn't hear him. He was a ghost in the machine, a silent observer with all the power and none of the immediate control.

He furiously scrolled through the Admin panel, his eyes scanning for anything, any command that could help. Pause? Stop combat? Invulnerability? He saw 'Invulnerability' under the 'Player Data' section, but applying it to individual players mid-combat seemed clunky, and the Shadow Stalker was too fast, too relentless.

Lyra, meanwhile, was actually attacking the Level 50 Shadow Stalker. Her wooden sword merely bounced off its shadowy hide, doing no damage, but she created a small, desperate distraction. The beast, irritated by the nuisance, finally turned its glowing emerald eyes on her.

Lyra braced herself, her small figure shaking, but her gaze resolute. Her cheap, flimsy tunic offered no protection against those razor claws.

No, not her too! Kael felt a surge of protectiveness, a fierce, primal urge to intervene. He didn't know her, yet her defiance in the face of impossible odds stirred something within him. She wasn't just a string of code; she was a person. A real person, just like Jayden_X7 and Stargazer_Lilly, whose lives had just been deleted because of his clumsy mistake.

He scrolled back to 'Delete', highlighting the Shadow Stalker.

[ERROR: TARGET IN COMBAT. DELETE PROTOCOL DENIED.]

"Bloody hell!" Kael roared, his frustration boiling over. He was trapped, utterly powerless despite the literal god-mode interface floating inches from his face. The irony was bitter, suffocating. He could spawn a world-ending monster, but he couldn't un-spawn it once it decided to have a bit of fun.

The Shadow Stalker advanced on Lyra, its form growing taller, its claws extending. A low, guttural growl rumbled in its chest, a sound that seemed to vibrate directly in Kael's digital bones.

He searched the panel again, desperate. 'Global Parameters' – too broad, too risky. 'World State' – ditto. 'Object Manifest' – maybe? He clicked on it, and a dizzying list of every object in the immediate area appeared. Trees, rocks, beetles, players, the Shadow Stalker. He clicked on the Shadow Stalker’s entry.

A sub-panel bloomed, displaying the monster’s stats: HP (Hit Points), MP (Mana Points), Attack, Defence, Speed, Resistance, Weaknesses. All glowing with impossibly high numbers. Its HP bar was a thick, unmoving green line. It showed a 'Level 50' next to its name.

Beneath the stats, a smaller section: 'Status Effects'. A long list of immunities. And then, finally, a category that caught his eye: 'Actions'.

He saw options like 'Attack', 'Defend', 'Move', 'Use Skill'. And, crucially, 'Target'. The Shadow Stalker's current target was listed as 'Lyra'.

If I can't delete it, can I control it? A wild thought sparked in Kael's mind. Can I force it to stop? He clicked on 'Target'. A drop-down menu appeared with a list of all players in the area, and even environmental objects. He could change its target.

"Change target to... to that tree!" he muttered, selecting a large, shimmering oak on the far side of the plain.

[COMMAND ACCEPTED: SHADOW STALKER TARGET RE-ROUTED TO OAK TREE (COORDS: XXX, YYY, ZZZ)]

The Shadow Stalker, mid-lunge towards Lyra, suddenly faltered. Its head snapped away from her, its glowing green eyes fixed on the distant oak tree. It hesitated for a moment, an alien intelligence processing the abrupt command, then it turned and sprinted towards the tree with terrifying speed, tearing into it with its claws. The tree shimmered, losing particles, but it wasn't a player. It wasn't being deleted.

Lyra stood frozen, her chest heaving, her eyes wide as she watched the monster attack a tree with the same ferocity it had just displayed towards her. Confusion warred with relief on her face. The other surviving players, huddled together, looked equally bewildered.

Kael let out a shaky breath, a gasp of pure relief. He'd bought them time. He’d actually done something useful. Right, okay, so I can redirect it. But I can't keep doing that forever. The tree wouldn't last. The system might eventually override his command if the monster kept trying to attack something immune or if it didn't register as a valid target for long. He needed a more permanent solution.

He tried 'Delete' on the Shadow Stalker again, now that it wasn't directly attacking a player.

[ERROR: TARGET IN COMBAT (ENVIRONMENTAL). DELETE PROTOCOL DENIED.]

