Adam stared intensely at the glowing blue window floating right in front of his face. The words on the screen were clear, telling him that his new skill, "Mark and Attack," was created and ready.
A huge, powerful sense of triumph filled his chest, pushing against his ribs. He had done something truly remarkable, something that felt almost impossible in a game. He had asked the core system itself to create a new ability, and it had actually done it! The system, the mighty game system that would in a way control the lives of millions of players in the future world, that very system which was supposed to be a fixed set of rules everyone had to follow, had listened to him.
And now, in a strange, unbelievable way, Adam was controlling that system himself, using his class and skill to bend its rules. He just couldn't believe it had worked through the complex, powerful system. It felt too easy, too much like a cheat.
But just before he could completely soak in, to fully relish, his amazing achievement, before the feeling of victory settled, a new message popped up on the screen. This time, the text was in thick, bold red letters. Red meant danger, a warning, or something wrong.
Warning: Skill Creation at this level is not permitted.
Adam's eyebrows moved together, forming a deep furrow, a line showing his worry. His moment of intense pride disappeared instantly, replaced by a growing feeling of unease, a quiet worry starting to spread inside him. Not permitted? the message said. But if it wasn't allowed, then why did the system actually let it go through? Why was the skill created anyway? It didn't make sense based on the warning he'd just read moments ago about Level 1 limits.
He didn't even have time to really think about this problem, to ponder, to wonder why the warning appeared but the skill was still made. Before he could figure it out, another window popped up onto the screen, adding even more confusing information:
Error: The game system has no record of an Administrative Class. This warning is being bypassed.
Adam's lips parted slightly, opening in pure shock. His heart started pounding hard and fast against his ribs, a frantic beat. The game had no record of his class? How could that be possible? Every class, every ability, every single piece of information about the game was supposed to be in the system's records. If his class, 'Administrator', wasn't there, it could only mean one, unbelievable thing.
His class was something entirely outside the game's established, known rules. It wasn't something the game was designed to have. It was like a part of the code that wasn't supposed to exist for a player.
Then, even more notifications started showing up, coming one after another really fast, overwhelming him, burying him in information and making his head spin.
Congratulations! Your skill, Mark and Attack, has been successfully created.
This message came after the confusing error about his class, confirming that the skill he wanted was real and in the game now. But the strange messages weren't finished.
Then came another, showing that something big was happening because of him:
An abnormal class has been detected. Adjustments are being made to the game system.
Adam's grip on reality, his sense of what was real and what was just the game, seemed to waver, to shake. An abnormal class? That was him. His class was 'abnormal', not normal. And adjustments were being made to the entire game system because of it? The game world was actually changing its core rules, fixing things, simply because he, because his 'Administrator' class, existed within it? That felt like having such a massive effect on the world, just by being in it.
And then, the system told him how it was adjusting:
Patch 201 is being released to address game system changes.
His eyes darted quickly across all the notifications, jumping from one message to the next, trying to read them all at once. His thoughts were racing, spinning out of control inside his head. A patch was being put into the game right now? A patch was usually something developers did to fix bugs or add new content.
A patch was being implemented, meaning a change was happening across the entire game? That meant his actions, the fact that he was the Administrator with a class the system didn't recognize, had fundamentally, completely, altered the game's structure. It had triggered a necessary update for the whole system to cope with him.
Finally, the most concerning message of all appeared. The messages built up, getting more serious, and this last one was the heaviest:
The Administrative Class has been registered into the game system. Certain bypass abilities have been restricted.
A deep frown settled on Adam's face, making the lines above his eyebrows even deeper. This wasn't just a small change or a simple warning. This was a big deal. The entire game system, the core program of the game, had updated itself. It had basically said, "Okay, this 'Administrator Class' is a real thing now. They recognize it."
But it wasn't just recognizing it. And worse, it had placed restrictions, limits, on his abilities, specifically his "bypass abilities." Those were likely the parts of his power that let him go around the rules, the very abilities that let him create the skill and control his leveling despite the limits.
His fingers clenched into tight fists again, squeezing hard. "So, they're fixing, rebalancing the system… because of me," he thought. The system, or maybe the AI controlling it, was trying to put him back in a box, trying to limit what he could do. "But why now? Did my class showing up trigger all this? Was it me who caused Patch 201 to happen?" It seemed the moment he used his Administrator power to create a skill, it set off alarm bells deep inside the game's code.
Taking a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and swirling thoughts, Adam steadied himself. He pushed the immediate worry away. "It doesn't matter," he muttered, speaking to the silent forest, to the disappearing blue windows, regaining his composure, his steady, calm state of mind. It might have caught up to him faster than he expected, but he still won the most important part. "I got what I needed," he confirmed to himself.
