Administrator

"Administrator?"

I had thought there might be such a being. The humans running wild throughout this vast world were five minutes from turning it into a complete fucking mess, after all.

"You may call me a goddess-"

The woman smiled, softly radiating pure white light from within her skin like a divine being.

"Or you may call me a bitch. I suppose you could say I'm the chief administrator responsible for ensuring that the Selection Process proceeds smoothly."

"Then does everything that happens within it go through you?"

"Correct."

"What a fucking bitch."

"Oh my, that's another title added to the list? How delightful."

I had tried to put her down with my words, but she was overflowing with composure.

Was it the composure befitting a goddess, or did she simply dismiss anything a worm like me said as the buzzing of a worm?

I stopped needling the goddess bitch and got to the point.

"So why did you bring me here?"

"I don't like it."

"What?"

"I don't like that you're a Resident participating in the Selection Process. So I read through your report, and it said why you regressed."

When she spread open her hand, a report appeared in the goddess's palm and landed neatly there.

"You regressed because you didn't want to become a Resident alone.... What a ridiculous man."

"……."

"So I'll give you a chance."

The goddess smiled.

"I'll send you straight back to Elysia. You won't have to undergo the Selection Process, and I'll turn one of your partners into a Resident and send them with you, so choose."

As she snapped her fingers, a huge screen appeared beside us. It showed my party hunting the raid boss.

-Ah, why the fuck isn't this Black Dick bastard moving all of a sudden?!

I was standing motionless in the boss room without doing anything.

Perhaps I was being protected by some special power; even when skeletons swung their weapons, they bounced off in midair before hitting my body.

Even when zombies tried to latch on, they could not touch me and merely flailed helplessly in midair.

The self-proclaimed goddess pointed at the screen and asked with a smile.

"Now, choose. I'll immediately turn one of them into a Resident. Then you'll cross over together into the world that awaits you."

"……."

"Honestly, it's not a bad offer, is it? You won't have to go through all that grueling hardship again, and you won't have to tremble in fear of when you'll die."

The goddess snapped her fingers. Each snap switched the screen to show one person after another.

"Who do you like? The innocent milk boy? The childhood friend who can take care of herself? Or the haughty young lady overflowing with refinement? Ah, or the little nin-nin brat who supports you from behind in every way?"

I looked at the women in the video.

Lee Sera, hiding at the entrance to the boss room and agonizing over the choice,

the Saintess, desperately healing the others,

and the Crimson Flame Witch, pouring out fire to keep the enemies from approaching by any means necessary.

And then....

-Hey! What the hell have you been doing this whole time?!

The chaebol heiress was being held by a zombie and flailing helplessly.

-Hurry up and deal with that thing, then lend us a hand!

-I-I can't do that.

-Huh? Are you crazy?

Unlike when she had been calmly slaughtering mobs, Han Sohee was now struggling helplessly, unable to kill the zombie clinging to her.

Finding that behavior suspicious, I looked closely and understood.

The face was familiar.

'Ah, Manager Go's corpse.'

Haaah, it was nothing more than an already-dead corpse. No, since this was necromancy, it might have drawn out a fragment of his soul, but even so, it was still just a corpse.

"It's a complete fucking mess without me."

The goddess waved her hand irritably in front of the screen, drawing my attention back to her.

"So have you decided who to take with you? You'd better decide quickly. If they all die while you're dithering, you'll end up with nothing, you know?"

I laughed.

'She's vicious.'

A decision like this normally had to be made carefully, yet she had summoned me at the most urgent moment and was forcing me to choose.

There was definitely some ulterior motive I didn't know about, but it was so sudden and out of nowhere that I couldn't figure it out.

'Does she think I'm muddying the game board?'

Or was there some other reason?

Even after thinking it over, I couldn't tell.

But one thing was certain: her offer was extremely reasonable.

"Are you done yet? They look like they're getting seriously dangerous."

It was an enticing offer, enough to make anyone accept it. Every single person would probably take it.

But what was I supposed to do about that?

"I've decided."

"Which of the three?"

"No. I'd like to end this pointless interview and have you send me back."

"Huh?"

When someone tries to force me into something, I have a contrarian streak that makes me choose the opposite.

