– The Red Administrator…

– Why is that guy’s hand here?

– Wow, what’s happening now?

– Is this channel a special feature of administrators?

As soon as the nof the special boss appeared on BattleTube, the chat from extraterrestrial viewers exploded.

The Red Administrator.

Despite his term ending, he had not relinquished his position and had gone into hiding.

And.

‘An administrator who seems linked to both the Martial God and Ashoka in sway…’

Initially, even those who had limited humanity were part of the Red’s Tribe.

The Red Administrator,

‘But if only his hand is remaining, it might’ve been cut off while he was fleeing and buried in the void.’

Seong Jihan observed the front while crossing his arms.

The vortex of the void gradually turned black.

Fwooooosh…!

From within, a burning hand emerged.

‘It’s clenched in a fist.’

Though the size of the hand was slightly larger than Seong Jihan, it was far less imposing compared to the overwhelming figure of the Thunder God.

Despite its appearance, Seong Jihan remained cautious as he slowly approached the Red Administrator’s hand.

The hand had a peculiar texture, as if mixing human features with those of a reptile.

Scaly structures stood out prominently, blazing on the back of the hand.

– That’s the hand of an administrator? Doesn’t seem like much.

– The Red Administrator originally cfrom a giant race. Of course, after the administrators appeared, they renamed their species the Red’s Tribe.

– Ah, I see…

– If it’s staying still like that, can’t he just attack and clear this mission too?

– As if beating an administrator’s hand is that simple…

– Still, it’s too quiet.

Viewers speculated as the seemingly lifeless, clenched hand did not move.

But.

As Seong Jihan got closer to the Red Hand.

Flash!

A light flickered on the back of the hand.

From there, characters emerged.

Though it wasn’t any recognizable language, Seong Jihan could read the characters.

[Red.]

Swoosh!

As soon as the letter emerged, the hand opened out.

Inside the scarlet palm, hundreds of eyes were embedded.

Initially unfocused and dazed.

[Target.]

Wriggle. Wriggle.

As the eyes moved, they collectively fixed their gaze on Seong Jihan.

The numerous red eyeballs, brimming with life, trembled.

– Ew! What is that??

– Even with just a hand remaining, it’s that powerful… it’s definitely an administrator.

– To instill fear even through the screen…

The viewers who had earlier downplayed the hand’s significance felt an overwhelming sense of intimidation just by looking at the eyes.

‘Why are these seasoned fighters scared of such a gaze?’

Despite facing the eyes directly, Seong Jihan didn’t flinch.

‘Let’s begin the inspection.’

Step. Step.

He walked toward the outstretched hand.

As he approached, the eyes focused increasingly on him.

Flames danced across the hand, then letters appeared again.

[Why am I here? The Black wouldn’t have released me.]

“Who knows.”

[Ah, got it. You are the bait.]

“…”

The red hand continued to answer its own questions, causing Seong Jihan to frown at the word “bait.”

[Bait needed. Found the main body’s location. If known, no bait needed. Currently in process of finding.]

The hand spoke in disjointed phrases, but Seong Jihan could roughly understand its meaning.

The Black Administrator had summoned the hand as a special boss intending to use Seong Jihan as bait.

‘Is he trying to lure out the Red Administrator through me?’

The Red Administrator, who had vanished long ago.

However, his traces remained scattered on Earth, and recently, connections with the Martial God and Ashoka had surfaced.

As administrators were the absolute figures of BattleNet, they surely wouldn’t be oblivious to this information.

Caught in the midst of the administrators’ schemes, Seong Jihan felt like a pawn in their grand game.

‘The one universal truth in Battlis that no one here is trustworthy. The administrators may seem friendly now, but they all have their own agendas usingas a means to an end.’

Remaining ever vigilant in observing the situation is essential.

As Seong Jihan mused,

[Detected. Playing along with intent. Main body needs my power. Bait will be tempting.]

Fwoosh!

Suddenly, flames surged from the Red Hand, extending towards Seong Jihan.

Swoosh!

Seong Jihan quickly dodged the flames, but…

Hiss…!

The tail end of the flames grazed his cheek.

‘Even with all my buffs, I couldn’t avoid it… so this is the power of an administrator’s flame.’

[Constellation reaching level drops to Level 758.]

Despite having activated the Constellation Traits and wearing the mask, he still couldn’t fully evade the small flame.

Certainly, this special boss was formidable.

Seong Jihan took a cautious step back, keeping his guard up.

[? Bait. Why dodge. Fulfill your role.]

“And beca sitting duck?”

Seong Jihan retorted upon reading the altered letters.

Fwoosh…

The flthat had scorched his cheek rose momentarily before dying out.

[Stat Red increases by 2.]

As a message displayed the stat increase, Seong Jihan hesitated.

‘…Raised by 2 just from a brief touch?’

The Red stat, challenging to increase, had risen by 2 from just a tiny flame.

What would happen if he absorbed the entire flame?

‘…Should I consider playing the bait?’

Seong Jihan briefly considered it.

[Resistance pointless. Will switch bodies. Will becbait.]

However, the message promising to take over his body made him draw his weapon.

Letting his body absorb the flames for the stat increase risked conceding control to another entity.

Then.