Even if the system had adjusted itself to deal with his class, even if it had placed restrictions on his abilities to bypass things, it didn't matter as much as what he had gained. He had already successfully secured a major, game-changing advantage. The Mark and Attack skill was now his. It was created.
It was a real skill in the game, something unique to him. And he still had the Administrator Class, even if some parts were restricted. As long as he played smart, planned carefully, and didn't draw too much attention too quickly, he could still make huge use of his unique class and his powerful new skill.
His gaze flickered back to the last hovering messages, still floating in the air, reminding him of what had just happened. Another blue window appeared right in front of him, a final notification from the system about his most powerful skill:
Reality Manipulation has been fully utilized. This skill is now on cooldown.
Below this message, a countdown timer, like a clock ticking backward, showed him exactly how long he had to wait until he could use the skill again:
23 hours, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds remaining.
Adam let out a slow sigh, the sound quiet in the forest. "Right," he thought. "So, I won't be able to use it again until tomorrow." He had used both of his two daily charges of Reality Manipulation: once to change his leveling system, and once to create the Mark and Attack skill. That was it for today for the big manipulations.
With a simple flick, a wave of his wrist, he dismissed the notification windows. They vanished, leaving the air clear again. There was no point in worrying about the cooldown now. It was a known limitation.
Instead, he called up his status window one last time for a final check. He wanted to see his basic information, but also to confirm that his new skill and his leveling change were still there, despite the system adjustments.
Name: AlphaBoss
Species: Human
Class: Administrator
Level: 1
Experience: 0/100
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Physical Stats:
Stamina: 5
Endurance: 5
Intelligence: 5
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Luck: 3
Skills:
Reality Manipulation (Level 1)
Mark and Attack (Level-Max)
Everything looked right. His name was there, his stats (all at the basic 5, except Luck). And under Skills, both "Reality Manipulation (Level 1)" and his newly created "Mark and Attack" were listed. They were real.
At the very bottom of the status window, a special note had been added. It was right there, confirming the change he had made:
When AlphaBoss meets the experience requirements for a level upgrade, system consent will be required to proceed.
A small smirk crossed Adam's lips again, a confident, knowing smile. He saw what the system was trying to do. They're trying to control me, he thought. By restricting his 'bypass abilities', the system was likely trying to stop him from making more big changes, or maybe trying to force him onto a more normal player path.
It was trying to regain control, trying to make the Administrator class fit within its rules. But it was too late for the most important things. He had already created a skill that was beyond normal limits, an ability he designed himself. The system might have added restrictions on how he used his administrative power to change rules, but he still had the greatest advantage of all – his knowledge of the future and his possession of a skill and class no one else had.
Quietly, almost to himself, he murmured, the words filled with quiet triumph and absolute certainty, "My plan worked perfectly. Even with the system patching itself, I succeeded where it matters. Now, nothing can stop me from achieving my goal." His goal was to become strong enough to dominate in the future, to avoid his past fate, and to make a better life for himself and his family. And he had just taken a massive step towards it.
Adam rose slowly from the ground, brushing off the bits of dirt and dried leaves that clung to his black outfit. The morning sun had risen higher, filtering through the dense green roof of the trees above. It cast scattered rays of light, broken golden streaks, across the forest floor, making patches of the ground bright while other areas remained in shadow. The air felt cool and clean, carrying the faint, earthy scent of damp leaves and old wood.
The sound of leaves rustling softly filled the quiet space as a gentle breeze moved through the tall trees overhead. Adam took a deep breath, letting the cool air fill his lungs. It felt refreshing and seemed to energize him, making his body feel ready to move, ready to act. It's time, he thought. Time to gather experience points. Time to start getting stronger in the standard way, building up my base level while planning my next moves.
With this renewed determination, a fresh surge of resolve, he ventured deeper into the forest. The path, or lack of one, grew more rugged and difficult. Twisted roots of trees snaked across the ground, and sharp, jagged rocks poked out, making the path uneven and requiring him to watch his steps carefully. Shadows stretched long and dark across the ground in this part of the forest, and the towering trees grew even closer together, forming a dense, green labyrinth around him, a natural maze of trunks and branches.
He walked for some time, moving further away from the safety of the beginner village, listening to the sounds of the forest, getting used to the feel of the uneven ground under his boots. Suddenly, Adam froze in his tracks. His sharp ears, or rather, his character's programmed senses enhanced by the game, caught a faint but distinct noise up ahead – a rhythmic slashing sound, like something sharp cutting through the air over and over, followed quickly by a wet, unpleasant squelch, a sound like something soft being hit or cut into.