"Bloody hell!" he cursed again, slamming his hand against his phantom thigh. Of course. It’s still technically in combat. The system was rigid, frustratingly literal.

He glanced at Lyra again. She was looking around, trying to comprehend what had just happened. The other players were slowly, cautiously, beginning to move, their eyes darting between the Shadow Stalker and Kael, as if he somehow held the answer. He needed to be subtle. He couldn't just overtly use Admin powers in front of everyone. He still didn't understand the full scope of his situation, or why he was the Hidden Administrator. Revealing himself would cause mass panic, or worse, make him a target.

He focused on the Shadow Stalker’s sub-panel again. HP: a solid, impenetrable green bar. MP: full. Stats, status effects. He scrolled further down, looking for anything else. Anything.

His eyes snagged on a new entry he hadn't noticed before, tucked away almost at the bottom, small and unobtrusive. Modify.

His brow furrowed. Modify? Modify what? He tapped on it.

A new interface bloomed, even more complex than the last. It showed the Shadow Stalker's internal code, lines of shimmering green text scrolling rapidly. It was gibberish to him, a cascade of brackets, numbers, and indecipherable commands. But at the top, there were filters: 'Stats', 'Appearance', 'Behaviour', 'AI Logic'.

He clicked 'Stats'. The gibberish was replaced by a more readable list of parameters. HP. MP. Attack. Defence. And next to each, a glowing input field, currently showing the monster's exorbitant numbers.

His mind raced. Could I... could I change its HP? The thought was terrifying and exhilarating. If he could change its HP to 1, then any player could technically defeat it. One tap of a wooden sword, and the nightmare would be over. But was it even possible? Would the system allow it? It was blocking 'Delete', after all.

He looked at the field next to 'HP'. It glowed, active. He could type in it. He cautiously brought his finger closer, his heart thumping like a war drum against his ribs.

Suddenly, a system notification flashed, this time in a sickly yellow:

[WARNING: UNAUTHORISED MODIFICATION OF LEVEL 50 ENTITY DETECTED. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.]

A jolt of fear shot through Kael. Detected. That meant someone was watching. Someone who perhaps knew about him, or at least about his anomalous access. He remembered the message at the end of the last chapter: Notifikasi sistem memperingatkan bahwa tindakan Kael sedang dipantau. He’d already been warned. This 'warning' felt less like a suggestion and more like a direct threat.

But what choice did he have? The monster was still tearing at the tree, slowly but surely obliterating it. Eventually, it would finish its task and turn back to the players. He couldn't just stand by and watch more people get deleted. He couldn't. The guilt was already a suffocating weight.

He gritted his teeth, adrenaline coursing through his digital veins. He had to try.

He focused intently on the HP field. He typed a single digit: "1".

[ATTEMPTING TO MODIFY HP: SHADOW STALKER (LEVEL 50) TO 1.]

[SECURITY OVERRIDE PROTOCOL INITIATED. ADMIN LEVEL 1 PERMISSION LOW.]

[PROCESSING...]

The system was fighting him. He could feel it, a subtle resistance, like pushing against a heavy, unseen force. He held his breath, waiting, praying it would work.

Suddenly, the Shadow Stalker stopped attacking the tree. Its head snapped up, its emerald eyes blazing, not with hunger, but with what appeared to be pure rage. It let out another guttural shriek, but this one sounded different, laced with frustration, almost pain.

Its shadowy form shimmered violently, distorting, as if the very code that composed it was being stretched and pulled. It turned, abandoning the tree, and stared directly at Kael. Its glowing eyes, filled with malevolent intelligence, seemed to pierce through his hidden status, as if it knew he was the one interfering.

[ERROR: DIRECT ADMIN INTERVENTION DETECTED. HOSTILE ENTITY ADAPTING.]

[SHADOW STALKER (LEVEL 50) HAS INITIATED 'PURGE PROTOCOL: ANOMALY'.]

[NEW TARGET: KAEL VIREX.]

Kael's blood ran cold. Me? It’s targeting me? He'd been so focused on saving the others, he hadn't considered the monster might be able to detect his interference.