A goddess? So what? Fuck that. I'll decide my own life.

"And if you need to summon me again, do it while I'm at the shelter. You summoned me in the middle of a raid and left me sitting around doing nothing. Have you never worked a normal job?"

"W-what?"

"If there were a genuine customer satisfaction survey, you'd get the absolute lowest score."

She flinched.

"W-wait. So you're really refusing my offer?"

It seemed the goddess bitch couldn't understand my behavior.

It wasn't as if I understood it myself. But I didn't want to do what this bitch told me. Yes, that much was certain.

"I have no intention of accepting your offer, so send me back already. Stop wasting my time."

"Y-you don't have to undergo the Selection Process anymore while risking your life and trembling in fear of when you'll die? And you're going to throw away that chance? You became a Resident, yet you could die without ever properly enjoying its benefits?"

I looked at the goddess, who reacted as if she truly couldn't understand, with a derisive smile.

"Didn't you read my records? In my first run, I spent ten years struggling through the Selection Process. Death and I are already best friends. Who's afraid of their best friend?"

"!!"

Of course I was afraid.

But despite that fear, death was familiar and close—close enough that I could give it my life at any time.

"Now stop talking and send me back."

"Urk."

The goddess looked deep in thought. She glared at me and darted her eyes around, then let out a deep sigh and handed me something.

"Fine. Take this first."

[You have received <Administrator's Gift Box>.]

A box no bigger than a fingernail opened and scattered brilliant light.

[<Binding> has been strengthened to <Bond>.]

<Unique Ability>

Name: Bond

Grade: Mythic

Description: Shares and copies stats with the target. The bound target copies and gains 20% of the caster's stats, while the person who cast the bond copies and gains 50% of the target's stats.

In addition, once a day, you can use a unique ability possessed by the target for ten minutes.

"What's this?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. Like you said, I forcibly brought you over in the middle of a raid, and if you happened to die, it would become a nuisance. The higher-ups would come down for an audit. And I don't care to be punished."

Since there was no reason to refuse a gift, I accepted it gratefully.

"Thanks. Then take care. And don't forget. If you ever need to summon me again, do it at the shelter, no matter what. But don't summon me while I'm in the middle of having sex, either."

"What do you take me for! I have no reason to summon you again anyway! But you also…."

"?"

She seemed about to say something, but in the end the goddess closed her mouth.

She soon waved her hand at me as if telling me to get lost.

My vision soon went pitch-black, and only when I saw the notification appear in the darkness did I understand.

[Were you satisfied with your consultation? This is a customer satisfaction survey. If you rate us right now, your evaluation will be reflected....]

In short, she seemed unable to ask outright because it might be considered soliciting a favor.

"What do you get if I give you a perfect score?"

It was only a mutter to myself, but a notification popped up.

[The counselor will receive a benefit.]

Oh.... I wanted to give her half a star, but I held back. She was an administrator, after all, and I didn't know what kind of spiteful stunt she might pull.

[You have given 4.5 points. Thank you.]

That didn't mean I could give her five stars.

Getting a 4.5 meant receiving a score subtly below perfect, so she'd probably blame herself a little.

Not that we'd ever meet again, but she'd do better next time.

'Anyway, she called herself a goddess, but I guess she isn't the highest-ranking official. She's still worried about what the people above her think.'

I felt a little amazed at having glimpsed the vast world of dimensions, but my head quickly settled back down.

My elation subsided, and tension began to course through my entire body.

[We will continue striving to become a better Administration Center. Thank you.]

When the satisfaction survey ended, my vision brightened and my senses began to return in full.

The first notification I saw was as follows.

[You are currently invincible.]

Graaah!

As soon as the notification disappeared, I saw countless dead reaching toward me and flailing their arms.

I clenched the hand gripping my sword, then swung my arm, knocking away and cutting down all the nuisances clinging to me at once.

「Grrr.」

「Graaagh!」

"Huh? Mr. Minjun, are you okay?!"

"Black Dick, you're moving again?"

I assessed the situation around me and answered while quickly dealing with the mobs that looked most urgent.

"Sorry. I was a little late."

"Hey, you son of a—! No, that's not important. Do something about the one clinging to that rich bitch! She won't listen to a word I say! We can't even blast it with fire unless you get it off her!"