He slowed his pace immediately, moving much more cautiously now, becoming Stealthy AlphaBoss. He crept forward silently, moving behind trees and using bushes for cover, making his way toward the source of the sounds.
Peering carefully from behind the wide trunk of a thick tree, staying hidden in the shadows, he spotted a small clearing ahead. It was a little open area in the dense forest. In the center of this clearing, a lone player character was busy, locked in battle, fighting hard against a group of small monsters. The monsters were slimes, the gelatinous, wobbly creatures he remembered from the forest edge. A name was floating in the air just above the other player's head, making him identifiable:
BlockHead
Adam observed the other player carefully. BlockHead held a very simple iron sword in his character's hand, the basic starting weapon for players who chose to fight. His posture seemed steady and ready as he faced the three wobbly, gelatinous slime creatures that were slowly bouncing towards him.
With a swift, quick swing of his iron sword, BlockHead sliced the first slime cleanly in half. It wasn't a fancy move, just a basic attack. But it was effective. The creature didn't just fall; it burst into a scattering of bright light particles, disappearing quickly into nothing, leaving behind only fading sparkles where it had been.
Not hesitating for even a moment after defeating the first one, BlockHead pivoted, turning quickly on his heel. He immediately delivered another precise, accurate strike with his sword towards the next slime. His weapon cut through the second wobbly creature, which quickly dissolved into glowing particles in a similar way, just like the first one had.
Only one slime remained now, slowly bouncing towards BlockHead.
With a confident thrust, a direct forward push, BlockHead lunged forward a short distance, stabbing the point of his simple iron sword directly into the final slime's core, its center. The monster character shuddered visibly for a brief second, shaking and vibrating, before it too disintegrated into glowing particles, fading away. This time, as it disappeared, it left behind a small object glowing on the ground – a small red crystal.
Raising his arms up slightly in a simple pose of triumph, celebrating his small victory, BlockHead grinned widely, his character's face showing clear happiness. "Man, these graphics are amazing!" he said out loud, speaking into his microphone, his voice likely heard by anyone near him in the game or in a party. He was clearly impressed by how real the monsters bursting and disappearing looked. Then he added, showing his goal, "Just 30 more slimes, and I'll level up!" He knew exactly how much work he needed to do to get stronger.
Adam remained perfectly hidden behind the thick tree trunk, completely unseen. His eyes were sharp, focused intently as he analyzed the scene playing out in the clearing. He wasn't just watching a random player; he was gathering important information.
So, this is how players grind experience points right now? Adam thought, watching BlockHead kill the simple monsters repeatedly. "Grinding" was the term for killing easy monsters over and over to slowly earn experience points. He had done countless hours of grinding in the old game, but seeing someone else do it in this new, realistic world, with the detailed graphics of the slimes bursting, felt different.
He watched BlockHead pick up the small red crystal from the ground, the remains of the last slime. He saw the player inspect it for a moment, turning it over in his character's hand, likely reading its description in his inventory. Then, BlockHead stored it away in his inventory, a place where players kept items. These crystals were likely the simple drops, the items monsters left behind that could be used or sold.
For a moment, Adam considered stepping out from behind the tree and interacting with the player. He could say hello, see what other players were like right now, maybe even team up for a bit. It was tempting to connect with someone in this vast, empty feeling world. But then, he hesitated.
No. Not yet. It was too soon.
He wasn't ready to reveal himself, not even his in-game appearance as AlphaBoss, to just anyone. He had too many secrets, too many advantages to protect. Not until he had a better, a full understanding, of how players were operating in this very early stage of the game, what they knew, how they acted, and who the really dangerous ones might be. He needed to watch and learn first.
Instead, he continued to observe in complete silence, staying hidden, his mind rapidly working, forming a strategy for what came next for him. This observation was more valuable than a simple interaction right now.
If I want to level up efficiently, he thought, watching BlockHead tirelessly fighting the slow slimes, I need to understand the best way to farm experience points in this new version of the game. Was this slow grinding the fastest way? Or were there other methods he knew about from the future that might be faster now? Watching other players, seeing their methods and their results, might give him the edge he needed, helping him plan the fastest path to becoming strong.
Hidden safely in the shadows behind the thick tree, unseen and silent, Adam's blue eyes gleamed with a quiet, focused determination. He had gained his power, made his first big move, and now he was observing the game world's early reality.
The next phase of his journey, the phase of observation, planning, and secretly building his power based on this knowledge, was about to begin. He was ready to watch, learn, and wait for the perfect moment to strike out on his own, using everything he knew to get ahead.