The Shadow Stalker lunged, no longer a blur, but a terrifying, distinct entity of raw destruction, its claws extended. It was coming for him.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Kael yelped, stumbling backwards, his internal monologue dissolving into pure, unadulterated panic. He tried to move, to run, but his avatar seemed sluggish, heavy. The Admin panel, which had been so useful, now felt like a barrier, obscuring his vision.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then forced them open. He had to think. If the monster killed him, he'd be deleted. Permanently. Just like the others.

[SECURITY OVERRIDE PROTOCOL FAILED. ADMIN LEVEL 1 PERMISSION INSUFFICIENT FOR DIRECT HP MODIFICATION ON ADAPTIVE HOSTILE ENTITY.]

Another error message. His attempt to change its HP had been blocked. Not only that, but it had made the monster smarter. Or at least, aware of his meddling.

The Shadow Stalker was metres away, its claws poised to strike. Kael could feel the chilling presence of its data-draining aura, a cold spot spreading across his chest.

Suddenly, Lyra was there. She had lunged forward, her wooden sword held high, placing herself squarely between Kael and the monster. She might not have been able to damage it, but she was a physical presence, a shield made of defiant pixels.

"Get back!" she screamed at Kael, her voice raw with terror, but unwavering. She didn't know who he was, or why the monster had suddenly changed targets to him, but she wasn't going to let it get past her.

The Shadow Stalker paused, its purplish-green eyes flickering between Lyra and Kael. Its AI logic, adapted by Kael's interference, was now processing the new threat, the player who dared to stand in its way.

"Foolish human," a guttural, synthesised voice rumbled from the Shadow Stalker, a voice that filled Kael's mind with dread. "Your interference is... inconvenient."

It can talk? Kael’s mind reeled. This wasn't just a mindless beast; it was a program, perhaps even an aware one, designed for a specific purpose.

Lyra tightened her grip on her sword, her knuckles white. "I won't let you hurt anyone else!" she yelled, her voice trembling but firm.

The Shadow Stalker ignored her defiance, a silent hum of predatory calculation emanating from its form. Its emerald eyes narrowed, not at Kael, but at Lyra.

[SHADOW STALKER (LEVEL 50) RE-TARGETING: LYRA.]

[PURGE PROTOCOL: ANOMALY THREAT SECONDARY. DIRECT THREAT PRIMARY.]

No! Kael’s mind screamed. He had inadvertently made her a target.

The beast moved with devastating speed, bypassing Lyra's crude block. Its claw lashed out, not to delete her instantly, but to pin her. One razor-sharp claw pierced her shoulder, not deeply enough to kill, but enough to hold her, to disable her. A jolt of pain, surprisingly vivid, flared through Lyra's avatar. She cried out, a sharp, choked sound.

Her wooden sword clattered to the ground, forgotten. The Shadow Stalker lifted her easily, holding her suspended in the air, its other claw poised over her chest, directly where her digital heart would be.

"This one resists," the Shadow Stalker's voice rumbled, emotionless. "Protocol dictates termination."

Lyra struggled, her feet dangling, her eyes wide with fear, not for herself, Kael realised with a pang, but for the other players still cowering nearby. She risked a glance at Kael, a flicker of bewildered accusation in her eyes. She must have thought he was a higher-level player who had somehow lured the monster.

"You... you monster!" she gasped, her breath catching.

Kael watched, his heart sinking. He had done nothing but make things worse. He had tried to help, and now the one person who had shown any courage was moments from being deleted because of him. The weight of his accidental power, the consequences of his careless mistake, pressed down on him, suffocating.

He could still see the 'Modify' command on the Admin panel, now glowing faintly, almost beckoning him. He'd failed to modify the HP directly. But what else was there? What else could he modify?

His gaze swept over the Shadow Stalker’s sub-panel. Its stats were immutable, its protocols locked down by the higher system. But there were other things. Its 'Behaviour'. Its 'AI Logic'. Could he manipulate the rules that governed it, rather than its raw power?

His eyes widened. He had to try. He had to. There was no other option. Lyra was staring at him, suspended, defenceless, her life hanging by a thread of code.

He focused all his panicked energy, all his burgeoning guilt and responsibility, onto that single word: Modify.