[Futile defiance.]

Swoosh…

The hundreds of eyes merged into one large eye.

The eye emitted light, creating letters.

[Stop.]

Next to this command, another set of letters appeared.

‘That’s… a domination code.’

Designed to enforce control through his language.

However.

‘My body’s moving fine.’

The command to stop had no restrictive power over Seong Jihan.

[Will consume.]

Convinced he had halted, the Red Hand began to extend the flames slowly, contrary to the previous rapid surge.

The flames expanded outward, forming a wide ring to encircle Seong Jihan.

– Why is he staying still?

– As expected, you can’t defy an administrator’s power.

– It’s the Red Hand. Defiance is futile.

– Shouldn’t we get refunds?? He even beat the Thunder God, but now an administrator’s hand appears? I bet so much money, but the Arena is playing tricks like this?

As Seong Jihan stood still, angry bettors momentarily rioted.

– Oh! I just checked, they’re acknowledging it on Arena and giving automatic wins for the special boss appearance.

– Really? Recognized as 1st place?

– Yeah, win or lose, bettors on Seong Jihan get their GP.

– So we win?

– Nice! Seong Jihan, handle the Red case however you want. Made sgood money!!

The guaranteed refund by Arena turned the sentiments of bettors.

‘Gamblers will be gamblers… Looks like I made 70 times my GP too.’

GP obsession transcends species and is a universal truth across the cosmos.

Taking his eyes off the gamblers, Seong Jihan watched his opponent.

The Red Hand, encircling him in flames, seemingly ready to conshim in one go.

‘Retaliation was always an option.’

Striking a distracted enemy had always been easy for him.

But he had decided to wait, considering the previously increased stat.

Raising the Red by 2 from mere contact.

‘Need to extract maximum benefit without getting dominated.’

After stime, Seong Jihan saw his chance.

* * *

The red flames completely encircled him.

Expending a lot of power to create the circle, the flames within the Red Hand weakened.

Furthermore, the large, merged eye had significantly dimmed.

‘This is sufficient.’

Swoosh…

Seong Jihan re-activated the Dark Soul Vortex.

[?? Bait? How?]

Questioning, the hand watched as Seong Jihan continued.

Disregarding the message, he thrust Eclipse into the Dark Soul Vortex again.

[…Trying that again?]

“Didn’t it work well earlier?”

[There was something to learn from your sword…]

“Then let’s learn again.”

Immediately after the Shadow Queen finished speaking, Seong Jihan caused the void within the vortex to explode.

[Void decreases by 5.]

As the void message appeared, the sword took shape, and he withdrew the blade from the vortex.

Fundamental Divine Arts,

Dark Shadow Technique:

Shadow Divine Blade

Upon witnessing the Shadow Divine Blade, which had dispatched the Thunder God in one move,

[That’s…! The void’s core…]

The once still eye now trembled in surprise.

[You’re not bait, but the Black’s blade…]

Swoosh!

The red hand began to touch the erupting darkness.

However, unlike the Thunder God who had been entirely engulfed,

Sizzle…

The hand resisted, emitting smoke as the darkness contacted it.

[No, it’s different. Weaker than the Black’s blade.]

“What’s the Black’s blade?”

[You’re imitating an administrator’s blade and don’t know?]

This is imitating an administrator’s blade?

Seong Jihan blinked.

This was an alternative he created as he couldn’t reveal Dongbang Sak’s Taiji Sword.

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

[So, did you craft this yourself?]

“It’s not entirely original; I adapted it from something learnt.”

[…A lie? But struth. Not strong enough for void’s proxy…]

Psfffff…

The flames around the hand weakened.

[If you were the void’s proxy, resistance would be futile. On the contrary, to protect my true form, acceptance might be wise. Bait, however…]

The eyes kept rotating, continuing to draft letters.

[Your blade is a vital talent for my true form.]

“I told you, I didn’t craft it.”

[Realizing is talent.]

“Oh, really?”

Seong Jihan smirked.

Ashoka often criticized his ambiguous talents, and now even the Red Hand deemed it valuable.

Regardless, flattery meant little now.

‘Tto end this.’

Without the domination code’s failure, the Red Hand would overpower him.

He needed to finish it while still in a superior position.

As Seong Jihan poured more power into the Shadow Divine Blade,

[Close but not quite the Black’s. Definitely bait.]

[Moreover, a vital bait for my true form.]

Resistance diminishing, the hand finally accepted Seong Jihan as bait.

“Enough with the bait talk.”

Such talk was unpleasant.

As he intensified the dark power, the Red Hand’s defenses significantly weakened.

[Decision.]

Whoosh!

The hand caught fire and vanished.

Thud…

Leaving behind a single eye, significantly reduced in size, on the ground.

Originally enormous, now human-sized.

[If consumed, talent might be lost.]

[Thus, will be eaten instead.]

The eye’s message read.

Changing plans from consuming Seong Jihan to offering itself.

“…Eat you?”

[Yes. Eat me.]

The red eye squirmed vilely, expanding blood vessels.

Eating a living octopus seemed more appealing.

‘Should I just crush it?’

As Seong Jihan contemplated,

[Minimum Red increased by 500.]

The eye provided an added incentive.