I turned to look where Shin Seoyeon was pointing. Just as I'd seen in the video, Han Sohee was being held by a zombie and had been driven to the very back corner, barely holding out.

"Ugh.... Ah, s-sir."

Her mental state was already half gone.

'Damn, we'd better deal with our chaebol heiress first.'

「Give me your body!」

「Give me blood! Your hot blood…!」

Yet it was difficult even to get close to her, let alone speak to her.

Skeletons were swarming stubbornly into that narrow corner of the boss room.

In particular, the zombies flying at us like cannonballs every now and then were dangerous enough that everyone would be at risk if we looked away even briefly.

The other two, whose stats weren't as high as mine, would struggle to hold the front line in my place.

With no choice, I suppressed the undead surging toward us and called Han Sohee loudly.

"Sohee!"

She suddenly came to her senses and turned toward me.

"What are you doing right now?!"

"What do you mean, what am I doing...? Obviously...."

"The dead can't be brought back! They can't be saved!"

"!!"

"Then you know what you have to do, don't you?"

Han Sohee looked at me with trembling eyes, then at Manager Go, who was trying to bite her neck.

Manager Go was clacking his teeth, and it was obvious to anyone that there was hardly any reason left in him.

"B-but…."

Han Sohee's eyes grew wistful as she recalled the distant past.

She had met Manager Go Cheolwoo when she was five years old.

-I'm Go Cheolwoo, and starting today, I'll be in charge of protecting the young lady. Ah, my age? I'm twenty-five this year.

He had been an energetic young man who had only just entered the working world,

-Haha, if you need anything, just tell me. I'll get it for you, whatever it is.

She had been a little girl who was only just beginning to learn about the world.

And they had grown up together.

-Thank you for helping me be there for my mother's final moments. It would never have been possible if you hadn't spoken to Chairman.

Though they were different in age and status, they leaned on each other whenever necessary.

-…I'm sorry. It seems the chairman is busy. So is the director. I'm sorry to say I'll be attending your graduation alone.

And they became special to each other.

They were closer than siblings and more like parent and child than either was with their own parents.

They were one another's one-of-a-kind friends, able to bare their hearts to each other.

-I will protect you. Even if it costs me my life. Haha, I'll exercise hard too, so I won't die of old age.

And so they had walked together for fifteen years,

-Young lady! Where are you going?

each building their own families, having children, growing old, and remaining steadfast friends until death.

-Young lady? What are you thinking about?

Yes, that was how it should have been....

-…Young lady.

"Grrr. Y-young lady…."

"Sniff."

Han Sohee held on to Manager Go, who was lunging to bite into her neck, and wailed.

"I can't kill him! How could I kill him?! Even if it were your father, would you say the same thing?!"

"Of course."

"What...?"

"I can't leave him to wander and suffer forever in a horrible place like this."

"!!"

Han Sohee looked at the dead shedding bloody tears from all around her. Then she looked at Go Cheolwoo, who had become a zombie and was shedding the same dark-red tears of agony.

"Then I have to kill him. Even if it tears my heart apart, I have to give him freedom."

Of course, that was a lie.

If it were me, I wouldn't cut down my father. Even if I didn't kill him, he'd disappear along with this area anyway.

"I'm sorry."

That was why I apologized. She would drive this into her heart for the rest of her life and remember it again and again until the day she died. And this experience would become the catalyst for her growth.

「We are not dead! We are alive…!」

"Fuck, shut up! Stop pushing in, you bastards!"

Kkwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

"Mr. Minjun! Watch out in front!"

"Tch."

"Unni! I'm fine, so focus your healing on Minjun! This isn't going to work!"

…Everyone reaches a turning point at least once in their life, and it is only by overcoming it that we truly grow.

"Sob. Mr. Go Cheolwoo…."

I looked at the frustrating woman who had been held by the zombie, unable to do anything, tears streaming from her eyes,

but who now gripped her sword and had steeled her resolve,

and at a [Star of Destiny] preparing to take a step forward and grow.

"I'm sorry, sir."

The [Star of Destiny], which had held its breath for so long, sensed that its turn had come and throbbed violently as it began to awaken.